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Living overseas

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How long have schools been closed where you are ?

85 replies

habibihabibi · 25/01/2021 18:10

KSA
School closed March 2020
Still closed 😯
Everything else is open, pools , parks, malls, indoor playareas, sports activies.

OP posts:
Insert1x20p · 26/01/2021 05:53

Forever.

In HK- schools closed 23 January. Reopened half days for 4 weeks in June. Closed again till October. Another 6 weeks of half days. Closed since end of November. Likely to be closed until at least Easter- we have no vaccines.

On top of that, all outside facilities (pools, pitches etc) are closed. They have literally boarded up the beaches. Shopping malls still open, obviously Hmm.

Kids have been utterly thrown under the bus for largely political reasons - government wants Unis shut so the students cant protest but cant have schools open and Unis online. If UK schools open after Easter I will likely come back, suck up 2 weeks hotel quarantine and let them do at least a few terms in UK.

Rtmhwales · 26/01/2021 05:55

Western Canada. Ours are open as usual.

Insert1x20p · 26/01/2021 06:01

[cries with jealousy]

citychick · 26/01/2021 06:04

Also in HK.

We're beyond frustrated.
I've lost my job ( sports industry which has been hammered) and DH's hours and pay have been halved.
DC visa runs out in May and pretty sure DH will be let go then too.

Our UK house is let til Christmas 2021. I'm beyond annoyed. We have nowhere to go and my parents in UK are isolating so cannot take us ATM.

I know that's not school related but I just had to vent.

DC school has been pretty good tho on the whole. Live lessons for the most part. One teacher has never really shown up but the others are very good.

Take care everyone.

CornishPastyDownUnder · 26/01/2021 06:08

They've been shut since early December for our summer hols..currently Australia Day 26th which marks the last official day of hols then back to school tomorrow for term 1.
We dont have any cases of community transmission here so school is just business as usual..

WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants · 26/01/2021 06:13

England -since 11th Dec.

Can't imagine living somewhere that everything is open except schools! Must feel really weird!

habibihabibi · 26/01/2021 11:48

It is frustrating ... the ministry has declared the schools can open to small groups from Nov but ours ( reputable previously ) has only just announced a once monthly day in school for my children's year groups. It is a shambles as
staff travelled during the xmas break and got stuck in the U.K when the new strain prohibited travel into Saudi from affected countries. Why people even think about non essential trips during a pandemic I have no idea.

OP posts:
habibihabibi · 26/01/2021 11:51

Oh and we have had the pfizer vaccine already.Availble to all citzens and residents over 18 free.

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Insert1x20p · 26/01/2021 11:55

Yeah- we have similar- lots of teachers and Heads stuck in the UK and this is after reading us all the riot act about how we MUST all be back in HK ready for schools to reopen.

What has the take up been on the vaccine?

GADDay · 26/01/2021 11:56

In Australia (everywhere, except Victoria) the children were at home from 23rd March to 21st May - so 8 weeks (but there was a 2 week school holiday in that time, so only online school for 6 weeks).

Other than some of the larger school events having been cancelled, it's BAU.

ZZTopGuitarSolo · 26/01/2021 16:45

I'm in New England. We had online school initially, from March to June, then summer holiday for 12 weeks.

My kids have done hybrid school since September - they're in school 2 days a week and online 3 days a week.

A few schools here have fully opened - generally the ones that have more space and fewer students.

All schools in my state made plans for fully reopened, hybrid and fully online, and they're switching between the options as needed. The next school district over has a lot of teachers and bus drivers quarantining at the moment so they're online for a week or two.

We're not really in lockdown generally - restaurants and shops are open - but we do have restrictions eg restaurants have to close at 9pm, bars can't open.

Our Covid rates are about half what they are in the UK.

Strokethefurrywall · 26/01/2021 16:57

Our schools were closed from March 13 2020 and reopened in September last year.

No active community Covid here, and all cases are residents returning/visiting who remain in quarantine for 15 days regardless of poison or or negative test.

Katw137 · 26/01/2021 17:06

I'm in Indiana. Our local schools have been open since the end of July. No problems. Children and staff wear masks. No water fountains, personal water bottles only.

Some cases but not a high amount in schools. Our children have not been exposed thus far. None of the schools have had to close due to COVID-19.

ZZTopGuitarSolo · 26/01/2021 18:05

@Katw137

I'm in Indiana. Our local schools have been open since the end of July. No problems. Children and staff wear masks. No water fountains, personal water bottles only.

Some cases but not a high amount in schools. Our children have not been exposed thus far. None of the schools have had to close due to COVID-19.

Ours are all wearing masks too. Are yours social distancing in school? Ours are all staying 3' apart. It seems to be working pretty well.
Utterlyexhausted · 26/01/2021 18:23

I'm also in Indiana and yes our children socially distance throughout classes and lunch.

Our RT is 0.87 at the moment but they're watching the new variants and will switch to full time elearning if needed.

Fuzzyspringroll · 26/01/2021 19:23

I'm in Germany and while schools were closed for a few weeks between March and the summer holidays (including two weeks off for Easter), they have generally been open as normal.
In our state, parents have been given the option of keeping their kids off school and using online teaching since the end of the Christmas break. Secondary are online only but any exam classes have to be in school. So, at primary level, most of my class have been at school as normal. We have both online and in-school teaching on offer and it's working ok. There are more children in the older age groups, who are learning from home. The majority of kids are meant to be back by March. We've been wearing masks in school since the start of the academic year in August. Numbers are going down.
Lots of things are closed and there are restrictions in place but lots of people don't bother...
Other states are much stricter with their restrictions and schools are actually closed there.

Katw137 · 26/01/2021 20:00

Yes, social distancing as well.

Trenisenne · 26/01/2021 20:52

Switzerland - closed for six (?) weeks in spring of last year. Open at the moment; long may it continue..

ZZTopGuitarSolo · 26/01/2021 23:00

So interesting seeing how different places have handled this.

Our schools are also not allowing any parents in school, and it's really odd not having stepped in a school for nearly a year now. I find it hard to imagine what it's actually like in them - it must be so different to what everyone is used to, but they're obviously making it work.

Insert1x20p · 27/01/2021 01:56

Yeah- I must say I feel totally disconnected from the school as an entity - can't even remember which kids are in my kids' classes as there's been loads of turnover (international school so normal but more due to protests and covid). I suspect also about to be a massive exodus due to the Cathay contracts being renegotiated and a lot of people leaving as no school fees paid.

grassisjeweled · 27/01/2021 01:58

Eastern Canada. Open since Jan 11, thank god.

They were shut for 6 weeks from April to June last year, that's it.

KBILLY · 27/01/2021 02:03

Midwest, USA. Schools closed since March. Various degrees of lockdown but my younger two go back to school next month and I can't wait!

Remaker · 27/01/2021 02:18

Sydney, Australia. Schools moved to online learning from around 22 March to 25 May, but that included 2 weeks of school holidays so around 6 weeks in total.

Since then school open as normal. DD’s school had one case of covid in August and had to be closed for a day. Close contacts (not DD) had to isolate for 14 days but nobody else caught it. DS’s school has been open throughout. Most concerts, gatherings, camps etc were cancelled. Inter school sport cancelled but community sport continued on weekends. Parents not allowed into school grounds.

They return to school on 1st Feb after 6 weeks of summer holidays. At this stage looks like a return to normal school life with most activities back on again. They will likely have to wear masks while travelling to and from school but not at school.

Kobanidaughters · 27/01/2021 03:28

West coast USA, schools closed since March

VimFuego101 · 27/01/2021 03:41

East coast US. DS's school closed in March 2020 and reopened (mornings only) a couple of weeks ago. It's made such a huge difference to his mood. They are continuing with remote lessons for kids who don't want to return to school (there's only 8 in person kids in DS's class).

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