Should the schools reopen?

But ... how would you keep the staff safe? They have been advised not to wear masks. It's impossible to be a teaching assistant from two metres away and you can't put up perspex screens.

In my experience, many teaching assistants are middle aged or even nearing pension age. Many of them have underlying health issues, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. How would you keep them safe?

And how would you stop children from being super spreaders and taking infection back to their families?

Without adequate testing and tracing (which we don't yet have), infection could spread like wildfire. Inevitably, some of the people caught up in the fire will die.

As somebody below state pension age with underlying health conditions, who could still be working in a school, I would be very reluctant to return to work with potentially infected children and colleagues.

Our grandson 8y old goes back to school this Wednesday. His mummy is a teacher and she went back to work today.

Oh yes let's ignore all the stuff we have learned and let's go back to Victorian times and children sitting in desks and let's reintroduce Mr Gradgrind.

My gc in Devon in years 3&5 won’t be returning until September. Their parents both work from home and are finding life exceedingly strained and would love them to return but the school doesn’t have the capacity. Kids are fairly feral & don’t take to home schooling despite zoom lessons with other Granny an ex head teacher ?. The gc in Wiltshire in years 4&5 are not returning until September either but that's the parent’s choice. DD is a school manager & is allowed to work from home which suits her very well She feels, why compromise a strict lockdown of 10 weeks for a month of half school. I can now help with them outside. Today we’ve been making an architecturally designed (by me ?) den in the woods to give DD a break. Just wish I could do same for the Devon lot.

Their mother is back to work, growstuff - in a school. Everything is apparently under control there but it is the public transport which is more worrying, as well as the high number of pupils in some schools.

Hopefully, other mum's will send their children next week when the returnees report back. There was a lot of scaremongering and hysteria on Facebook with the implication that the few having the courage to admit they were sending their child back were bad parents. I don't know what Mumsnet was like.

I don't think the close contact is sustainable or hopefully necessary, but it's getting children used to not being quite as familiar and I don't think there's anything wrong with having your own desk and be responsible for your own things. We were from an equally young age (at least I was).

Callistemon There will always be some risk, but IMO it's foolish to force children to return to school before an efficient test and trace system is in place.

The danger is that the children could be carriers and take the infection back to their families. At least with testing, schools could be immediately closed again, if there is any infection in the families of those attending the school.

The argument about allowing parents to work fails because there will be children in many families who can't return and parents will need to be aware that schools could close again at very short notice.

NfkDumpling I've heard from other sources about autistic children enjoying the experience for the reasons you've mentioned. However, the small groups and lack of close contact isn't sustainable.

Nationally, fewer children from disadvantaged social groups have returned than others. The argument about the attainment gap widening while children are out of school fails because it's likely to widen, if those needing school most are less likely to return than other groups.

What do you mean by "being political"?

The union has a responsibility to its members. Unison members in schools will be mainly teaching assistants, who usually work in close contact with pupils needing extra help. They have been advised not to wear masks. They cannot do their job without coming into close contact with children and they cannot put up a perspex screen. Staff with underlying health conditions are being asked to put themselves in a genuinely risky situation.

It's been reported in this area that fewer than half the children eligible to return to school have done so.

eazybee I agree with you. The union is Unison and I am sure they are being political. Fortunately it isn't a decision which affects me. I am not a teacher and my DC are not in school, though the eldest is due to start in September. As their parents are both NHS workers the children have been in nursery all the time. I think I would have sent any children I had back to school. It is interesting to read other people's opinions.

That's great GG13 I wish more schools would do that.

In Wales one third of pupils will be allowed back to school at any one time on a rota system, starting from the end of June. In some schools this could mean 500+ pupils back at a time.
However, no-one is allowed to travel more than 5 miles in Wales and many pupils live much further than that from their schools. It has also been recommended that they do not use public transport which is sensible.

At some point they will need to go back to school of course, not least because some may be reluctant to do so. However, when is the right time?

yes they should open full on, lets get this over and done with, it is going to make very little difference after the gatherings at the weekend and anyway I think the virus is weakening. Many of us are at more risk right now because we need to be the safety net that steps in to cover childcare whilst parents get back to work. I have a session this week and one next week, ages 9 and 12. Very crucial parental jobs

Our younger generation cannot have any more of this mental health torture. All of this is at a huge cost to their generation

trisher that is what is happening in GC school, majority of time is spent outside.

I have no doubt some children will love the newness of the situation and other children won't. My point is that the education they will have in this environment is strictly limited. I know that some think children only learn if they are seated at a desk but reception and year 1 should be about so much more. It would have been so much better if a proper strategy for outdoor learning had been introduced. If children spent most of the day outside if at all possible, where they could move about while social distancing. It would also be safer for all concerned.

DGS started back last week. He’s in Year One. He’s an only child and on the autistic spectrum but easily able to cope with main stream school. He’s only had DiL for company while she’s trying to work from home so it’s meant rather too long on the iPad than is good for him.

He loves it. He has his own desk and his own things and playtime is supervised so he doesn’t have to worry about being bullied as was happening before as he’s a bit different.

They are in ‘bubbles’ of ten with the classroom divided into two. No mixing bubbles. It seems to be working well.

trisher one of the GC (reception) has gone back to school he couldn't wait to return. They spend more time outside in the "eco-garden" , he is impressed with having a desk to himself. At the moment wishes it could be like this always.

eazybee as a retired teacher would you like to comment on the quality of the education which would be offered for reception and year 1 children when they will be confined to sitting in a single seat, unable to use toys or access books and kept 2 metres apart from everyone?
I would love this to have been taken as an opportunity to offer a different sort of education. The emphasis being on outdoor activities. It can be done. Then schools would really offer more than child care.

Lizbethann, sorry but I think your union is making political capital out of an already dangerous situation. I am a retired teacher and I don't have any 'official' grandchildren, but I know I would have returned my own children to school in this situation; I would have been working myself anyway. I really do not believe that the children or their teachers are at risk of catching covoid 19; I watch the local children playing every day outside together, on their bikes and under the trees, setting up camps on the grass verges. without any social distancing.

I am very disappointed by the unions' response to this situation, when compared with the attitude of shop workers and transport workers, not to mention NHS.

I most certainly would not sign this petition, and I was a union official for many years.

Yes.

A primary school featured on our regional news last week. They opened last Monday, about a third of eligible children attended.

I was very impressed with the head teacher who spoke about how it had gone. She had sleepless nights worrying and planning how it would work, but the first day went off really well.

She had a lovely positive and caring attitude, wasn’t in the first flush of youth, and her dedication to her pupils, parents, staff and school were a pleasure to behold.

My 3 Birmingham grandchildren (10, 8 and 5) went back to school today. They don’t need 5 days a week, just two as DD is now on a weekly rota at her secondary school but the Head will only allow full days and full time or nothing. Apart from Fridays which will be half days ironically one of DD’s teaching days!
Oh and they will all finish at different times about 20 minutes apart.
I can see the logic to some of it but it almost creates as many problems as it solves.

Now that they HAVE partially reopened, perhaps it is time to read what five head teachers have to say about how it went at their primary school. www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-reopening-schools-one-week-back-what-has-return-school-been

Back to your old hobby horse, gilybob?

Hetty I've seen posts on GN, where posters have mentioned that there are children coming to school hungry. Often they've been dismissed as exaggeration or the "feckless" parents have been blamed. It is strange concern for these children is now cited as a reason for children to return to school. I just hope that this concern will continue and cuts to children's services will be reversed. (I'm not holding my breath.)