Tieribly angry wee fannies fannying about with the tiers

[dancemom]

Things moved quickly so I just started a new one ...

@IncludeWomenInThePrequel

Lots of people don't want to ditch masks!

Well they weren't on the train I was on yesterday. I was relieved to see so many not wearing them I'll be honest. I'd hate my children to ever start to think this is the norm.

In terms of the announcement tomorrow I think she'll still remain cautious and say they are waiting to see what return of schools does to numbers and say all restrictions will be lifted mid September.

@TheGenealogist I totally agree. Am a PT of a large department and we need clarity. It is simply not good enough to leave things to the last minute.

It is unfair on parents, who want to support their children; unfair on teachers, who want to support pupils; worst of all, our pupils have been damaged far too much already - and she doesn't seem to care.

No she doesn't care, @Cismyfatarse. Because all that matters is Covid. It doesn't matter that the last set of exams my 18 year old sat were his Nat 5s, and now he's off to uni based on predicted grades from Highers in 2020 and the assessments this year. DD had the most horrendous year, being told from August that it'd be continuous assessment with no exams and then having a toddler-style meltdown just before Easter when they issued an exam timetable which was basically an entire diet of testing, with every exam being run in full, twice.

And usually, they switch timetables about the end of May to get 4 or 5 weeks teaching in for the Highers. That didn't happen this year so she's already behind, and no idea how she'll be assessed.

Add to that the periods of isolation caused by a positive classmate (even though nobody isolating also tested positive), not being in school at all between 18th December and 19th April, no extra-curricular anything, masks, distancing, cleaning desks and teachers having to quarantine work for 72 hours before looking at, it's been quite a year.

At last the Children’s Commissioner has commented on the poor treatment of children and young people and the effects on them of lockdown and school closures. There’s been a study out. Doubt she will listen though.

@TheGenealogist

No she doesn't care, *@Cismyfatarse*. Because all that matters is Covid. It doesn't matter that the last set of exams my 18 year old sat were his Nat 5s, and now he's off to uni based on predicted grades from Highers in 2020 and the assessments this year. DD had the most horrendous year, being told from August that it'd be continuous assessment with no exams and then having a toddler-style meltdown just before Easter when they issued an exam timetable which was basically an entire diet of testing, with every exam being run in full, twice.

And usually, they switch timetables about the end of May to get 4 or 5 weeks teaching in for the Highers. That didn't happen this year so she's already behind, and no idea how she'll be assessed.

Add to that the periods of isolation caused by a positive classmate (even though nobody isolating also tested positive), not being in school at all between 18th December and 19th April, no extra-curricular anything, masks, distancing, cleaning desks and teachers having to quarantine work for 72 hours before looking at, it's been quite a year.

I saw the damage being done to kids every day. And it was horrendous. My own 2 just missed it, although have had a much tougher time at University. Both have had 3 separate 10 day isolations. One was in isolation with 3 positive cases while doing a final exam - he had had Covid but was running a sick room and providing food.

It is a shocking mess.

But, much worse for kids in school. Especially the teenagers who have exam pressure on top of puberty. They also need their friendships so very much.

God, I’m glad I’m not a teacher or a teen. Just awful.

To be honest we pretty much took the decision in about the beginning of February to ignore the rules about not having people in the house in order to let DD spend time with her friends. I know people talk about mental health all the time, but DD really was struggling. She went from being a happy teenager who was always out with her friends, to a grumpy, cross and very angry girl who had screaming meltdowns and was just so rude and horrible to be around. So I texted one of her friend's mums and asked how she'd feel about sending her DD over for pizza and Netflix. The mum replied within seconds saying she thought it was an amazing idea.

She probably saw friends once or twice a week from then on and was much more settled and able to cope with the "exams which are not exams" pressure.

I've been worried about my DDs mental health throughout lockdown.

Pre 1st Lockdown, she had just made a new friend after being pushed out of a previous friendship group and really hurt by that.

As the new friendship was so new, she became very anxious that she would lose that friendship too over lockdown. She was so miserable. Fortunately I was WFH and could give her attention but it was hard.

That new friendship didn't last after all so DD had to find other friends when schools went back and they weren't the nicest of kids so once again she's starting out in another friendship circle.

On top of all that, the home learning was really shit - there were days she had no school work at all. We got her an online tutor during part of it, as we were so worried she was falling behind. We even looked into private schools and moving her to one as her friendships and learning were suffering so badly. I was so worried about her mental health too.

I am very worried about how the next year will go but at least its not an exam year yet. I'll be watching DD very carefully.

It was really distressing to see the effect that lockdown had on my children, the primary aged one in particular. His behaviour took a nose during lockdown 1 when we couldn't so much as go to the park or his grandparents' house. When they opened the schools in full in August he recovered and was doing really well - he won awards for achievement and had a group of friends (difficult for him as socially awkward) and was in a good place. Then they shut the schools again and within weeks he was regressing again - lashing out, refusing to do work. Towards the end of term there were a few 'cases' in school (no-one ill as far as we know) and some isolations which also took their toll. Absolutely heart-breaking to know there was very little we could do about it.

Nicola really needs to start with the assumption that schools need to be back normally whatever happens (for child welfare/development as well as academic achievement), and work around that as England and Wales have done. The bubbles and threat of isolation and masks need to go on the basis that they are harmful to children. Controlling spread, at a point where all the vulnerable are vaccinated, most adults also are, and we've derisked COVID as much as we ever will, needs to be a secondary consideration to children's welfare. The pressures on the health service at this point can be massively improved by simply easing restrictions to stop staff isolations and increases the numbers allowed on wards etc. and the latest good quality evidence suggests the direct risk to children from COVID is minimal to none. If we don't prioritise children, we risk doing enormous damage to the next generation (indeed, on top of the damage we've already done to them) for very small gain in society generally.

Agree @Y0uCann0tBeSer10us latest zoe app podcast has research showing approx 1% of children end up with long covid. Which is horrible if it happens but for me shows that proper treatment options should be established so that the other 99% of children can try to repair the other developmental, educational, social and mental health issues the last 18 months has caused.
I don't wish for anyone to get covid or long covid (especially children) but we seriously need to live with this now and accept it like other illness risks.

My DD is generally a very resilient child. She is very much average academically and has had to come to terms with following in the wake of a high-achieving older sibling. She's always the kid who puts herself forward for school council, or parts in a play, or some other position in school, and never gets picked. She's very good at picking herself up, dusting herself down and moving on.

She is also fortunate to have engaged and supportive parents, a nice, secure, heated house to live in, plenty of food, and lots of people who love her and want the best for her. There are so many kids who don't have any of that - hate to think what the last 18 months have been like for them if I'm seeing the serious effects on my privileged middle class daughter.

• 799 new cases of COVID-19 reported
• 13,807 new tests for COVID-19 that reported results
◦ 6.5% of these were positive
• 1 new reported death(s) of people who have tested positive (noting that Register Offices are now generally closed at weekends)
• 60 people were in intensive care yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
• 407 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
• 4,012,496 people have received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 3,214,801 have received their second dose

I was definitely ready for a sub-1000 day

Me to @IncludeWomenInThePrequel. DD will be bringing down the % tomorrow as we'd to test her for a cough, happily she's negative. Bloody bugs!

*too

Boo for the cough, but hurrah for the negative test!

I am also bringing it down as I just did an LFT; have been out to five pubs/cafes/ restaurants this week and have a big face to face work meeting tomorrow so wanted to check myself.

Great to see a sub 1000 day I know weekend numbers generally tend to be lower but it's far better then a couple of weeks ago!

Let's hope it gets taken into consideration for tomorrow!

@IncludeWomenInThePrequel

Boo for the cough, but hurrah for the negative test!

I am also bringing it down as I just did an LFT; have been out to five pubs/cafes/ restaurants this week and have a big face to face work meeting tomorrow so wanted to check myself.

Sounds like a good week I am quite looking forward to getting back to the office.

We got a few more packs of LFTs yesterday when doing the PCR test as have a nephew who is CV and do worry for him.

Definitely time for freedom

Well my illegal gathering with the family was mixed. Good good and the staff at the restaurant had us on two separate tables right next to each other.

But dads dementia (still not formally diagnosed) is getting rapidly worse. He didn't recognise my DS today, and even after being told "that's Jimmy, Your grandson Jimmy, Genealogist's youngest" he was still confused. Luckily DS didn't hear, he'd have been gutted. Also struggling with things like putting his jumper on.

Fuck dementia and fuck covid too.

@TheGenealogist 💐 That’s very hard.

It's pretty shit. More so for my mum. She can't do things like her a haircut as she can't Keane him. Think I'm going to have to start once a week all day visits, as respite for mum if nothing else.

That's so tough @TheGenealogist if you are able to visit once a week I'm sure your mum would really appreciate it. Dementia is an absolutely vile condition.

And Alzheimer’s Scotland are really good for tips on how to help and make life easier. Like using Alexa to make sure the person can call easily. Might be worth planning before things get worse