Juat had an alert from sons school

They play at school though.

 

I can’t say I agree. Whilst it is clear that school kids can pass it on, despite being told that it would be a minimum... the effect on kids well being is starting to take its toll. They are missing key development and social milestones. This could have a massive knock on in the next few years.

 

We’re getting multiple unconnected confirmed cases a day now, there were another 4 yesterday. TAs now have to wear masks and visors in classrooms from next week. Quite a lot of staff are getting really worried now. There have been multiple classes sent home during the day each day and I think staff seeing them being led out, seeing senior staff literally running around school interviewing people trying to find close contacts, seeing the nurse in full PPE attending multiple people a day is starting to really scare people, you can see the fear in their faces and hear it in their voices. The feeling of closing soon is getting stronger (again, only a feeling but I have heard a rumour that schools may be closing 2 weeks early at Christmas). Who know if we’ll have any classes or staff left by then?

 

I thought from last Saturday that it's madness having a lockdown and leaving the schools open. I know it's the kids' education and all that, but they'll miss more in the longer term if the Rona is spread around in schools and thence to the wider community.

 

Got large numbers of people off work at my work place and we are struggling for staff too. Maybe we will close too. People can just make their own food at home in between becoming teachers again.

 

If they do close I would hope the level of online teaching has improved on the standard it was last time (in my experience it was close to non-existent).

massive repercussions for the economy if they shut as it will prevent people from working. On balance I don’t think it’s a wise idea : would have thought supermarkets are much riskier places than classrooms

 

It was disastrous for my 2 last time and my wife, we have a better set up in terms of support at home now but I still dread it happening again if it's a long term thing like last time.

 

Last time they took them out it was six months out. They’ve been back 8 term weeks so far.

 

Many parents are keeping their kids off now anyway. I think it’s easy to underestimate how much this is causing anxiety to some students. They are sat in lessons seeing their friends and others being led past the room and sent home, seeing management come into the middle of their lesson and sending their teacher and some of their classmates home and they are feeling powerless as everything goes on around them and they still have to attend. Social distancing is impossible, I wish I could take pictures to show you but obviously can’t and won’t do that. When the bell goes at the end of break, 300 kids cram together at the bottom of the stairs waiting to go up in a space that would comfortably fit around 50 people (and not 50 socially distancing people). They normally have to wear masks in the main bit of school but when they have PE lessons they all walk all way through without them because there’s nowhere to put them when outside. It’s bad luck if you’ve just started to walk up the stairs as they come down though as you have to (literally) squeeze past 3 classes of kids and teachers all chatting without masks. It’s just madness but the risk was smaller when cases were smaller, not it just feels inevitable.

 

Would you keep them open? I think JamDrop's experience rather speaks against that.

 

I wonder if they thought about the adverse psychological effects of this when deciding to keep schools open. Scenes like these will live long in the memories of teachers and students alike. I wonder whether this will also stunt the education of young people today? I don't know what's worse - the trauma of scenes like you describe JD or not going to school in the first place

 

Yes, of course. I would end the lockdown today if it was my choice.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-54827702

8 children dead so far as a result of domestic abuse that would not have happened had we not locked down.

Remind me how many children have died of Covid?

 

Suppose it depends on how essential we deem them. People are having to work in much worse conditions to make none essential items.
The children themselves are just as safe as they have ever been. Staffing levels are likely the biggest issue with people having to isolate ect. Also the problem with high risk staff who will need to be off too.
I don't know if schools should close or not, I am of the opinion that doing so would have disastrous consequences for many.

 

Do you have laws stipulating numbers for supervision? We can’t run a school without enough teachers to cover classes, no site managers, not enough cleaners, not enough kitchen staff to provide food, no trained teaching assistants in manual handling to toilet the wheelchair users, no finance staff to manage day to day costs etc. Almost all staff are doing two jobs at the minute (including things they have no training in) and it’s not enough. Sections are going to be closed through necessity soon. If you completely ran out of the staff needed to run a basic service then, yes, you would close, you’d have to.

 

If staffing levels drop too low then yes they should close or close certain year groups ect.
As I said above, should they close long term like last time? I don't know.
I'm just of the opinion that the consequences from doing so are horrific.
Are people from your school becoming seriously ill in large numbers or is it just a staffing issue with people isolating?

 

It’s horrendous of course but that article
is about babies being killed, babies don’t attend school. All vulnerable children were supposed to have been in, it was up to the child’s social workers to decide if they felt it was safe for them to be at home or if attendance should remain mandatory. I know some schools did not follow that properly but that wasn’t the fault of lockdown itself, that was the school who was giving out the wrong information’s fault.

 

Tbf Jamdrops description sounds on the extreme side. It's not great though.

 

But they can transmit it though? (Including to those at home who may be vulnerable).

 

I’m not sure how long a closure would be, I have no idea how long cases will remain at a high level but we are going to have to shut areas soon, it’s inevitable. We’ve got both problems, I’m not sure how ill the staff are as we aren’t told but they have tested positive so they can’t be in either way. We have a mixture of those who have tested positive, those who have been in contact with those and sent home and those who have someone in their family that has tested positive.

Trying to have any sort of continuity at the moment is horrendous. There are different students in and out every day plus different teachers. They can’t move on to the next lesson properly as there’ll be 3 kids who weren’t in the day before and missed a chapter for example and there’ll be someone who hasn’t been in for a week and doesn’t even know what the book is called, there’ll be 2 more missing who you know now won’t be able to do tomorrow’s work, a new teacher will come the next day who won’t know what the class has been doing at all. There’ll be kids who sit there hearing nothing because all they can think about is the rumour they heard at lunch about class X getting sent home and their friend they spent all break with is in that class and now do they have it? Etc. It’s really difficult and I don’t know what the solution is.

 

I think it’ll come down to logistics rather than making any considered decision. Most schools don’t have a huge amount of give and 4/5 teachers self isolating or ill will tip them into not being able to open safely.