When are we going back to school 2

[RaraRachael]

New thread as the last one was getting full. Feel free to discuss, moan, speculate on anything to do with Scottish schools and what may/not be happening.

That should say 'increased testing?'

If you look on the site with the numbers there are around an extra 8000 tests the last few days, and they look to be a historical backlog of care home cases. They should explain it more clearly thought

www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/

This was published on the usforthem page and, as they say, it is definitly worth 45 mins of your time:

(Scotland is mentione indirectly at about 29:20)

@AudacityOfHope, the way cases are being reported has been criticised quite a but on FB. It is never really clear what is REALLY what (just as well I usually ignore them :D)

For those that are saying that Blended learning is the way forward , do you have only one child ? Do you not work ? Or are your kids age 13 plus and can be left home alone on their non school days ?

Because for others with babies / toddlers / mixed age groups / full time jobs it’s a disaster.

Women are going to lose their jobs if we do blended learning.

Kids that have large busy chaotic family homes will miss out dreadfully if we do blended learning

It is not feasible for a huge majority of Scotland , it just isn’t.

The “ schooling “ if I can call it that , that my kids received during lockdown was NOT AN EDUCATION but it was unprecedented and cobbled together so I can look back on it as the schools had to do what they had to do.

No way should this be what we are planning for in August.

Also in reply to those that say teachers have no protection...

The protection is that the virus levels are so so small

Teachers have been told to distance where possible

Shop workers for example worked throughout this crisis with no PPE , distancing only brought out recently
Still unable to social distance 100% , working in small food shops etc , full shifts with 100’s of strangers entering daily

Nobody in shops refused to work or said let’s only sell food two days a week

It’s just getting very frustrating now , millions of families lives are going to be negatively impacted if schools are not back full time.

where does it say 49?

I can see the number of cases increasing on the travelling tabby site but I can't see 49?

And our place of work does not have a proper plan either. Just a phased return to work per department starting this month, but with ZERO information as yet on what that return to work will look like.

Basically appears all of us will be back at work come september, even though our desks are pretty much on top of each other and I can think of at least two offices (including mine) where social distancing just can't happen due to the sheer number of people

I work in a big busy hospital and could you imagine if we decided just to open a few days per week because of the virus? We only wear masks in clinical areas but all offices etc are now set up to ensure social distancing between employees. Surely teachers just need to ensure they SD from other teachers? It takes a bit of arranging but it's not impossible.

@YonBonnieBanks

where does it say 49?

I can see the number of cases increasing on the travelling tabby site but I can't see 49?

And our place of work does not have a proper plan either. Just a phased return to work per department starting this month, but with ZERO information as yet on what that return to work will look like.

Basically appears all of us will be back at work come september, even though our desks are pretty much on top of each other and I can think of at least two offices (including mine) where social distancing just can't happen due to the sheer number of people

21 today, 17 yesterday, 11 on Thursday = 49. Taken from Travelling Tabby. If it's due to an increase in testing, that's fine (well, not fine, but you know..) As long as it can be accounted for, it's not a huge concern but if there's a sudden increase as a result of the easing, that's a bigger issue.

I think a small uptick in infections is almost inevitable as restrictions ease, given the numbers out there who are apparently still susceptible. As PP have said though, I don’t think it’s cause for concern as long as test and trace (or whatever they’re called) can deal with it. IMO we do have to get society moving again and can’t just stay locked away forever. There’s a level of risk accepted with lots of things in life (including other diseases like flu) and I don’t see why COVID should be different.

For those that are saying that Blended learning is the way forward , do you have only one child ? Do you not work ? Or are your kids age 13 plus and can be left home alone on their non school days ?

I think the amount of days makes a difference too. For example ds would get 2 days per week with blended learning but most of my friends and family would be getting 4 days out of every 15 school days.

I could make blended learning work, but we'd be doing a lot of outdoor stuff because I also have a 2 year old. However ds is only 5 and likes learning as long as it's sold as something else.

"Blended learning" is just a Newspeak for part time school.

I don't mind for a week or so to get sorted but it's totally unacceptable after that. The risk simply doesn't justify it

I could make blended learning work, but we'd be doing a lot of outdoor stuff because I also have a 2 year old. However ds is only 5

Yeah I would have said the same with kids that age.

Totally different ball game with three in S1, S4 and S6. The two older ones are studying subjects I have no clue about. And I'm trying to get on with my own work too. And I'm starting a Masters in October.

Agree that "blended learning" just means part time school, however they spin it. Because if they had gone ahead with the proposal of my kids being in one week in 3, the teachers aren't doing any less. They are just teaching the same lesson to a third of the class, three times. So when that's happening, who's looking after the home learning and marking the work? Nobody. Because amazing as teachers are, they can't be in two places doing two things at once.

I have 4dc 11, 9 and dts 5. Home schooling has been ok only because it has just been recapping what they already have worked on, dd1 is very switched on and just cracks on with it without being told, the dts much the same as it's been fun. Dd2 not a hope in hell. I've just finished uni, looks like I'm going to have to stay home another year just incase.

Can I ask a stupid question 're the classroom bubbles. If one class bubble is sent to isolate until a negative test is given, then does all the families within these bubbles also have to isolate? Will sibling classes bubbles have to isolate too? I'm fairly confused why the schools won't put twins in the same class for just this year?

Our councils told us we won't hear anything until the end of the month, totally clear as mud "we might do this, we might do that"...

@mascotte you say the risk doesn't justify it. Why is it more acceptable for me to take extra risks going to work but not for any other profession?

By all means have me and my class of 33 children in full time but at the same time get rid of the need to distance and wear masks in every other area of society.

Can anyone help me regarding return dates for an s2 in Glasgow ? My step son is adamant he is going back earlier but all we can see is 10th August online

@mama Glasgow teachers are back the 10th and 11th with children back the 12th

@Onebabyandamadcat I'd happily do that do to be honest.

Wash hands, stay home if symptoms, test.

DHs colleague says her daughter works in Asda alongside a teacher who has been furloughed.

I thought teachers couldn't be furloughed? Weren't they meant to be doing full time online learning? And its summer now I know but even still, I thought they weren't furloughed?

Says a lot about how busy they were with online learning if a teacher can work in Asda at the same time!

Thank you so much xxx

I work in a school and 50% of us were furloughed dependant on where you teach etc , for example I am a sports teacher so I was furloughed

I didn’t realise teachers could be furloughed either ...

I don't know a single teacher in Scotland who was furloughed. Maybe a private school? Would cut down on wage bills. The PE teachers in my school were setting work for cert classes and 'fitness challenge' (not Joe Wicks) type things for other years.

By all means have me and my class of 33 children in full time but at the same time get rid of the need to distance and wear masks in every other area of society.

I think that's another issue that needs consideration. School size varies dramatically, should one rule apply to all? There will be 14 children in ds's primary 1 classroom. One of the villages near by has a school roll of 8, factor in sibling and I think it's only 4 families. That's obviously a different level of risk to 33 families.

In some ways, given our circumstances and ds's personality I'd prefer blended learning especially since there hasn't been a transition but whatever the Government do now, it's going to annoy people isn't it.

School size varies dramatically, should one rule apply to all?

Agreed. Both my DC will be in classes with less than 15 pupils. Their entire school has around 25 different families using it.

Nothing is individualised, we have to wear a mask regardless of whether you are one of 10 people in a massive supermarket with a high ceiling and open doors or a tiny boutique type shop.