First ministers briefing

[Trichford]

Is there one on today? If so what time will it be? Thanks

I wasn't being negative, now worried why you are sorry! I agree your posts are very balanced.

I meant sorry if you thought I'd been calling you all lazy :)

God no there will indeed be lazy teachers I've worked with some. Some of the ones people think are lazy may also be sick, or depressed etc, or caring for parents as well as dc. There's also a lot of hidden work that is still happening that is not seen by the "you finish at three" brigade.
Anyway let's see what tomorrow brings from the briefing. 🤞

@Mistressiggi, I am not asking about the average level of laziness of the teachers. I am asking how they are asked to spend their days.
From what I see, if they alrrady have their hands full, it is just as well that there is little to no traffic on teams then, otherwise they would be quickly overwhelmed. Also, it would be unthinkable to get work marked because there would be no time. The story about "fairness" is, therefore, bogus.

Anyway, new briefing today. From what I read, it is going to be about golfing, sitting in parks and dumps. Big deal...
The virus is in retreat everywhere and England has seen no new spike. I wonder what her reasoning is going to be. I also wonder what the famous R0 number would be if you discount care homes and similar environments.
I also wonder what people will actually do in real life. "Meet someone outside your house at a distance," people have been doing it for some time here. I have been seeing it in my neighborhood with my own eyes.

People around here have been meeting up regularly too. The neighbours out the back are having work done on their house (no masks or social distancing involved) and the bin men this morning had also given up the masks etc. People really do seem to be relaxing on their own, no matter what the FM says.

I hope she addresses childcare today in more than an offhand ‘we fully understand this is difficult for parents and hope employers are flexible’ kind of way, and has some practical solutions. Or perhaps states that the science will be kept under review, and if more evidence emerges about lack of transmission from children (particularly younger children) or lower than expected infection rates generally, schools and nurseries will open as normal. Or maybe even an acknowledgement that virus spread is virtually nill in some parts of Scotland so there could be a regional approach. Then again I’d quite like to win the lottery, which might be more likely.

I also wonder what the famous R0 number would be if you discount care homes and similar environments

I have been asking this too! I wonder why they're so reluctant to tell us. I've been looking at the Travelling Tabby site which updates daily with lots of charts and graphs. There is no way you can look at that site and think we're anywhere NEAR where we were even at the start of May. Consistently 45% to 55% of cases in care homes, not the community.

www.travellingtabby.com/scotland-coronavirus-tracker/

@Arkadia I wasn't addressing that comment to you. Indeed I won't be addressing any comments to you.

@SockYarn that website has a very interesting breakdown of the data, thanks for sharing! One of the things that stand out to me are that 91% of deaths are in those aged 65 and over (in line with what we know) and only 23 deaths are in people under 45 (presumably these people also had other health conditions). This is an even smaller proportion than I would have expected and really highlights that it isn't much of a threat to most of us.

The other thing that stands out to me, perhaps more relevant to schools opening, is the very low numbers of new infections this week. Outside of the central belt there are very few new infections (none at all in several regions), and they are clearly much much lower than the hundreds a day we were seeing a few weeks ago. If infection rates are disappearing at such a rate, and if this continues into the summer, can not opening schools in full really be justified? Surely, at the very least, the partial opening should just be a contingency plan while we continue to monitor the rate of infection after gradually opening up. And why the blanket, centralised policy when infection rates are clearly very different in different regions of the country?

Are ScotGov being cautious because they are concerned that relaxing our rules might lead to an influx of tourists / day trippers from larger population centres to the (currently less affected) highlands / other beauty spots? Causing new spikes?

I too am not happy that R0 or even cases is not given separately a) excluding care homes and hospitals and b) split by area - and by that I mean smaller areas than Health Boards eg Lothian is a vast area. I dint know of a single case and although I’ve been very cautious I’m getting a bit impatient that I’m being stopped from walking up hills, on beaches and going to parks with my child’s friends on grounds that are less than obvious.

Apologies for grammar errors - coffee needed!

I think the problem with schools is the logistics of opening safely. If they wait until August, it would be impossible to put together a workable plan in a week.

I want mine back at school as much as anyone but I think education is caught in between a rock and a hard place.

If infection rates are disappearing at such a rate, and if this continues into the summer, can not opening schools in full really be justified?

No it can't.

We are still 75 days away from 11th August - almost 11 weeks. If we continue to see this rate of decline there is no earthly reason NOT to get kids back to school, full time. No blended learning. Just a regular school year like all other school years.

Amen to that @SockYarn

@Aaandrea, my question is whether we actually need a "workable plan" or not at this moment in time.
Maybe in the interim we could have only some pupils back, but I find it difficult to justify a blanket closure. OK, schools would close in 4 weeks' time anyway, but still...
The concern should really be next December, not June.

Thanks ALittle for those kind words last night and thanks to Wax and Mistress for continuing to provide insightful and balanced views about teachers' workloads, and comparisons to other jobs and professions.

I'm not going comment any further on the plans for schools going back in August etc because no matter how it's done, it won't please a huge number of people. Glad I'm not making those big decisions. I'm also not going to continue to defend my profession to people who will never be persuaded otherwise - it's a waste of energy.

Going for one last walk across the golf course today, before those golfers come back on and spoil it .

I think the issue with reopening schools is more about teaching unions than the infection rate. They're refusing to even countenance reopening for 3 year groups as they want a totally 'safe' environment so I can't see them agreeing to everyone returning full time.

Hakefish this is Scotsnet, your comment doesn't apply here

Yes, but the point is probably still relevant. Unless the unions are satisfied (which, by the tine August comes along, I'm sure they will be) the schools up here won't open either.

I understand from a friend that their area are trying to co-ordinate the part time so that families with DC in different classes/years will have their DC attending the same days so someone doesn't end up with one child going Monday and Tuesday and the other on Thursday and Friday. The DC might not even be in the same schools. Lots of work sorting the logistics on this and it's potentially wasted if they go back normally but if they don't do it now and it's not in place if needed then there will be uproar.

Rock and a hard place and folk wonder what heads and teachers are filling their days with...

The issue is very much the same as in England @JuneBug20 .

The unions in England are refusing to even discuss reopening for 3 year groups so I can't see there being any significant change in 2 months that's going to make them happy with sending everyone back full time.

She's still banging on about blended learning today....

But we can go fishing or play bowls. Whoop de doo.

This nonsense about focusing on 'friends and family' rather than the economy is ridiculous. If there are no jobs, particularly for young people, there will be immense impact on both physical and mental health.

Nicola's briefing summed up:

"what he said"

eye roll

I have looked at the SG website and guidance is so vague. They might as well have told my employer "carry on".

Bad performance by NS I thought. Lots of monologue, glossed over blended learning, and dodged the question a few times without allowing follow ups (good on Sarah Smith for squeezing one in). I'm not sure why the other two were even there given that they only seem to be invited to speak to basically repeat what NS already said.

I gave up around 1:20 when the question about skin cancer came on but was there a single question about blended learning or childcare at all?? Given that this will affect millions of Scots quite fundamentally, you'd think there might be a glimmer of interest about it? Sometimes I feel like I live in a parallel universe. Either that or the questions are prescreened.