Just how pathetic is Boris going to be allowed to be?

Well said GagaJo!

The government have done the best they can under very difficult unforeseen circumstances - would that this were so.

Firstly, it was not at all unforeseen. Scientists have been predicting this for decades; and in 2016 Britain was part of Cygnus - a simulation of what would happen in just such a pandemic and what preparations should be made - how good it would have been if those preparations had actually happened!

There is no doubt that any government would have struggled with the challenge of a pandemic; but hopefully a different government (of any colour) would have heeded the warnings of Cygnus and been better prepared; would not have previously drained the public services dry so that they were ripe for collapse under the strain; and would have been led by a principled and honest states person whom the country could trust with their lives.

For it is indeed all our lives that are under threat - how unfortunate that this should happen at a time when we are at the mercy of such a discredited "leader" who appears to be a complete integrity-free-zone.

With what's been going on lately in this country I can see a second wave here. Will that be Boris's fault? No, it will be caused by ignorant people who think it's all over.

That's exactly what Johnson wants you to think.

Nothing to do with a high profile adviser breaking the rules he helped to frame, or easing off lockdown too early, despite the scientists advising against it, or relying on test, trace and isolate before the trackers have had adequate training (and ignoring efficient local authority tracing operations) and the app which was supposed to be an integral part of the operation was actually ready for use, etc. etc.

Regarding the track and trace app, it has failed to reach one quarter of people which means that it has tracked and traced three quarters of people!!

GG13. Which means all those people and their contacts are still out and about infecting others.

The track and trace app didn't get into general use. Only a pilot.

Anyway, they're abandoning it now that Cummings' mates have got their money and intend to use the one that most of Europe is using. The one that protects people's data. Which is a relief as more people will actually use it now.

trisher

Special schools quite often have children with severe behavioural difficulties attending. These children will not comply with social distancing, may need restraining and may present a much higher risk to adults caring for them because they spit or perform other risky acts. The teachers may simply realise they could not deal with this safely.
As far as other factors go, if parents don't like the school their children attend they can move them.

That may well be the case for some special schools.....the one my DGS attends doesn’t have those kind of problems.
It doesn’t explain why our other DGC ( who have no problems at all) and are the children of a key worker ( nurse) in the NHS couldn’t go to school at all for months.

Your last sentence about moving children is perplexing MaizieD do you think it’s easy to move two children from one state (junior) school to another? In any case, their school is a short walk away and they have many friends.
I am merely pointing out with my posts that although the government wanted certain children to attend school, it didn’t happen in many cases.

growstuff

Maybe you could volunteer in a school lemongrove. You might actually see what's been going on rather than repeating the populist myths.

Hardly myths.. they are from my own families circumstances who live very near to us.
If teachers are my age ( they would have retired long ago) and have the underlying medical conditions that I have then I think they are excused classroom duties!

I have underlying medical conditions lemongrove, as do quite a few teachers I know. I doubt you have a lot of sympathy.

Get in there and support the reading programme. If you expect them to do their bit, you could support. As could many of those complaining about teachers and schools.

Lemongrove I believe in many areas the children of key workers, etc., were centred at one school. Is that what you are complaining about?

Are you over 70 as well Gaga ?

No GGumteeth it isn’t that at all, in fact that would have been acceptable had it happened.They couldn’t attend school
( any school) at all.

I’m writing in support of my GC’s school. It is in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne/Gateshead area, one of the poorest regions in the country. The school has remained open to key worker’s children and the staff have spoken to the children not in school on a weekly basis. They have provided all the children with pencils and paper and worksheets. Some children returned this week selected by vulnerability and their ability. Both my GCs would love to return to school but I’m in full support of the Local Authority and teachers who have been and are doing a great job.

IMO, the government have failed miserably to take action soon enough for lockdown, insufficient PPE, etc. etc.

How dare they blame others for their incompetence. After all, we have had a conservative government for 10 years now, plenty of time to ensure that systems are working properly.

Grrr!!

Gaga if I was younger and had better health then I certainly would.
For yourself, if you have health problems then you shouldn’t be working, have you discussed this with your Head?

No. But I will be almost that age when I retire. No one's asking you to teach a class. 121 reading isn't exactly over exerting yourself.

Plenty of retired people give back to their communities. You're so keen to tell others to risk their lives. Put your money where your mouth is.

Yes. At length. They put no official pressure on me. Plenty of implied pressure however. As there is from many, many people who like to paint teachers as lazy, uncommitted, unwilling to compromise which could not be further from the truth. Teaching is a vocation. We do it because we love our students.

I do have a conscience however. I had a class ready to take oral exams and those students needed me. If those exams were left until after the summer, they would have had six weeks of forgetting to make up for. They would have been starting again with a new teacher. I took a BIG risk in coming back to work. But I am not and have never been a slacker. I knew I was risking my health and I did it anyway. Yes. The head knew that. And she has been fawning after me ever since I returned.

Some schools have been good, some so-so and others terrible.
It’s estimated that millions of children have hardly been sent any schoolwork to do.
My AC have had to plead with the closed schools for more than an hour’s work to do a day, and in one DGS case, the work was done in 20 mins a day.
DH was a teacher and several members of my family, so I am naturally inclined to cut them some slack, but think a lot of them have shown no duty of care to their children.
Older teachers near retirement and those with health
conditions may not want to be in school ( with good reason)
But that leaves plenty of other teachers.They have been badly advised by their Union and the education and well being of all the children have suffered as a result.

Put your money where your mouth is
That is pretty insulting Gagajo
You have absolutely no idea what lemongrove’s family commitments are, what role(s) she fulfils in her community, what her professional background may be or what her responsibilities are.
I think an apology is the least you can offer for this high handed and frankly outrageous comment.
As a teacher, the mother of a teacher and the grandmother of children who are back at their primary school full time, even I have been struck by the patronising attitude I have discerned.
You were quick enough to moan about not feeling it was safe to return to your own school a very short time ago.
Some teachers can be their own worst enemies when it comes to PR.

GagaJo

No. But I will be almost that age when I retire. No one's asking you to teach a class. 121 reading isn't exactly over exerting yourself.

Plenty of retired people give back to their communities. You're so keen to tell others to risk their lives. Put your money where your mouth is.

This is a stupid message to me, when I have told you that I am older and have underlying health conditions.My DH Simply mustn’t catch anything remotely like this virus, as he is even older than me with heart problems.

You are teaching in Switzerland ( your own choice) and from what you have said previously are in your 50’s ( I could be remembering wrongly).
You can only speak for your own school and what has been happening there.Here in England the education of our children has gone down the pan.DGS has been told he may go back in September, but it may be October.

MawB. It wasn't safe. I have health issues and I did it anyway. AND one of my students now potentially has C19. And I've been in 4 lessons with her this week.

Those on the outside should help out. If you want schools back, they need more staffing than is currently available.

How about a bit of that community mindedness so many on here bleat about? Where is THEIR community mindedness.

Support your local school with 2 or 3 hours a week. Because you clearly expect the teachers to report for a 50 or 60 hour week with double shifts.

Yes. Put your money where your mouth is. If this was war, there would be retirees helping out in soup kitchens, acting as air raid wardens. But now retirees can't go into a school for an hour twice a week?

Perhaps it isn't just the younger generation that lack stamina.

Thank you MawB ?

Whatever you think about children attending school, or not attending school, some children have had no other option but to attend school. My twin grandchildren have had to attend school all through lockdown because both their parents are key workers. Their little brother was thrust unceremoniously into nursery because grandparents were no longer allowed to provide childcare for their grandchildren.
Incidentally, my niece, a very dedicated teacher, and also an anxious worrier about her health (since her father died of cancer) has nonetheless been working in school all through lockdown providing care and education for the children of key workers.

Gaga No good engaging with you when you write such silly things.

This is the sort of entrenched and opinionated exchange of political views that makes other members on Gransnet cringe, and it’s so often the same people doing it. It’s quite intimidating for others to voice their own views when you are going hammer and tongs at each other, I don’t know if you’ve given that any thought?