Here come those tiers again.

[Cismyfatarse]

New Fred.

The Presiding Officer, who is politically neutral, can postpone the election for up to six months, and he would have to consult:

"Scottish Ministers, the Electoral Commission, the convener of the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, and the Chief Medical Officer of the Scottish Administration in reaching a decision."

beta.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/scottish-general-election-coronavirus-bill

Gutted for my S5 DD doing 5 highers stressed with the constant unknown re assessments or when a return to school will be. No idea why the higher students aren't being prioritised.
No idea who to vote for in May every party seems supportive of ns and the lockdown. Are any parties opposing the school closures or making a fuss like the tory mps in England.
I'm so so done with it all no education for my children, I am not receiving my neuro treatment and we cannot open our self catering business. If we can't open by Easter we are done we can't last any longer.
Its utter misery I feel so impotent despite writing to ns, John swinney and Kate forbes x

I’m an ASN teacher and apart from being livid about an article online from STV news online saying that unlike English ASN schools Scottish ASN have on the whole been shut this lockdown (where have I been everyday working then??), I’m still in the dark as to what’s happening next week. At first I thought all children are back especially as we all got vaccinated last week but now I’m not so sure, some days we have 60-70% of children in the building so any more staggered return and we will be at full capacity. Parents phoning us up asking when their children are coming back and we don’t know. Your right ASN does feel forgotten about.

On a personal note I could cry too, S5 and S4 lost a term of school now, I can see how their motivation has dropped they are so fed up, DD1s anxiety is sky high about exams and uni. Poor DD3 is S1 she had a rubbish end to P7 and now is having a rubbish start to high school she was in tears today over having too many assignments due in the one day. DS who is P6 was in tears too, DH ended up writing a note to his teacher saying he was having the afternoon off DH is WFH full time and trying to help DS I’m working outside the house, we’re all finding it so stressful. Another month of this now

Agree with you AudacityOfHope comparing apples with oranges isn't it...

(where have I been everyday working then??)

Sweetkitty my neighbour in my street is ASN teacher and she has been in two days per week, the rest she has to work from home. She said on Sunday in the street she is now worried about transport numbers from next week😬

It's progress. It's more than I thought tbh. I thought they were going to delay the wee ones going back.

The election will very much be going ahead. The covid legislation has already been changed to allow the opening of church halls etc if required by a returning officer...hmmm what kind of properties are generally used as polling stations 🤔and in whose name is it all done...oh yes, the returning officer....

Surely they can’t close schools that are used as polling stations . If they are only going to fully open up on maybe the 15th March. Will they not too allow for time for a deep clean as well before Children can be back in the building after hundreds of people using the facilities till 10pm .

@sweetkitty I definitely think it's a postcode lottery re ASN provision. Before we found out dh had to shield again we were all set to send ds to school as we're both keyworkers and we kept getting texts from the school and council asking us to only send ds in if we had absolutely had to.
Out of 150 pupils there are only 18 in. From what I know the teachers are working from home and support assistants are in the school. The school are fantastic and I can't praise the teachers highly enough.

And 'only send them if you really HAVE to' is the message friends have told me they've received too - putting pressure on parents not to send rather than considering what's in the child's best interests and making sure those with greatest need are in.

I was about to say that schools being used as polling booths would be the final straw.
But other than here there's no way to complain and even here I'm being told it's actually not the SNPs choice or fault which seems unlikely.

. I could complain to my MP - Ian Murray who is Labour actually seems very competent and hard working - but actual net result can be nothing .

No point trying to do some parents complaint group coz Usforthem now short hand for certifiable bunch of right wing loons.

So I'll just rail a bit unsuccessfully and keep taking the St John's wort. My DS goes to private school anyway so in reality it doesn't impact me. In fact perhaps I DH just keep quiet as it will widen the attainment gap. Although based on current effort DS is putting in not sure there will be any gap in his case.

No intention of letting the FM decide if I’m allowed to stay in self catering near my family in England who I haven’t seen in 18months and who’ve all had the vaccine. Easter school holidays I’ll be putting foot on the gas and crossing the unicorn border. Police Scotland will not stop and fine/impose quarantine conditions on those of us returning to vote to cross the land boundary, it just won’t happen.

We have already had our inservice days changed to use the school for the elections 🤷‍♀️ but hey ho Saint Nicola 🤦‍♀️

Getting ahead of myself but I do worry that as a previous poster suggested if s4-6 have to SD when they go back then that doesn't really leave space enough for s1-3 to also return...

The election bill is here beta.parliament.scot/-/media/files/legislation/bills/current-bills/scottish-general-election-coronavirus-bill/introduced/explanatory-notes-scottish-general-election-coronavirus-bill.pdf

It doesn't mention polling places, other than to say they might extend polling by a few days as it will take longer due to distancing.

I am curious to see what they do about schools, I would hate to see them close schools for voting after all this.

Am I being stupid? A phased in return means like a return done over a period of time! So why are we fully back to normal come Monday in our setting?

@Groovee

Am I being stupid? A phased in return means like a return done over a period of time! So why are we fully back to normal come Monday in our setting?

Not all years will be back?

Oh are you a nursery/preschool?

I think they are testing the water really, with the ones who can’t be homeschooled so easily, are a PITA at home and prevent parents wfh, and don’t get covid so often.

I've had a text and load of instructions in an email as DS S4 is getting back to do outdoor PE, he has to go and pick up covid tests and test the day before he is due into school.

[quote ladylunchalot]**@sweetkitty I definitely think it's a postcode lottery re ASN provision. Before we found out dh had to shield again we were all set to send ds to school as we're both keyworkers and we kept getting texts from the school and council asking us to only send ds in if we had absolutely had to.
Out of 150 pupils there are only 18 in. From what I know the teachers are working from home and support assistants are in the school. The school are fantastic and I can't praise the teachers highly enough.[/quote]
@ladylunchalot that sounds much the same as in my DSis’s school - she’s a teacher in an ASN secondary which specialises in global learning difficulties. There were 20 places made available for pupils and she’s wfh the rest of the time. I’m so sorry to hear what a rough time you’re having. DSis worries a lot about her pupils and their parents too.

@sweetkitty so glad you’ve had your jag as an ASN teacher! DSis and colleagues still haven’t heard anything

Re:ASN schools we’ve had children in 2, 3, 4 and 5 days a week depending on need. Very few parents chose to keep their children off altogether. I do work in severe and complex needs so maybe it’s been different with other categories of schools. And we were all vaccinated last week which we saw as a step forward to getting all the children back to school. Would just like some clarity now as to what is happening next Monday.

@AgentCooper

Reading on my local fb group that a lot of parents of children with ASN angry that their kids excluded from the reopening for p1-p3, seems discriminatory. Is the same lag going to happen for other year groups too when that's announced?

Hi, lurker here.
Feeling utterly defeated at the moment, 2 teenagers 1 in college and one s5 and a p4.
All with asn , just feel like we’ve been utterly forgotten about.
Had to almost beg the school to have my middle son and all they will give us is a couple of hours two morning sessions a week (mainstream school) The school is empty. Definitely space there but as he’s a senior they don’t want them in because they say they’re more transmissible!
He cannot work independently at all and my husband is a keyworker but I’m not so we’ve been left to our own devices. Just feel utterly fed up

On the upside, at least lockdown hasn't been extended this time.
Small mercies.