Petition link to close schools

What I really want to know is if the closure of schools will affect attendance levels? Our kids were marked down 9 days for the beast from the east.
I don't think they should be marked down.

If the school makes the decision to close then there's a different attendance code. It gets marked as a # on our registers and it isn't counted as a day that students could attend so doesn't affect their attendance.

If school is open or partially open and a student doesn't attend then it will count as an absence but will have the relevant absence code applied.

School staff might have to accept (for once) that we are public servants and will need to do what the country needs of them in a time of national crisis

I am not sure why the snarky comments about teachers elder but also not sure what you mean by what he country needs of them : we stay open anyway under normal circumstances so it would hardly be a change. closing schools down and setting work remotely would be a change for teachers and could also be what the country needs of them ; as public servants, we would do what we were told to do.
Your post does rather imply a Kitchener idea that teachers - and other school workers-should somehow be prepared to put themselves in the line of fire somehow because 'our country needs us'

The petition is utterly pointless. It asks the Government to consider closing schools.

They will and make an appropriate decision on expert advice, not signatures from Debbie in Andover.

If schools shut, it would be as part of a much wider shutdown.

I'll say it maybe for the fourth time on here.
Trust the chief medical officer instead. He has the info and the relevant knowledge. It's his job.

Did you miss the bit where I work in school Piggy?

Teachers on here are full of what they are and aren't prepared to do (not so much IRL IME) with no recognition that they're employed by the people.

And yes, if we get to a proper national emergency situation, I do think it will be a case of your country needs you.

Closings schools will reduce the number of old and vulnerable that die.
www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/opinion/coronavirus-schools-closed.html

No.. I didn't miss it , which is why I wondered why you were sniping at teachers.

I suspect not a teacher, though.

Very interesting piece of research: Closing The Schools: Lessons From The 1918–19 U.S. Influenza Pandemic

The gist of this is that school closures are effective in epidemics, but only if they are well led and have the support of the community.

Teachers so what their country needs them to do on a daily basis FGS.

If schools close , we will also be doing this.

It is not teachers baying for schools to be closed as this will change the way we have to work and cause enormous stress to parents, students and school staff.

However, surely one can understand that many teachers,TAs etc. are not prepared - or not very keen- to put themselves in front of a bunch of superspreaders if others are being told not to.

Actually, it didn't say they were not effective if poorly led, only that they were most effective when well led. I wasn't very precise there.

It seems to be sensible to close schools. If we don't take preventative measures then all our modelling and projections on infections and death rates are nonsense. We're projecting based on China which closed schools, cancelled events and imposed quarantine. It's folly to assume our rates will be the same when we haven't implemented any of the same measures. Imo the government is prioritising the economy rather than health atm. But it's a false dichotomy because if they don't act decisively the economy is going to be impacted anyway but in a less controlled way.

Teachers on here are full of what they are and aren't prepared to do (not so much IRL IME) with no recognition that they're employed by the people
That's dangerously close to when a parent sits opposite at consultation evening and says "I pay your wages from my taxes".

Based on this logic I employ myself.

We need a nuanced response relying on the best advice of real experts such as virologists and statisticians
100% agree.
They're going to know a lot more about what to do than Joe Blogs and Karen on Facebook who are all of a sudden experts in this brave new world of "we don't need no experts with suitable qualifications and experience".

Most teachers are not employed "by the people" now Elderave. We are employed by private profit making academy trusts.

I'm in a bind about it really. I'm working flat outfor my lot to get them the best results they are capable of. But I also see that they are in the main (despite nagging) unhygienic and germ heavens. They'll bring it into school and it will be me that gets ill. I'm high risk. I'll take it home -where my husband, one of my kids and my elderly mum are also high risk due to age, heart and autoimmune conditions. How self sacrificing should I be, do you think?

Plus those kids wander into shops, chippies, chicken joints etc on the way home, hopping onto buses.

Umm where do the trusts get their funding from?

This is when we can best spare those nurses who absolutely cannot find other child care options.

What about the patients who have other illnesses and are currently being cared for by these nurses? Who looks after the cancer patients, the cardiac patients, if the nurses are being forced to stay home? The NHS is understaffed on the front line as it is.

You go ahead and carry on then Elder. I for one will not be teaching uncapped amounts of kids and putting my own family at more risk. I am a teacher - not a babysitter.

If schools are given (free - not told to pay themselves) proper sanitation systems and the pressure for exams is removed then maybe. But as it currently stands we've been told to just carry on regardless, with the possibility of uncapped class sizes, and still be held responsible for the eventual results ( which you will know - if you are a teacher) will be used to hold back your pay progression. You go ahead in that scenario smiling and stiff upper lip if you want to.

Nope. You can fck right off with that. I work in health - why should my child have to go to school when yours doesn’t? You either shut them all or none at all. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say NHS workers kids are fine to catch the virus but your precious child can’t. The entitlement and selfishness here is truly unbelievable

^^this

IRL the only people I have found who are happy for all the schools to close was a SAHM and a friend who is a dinner lady whose husband has a really well paid job. All the rest are happy for schools to stay open, because if they close they have to either not go to work or pay out for childcare and the Majority can realistically not afford either of those options.
Those thinking it’s a good idea to shut schools, are you also planning to shut nurseries, childminders and holiday clubs?
I think it’s quite ridiculous tbh.

@SabineSchmetterling the UK may have had more cases than Kong kong, butvwe also have nearly ten times the population (7m vs 66m).
Number of cases can not be taken as a comparison in complete isolation. The effect of this cases and hospitalizations in HK will be much greater than similar numbers (100 vs 160 ish) in the UK. It would be like all corona activity happening just in London.

AndNoneForGretchenWieners - you're absolutely right. We can't spare any, at any time. I am not sure there is any possible solution that means everyone gets the care they should receive over the next few months.

Hong Kong had 3 new cases yesterday and we had 48. Even if you account for population and don’t think being closer to China is relevant then they clearly have a better handle on it than we do.

Yes let’s close schools and fuck the economy

Only in this country would the discourse be around lazy shirking teachers if a government made a decision to close schools. The macho competition around schools staying open - as we get on snow days - will ensue without proper decisions form on high.

Teachers will do exactly what they are told to do : we always do. If schools close, we will probably take the rap ; if they stay open, likewise.

I thought that teachers could maybe set up work packs for children with SAHPs. This reduces numbers in schools and people needing to travel. This would mean less crowds and more space.
If there is an opportunity for adults to WFH then they should. Again reducing numbers out and about.

I don't even know if it would work.

The numbers may not be high yet, but why wait until they are? I don't really get that. Eradication now would surely be better on the economy and Nhs? I must be missing something but I just can't figure out what it is.

Yes let’s close schools and fuck the economy

Stay open and fuck the NHS. (further)

No. If you are afraid then keep your child off - everyone else should be allowed go if they want.