Year 6 and 11 Induction Days and Proms all cancelled

My GDs prom is to be in house and socially distanced. Not actually sure how that is going to work, but still we are all older and wiser than last year. She has a stunning dress and matching mask. I do hope she gets to go, unlike her older sister who missed out last year. The older GD came over to show me her dress last year and I did have a sinking feeling. I was still coming across sequins weeks later. All these comments about not having proms back in the day, well that was then.

My granddaughter passed her law exams, last year, and was very disappointed when her graduation day was cancelled, especially after paying up front for photographs, cap and gown hire etc.
This year she has paid £12,000 to do her Masters. Mostly on line, including the exams, and not a lot of help from her tutors. What a rip-off! The graduation ceremonies for last year and this year’s students was scheduled for next week, and have again been cancelled. After slogging away at her studies for 4 years she was so looking forward to some formal recognition of her hard work, and is feeling very let down.
Our children have had such a dreary year and it’s time that they had some fun. The rules are sending such mixed messages. I can sit in the pub, breathing everyone exhalations, but my choir isn’t allowed to meet and sing in a very large church hall. Will we ever get back to normal?

Caro57

At the moment it’s the young that are not vaccinated, but most of the older population is, so it’s the young who are most likely to catch and transmit - with the most serious consequences

So what are those young ones meant to do then? Not pursue any of their activities? They have given up a lot already to keep the older population safe, most adults are double vaccinated now or on the way to being so, children do not suffer particularly serious consequences if they catch covid, so surely we can't expect them to miss out on any more.

Currently the highest number of pupils in England are infected or isolating It is sensible to curtail normal activities Noone ever died from lack of a prom leavers holiday or induction day

Totally agree Franbern. Our youngsters deserve so much better.

Didn't realise year 6 had a week away to celebrate leaving, this along with the now expected Prom must be so expensive for some. Given a lot of people have lost jobs, surviving on furlough, those two events being cancelled must be a welcomed relief. I am aware some primary schools have had visits from secondary school teachers along with a few students who give an insight into what it's like to be "new". Sure the young people will survive the move. We don't give them enough credit on being able to cope with change.

I thought that, if Y6 had a trip away, it was either combined with projects they may have been doing eg geography, history etc or an activity centre type trip where they could experience canoeing, climbing, trekking etc.

My DGD should have gone away for a few days last year. They think it’s good for Y5 to experience life away from home, doing something challenging like abseiling, canoeing, gorge scrambling and raft building.
They went as Y6 this year instead as they’d already paid.
According to my DGD, for some children, the biggest challenge was eating breakfast. Evidently some children were upset because there was no Farley’s Rusks on offer.

I know an eleven-year-old who is moving into all this mess after living abroad all their life. I dread to think where they will end up with no friends and a peculiar accent.No chance to meet classmates.
My own two had to move when primary age. They had alien accents and were laughed at and came home wanting to know what two fingers stuck up meant. In the end, my DH told them it was the ** salute. The six-year-old eventually played mainly with the boys who were more friendly.
Leaving a small Primary school to go to a large secondary even though you might know others is so daunting, I did it myself and know how they must feel at least I had, had continual schooling some of these poor mites have barely been in school.

Saw a friend this afternoon. She informed me her grandchild is having to isolate yet again for 10 days. Someone in his year group has tested positive. This now means he will have missed another 10 weeks of schooling since they reopened! His siblings can still attend the school, his mother still goes to work in a hospital and his father works too. Utterly ridiculous. Maybe it is us who are ridiculous carrying on with this utter farce.

Not sure I can agree my local secondary school has been closed for the last 3 days and not sure when they will reopen, hope fully Monday but awaiting review on Friday. They are learning at home, yet again. 300 positve cases caused this shutdown.

love0c

Saw a friend this afternoon. She informed me her grandchild is having to isolate yet again for 10 days. Someone in his year group has tested positive. This now means he will have missed another 10 weeks of schooling since they reopened! His siblings can still attend the school, his mother still goes to work in a hospital and his father works too. Utterly ridiculous. Maybe it is us who are ridiculous carrying on with this utter farce.

What do you suggest happens?

How about lobbying the government to finance good ventilation systems in schools, insisting that masks are worn and reducing the number of pupils in schools at any one time by having some kind of rota system? How about stopping the pretence that Lateral Flow Tests are fit for purpose?

Ooops! Silly me! All the above has been suggested by the people who know what's going on in schools over the past year.

Meanwhile, 25% of cases reported yesterday were in 10-19 year olds. Despite all the bleating and teacher-bashing, it seems that this cohort is being used as a compulsory herd immunity experiment. Who cares if a number of these pupils suffer from long-term effects of Covid, which are likely to affect some of them for months and possibly even for life? Who cares that some of these pupils are asymptomatic and could go home and infect more vulnerable family members?

It's too late to start implementing a rota system in schools now, although it could have been beneficial last year.
The vulnerable parent at home, in the minority group, should certainly be able to choose to keep their child at home and to school them, but most other full time working parents don't have that choice. It has come to the point where every child should receive unbroken, proper, face to face, in school learning. Their education and mental wellbeing have to be of paramount importance.
Children of primary age are very unlikely to become seriously ill from covid anyway. They are unlikely to be offered the vaccine for a long long time, if ever. Schools should proceed as near normal as possible with these children.

JCVI is not recommending vaccines for under 16’s so this continued interruption of schooling will in all likelihood continue.

GrannyGravy13

JCVI is not recommending vaccines for under 16’s so this continued interruption of schooling will in all likelihood continue.

Yes, such a shame.

PS.
I mean a shame that their schooling will be disrupted. NOT a shame that they won't be receiving the vaccine.

Other countries are vaccinating their children, Why not here. Someone further up stated that no-one died as a result of not having an Induction day, prom, etc. Well, that MAY be the case. No-one knows.
However, the serious mental health problems are increasing so very fast amongst school-aged children - high numbers of those now too scared to return to school under any circumstances. The result of this will stay with many for the rest of their lives, and who knows as to how many it may get to a point of self-harm, etc.
My Educational Psycholigist daughter has expressed her own horror at the huge increases in mental health problems amongst children. No extra resources or money being handed out to educational authorities to help these. They were alread vastly over-stretched prior to 2020, now it is just unmanageable.
Similar tale I get from another daughter who has worked in NHS Mental Health for thirty years. Vast increase in numbers being referred to services that were always on the edge of breaking down prior to all of this.
She is currently working something like 60 -70 hours a week (no paid overtime), to try to keep up.

I don't think that children should have the vaccination routinely unless they have specific health problems and their parents agree.
If older people are vaccinated and children rarely become very ill with the virus I cannot see the need to subject them to yet another vaccine.

They do need to be able to get on with their lives if the rest of us have been protected as the risk to them is much lower.

The way to let children get on with their lives is to vaccinate them.

No it is not.

The way to let children get n with their lives is to encourage all adults to have the vaccine.

Too true growstuff my granddaughters 13 and 16 were both vaccinated last week. Moreover all my over six year old grandchildren wear a mask in class and have done for several months. They are now allowed to take them off in the playground. I believe this and testing twice a week has kept the schools open as much as possible this school year, only one of the 6 had to go home for a week.

No masks in the primary school but yes in the senior school and bi-weekly testing.
No vaccinations of children as far as I know.
Apart from one class of infants no closure or quarantine this school year.