UK schools could, and should, begin to reopen as soon as practicable after the initial wave of cases has passed through

[Otherrooms]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52180783

What do you make of this?

Schools could go back even whilst social distancing rules are still in place?

Have these people ever been in a school? School corridors/classrooms anyone?!

Just noticed that oopsupsideyourhead
has a thread in this already!
Sorry!!

Yes. Schools are relatively low risk, despite the crowded environment, most children are very low risk and while they are at school they're not spreading germs elsewhere. Hard on us but for the greater good a fairly sensible move.

Most schools seem to be assuming they won't be back until September. It's going to quite a shock to some if it's June and will require a significant mind shift from staff. I hope we get some reasonable notice this time.

The issue will be the way schools/teaching unions seemed to interpret the advice to staff with some underlying conditions. Not the shielded group, but those with asthma, diabetes etc. It seemed that suddenly half the workforce was off and it will be hard to persuade them to go back when they were told it would be harmful for them.

Other industries seem to have taken much more of a "work from home only if you can" view. An asthmatic friend is still working in a care home for example. It's never occurred to her not to.

Schools are relatively low risk, despite the crowded environment, most children are very low risk and while they are at school they're not spreading germs elsewhere. Hard on us but for the greater good a fairly sensible move.

I'm presuming restrictions on social distancing, travel & use of open spaces will lift at the same time then.
Parents driving children to school, children walking in groups to and from.
Crowds of children and parents mingling at primary school gates and secondary school children on packed school buses...

If schools are open, travel to school would be "essential".

Depending on what the rules are around social distancing generally, I'd expect them to apply during the walk to school and at the school gate. Not easy to apply in school though.

Lots of practical considerations of course, but who'd have thought it was practical to close everything down the way we have?

It isn't the children in school who are the problem, it's the getting them there and back.

As the article concludes: '"When combined with intense social distancing it plays an important role in severing remaining contacts between households and thus ensuring transmission declines," he said.'

And drawing equivalence between the role of a care worker provider health care to the elderly and a teacher is just silly

How will opening the schools tie in with social distancing?

You can't walk past someone in the park but you can send your children in with 000s of other children.

Isn't the point of social distancing to restrict spread between different households.

Or will it be don't after the peak and families will be the next wave to get the virus.

Done not don't

I think realistically they need to be shut for at least 12 weeks.

There will be children like DS in the shielding group. the situation as it stands means all children are on a “level” with missed education. However if schools where to open after 8 weeks they would leave a lot of children missing 4 weeks whether through their own shielding or that of a family member.

It depends on the staff, what about those i shielding groups, high risk group or those who live with someone in those groups in a home where isolating from them isn’t possible.

There are lots of children out of school for medical reasond ordinarily. The LA either arranges remote or home tutoring.

and how long does that take to arrange?

That was my point above Simon. Schools allowed those staff to stay away far more generously than any other industry did. Other then the officially shielded group, those people are still working in supermarkets, for the NHS and in care homes. Homeworking has only generally been allowed where it was practical. Most shielded people are unpaid or furloughed.

Schools did the right thing for their staff but they've left themselves in a difficult and unsustainable position, if this turns out to be long term. No one can afford to have a large portion of their workforce on paid leave indefinitely. Something will have to change but it will be very hard to implement having encouraged these people to stay away initially .

The tuition? A few days.

For that many people? Taking into account the needs of them all?

Most local authorities struggle to comply with what is expected in that sense at the best of times so I don’t for a second believe that will be a realistic option to ensure that the vulnerable aren’t left further behind

The 13 weeks runs to May half term so I'm guessing the plan may be to open after the half term 'holiday'?

Yes. Some provision could be put in place quickly, especially the remote tuition provision. It probably wouldn't be what parents would expect but that's not a reason to delay opening schools for all the other children.

I've always thought that OP and nothing I've seen from the LA suggests otherwise. I'm not sure why schools (including my head) are assuming Sept.

Closing schools at all was hard to believe. To leave them closed for half a year?

I've always thought that OP and nothing I've seen from the LA suggests otherwise. I'm not sure why schools (including my head) are assuming Sept.

Me too!

I suspect schools may remain closed until June when the 12 week shielding of vulnerable people ends. Otherwise, there will potentially high staff/pupil absence but also the risk of children carrying the virus to vulnerable people and between households which won't help to flatten the curve.

Obviously when schools do go back, there will undoubtedly be a rise in cases but unfortunately, I think that will be the same no matter when they go back. So, I suppose the ideal would be to reduce the current number of cases and complete the 12 week shielding before re-opening.

We are planning for re-opening after May half term and also in September just in case.

makeitgoaway

That's the timeline I'm working to.
I think HTs/colleges are too.

DC have an e-mail from college saying that they will be contacted regarding re-opening on the 29th May. Here, that is the last Friday of May half term.

If it is to be May it will be quite a shock to the system to some staff and students who have settled into the idea that it will be Sept.

(So they return on the Monday after half term)

I'm prepared to be wrong but I don't think it will be September.

I dont understand how the 12 week shielding can come to an abrupt end.

Well I do, presumably that's when they expect the NHS to be able to cope with the influx because the rest of us have already been ill, but I'm not sure how you persuade the staff they're ready to go back to work. I see a lot of MH absence.

I am a teacher in Iceland. Our schools are still open but we have a lot of measures to ensure social distancing still happens. Different schools have different approaches but three models I know of:

1. “Primary” schools are from age 6-16. In our school we only have the 6-11 year olds in. Each group is divided in half and has double the amount of space they would usually have. There is a staggered start and end to the day and allocated entrances and exits for every class so no two classes meet at all. We also have separate break times, toilets, even allocated routes to walk to the toilet.

Instead of having a range of specialist staff teaching, each group stays with their class teacher, one specialist (drama, woodwork, art, music etc) and one TA all the time and these are the only adults they encounter. We eat in our classroom too and everyone has to bring a packed lunch. It feels as safe as I feel it could.
The older children stay at home and are taught via google classroom live sessions. They are expected to be attending live sessions from 8.30-12.10 every day and then given additional assignments. This is the model I know best as it is what happens in my school. Others are:

1. Everyone attends school for two hours a day at staggered times, they bring in work and are set the next work.
2. Children attend every other day in two groups - the teachers also attend on alternate days.

All of these feel like they are good compromises between complete isolation and ensuring everyone is as safe as possible.