Is morality something you expect of others?

Oh God not the phrase education establishment again. In capital letters as well .

Glad to hear that Galaxy. Who wants to see naked people anywhere?

I think that it is important for children to return to school, but there are many logistical problems and surely it should be for local school leaders to decide how best to tackle them.

School buildings vary in many ways, some have narrow corridors with no chance of creating a one-way system. Schools should have been given help and funding to create more space, by using nearby public buildings, installing portacabin classrooms or even marquees to expand their indoor space. In some cases it may be best for some pupils to mix school attendance with home learning.

It is all very well to suggest that a year group in a secondary school should form a "bubble" but some secondary schools have over 300 pupils in a single year group. Each child is in contact with their own household and possibly others. That is a very large bubble.

The London based government shows little understanding of conditions elsewhere in the country. In rural areas many pupils are transported on crowded school buses, and each busload will contain pupils from different years, so there is plenty of opportunity for cross infection. In other areas children will have to use public transport,spreading the risk of community transmission. Local Directors of Public Health should be doing the test and trace and should be allowed to take control of advising what is best for their own areas.

So am I. You could start with the example I gave. How do you get 600+ children through 3, at the most 4, entrances and return them safely to their parent/carer again without spending most of the school day doing it? I bet my DGC's teachers have figured it out, but I also bet there will be parents/carers who will run late, have emergencies and generally cock up whatever system they introduce. But that's the trouble with education you can plan all sorts of things but something will b**** it all up.
Still all the experts on here will understand that won't they?
lemon if you don't like the truth don't blame the messenger (or poster)

Using the word moral elevates that decision so that those who disagree are being immoral. He thereby seizes the high ground and denigrates the position of opponents who may include many anxious parents. Why not provide the criteria by which that decision has been made? That might offer reassurance to everyone - if, in fact, the government is clear that the benefits will outweigh the dangers.

I do like the truth ( but find posters disingenuous with it on GN quite a lot.)
Schools will simply have to do what they humanly can....nobody expects any more than that.

Children are mingling in all sorts of places at the moment, with their friends and in various venues. Schools can never be entirely safe from the virus and neither can anywhere else.

No one seems to have mentioned the difficulties around out of school child care. My 3 DGC are returning to their 3 different schools this week and 3 out of the four parents, who have been working from home are returning to work (one is a technician in a school) the other parent has continued to go out to work throughout. They have been sent timetables for each child which involve staggered start and finish times, days at home not school, etc. Also, there will be no breakfast or after school clubs.

How is this supposed to work for the younger children when their parents cannot keep changing their working hours? Is it acceptable for 9 year olds or younger to become latch key children, or left 'home alone'?

These are the questions many of us are asking.

I didn't think any of the contenders for PM were right for us but Boris got the job ... and I have to confess to having some sympathy for him as "the job" certainly "ain't what it used to be!" First he had Brexit and now Covid and the government still, also have to deal with the day to day running of the Country. I suspect that whatever he does or says will be criticised by someone - I certainly wouldn't like to be in his shoes at the moment! I think the country as a whole now needs to come together and show some of the spirit shown in post war Britain (not that I personally am old enough to remember that but I have a sense of it at least).
With regard to schools, we all have to do our bit in difficult times and for now, at least, I think that schools should be open 9-5, 5 days a week, every week including the Summer/Easter holidays. ( - yes I know teachers have to spend their 6 weeks in Summer prepping lessons - in other professions people do this in their own time!) - but just for now surely they could go over lessons they have prepared for previous years?) This would enable schools to stagger the number of pupils attending each day. Teachers and children could then take holidays when they like (as long as they book time off to ensure cover etc) and travel companies etc could then also stagger numbers as not everyone with children would want to go on holiday in a 6 week window. Teachers currently in training could be called upon to continue their learning "on the job", to give more flexibility.
Not quite "Simples", but food for thought maybe?

I agree Boris got the job by default, but to be fair he was an excellent Mayor of London. His election manifesto was centered around Brexit and "getting the job done." Now he is trying to "get the job done" again ie. that of returning the country to normal, including reopening schools. I might be more concerned about his morals if he had based his campaign on family values à la Teresa May, but he isn't made like that. Surely we can't expect to have everything in one person.

Was he an excellent Mayor ?

How would people go back to work with regard to that scenario?

Are people saying they feel sorry for Johnson because he has to deal with Brexit. Do you think that was a surprise for him.

Tory critics questioning the number of skyscrapers he waved through despite promises to the contrary, or the deal Johnson signed off on the Olympic Stadium, saddling taxpayers with huge liabilities for decades to come, were referred to as the “passé posse” by the mayor’s team.

And when riots broke out in the capital in August 2011, he badly misjudged the public mood. Johnson had been on holiday in Canada with his family when the unrest began and initially refused to return (he later told colleagues his wife, Marina Wheeler, was too short to drive their rented Winnebago).

When he finally made an appearance in south-west London three days later, he was heckled by residents shouting: “Where were the police?” and “We want Ken Livingstone.” He later defied advice to authorise the purchase of secondhand water cannon that were not licensed for use in the UK."

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/16/total-chaos-boris-johnson-london-mayor

Who says Boris Johnson was an excellent mayor of London Ellianne?

Who says Boris Johnson was an excellent mayor of LondonEllianne?
As a Londoner that is my opinion.

lemongrove

I do like the truth ( but find posters disingenuous with it on GN quite a lot.)
Schools will simply have to do what they humanly can....nobody expects any more than that.

Children are mingling in all sorts of places at the moment, with their friends and in various venues. Schools can never be entirely safe from the virus and neither can anywhere else.

And that is how every other sector and workplace have approached the problem with the exception of the education sector.

You risk assess all the hazards and then bring in best safe working practises as far as is reasonably possible.

The above approach now has almost all industries and professions in the United Kindom operating again and the country is expecting nothing less from those involved in education.

Another damned if he does damned if he doesn't post. Such posts are becoming so bloody boring. Does nobody here have positivity in their souls?

Teachers are educators, not childminders, Granny23.

They will be doing the best for their pups under the restrictions being imposed.

Pupils as well

Boris Johnson’s Mayoralty has cost London taxpayers at least £600 million of wasted money because of poor decisions, ideological dogma and vanity schemes.

www.wolmarforlondon.co.uk/600million_the_cost_of_boris.html

Of course this waste will be dwarfed by the cost of his damage to the UK.

Does nobody here have positivity in their souls?
I wish Theoddbird.

Ah - Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, Boris Johnson - they're all so positive!

Unfortunately record numbers of their citizens have tested positive for covid19, otherwise their positivty is just great!

trisher can BJ even remember who his children are, let alone lecture them on morality ?

Callistemon I am not suggesting that teachers should do the childminding. I'm only pointing out the difficulties that working parents will have in ensuring that there is someone at home for the children when they are attending school at different times each day or having a 2 or 3 day week.

I haven’t previously joined in because it’s all so predictable. The usual ‘experts’ saying the usual things.
I would just like to say that in these unusual and unpredictable times we have to manage the risks as best we can. Children need to get back to school and receive the education that teachers are paid to provide.
I just thank goodness that our brave nurses didn’t take the same view of self importance as teachers when they walked selflessly towards danger in the hospitals.