Educated guesses when schools will reopen

[frasersmummy]

Just that really

What do you think might be a realistic re-opening date.
Am I being optimistic thinking after the February break
I know no one has a crystal ball just looking for people's thoughts

Oh bollocks.

I was in school today so am just catching up with the news now 😫. I was delivering resources to a family after school and honestly both the mum and I were almost in tears. I am strictly taking a day at a time just now.

@Kazzyhoward chance would be a fine thing for us - it's been about 15 years since all our single desks were replaced with doubles, caused a lot of bother when we were trying to arrange for 2m distancing (or in normal times, during a test you cannot separate the desks)

Given the latest review mid February and phased return for exam years and young children.
What do we think that actually means?

S4,5,6 back and nursery / P1,2 maybe?
Do you think that will actually happen or do we think it will get pushed back again?

I wondered if they might put nursery children back even sooner than mid-feb because they’ve been saying it’s safest for the early years. Then p1/2 and older years? What do you think, will they go back before teachers are vaccinated? I’m thinking they might do this with clinically vulnerable teachers before they open to all years.

There was certainly some noise about vaccinating teachers, then mutterings about it not being morally / ethically right to vaccinate teachers before more vulnerable older people.
But I've since heard other stuff about vaccinating ALL public facing workers in after they've done the top 4 priority groups.

But part of the issue of doing teachers is yes it stops them getting it but it doesn't stop teens passing it between themselves and taking it home to parents contributing to community spread etc.

I really do wish they'd open nurseries. I've no clue how parents of 3,2,1 year olds are coping.
My 4yo is much better now than his 3 yo self was last year. But the amount of screen time he has really isn't healthy.

They should not vaccinate teachers before those in clinical need. It makes no sense, as once the vulnerable are vaccinated, the first tranche, the NHS won’t be overwhelmed so no need for schools to be closed.

Vaccinating teachers will be very good fot the health of the teachers, but will,do next to nothing for the re-opening of schools, because that is dependent on with wider state of community transmission and pressure on hospitals, and that will not ease without going through the risk groups designed to prevent around 90% of deaths and thousands of hospital admissions.

JCVI said back in December that occupational priority could be at the start of phase 2 (and teachers were one of the five or so top priority ones suggested)

I think that is likely to be the upshot. There is little sign that they are going to change the order, and instead will just ride out the demands for them to do so.

If they do bow to the demand, I will be very surprised if they put occupations ahead of priority 6 (the clinically vulnerable)

I agree wouldbegood. But they seem to have painted themselves into a corner!

They just need to woman up and make the proper decisions and get on with it.

I’m sick of all this!

Apparently England are getting 2 weeks notice before schools open. Cue announcement...

It's the way they aren't saying what the criteria for opening schools actually is. Or the real likelihood of it happening. Young children, does that include P2/3? Some people interpreted youngest children to be all primary, I'm not convinced.
Exam years does that include S3?

What's the real odds of school opening? Are Ladbrokes taking bets? Would be good to know their odd, probably more accurate than what SG are actually coming out with

@iquitelikenormalityafterall

Apparently England are getting 2 weeks notice before schools open. Cue announcement...

I saw that after I posted, yip Scotland will follow suit. Yes 2 weeks notice, announcement right before the Easter holidays, maybe I'm too cynical!

I just wish they'd give us something to be more hopeful for...schools might return on a staggered basis in a month is not giving us much! We're all staying in and doing what we should but what's the damage to mental health this time round with the weather/general bleakness and very little positivity to spur us on? Just feels never ending sometimes

It does. Not sure if it’s the weather but it all feels very bleak today. I’m usually quite resilient but finding it hard to cope with it all this week.

why do parents need 2 weeks notice of schools re-opening?? surely it would make far more sense to say we will reopen when the case numbers are x or the r number is below 1 or whatever

or is that treating us all like adults instead of naughty kids .

Sorry a week

I didn't think we had full 2 weeks notice in August, I thought it was pretty last minute that the schools were going back full time.

However parents can probably cope knowing schools are going back overnight, but that's a bit unfair on the teachers if they've prepped online learning rather than in class. I guess what it means for teachers is don't prep any more than two weeks in advance.

Two weeks notice for another two weeks of lockdown... and so on and so forth. Yes they’ve been giving us this just two weeks more nonsense since September. Please remember this is temporary shite. It’s been a year of this now, and really we are no better off, with no prospect of children getting face to face education any time soon. I’d like a real plan, with real criteria to get out of this mess.

It's the way they aren't saying what the criteria for opening schools actually is. Or the real likelihood of it happening.

This has been the most frustrating thing for me. Even if you asked them they would just say 'When it's safe to do so'.

Safe by whose standards though. Safe from catching the virus? Safe from dying? Has it ever really been safe to do anything?!

They were talking about how low the case numbers were when schools went back in August, hope they're not waiting for that to happen

@fluffyugg

They were talking about how low the case numbers were when schools went back in August, hope they're not waiting for that to happen

They better not be on that mindset. The same could happen again. Open for Autumn term, closed Winter and Spring.

Well then they would just be throwing children’s education away. That would be nearly a year and a half with most of their time spent at home. They speak of returning at the earliest possible moment it’s safe. And then speak about how safe it is for early years at the moment. So they’ve really not done as they promised already!