So... What will actually be the situation after next week?

[GleamingBaubles]

Will they, won't they?

As I understand it, secondary schools will have remote learning for the first week (except exam years), then back to how it was before Christmas. But worse, as we will use unreliable LFTs instead of isolating close contacts. Making the bubble system ridiculous (so a lot of schools are dropping it)

Primary - no change.

Still no masks in classrooms, still no social distancing, still no extra funding for those in classrooms with unopenable windows for air filters or similar.

Am I right? Or do you think the government/DfE might actually do something?

Whatever the decision, it will be last minute and the opposite of what logic dictates - numbers going down rapidly? Stay off for 6 months. Numbers increasing - everybody in and teachers, your country needs you.

What are the unions doing? There has always been something of a health and safety issue with this but I some areas it is now clearly beyond a joke.

I’m in a tier 4 area. DH and I went out for walks on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and saw huge numbers of people showing up at houses with arms full of gifts and hugs... most of the children involved seemed to be primary age.

My school had ONE case in all of last year.... I think the next few weeks are going to be carnage due to all the rule breaking and households mixing.... dreading it TBH....

I think secondaries will be online until Feb but primaries will be business as usual and damn the consequences

Cases in my school were few & far between until the final week when they exploded.

My colleagues and I were all being super careful, hand washing, etc, distanced from one another and we all caught it anyway. The ONLY people we had close contact with were the children. KS1 so no distancing. Colleagues who got it had covered that class / worked with them at some point.

It's an utter farce. I STILL have to put up with comments like 'Oh, but children don't get it do they so you must've caught it from a colleague or at home.'
No. No I didn't.

Christ, the government did a right number on the general public, they really did.

I won't tell you how angry I am that I've been horribly ill over this whole break and when I'm feeling marginally better have to return to work because the Government cannot be fucking bothered to actually listen and put something workable in place.

I wouldn't be surprised if the rates rocket again...kids have been mixing / shopping / meeting with friends & family. Perfect timing to then come back to school and spread this bloody virus even more.

It's an absolute car crash.

I don’t understand how teaching staff aren’t on the vaccination list if they want to keep schools open? As much as they hate us surely this makes economic sense.
Our secondary school has been told we will be testing students in the first week back - we were told this on the last day of term. We haven’t been told how we will do this, who will do this, and on the gov website only vague references to the military organising it and being run by volunteers who apparently don’t need a DBS! Anyone else been told this? Chaotic is definitely the word! Our lovely head has said we’ll be using the 4th Jan to organise it all, tongue firmly in cheek.

I'm really not looking forward to it at all. I had complaints in the last lockdown that I wasn't doing live lessons (work was given and was available to discuss on Teams) but I just couldn't with a 4 and 2 year old that need looking after. I spent my weekends recording lessons for my exam classes. It felt like nothing was good enough. I feel sick just thinking about it.

If schools close I really hope my primary age DCs can have key worker places. It's just a nightmare.

I'm Secondary, but my own children are Primary. In the email we had on the last day of term it said "we do not expect any staff to have childcare issues as you are all key workers, your children will have to be given a place".
This was the case in the Summer when we had (new/incoming) Y11 and Y13 back.
We are Tier 3 but I think likely to go in to Tier 4 soon enough. My Y11 form and class have already isolated 3 times since September. They had 2 positive cases the final week before Christmas, sent half of Y11 home.

Just seen that primaries are open as normal. As someone who is currently very ill with covid caught from a young child in reception class I want to cry. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. Please could the govt come into primary school classrooms for a day and not practise any social distancing and wipe noses, bottoms, tears away etc before they make their decisions

Iamsodone, I feel the same. I teach year 6 and I am still expected to mark everything, break.up fights, eat woth them, wipe down their tables, supervise their very most definitely not distanced breaktime every day, attend bloody staff meetings etc etc. On the last day they even had their usual xmas party and I had to dish everything up and pick it up afterwards. It is utter nonsense to say primaries are safe. I would like them to come into my cramped class with naff all ventilation and see what they would do when child A kicks off and needs handling. All without a mask in sight.

I've had two cases so far and given that from fb I can see that most of my class have had a lovely xmas travelling all around and mixing I can expect more. Our primaries have had proportionally more cases than the secondary has.

I hate the government.

I won't tell you how angry I am that I've been horribly ill over this whole break and when I'm feeling marginally better have to return to work because the Government cannot be fucking bothered to actually listen and put something workable in place.

If you still have symptoms when it's time to go back, you shouldn't return to work. You are meant to isolate until you no longer have symptoms- however long that takes!

I do think secondaries will be more delayed going back- unless the testing plan get changed in the next few days!

There is no way most secondaries will be able to test all students in a week- so they won't have all students in on the 11th! But then the government will be able to blame schools, rather than taking responsibility themselves!

I think after that we will limp on until too many schools are shut due to staff absences, though, unfortunately. When we do shut again, it will be as unplanned as last time.

It's the uncertainty I cannot cope with. I am HoD of a core department in a v large secondary and the pressure is already insane. Not knowing what I am walking into next week is making me want to weep. I have loads of planning I need to do for exam classes, but shifting every other year online is going to be a mammoth task.

I teach in a rural primary in a Tier 3 area but very likely to go into Tier 4.

We had positive cases on the Thursday before we broke up for Christmas- (my HT decided to close on the Friday.) Those were our very first cases and it left us all reeling.

So far 5 staff have had their Christmas break ruined, all are ill. 4 from Y5/6 and one in EYFS. 5 children that we know of are also positive.

Goodness knows what will happen next week. I'm dreading going back.

Just wish they would lockdown again for the month and vaccinate as many people as they can.