“The Left's hysterical 'confusion' over No 10's plan is utterly transparent

I think MaizieD came up with the sound bite that says it all
Without health there will be no wealth.

Workers are disposable hence they want them back at work. The forces of production are just profit making units for the wealthy.

Those that own the means of production, will be snuggled away in their mansions, extorting the workers to 'kick start' the economy or another such phrase which translated means, get my profits pouring in again.

Anyone that is able to should stay at home. Not indefinitely, but if we come out of lockdown too soon, deaths will just shoot up again.

GrannyLaine It's not a limited few children. It's almost half of a primary school. If you read the government guidelines, it's stated that children should be in classes no bigger than 15 and that neither pupils nor staff will be provided with PPE.

In many primary schools, the classrooms are too small for even 15 children to keep two metres apart. In any case, the pupils aren't used to working on their own, sitting in the same place all day. There will need to be a considerable amount of re-training of young children, who will not be able to rely on an adult for individual help and encouragement. Many young children will not be able to cope with that.

I've seen videos of pupils in China, where the pupils have their temperature taken and are made to wash their hands and are sprayed with anti-viral spray before being allowed to enter the building. All are wearing face masks. Nothing like that is planned in England.

Not only that, but most primary school teachers are female and some of them will be pregnant or have underlying health conditions themselves. Many will have their own children and Johnson said that they won't be expected to work.

The Scottish government has not been playing political games.....in fact despite several "journalists" trying to get her to criticise your Bojo.It may have escaped your notice but its not Scotland thats out of step or Wales or NI ..its ENGLAND who want to go their own way ,the devolved governments are concentrating on getting the R figure to a low enough level BEFORE they lift any restrictions .Thank the heavens for some sense in all this madness.There will be a spike ..its inevitable when public transport is crammed again and people not keeping the required distance .If the English government are happy to let people take risks thats HIS choice not ours

almostelderly I belong to a number of teacher social media groups. Teachers are most certainly not sitting around doing nothing. Unions advised them not to participate in live online teaching, although some are. All of them are preparing lessons which can be taught remotely, either through recording themselves or providing work packs. They are also doing a lot of "behind the scenes" preparation, assessment and reporting.

I write educational teaching materials and I've been working with teachers to help them out. Usually I charge for my resources, but I've been providing them for free because they are more time-consuming than face to face lessons to prepare.

growstuff I take your point but from what I hear on social media, many are choosing not to send their children back to school yet. Of my grandchildren, two are in reception, one in year six. All are doing very well at home but if I was in their parents' position, I'm not sure what I would do

Exactly Furret. I seriously wonder whether these people have ever met a 5 or 6 year old, never mind 30 of them at the same time.

If they are doing well at home and there is no need for them to be out of the house, I most certainly would not send my own children back to school just yet - until there is effective testing and tracking in place and pupils and staff are provided with some form of PPE.

Teachers aren't going to be provided with Perspex screens, which apparently are common in supermarkets. They're not even going to be provided with masks, nor are the children.

@growstuff I'm inclined to agree, but not my choice to make. It has been amazing to see them settle and develop new skills and become more independent in their learning. They seem happier and look healthier than they have for a long time. We have all learned new things from these difficult times.

I really don't understand why Reception children are included in those returning to school. Year 6 I can understand they will have their last few weeks in their primary and be better prepared for secondary and if they are the only children in they will be able to be supervised and socially distance themselves. But Reception is ridiculous. It will be about 7 weeks to the summer holidays. By the time they adjust it will be the holidays again. It's some attempt to pretend they are handling things. Nothing to do with what is best for the children at all.

But why is it primary schools who are going back first? Why not secondary schools? Is it because the secondary ones can be at home unsupervised, whereas little ones can’t?
It said on the news last night that it is an important development stage, reception etc. but I would have thought another few weeks at home would not be detrimental, especially as so many parents seem unsure whether to send them anyhow.

Some schools are to open here in France but it is parental choice as to whether or not the children go. The children able to go are the same age groups as those in England. The class sizes are due to be half the normal also. In some areas parents have been contacted to ask if they are intending to send the children to school.
All the families I am in contact with are not intending to send the children.
In US many schools and colleges announced a couple of weeks ago that they would not reopen again until September and in the case of Universities online only.

trisher and Calendargirl I think the answer is that it is nothing to do with education, but ensuring that parents have no "excuse" not to work. Schools are being seen as providing a childminding service.

From an educational (and safety) perspective, the ones who should be allowed back first are Year 10s and 12s, who will be sitting public exams in a year.

Unless primary schools have changed radically since my children were there, Year 6s didn't do much after KS2 SATs in May anyway.

Without health there will be no wealth
Maisie and gagajo

Agreed, but it’s also true that without wealth there will be no health.
That’s why people living in deprived areas in this country suffer such poor health outcomes and have lower life expectancy and indeed are suffering more the effects of COVID than those living in affluent areas.
How wealth is distributed is the issue, not which of health or wealth we pursue.

You took the words out of my mouth Jane ....without wealth
We can’t take care of anyone properly!

Glorybee I agree with what’s in the OP completely, it’s disappointing, just when we need unity during a pandemic, but sadly what a lot of us expected.

growstuff that seems to confirm what Matt Hancock let slip on This Morning. He said that 13 and 14 year olds could be left at home whereas a 6year old couldn't. I don't know if he realised what he was saying. It seems that he doesn't know that teenagers need supervision as well or they get into all sorts of bother. Watch out for gangs of teenagers in parks drinking and drug taking while their parents work. Of course GCSE year and A level students would be on study and exam leave anyway. But the rest!!???

We can only take care of people if that wealth is put into sustainable health care systems which are well funded and long term public health programmes which create healthy communities, employment and improvements in social justice - none of which has been particularly high on the list of Tory priorities.

Now is not the time for parties fighting as they normally do
People are scared enough as it is
We need to stick together regardless of our political stance

Even the Victorians realised something was needed that's why they built parks as a place for the working class to get fresh air and exercise.. Of course the Tories have cut council funding so now the parks rely on volunteers to keep them open. Weird isn't it, we do something worse than the Victorians!

People are scared enough as it is

Yes, Happygirl. People are terrified of what this talentless, incompetent, error prone government, led by bumbling clown whose strings are being pulled by an unelected weirdo ensconced in No10 as an 'adviser', is going to do next to up the body count.

It is incumbent on anyone with more than two brain cells to criticise it loud and clear.

French schoolchildren returning to school are in the same age ranges as we are doing here, therefore it seems that education experts on both sides of the Channel are in agreement.
There will be around 15 children in the classroom.

MaizieD it wouldn’t matter to some left wing posters if they thought the Conservative government were doing a good job or not and regardless if they have more than two brain cells or not, they would say ‘it’s all rubbish’.You know it, I know it and everybody knows it.
Notice that I say some left wing posters.

Absolutely agree Maizie

True Lemongrove! I find it interesting where I’ve agreed on the failings of the uk Government and also pointed out the ones of the Welsh counterparts (Labour) the silence from the left has been deafening......?

So, lemon grove, you think that the government of a country that has had 32,000 deaths (and rising) is doing a good job. Just as left wing voters, in your opinion,never criticise their party of choice (and everyone centre or slightly left of centre seem to be branded left wing extremists) I’ve yet to read any criticism of the government on this forum from it’s supporters. Surely no government gets everything right all of the time and yet in some eyes Boris Johnson can do no wrong.