Schools

While school is a very useful institution for keeping children coralled and occupied (as well as educated) don't forget that each person with the virus who is in unrestricted contact with others can spread it to 406 people in 30 days.

Each school class has 20-25 pupils, a playground has hundreds, all interacting with each other. An infected teacher could be facing dozens of different classes per week. Like everyone else, they will be infectious before they are aware that they have it.

All other places where people are massed together have been closed. Of course schools are closed too. How could they not be?

It is going to be very difficult for parents of children with complex needs. They don't have the necessary support at home to care for their child 24/7. So many knock on effects from this .

What about those children of poorer families who rely on free school dinners?

Just listened to Gavin Williamson on BBC Breakfast about school closures.

So, he’s shutting them all down except for children whose parents are “ key workers”, children who are vulnerable because of child protection issues( proved or not, according to him) and special schools. All these schools will be open over the upcoming Easter holidays , too. Apparently , legislation will be put before Parliament very soon to do this.

Hang on, mister, who are you asking to make this work? In two working days to start on Monday?

So “ key workers’” kids will be decided, apart from the obvious, by head teachers.
Decisions will be made , he’s not clear how, about whether those kids will go to the same schools they are at now or “ hub “ schools . If it’s not the same, how do they get there and back? How is their work transferred ? How do they pick up their work with teachers they don’t know and who don’t know them? How is the risk they pose as symptomless virus carriers managed?

Oh, don’t worry the heads will sort it. In two days. The heads who have been saying for years that they can’t even run their own schools properly because of chronic underfunding . Where from? Ten years of Tory austerity.
Need them now, don’t we?

And why are teachers, who almost certainly have at least one of babies/ elderly parents / pregnant wives at home , who are all in a high risk category, expected to juggle all of this and put themselves on the line when they are already working at full stretch? And then take the virus home? They can barely cope with a normal teaching load, which isn’t normal anyway because of the massive underfunding from ten years of Tory austerity.
Need them now, don’t you?

Those schools are going to stay open during the Easter holidays. Eh? How? Presumably the staff can be forced to do this. When , if they are not sick or self isolating , they need that rest to recharge ? But they can’t have it.

Need them now, don’t we?

Special schools. These look after incredibly fragile children and if these kids have an EHCP , they can stay at school. They often require very high levels of staffing, Williamson was saying the law will be changed so this is no longer a requirement. So, doesn’t this put them at risk at school?

And, unlike most kids ,they are much more vulnerable to the consequences infection but will be exposed to it daily when staff come in , possibly after having been on public transport , from living in a household where the staff’s own family might be unseen carriers , where the other kids who go to the same school will bring their myriad of germs in . Wtf?

Oh, and where’s all the support that they had in the past at home? Constantly eroded and eventually completely cut by a a Tory government who doesn’t think they need it! Till now. When it no longer exists .

And their teachers? Why are they deliberately being exposed to these risks and their families are dispensable when everyone else is told to self distance?

Oh , don’t worry says Gavin. Teaching staff will work closely with the Health Service and Local Authorities to manage all this. Oh yeah, they’re sitting around waiting for a job like this as they are so bored ! Er, the same agencies that have been on their knees for years, imploding as all the welfare stare collapses around them after ten years of deliberate targeted underfunding by a Tory government. These resources do not exist.

Need them now, don’t we?

I could say the same about the NHS, the police, the fire brigade, the military, social worker, prison officers.. on and on. And everybody who has been forced to work on shitty contracts and so can’t look after their own kids and keep food on the table at the same time.

The Tories have shat all over all these dedicated people from a great height for ten years and now they need them to rescue us . And we all know that , as always , they will do their best. But it absolutely stinks.

Maybe there is such a thing as society?

We'll said Sheila 11

Hard for full time working parents!

Desperately sad not to be able to have DGD for Friday sleepovers and seeing her twin brothers on Saturday. My daughter will work from home and look after the children at the same time. I am in a high risk group and DD is worried that the children will pass on germs. I thought maybe that if we were isolated for 14 days and she and the children also isolated for the same period that the risk would be greatly reduced, but her husband is an electrician and has to work in the public arena. Just going to have to grit our teeth and make the most of facetime

and what about families with children of different ages. Are we assuming that they have a computer each?

My theory about the reason this virus has spread wider in Italy is because the Italians are far more touchy feely/kissing people. No doubt I will be accused of being racist for saying this.

I have just read an article on death rates with coronovirus. Much higher in Italy than in other countries. Correlates with the number of elderly who are infected. Much lower in Germany probably because it is so far circulating there among younger people. Of course it is everyone’s choice and I know the financial penalties may be very pressing for many parents. But it suggests it is probably best for grandparents not to take on looking after grandchildren in this current situation.

Teachers are not childminders.

FFS you cannot have children in school when staff numbers are dropping, it is simply unsafe. It is also one way to slow down the rate of infection. It is not some sort of conspiracy to give teachers a long holiday or make working parents' lives more difficult.

I don't think anyone "has it in for the teachers" Phoebes . As you say it was the governments decision to close the schools. Personally I am not sure it was the right decision as I can already see groups of older children hanging around the streets.

I don’t understand why people have it in for teachers. I was one all my life and it’s very hard work.
It was the government’s decision to close the schools, not the teachers who would have soldiered on in the face of extreme difficulty.
Do people really think that teachers really want all those hard years spent preparing pupils for exams go to waste? Most of them must be devastated and will continue trying to tutor the children on-line which will involve a lot of preparation and marking.
Nobody wants to see schools close, but it is a necessity for the sake of public health.

rant away GardenofEngland . We are in very worrying times.

So parents apparently are unable to supervise their children Yvon? Makes you realise what a valuable job teachers and all staff in schools and nurseries do doesn't it?

My daughter works on the tills in Wilko 16 hours a week. Has been there for nearly 10 years. She will end up back on full benefits as her 3yr old sons nursery is closing. She is worried sick.
Are not supermarket workers key personnel as well. People need to buy food and household products. I can't help I live too far away. And at the moment stuck in sunny Spain under almost house arrest, as our ferry has been cancelled and first booking now is April 16. We are lucky we have a very understanding holiday rental but all those people getting tossed out of hotels and motorhome campsites are in a terrible situation with no way to get back. Not everybody got here by plane!....rant over!

Exactly Yvon .

In New York our daughter and son-in-law are both working from home due to the Corona virus. Their little son’s daycare is closed, so they are taking it in turns to work online and look after him.
Their small flat is open plan so the only place they can corral him safely is the bathroom. Someone obviously has to be with him and keep him occupied. He can’t be in the living room when there is a conference call going on. There are two small dogs to factor in as well, so working from home isn’t easy. They both have very high-powered jobs, our son-in-law at an investment bank and our daughter at Columbia University, so they need to keep working.

A greek gentleman told us that in Greece where the schools are shut the kids are hanging around the coffee shops unsupervised and bored.

Closing schools has been debatable since day 1. I'm keeping my distance from my elderly parents and my grandchildren, as we're in our 60's and hubby has chronic bronchitis. Yet, we both work in a school and will now be expected to go in and look after other people's children. From my daughter- who's a staff nurse's point of view, her children are safer in school than what they are with her at home.

I hope you are not referring to my DGD eazybee. although I suspect you probably are .

For your information she was sat in the foyer of the school and the huddle of teachers were right beside her. Was she supposed to close her ears? She IS a child whereas you are clearly just childish.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries said the move was not prompted because children were at any particular risk, but because it was necessary to reduce social contact throughout society.

This is a national crisis, and decisions are being taken, implemented and changed all the time to suit the rapidly changing situation. Of course they are not clear yet about public exams because no-one, apart from the charming child who eavesdrops on teachers' conversations and then repeats them, knows how long the schools will be closed. Education staff are working on it now, including all the teachers whom some are convinced are beginning an extended period of paid leave.

Just remembered that the email also said that children who aren't able to access online learning would absolutely not be in any kind of trouble.

Made me pleased to see that.

Thanks for your reply Trisha. I am sure your GS will be fine as the children seem to cope very well with this Virus. MissAdventure; I am sure Boris rues the day he became Prime Minister. I would challenge anyone to think this is an enviable job to have at this point in time. He really is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't whatever decisions he makes. It is such a rapidly changing situation.

Grandad1943 Not many industries have a worker in a confined space with 150 different people during the course of their working day. During the winter months teachers constantly drag themselves into school with coughs and colds. If they passed one onto a pupil, well, that was sad but...
This time however if teacher is showing symptoms, and passes illness on, well it could lead to something much scarier. (Even if the teacher is convinced it's just a cold, the school will still send them home - duty of care to pupils)