Schools to open or not?

[Derek Hardballs]

It’s a no from me.

[Squid]

It's a yes from me and I've told the school that in the surveys they have sent. If people have to go to work, children should be able to go to school.

[Derek Hardballs]

It's a yes from me and I've told the school that in the surveys they have sent. If people have to go to work, children should be able to go to school.

Teachers and staff should also be safe and so should kids families.

[Squid]

It's a yes from me and I've told the school that in the surveys they have sent. If people have to go to work, children should be able to go to school.

Teachers and staff should also be safe and so should kids families.

Why does that not count for other workers? Are you really keeping your children away from school until there is a vaccine? Or do you think September will be some kind of magic month.

I think the title of this BMJ article sums my thoughts up well:


Children are not COVID-19 super spreaders: time to go back to school

https://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2020/0...020-319474

[Derek Hardballs]

It's a yes from me and I've told the school that in the surveys they have sent. If people have to go to work, children should be able to go to school.

Teachers and staff should also be safe and so should kids families.

Why does that not count for other workers? Are you really keeping your children away from school until there is a vaccine? Or do you think September will be some kind of magic month.

I think the title of this BMJ article sums my thoughts up well:


Children are not COVID-19 super spreaders: time to go back to school

https://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2020/0...020-319474

When...

Trace and Track is up and running 
When they have recruited the 18k needed to do the job
When Private Schools decide to go back
When those who are shielding are told the risk is sufficiently low to go out 
When the BMA say it’s safe for schools 
When there is sufficient PPE etc in place 

Then we will make a decision to send our kids back to school. The teachers are not the enemy in this, it’s those who have decided / buckled under pressure to make people go back to work early. I think we know who they are. This isn’t about education or looking after the most vulnerable at what point over the last ten years of austerity have the most vulnerable been a major consideration for those in power?

[baggy1]

I mentioned this a while ago and it is worth understanding for kids. There is something called Kawasaki disease that affects kids and there has been a rise linked to coronavirus. I only know about it from a friends kid getting it years ago, it’s very rare. Just for peace of mind I would be happier to understand more if I was a parent of a school age children.

[Babel]

Yes. Where I am they went back three or four weeks ago—but in groups/ classes / bubbles of five (years 0-5 only).

[Squid]

Derek - the BMA is just a union of doctors, not the final word on medical science. Plenty of doctors disagree with them.

I don't think anyone is "the enemy" and we need to move past such divisive labelling. Nor do I think that society getting back to normal is a desire solely driven by money. The Children's Commissioner of England agrees:

https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk...to-school/

[Shabby Russian]

It's a yes from me and I've told the school that in the surveys they have sent. If people have to go to work, children should be able to go to school.

The problem with this argument is that the Govt are going to insist on maximum class sizes of 15 children, which means that even in the year groups that are returning, it will be on a part time basis.

I am finding the policy towards schools hard to understand.

I don't understand why reception and year 1 children are returning first. Surely the children who will find social distancing rules the most difficult to adhere to.

I don't understand why we are not making provision for children in years 10 & 12 to return - probably the years most adversely affected by schools being closed.

[baggiebuckster]

I won't be sending my kids back in June.

I think that the little educational value they will gain from at best 6 weeks of schooling on a part-time basis is not worth the risk. I am fortunate to work from home so I am more than happy to continue overseeing the home schooling for now.

I understand that people will say 'You can't stay away forever - there will always be a risk etc' and I don't dispute that. However 3 months is a relatively long time and things could be very different in terms of our understanding of this virus and there will be greater potential of therapies being discovered for treating it. It is not just the kids that are at risk - it also places our whole family at risk so that needs to be considered.

At the moment it all seems a little rushed to me and I don't see it being a gamble worth taking.