Schools

[ksrclaret]

I would put my left nut on the line and say 99 % of children off school will have a parent with a smart phone with an internet bundle attached to it.

For sure. But in a household with a few siblings who all need access for at least a couple of hours a day, that’s nothing like good enough.

[fatboy47]

Ever thought of training to be a teacher? Should be easy enough to get on a course with your experience in the nursery setting. It’s obvious you are passionate in your thinking the majority of schools and those who work in them aren’t up to scratch.

why should he?

maybe he's also passionate about helping kids at the EYFS stage of their development? something thats every bit as important (arguably more so) as cramming for SATs...?

and maybe he's simply aware that the potential for damaging disruption to childrens' lives stemming from social withdrawl and the current dramatising of the situation actually far outweighs the non-existent threat to young children posed by covid19.?

[Grumps]

I hope that the union leaders, and council members who say its not safe to send children to school, won't be having haircuts, perms, nails done or any other beauty treatments come July.
However I wouldn't bet the ranch on it.

[Blackrod]

‘.... non existent threat posed to young children by Covid 19’

Firstly that is debatable at best. Secondly it’s not just about that but who they might pass it on to in their family and beyond.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

why should he?

maybe he's also passionate about helping kids at the EYFS stage of their development? something thats every bit as important (arguably more so) as cramming for SATs...?

and maybe he's simply aware that the potential for damaging disruption to childrens' lives stemming from social withdrawl and the current dramatising of the situation actually far outweighs the non-existent threat to young children posed by covid19.?

Totally agree with how important EYFS development is. Obviously there will be an impact in nursery aged children as well for those in settings which closed down completely for 8 weeks. It was just a question he can still teach EYFS in schools as well.

Still not sure on the ‘non existent‘ threat personally otherwise why not just get all year groups back in both primary and secondary? I think local authorities (even conservative led ones) are going against the reopening advice on 1st June as they are petrified of any lawsuit further down the line should in the worst case scenario of a child dying from this virus.

[evensteadiereddie]

The leaders of the Academy Trust running quite a few of the East Staffordshire schools are so convinced that there's no risk that they have consulted their legal department - just to check, you understand - which concluded, in the event of any child or teacher or one of their family members falling ill through attending school, there would be no case to answer.

"Impossible to prove the poor sap's picked it up at school, you see, we're off the hook, lads !"

[fatboy47]

perhaps ""non-existent" is a bit strong...but theres a clear element of hysteria, exaggeration and hype around this subject..

perhaps best not to go into the relative dangers facing children isolated at home as it doesnt fit in with the anti-school agenda.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

perhaps ""non-existent" is a bit strong...but theres a clear element of hysteria, exaggeration and hype around this subject..

perhaps best not to go into the relative dangers facing children isolated at home as it doesnt fit in with the anti-school agenda.

No you are correct about those children isolated at home and the definite danger they are in. Daily phone calls to them are all well and good but they are still at home and being subject to god knows what else the rest of the day.

[martin_p]

perhaps ""non-existent" is a bit strong...but theres a clear element of hysteria, exaggeration and hype around this subject..

perhaps best not to go into the relative dangers facing children isolated at home as it doesnt fit in with the anti-school agenda.

It’s a bit risk to be talking about ‘hysteria, exaggeration and hype’ then branding all children at more risk at home. The vast majority of children are perfectly safe at home. Yes, there will be a small minority for which it is a problem but for the vast majority of children the ‘relative dangers’ put school as the most risky place at the moment.

[taio]

It’s a bit risk to be talking about ‘hysteria, exaggeration and hype’ then branding all children at more risk at home. The vast majority of children are perfectly safe at home. Yes, there will be a small minority for which it is a problem but for the vast majority of children the ‘relative dangers’ put school as the most risky place at the moment.

It seems you are assuming he was referring to just safeguarding risks e.g. abuse, neglect, whereas the risks of children being isolated at home and without sufficient learning opportunities are much broader.

[MACCA]

Ever thought of training to be a teacher? Should be easy enough to get on a course with your experience in the nursery setting. It’s obvious you are passionate in your thinking the majority of schools and those who work in them aren’t up to scratch.

Never said they arent upto scratch, they're your words, I'm merely pointing out they will want to continue earning their full wages for easier work, shorter days, no commutes and sat in the comfort of their home, without the need to be in a class with upto 30 kids....

Keep up Steve, you're getting good at reading what's not there and making your own mind up at what I'm thinking and putting it into your own words.

Would love to have been a teacher, seems a very rewarding job with a fair to good work to lifestyle balance.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Still time for you.

[martin_p]

Never said they arent upto scratch, they're your words, I'm merely pointing out they will want to continue earning their full wages for easier work, shorter days, no commutes and sat in the comfort of their home, without the need to be in a class with upto 30 kids....

Keep up Steve, you're getting good at reading what's not there and making your own mind up at what I'm thinking and putting it into your own words.

Would love to have been a teacher, seems a very rewarding job with a fair to good work to lifestyle balance.

Or maybe they want to work in a safe environment. When the majority of the country are still at home it’s a reasonable ask.

[FactualFrank]

Ministers under pressure over schools return date

Ministers are facing pressure from councils and teaching unions to reconsider plans to reopen English primary schools to some pupils from 1 June.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52733452

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Ministers under pressure over schools return date

Ministers are facing pressure from councils and teaching unions to reconsider plans to reopen English primary schools to some pupils from 1 June.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52733452

Seems to be a lot of backtracking going on now by the government a lot of which seems to be over the track and trace system. They need to learn to put plans in place first then make the announcement. Not difficult.

[MACCA]

Or maybe they want to work in a safe environment. When the majority of the country are still at home it’s a reasonable ask.

Maybe the majority of the country maybe can still do the job to the same standard
Maybe the majority of the country have to pay/wage drops
Maybe the majority of the country dont have a job that effects the lives and wellbeing of thousands of children, and with the ripples possibly have a long lasting effect on their lives
And I'll guarantee the Majority of people dont have a totally risk free job

Like I keep stressing, when is the right time to start "preparing for a staggered return"?
What is the end game?
Why was the government and scientific advice ok to follow when they were told to prepare to close?
What are the stats required or needed for teachers to return?
What % of teachers need to agree to return , for them to return?

I'm yet to hear their counter proposals, simply saying we dont want to return "until its safe" isnt in my opinion good enough.

When will this "is safe" be?

What if they say 3 months, 6 months, maybe even 2021, maybe never if they're waiting for the virus to be fully eradicated

I

[dsr]

Or maybe they want to work in a safe environment. When the majority of the country are still at home it’s a reasonable ask.

There are two major aspects to whether people could or should return to work.

1 - the benefit to others of returning to work. People whose job is essential have been at work all along even though it is at increased risk to themselves. NHS and care home staff are the poster childrens for this self-sacrifice, of course, but it also applies to delivery men, supermarket staff, food manufacturers, etc etc.

2 - the financial benefit of going back to work. This is what football's return is all about, because even some of the players realise that any money not received by the clubs is not available to be passed on to the players. Plenty of other people are working, not simply for their own benefit but also because if they don't, their employer is at risk of going bust and they would lose their jobs.

In both cases, people assess the public benefit and their own personal benefit and decide whether a return to work is worthwhile, overall. NHS workers have safe jobs but the public need is great; so they go to work. Builders, for example, provide little in the way of immediately necessary public benefits, but their jobs are at risk so some of them are going back to work. It's a balancing act - is the extra risk worth the extra reward, either for themselves or for the public.

Teachers obviously have safe, secure jobs that will be there, without any risk of pay cuts, when they want them. They have no reason to go back re. point 2. The only thing for teachers to concern themselves with is the public benefit. Does their job contribute enough in the way of public benefit to mean they should be willing to accept a small degree of extra risk to themselves? It's a matter of weighing the balance between their own safety and the value of education.

[martin_p]

Maybe the majority of the country maybe can still do the job to the same standard
Maybe the majority of the country have to pay/wage drops
Maybe the majority of the country dont have a job that effects the lives and wellbeing of thousands of children, and with the ripples possibly have a long lasting effect on their lives
And I'll guarantee the Majority of people dont have a totally risk free job

Like I keep stressing, when is the right time to start "preparing for a staggered return"?
What is the end game?
Why was the government and scientific advice ok to follow when they were told to prepare to close?
What are the stats required or needed for teachers to return?
What % of teachers need to agree to return , for them to return?

I'm yet to hear their counter proposals, simply saying we dont want to return "until its safe" isnt in my opinion good enough.

When will this "is safe" be?

What if they say 3 months, 6 months, maybe even 2021, maybe never if they're waiting for the virus to be fully eradicated

I

It’ll be safe when the R rate is close to zero, certainly less than 0.5.

The trouble is the government has taken a broad brush approach to this mainly based on what’s happening in London. It may be safe for London schools to return with an R rate of 0.4, but the rest of the country is higher and parts of the north west are real hotspots.

I’d also add that the majority of parents think it’s too early as well.

[Swizzlestick]

I certainly won’t be sending my daughter back. The ‘r’ rate in the NW is almost double that of London. There needs to be full disclosure of the scientific advice and a robust track and trace system. This is bare minimum.

[MACCA]

It’ll be safe when the R rate is close to zero, certainly less than 0.5.

The trouble is the government has taken a broad brush approach to this mainly based on what’s happening in London. It may be safe for London schools to return with an R rate of 0.4, but the rest of the country is higher and parts of the north west are real hotspots.

I’d also add that the majority of parents think it’s too early as well.

So who's to say London R rate doesn't reduce further and the rest of the country falls below the 0.5 ( going off your figure ) in 3 weeks time?
Will it not have been better "preparing for a staggered return" now then reviewing it before they actually go back?

I've not seen or heard of anyone saying, you will ho back on x date regardless of the safety of staff or children.

It's a proposed date and will be reviewed and only imposed IF its deemed safe enough.

The teachers response to that is they dont want to return "until its safe" how are they measuring safe? We dont know.

Let's here what they think safe is, and at what point they are happy to return, then we can have a projected date by looking at all the stats, graphs and trends.

[BurningBeard]

Ministers have claimed to be using Denmark as a model but unlike them we are starting from a higher base R (thought to be above 1 still in pockets of the NE where I live), we haven't published scientific advice as it relates to our country, and there''s been a lack of constructive dialogue between government and the teachers. This means that people have low confidence when compared with Danes because they haven't been brought along on the journey. Couple that with evidence of how the government have dealt with risk in care homes (and other areas) and surely it's not difficult to understand why people are nervous. Denmark also dont have kids in schools until the year of their 6th birthday. Each school is different and not all have issued advice as relates to them specifically.

In relation to MACCA's question around why it's OK to follow advice to close schools but question more about reopening, the answer is obviously mitigation/decrease of risk versus introduction of risk and potential spread of the desease.

I respect martin's position re R, but I'd probably be inclined to send mine back with the R above 0.5 as they have in Denmark, providing confidence has been built up. At the moment, as I've said before it feels like a leap of faith.

[AndrewJB]

The government could take the same useless position to that of the Shadow Education Secretary. Oppose schools reopening and at the same time oppose online learning because children need the benefit of face-to-face learning with a teacher. I presume this broadly aligns to the position of the unions. Helpful.

I haven’t seen this. Do you have a link?

[TVC15]

I think Macca makes some really compelling points about defining safe and what exactly do people want in place before they are happy for schools to open up again ?

The bar as to what some people consider safe or acceptable does seem to have risen somewhat.

In terms of “essential” industries whilst education ranks behind the NHS and a few others it would be hard to argue that it’s not above many of the other sectors that have now returned.

When you see what the likes of the police and other sectors have had to work through the whole of this crisis and you see the noise that has emerged around schools it does seem strange that some are taking such a strong stance now.

I don’t think the communication and clarity from the government has helped the situation and neither has the lack of discussions with the unions beforehand. At a time when many key workers and sectors have been treated pretty disgracefully we should not be looking to demonise sectors like teaching and dividing society on this issue - especially when there was no real excuse for the government to not consult with the sector and unions beforehand.

[Spijed]

Until we get a vaccine it won't be any safer for us to do anything in 3-4 months time than it will now.

That goes for schools, sport, work, travelling on public transport, basically anything that requires people to come into close contact with others.

[martin_p]

So who's to say London R rate doesn't reduce further and the rest of the country falls below the 0.5 ( going off your figure ) in 3 weeks time?
Will it not have been better "preparing for a staggered return" now then reviewing it before they actually go back?

I've not seen or heard of anyone saying, you will ho back on x date regardless of the safety of staff or children.

It's a proposed date and will be reviewed and only imposed IF its deemed safe enough.

The teachers response to that is they dont want to return "until its safe" how are they measuring safe? We dont know.

Let's here what they think safe is, and at what point they are happy to return, then we can have a projected date by looking at all the stats, graphs and trends.

We do know what the teaching unions deem safe, the NEU have published their 5 tests. This narrative you want to pursue of teachers and their unions wanting to sit at home getting paid to do nothing just isn’t true, they’ve been clear for a long time what needs to be in place. One of the tests involves having test and trace in place which the government have admitted is unlikely to be in place for 1st June (FYI, it’s 12 days away not three weeks).

Edit - here’s the link for those who think teachers won’t say what safe is, it was published on 1st May

https://neu.org.uk/neu-five-tests-gove ... an-re-open

[Claretnick]

I think Macca makes some really compelling points about defining safe and what exactly do people want in place before they are happy for schools to open up again ?

The bar as to what some people consider safe or acceptable does seem to have risen somewhat.

In terms of “essential” industries whilst education ranks behind the NHS and a few others it would be hard to argue that it’s not above many of the other sectors that have now returned.

When you see what the likes of the police and other sectors have had to work through the whole of this crisis and you see the noise that has emerged around schools it does seem strange that some are taking such a strong stance now.

I don’t think the communication and clarity from the government has helped the situation and neither has the lack of discussions with the unions beforehand. At a time when many key workers and sectors have been treated pretty disgracefully we should not be looking to demonise sectors like teaching and dividing society on this issue - especially when there was no real excuse for the government to not consult with the sector and unions beforehand.

Maybe for some parents it's the fear of losing a child to something you could have prevented happening. Thirty five years ago, my wife and I lost our 5 year old son to a sudden death, he had a heart complaint we knew nothing about. I can tell you there's not much worse in life than burying your own child. Maybe it's just fear, together with no trust in anything the politicians are telling us, I don't know....

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Maybe for some parents it's the fear of losing a child to something you could have prevented happening. Thirty five years ago, my wife and I lost our 5 year old son to a sudden death, he had a heart complaint we knew nothing about. I can tell you there's not much worse in life than burying your own child. Maybe it's just fear, together with no trust in anything the politicians are telling us, I don't know....

Sorry to hear this Claretnick.

[Swizzlestick]

Maybe for some parents it's the fear of losing a child to something you could have prevented happening. Thirty five years ago, my wife and I lost our 5 year old son to a sudden death, he had a heart complaint we knew nothing about. I can tell you there's not much worse in life than burying your own child. Maybe it's just fear, together with no trust in anything the politicians are telling us, I don't know....

I can think of nothing worse.

Much peace and love to you.

[TVC15]

Maybe for some parents it's the fear of losing a child to something you could have prevented happening. Thirty five years ago, my wife and I lost our 5 year old son to a sudden death, he had a heart complaint we knew nothing about. I can tell you there's not much worse in life than burying your own child. Maybe it's just fear, together with no trust in anything the politicians are telling us, I don't know....

Very sorry to hear that and I can’t imagine what you went through.
I do understand the fear and anxiety parents will be feeling - I’ve had it for the last 2 months with my wife and daughter (nurse and police).
I just think with the schools that they were already open for children of key workers and the proposed return in early June is not that big of a difference from what has been happening already in a number of schools.
I do think that any parent who does not what to send their child should be exempt from any kind of punishment in this initial return with the situation reviewed thereafter.

[jackmiggins]

I’m surprised that there still isn’t more info on infections within local communities. I’d have expected that we would be able to zoom into our local areas to view the rate/numbers etc. Any info at the moment seems to be for very broad regions and trusts.
I’ve no idea on the infection rate within each school’s area. Perhaps, if this was available, it would give parents and teachers much more confidence on any decisions made regarding their own school?

[Blackrod]

Or maybe they want to work in a safe environment. When the majority of the country are still at home it’s a reasonable ask.

... but they are on full wages and accumulating valuable pension benefits which is being funded by taxpayers who are struggling financially and putting their own lives on the line by working in less safe environments.

[Erasmus]

What appears to be the problem is that the return to school has been announced with so little preparation or prior planning. This should have been started as soon as the decision to close schools was made.

What should have been done was:

1. Grouping schools into clusters of about 25 and 30 and nominating a head teacher from each group for specific training on how to implement the return, how social distancing could be implemented, and how differences of circumstance between schools could be assessed and responded to.

2. Then that person should have been able to liaise with all the heads in their group, passing on the details of the planning for the return and responding to questions from individual heads relating to their specific circumstances.

3. Then a decision could be taken as to the extent to which individual schools were able to safely take groups of children back to school. The extent to which this can be done will vary from school to school, depending on classroom sizes, number of classrooms, availability of staff, and, perhaps most importantly the level of infection in that particular area. This latter point would of course be contingent on proper levels of local testing,

But it seems that none of this has been done and head teachers have been left on their own to take decisions that could have a profound impact on the safety of both children and staff. The head of my son's primary school has just sent out an email asking about the availability of marquees to be erected in the playground. It all seems like there has been no proper planning for this and head teachers have been hung out to dry, whilst abuse is hurled at teachers attempting to do such a difficult job.

[bfcjg]

It's a very difficult and emotive subject especially with the conflicting views of scientists and healthcare professionals, my personal view is a staggered return has to happen with additional safety and testing.
We cannot stay locked up forever look at today's news about Rolls Royce less jobs less tax less money for the NHS and teachers salaries, vicious circle but we have to start somewhere.

[dsr]

We do know what the teaching unions deem safe, the NEU have published their 5 tests. This narrative you want to pursue of teachers and their unions wanting to sit at home getting paid to do nothing just isn’t true, they’ve been clear for a long time what needs to be in place. One of the tests involves having test and trace in place which the government have admitted is unlikely to be in place for 1st June (FYI, it’s 12 days away not three weeks).

Edit - here’s the link for those who think teachers won’t say what safe is, it was published on 1st May

https://neu.org.uk/neu-five-tests-gove ... an-re-open

The problem with those 5 tests is that they are not tests at all. They are vague aspirations.

1. Much lower numbers of Covid-19 cases.
How much lower?

2. A national plan for social distancing.
There already is one - keep two metres apart. There is scope for reducing the distance, or for giving different guidelines for children than for adults, but to go into any more detail is tricky. It's probably the most reasonable of the tests, though.

3 & 4. Testing, testing, testing / Whole School testing
Comprehensive access for regular testing of children and staff. And as well as being comprehensive, it has to cover everybody. It's only one test, this is; and again, do they mean "comprehensive" as in every child, every day, or if not - what do they mean?

5. Protection for the vulnerable.
This isn't a test. This is an internal matter for schools in how they will cover for teachers who are unable to get to school. The government can't possibly schedule timetables for every school in the country or even make a plan that will suit them all.

[martin_p]

The problem with those 5 tests is that they are not tests at all. They are vague aspirations.

1. Much lower numbers of Covid-19 cases.
How much lower?

2. A national plan for social distancing.
There already is one - keep two metres apart. There is scope for reducing the distance, or for giving different guidelines for children than for adults, but to go into any more detail is tricky. It's probably the most reasonable of the tests, though.

3 & 4. Testing, testing, testing / Whole School testing
Comprehensive access for regular testing of children and staff. And as well as being comprehensive, it has to cover everybody. It's only one test, this is; and again, do they mean "comprehensive" as in every child, every day, or if not - what do they mean?

5. Protection for the vulnerable.
This isn't a test. This is an internal matter for schools in how they will cover for teachers who are unable to get to school. The government can't possibly schedule timetables for every school in the country or even make a plan that will suit them all.

If you want vague look at the fifth government test for easing lockdown!

You’ve either deliberately ignored or missed a lot of the wording that clarifies much of this. Test 1 talks about a sustained downward trend and proper test and trace capabilities in place, these are the important points, as long as the numbers are going down. The second test talks about PPE, again the salient point. The third test, which has probably largely been met, is clear enough. Children didn’t have access to testing if they had symptoms before, they do now. The fourth test is very clear, if there’s a Covid case at a school the whole school gets tested. Test 5 is probably also met as the government aren’t insisting that vulnerable adults or the children of vulnerable adults return to school. Remember these tests pre-date the lockdown easement announcements.

It’s odd that you thought Boris Johnson’s ramble on 10th May was perfectly clear but couldn’t work this out.

[dsr]

It’s odd that you thought Boris Johnson’s ramble on 10th May was perfectly clear but couldn’t work this out.

When did I say that?

[tiger76]

Coronavirus: UK to trace contacts of 10,000 new cases from 1 June

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the UK will be capable of tracking the contacts of 10,000 new coronavirus cases a day by the start of June.

At PMQs, Mr Johnson said there was "growing confidence" the UK would have a test, track and trace operation in place by 1 June, with 25,000 trackers.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had challenged the PM over the absence of a tracing system since March.

Ministers are also planning to reopen some schools in England from 1 June.

The PM was also questioned over testing in care homes during the pandemic.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Sir Keir asked why there had been no effective attempt to trace the contacts of those infected with Covid-19 since 12 March.

Mr Johnson replied: "We have growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world-beating and yes, it will be in place by June 1."

He added that 24,000 contact tracers had already been recruited.

The PM also insisted that the UK was now testing more than "virtually every country in Europe", and promised that the system would be stepped up in the next fortnight.

If there's a reliable test, track and trace model in place by June 1,then it should be possible for some schools to reopen.

How hard can it be to keep track of infections in a low density staff and student population.

[martin_p]

When did I say that?

Ok, if I’ve got that wrong I apologise. But don’t let that deflect from the main point, the tests are pretty clear.

[martin_p]

Coronavirus: UK to trace contacts of 10,000 new cases from 1 June

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the UK will be capable of tracking the contacts of 10,000 new coronavirus cases a day by the start of June.

At PMQs, Mr Johnson said there was "growing confidence" the UK would have a test, track and trace operation in place by 1 June, with 25,000 trackers.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had challenged the PM over the absence of a tracing system since March.

Ministers are also planning to reopen some schools in England from 1 June.

The PM was also questioned over testing in care homes during the pandemic.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Sir Keir asked why there had been no effective attempt to trace the contacts of those infected with Covid-19 since 12 March.

Mr Johnson replied: "We have growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world-beating and yes, it will be in place by June 1."

He added that 24,000 contact tracers had already been recruited.

The PM also insisted that the UK was now testing more than "virtually every country in Europe", and promised that the system would be stepped up in the next fortnight.

If there's a reliable test, track and trace model in place by June 1,then it should be possible for some schools to reopen.

How hard can it be to keep track of infections in a low density staff and student population.

Well we know that the app won’t be ready and that is a key part of an effective system. There was a government minister said this morning that they might have something in place but 1st June but it wouldn’t be the full system.

[tiger76]

Well we know that the app won’t be ready and that is a key part of an effective system. There was a government minister said this morning that they might have something in place but 1st June but it wouldn’t be the full system.

Councils aren't impressed and they're not all Labour controlled authoritieshttps://uk.news.yahoo.com/1-500-english ... 8995.html

[aggi]

Mr Johnson replied: "We have growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world-beating and yes, it will be in place by June 1."

I really wonder why we have to bother with this kind of crap. One that works as well as a load of the other countries who have already implemented one would be fine for most people and realistically is what we'll get.

Implementing something months late and trying to sell it as amazing just smacks of trying to spin their own cock-up. Fair enough, that's what we expect from politics now, but it is a little distasteful.

[Blackrod]

Our school was reopening yesterday and we received a letter from the head saying so. Today we have an email from the head saying it’s not as the governing body say no. Does anyone know what is going on ?

[martin_p]

Our school was reopening yesterday and we received a letter from the head saying so. Today we have an email from the head saying it’s not as the governing body say no. Does anyone know what is going on ?

Other than for the children of key workers it shouldn’t have been reopening yesterday. 1st June is the earliest it will happen.

[Damo]

We have had an email asking if my son will be attending if they reopen in early June. He's 6 (year one) and will be one of the first groups to go back. We said he would be provisionally, but would assess the situation closer to the time.
It's a really difficult descision to have to make though. On one hand we worry about him catching the virus, yet on the other we are both concerned about how this is affecting his development. He was excelling before this started, and even though we have been schooling him at home, he's certainly not getting the education we would expect him to get attending school 5 days per week. Theres also the social aspect. Hes not been able to play with kids his own age since schools closed down.
Guess we will have to just play it by ear and decide at the last minute.
I'm certainly not going to have the government telling us when he should go back. It's ok them saying the R rate is at this or that level, but as someone else on this thread mentioned (TVC possibly?) they are not looking at infection rates regionally

[martin_p]

We have had an email asking if my son will be attending if they reopen in early June. He's 6 (year one) and will be one of the first groups to go back. We said he would be provisionally, but would assess the situation closer to the time.
It's a really difficult descision to have to make though. On one hand we worry about him catching the virus, yet on the other we are both concerned about how this is affecting his development. He was excelling before this started, and even though we have been schooling him at home, he's certainly not getting the education we would expect him to get attending school 5 days per week. Theres also the social aspect. Hes not been able to play with kids his own age since schools closed down.
Guess we will have to just play it by ear and decide at the last minute.
I'm certainly not going to have the government telling us when he should go back. It's ok them saying the R rate is at this or that level, but as someone else on this thread mentioned (TVC possibly?) they are not looking at infection rates regionally

Problem is, if they are enforcing social distancing I’m not sure they’ll be able to play i the way they want to anyway.

[BurningBeard]

We have had an email asking if my son will be attending if they reopen in early June. He's 6 (year one) and will be one of the first groups to go back. We said he would be provisionally, but would assess the situation closer to the time.
It's a really difficult descision to have to make though. On one hand we worry about him catching the virus, yet on the other we are both concerned about how this is affecting his development. He was excelling before this started, and even though we have been schooling him at home, he's certainly not getting the education we would expect him to get attending school 5 days per week. Theres also the social aspect. Hes not been able to play with kids his own age since schools closed down.
Guess we will have to just play it by ear and decide at the last minute.
I'm certainly not going to have the government telling us when he should go back. It's ok them saying the R rate is at this or that level, but as someone else on this thread mentioned (TVC possibly?) they are not looking at infection rates regionally

All the best for you and your family Damo, whatever your final decision is.

[Damo]

Problem is, if they are enforcing social distancing I’m not sure they’ll be able to play i the way they want to anyway.

Yeah there is that I suppose pal. Still, being in the same room as another child is a step up from what he has been used too since this started

[Damo]

All the best for you and your family Damo, whatever your final decision is.

Thanks buddy. You too

[Blackrod]

Other than for the children of key workers it shouldn’t have been reopening yesterday. 1st June is the earliest it will happen.

‘Yesterday we were informed it was re-opening on the 1st June) .....’ didn’t think it would need re phrasing

[martin_p]

Yeah there is that I suppose pal. Still, being in the same room as another child is a step up from what he has been used too since this started

I’ve a son in year 1 too and I know the first thing he’ll want to do is hug his best friend. And he says he looking forward to playing out at lunchtime and the sorts of games he and his friends play. If the school is practicing social distancing he won’t be doing any of that.