It’s heartening to see just how many Gransnetters understand the need for schools to remain open, as far as it is humanly possible. As Ellianne correctly said,
......4 months is not a mere blip, it’s a devastating amount of time in a young life.....
There is another thread going which is discussing the OFSTED report on how much children have regressed during lockdown. Children have regressed because their world was turned upside down without warning. School stopped, nurseries closed, parents worked from home and tried to home school their children at the same time, which is almost impossible, key worker children were flung abruptly into a changed situation, and some poor little ones had to abruptly start nursery without any proper preparation, in fact my grandson was one such child. The regression that many children have suffered is a direct result of the children’s distress and anxiety which they were unable to articulate. For older children, online learning simply does not cut the mustard, and often key worker children were deprived of proper education, not because the teachers weren’t working, but because classes were suddenly comprised of children of different ages and at different stages of learning, and they were frequently taught by a teacher who was not their own teacher who knew them well.
Children are already paying for the lockdown with regression of their development and learning, and a lack of normal progression of their social and emotional development. Many children have suffered high levels of anxiety, as the OFSTED report shows. My own grandson has regressed in his behaviour as he won’t eat now unless his parents feed him, and although newly toilet trained, has started to have regular ‘poo’ accidents, but only when he is at nursery. As the child of key workers, his world was abruptly turned upside down in March. I have advised his worried mother, my daughter, to not worry, and just feed him, coupled with extra love. And that the nursery staff will be used to this, so not to worry.
The best solution for all concerned would be to vaccinate all staff in educational establishments first (and those in medical establishments including care homes.) These staff should be at the front of the queue. It would enable schools and colleges to return to relative normality, although obviously children would need to isolate sometimes. I cannot understand the thinking by government that these staff in schools and medical establishments have to wait for a vaccine.