Well that’s Scotland in national lockdown from midnight

Appreciate the sentiment, but I think for most people who are in the private sector they're also going to have a bloody good go at also taking away financial security.

 

Correct . The money s been there , it just needed some central planning which hasn't taken place . Schools have simply been given a loose set of rules open to interpretation then have spent the last 4 months fending for themselves .

 

Delivered, for the millionth time, in a sombre tone with a grave expression throwing in the odd dated proverb. The only question is which of his faithful band of weirdos, social misfits and fruitloops will he be flanked by? Will it be Doctor Doom, Penfold, the 55 year old virgin or Rose West?

 

Schools have always been a breeding centre for bugs.
Don’t you remember when one kid in the class got mumps or chicken pox it was not long before half the class was down with it.
Not re opening schools is IMO the only sensible course of action to take

 

Again I agree . What happens if your kids have to stay home for a number of weeks plus but your employee wants you at work ? After a year of decision after decision we a straight back to square 1 and 450 billion pounds worse off . What a disaster .

 

Our school finally got the laptops from the government a few weeks ago and our IT team have been working flat out to get all software needed put on them. It's taken 9 months for them to arrive at school, 9 months! We've spend hundreds of thousands of pounds buying laptops and dongles for all kids that don't have one and we've handed out almost all the laptops we had in school already apart from 3 banks of 15 that can be booked out to classes. I can't believe how slow this government is with absolutely everything. I know there's a lot of things they can't control but even the things they can they have been rubbish at.

 

This disease isn’t going away soon, vaccine or no vaccine. When it does, there will be another one along shortly. We have to learn to live with these kinds of things. I’d prioritise Kids and their well-being over every other group in society.

I never ceased to be amazed about how, my generation and the ones that went before it are able to screw up the future of our children in so many different ways. Shameful.

 

The fact we've not had covid by now when we have kids in primary school and pre school suggests to me that they are not contracting and transmitting the virus, their immune systems are killing it or some vaccine they are having when babies/toddlers is giving them some immunity. Either that or weve just been incredibly lucky, or we've all been asymptomatic or had a mild version - but i think ive only had 2 bugs since march.

Also unbelievable weve had home use anitbody tests waiting to go since july and they are still not being rolled out.

 

Interesting mate. And I’m glad you and your family have not been affected by this epidemic.
I must admit also have not even had a cold this winter. Possibly because of all the hand washing and not really interacting with others quite as much.
Hopefully it remains the same for me until I get this vaccine.

 

If tests had been more readily available then I think it would have helped slowdown the spread. And Boris should never have promised the 5 day Christmas. For me I'd have said we'll have an extra bank holiday instead when we've got on top of it, something to look forward to.

One daughter back at uni looks like I'll be stuck with the other!!

 

Scotland - only allowed out for essential travel but you can go and play golf. Priceless.

 

You love 'em all really lol

 

I do.

 

you must always bring back a pint of milk and six rolls.

 

People would have done what they wanted at Xmas regardless of what he said.

 

Apart from breaking the rules...

 

Its amazing that we are still organizing schools in the same way as the Victorians are.

Why do kids have to be in school full-time, 5 days per weeks in the first place?
Why do kids have to do all their schooling in school buildings? Why not have plans in place to use other facilities that are currently not in use?
Why are we still insisting on single-hit exams for GCSEs and A Levels when for years a sizeable number of students have struggled with hay fever and other ailments or just nerves? - why not modular exams which are taken on a regular basis? A friend at school in the 80s broke his wrist 2 weeks before his O Levels and was unable to write - he left school with nothing.
Why does all teaching have to be with a teacher? Why not blend in-person, remote, online, and other types of learning? - Do some pupils react better to different types of teaching? How can we ensure everyone has the best chance?

We *could* have used this opportunity to produce an education system that is fully fit-for-purpose in the 21st century. But we just carried on doing as we always have.

Its a separate argument, but if schools are a major source of infection (I've seen 50% quoted in places), then vaccinating school kids and staff (if vaccination prevents transmission) could significantly reduce R and the number of cases. If R goes from 1.1 to 1.6 (new variant), it increases deaths by several times over a month (I've seen from ~120 to ~900 with a reproduction cycle of 5 days). Reducing it by that amount could save many more lives than vaccinating the elderly (see also NHS staff, shop workers, transport workers, etc). This would also allow kids and teachers to return to school normally without the constant worry of infecting their parents.

 

Remote learning is rubbish for my son as he just doesn't do it ( and I suspect a large amount of teenagers) For younger children, you need to spot difficulties in their understanding straight away
Education is very different to when I was at school. They did turn to coursework and modular exams in the 90s but good old Gove wanted to take us back to the 50s