Going back to School

[asredastheycome]

Someone posted this on Facebook. Made me laugh but it also pretty much sums up the shambles of returning kids to schools.

“Good news son, you get to go back to school!”

“Oh great, so the germs are gone?”

“Ummmm yeah, pretty much... I mean technically there’s more deaths per day than there was when they closed the school... but I’m sure it’s fine.”

“I can’t wait to play with my friends!”

“Well yeah, you might see some of your friends, but you won’t be able to touch them or play with them.”

“Why?”

“Because of the germs.”

“But there aren’t any germs now?!”

“Right....but there might be... so you can’t go close to your friends.”

“Oh well, at least I’ll see them.”

“Well, you might not see them all because you might not all be in the same classroom.”

“Oh, but I’ll be in my classroom though right?”

“Well you might not be because you’ll have to spread out a bit.”

“Spread out to where?”

“To the other classrooms.”

“But won’t the other classes be in their rooms?”

“No the other classes won’t be there.”

“Why?”

“Because of the germs.”

“But why am I the only one going back?”

“Ummm..... because you’re small and you can spread out more?... because you don’t take up so much space?!?.... honestly no one knows mate.”

“Oh well, at least I’ll see my teacher... but wait...Mum how will my teacher be in all the classrooms at once?”

“Well, you might not have your teacher.”

“Who will I have?”

“I don’t know...”

“Oh.... if I’m going back to school can we go and get my new school shoes? Remember you said I would have to get new shoes because my feet have grown?!”

“Right... yeah... it’s not safe to open the shops so we can’t get shoes.”

“But it is safe for me to go to school?”

“Yep, maybe... unless there’s a spike in the virus, then we might have to stay home again.”

“How will they know if there’s a spike in the virus though Mum?”

“Hospital admissions... and number of deaths.”

“But what if I’ve already got it by then, from going to school?”

“Well you probably won’t die because you’re young.”

“Do children not die then?”

“Most of them don’t.”

“But grownups do?”

“Some, yes.”

“So what about my teacher?”

“........?”

“Mum is it ok if I don’t go back to school? It doesn’t sound like it’s the right time yet”

“Yes mate that’s fine, you’re right, let’s stay home”

 

[Richyboro]

Bit scary really when the DFE chief scientist only has low degree of confidence that children may spread coronavirus less effectively than adults and now Italian doctrs/scientists have linked that inflammatory disease with Covid. Worrying times for parents and teaching staff.

 

[petrio]

Honestly, it's frightening how little care for pupils, staff and family the DfE guidance for schools shows. I'm dreading returning to lots of people in small space. Can only see it leading to more cases and deaths.

 

[Baggins]

The problem is that for every report saying it's bad there is one saying it is good. Iceland for example have recently issued a report saying it is no problem to reopen schools.

Here where I live my son has been back in nursery for several weeks now and my stepdaughter is into her 3rd week. No issues whatsoever.

I do have a question for the teachers amongst us - how has it worked so far with teaching the kids of frontline workers? Since they (in theory) never stopped going to school, and they are the most likely out of any to be in a position to pass on infections? Has there been any infections? What are they doing with class sizes. Over here the general rule is a class size of about 15 in the school and in the nursery they are in small groups of 3-4 per adult.

 

[Baggins]

Honestly, it's frightening how little care for pupils, staff and family the DfE guidance for schools shows. I'm dreading returning to lots of people in small space. Can only see it leading to more cases and deaths.

Over here we got a set of guidelines before they returned to education and we receive daily updates and forecasts on how things will progress. It's very good really and isn't a blanket approach, each establishment is free to tailor the official guidelines to meet their needs, as long as they stay in line with the main principles.

 

[petrio]

The problem is that for every report saying it's bad there is one saying it is good. Iceland for example have recently issued a report saying it is no problem to reopen schools.

Here where I live my son has been back in nursery for several weeks now and my stepdaughter is into her 3rd week. No issues whatsoever.

I do have a question for the teachers amongst us - how has it worked so far with teaching the kids of frontline workers? Since they (in theory) never stopped going to school, and they are the most likely out of any to be in a position to pass on infections? Has there been any infections? What are they doing with class sizes. Over here the general rule is a class size of about 15 in the school and in the nursery they are in small groups of 3-4 per adult.

So far, in my own school, no pupils or staff have indicated that they have caught anything from the key worker children (or vulnerable children). I get your point about how they are more likely to be carrying the virus, as their parents never stopped working. My fear really comes from the increase in numbers, both of children and of adults. Surely the likelihood of infections being passed on increases? Also, at the point when more are in school, more adults will, theoretically, be back at work and ending up interacting with others.

I know we have to return and start mixing at some point. I do think that setting the date of June 1st (earliest) may turn out to be too early. The whole point of closing (ish) schools in the first place was to reduce the number of people mixing together, because of the high number of infections and deaths. When this happened, there were around 200 deaths in the UK, in total, I think. Yesterday, there were over 200 reported deaths from hospitals alone. The curve may have flattened, but it has flattened out at high figures.
Personally, I would have thought that setting a return when the risk of mixing so many people is significantly lower than it currently is, would be better than setting a date a few weeks in advance.

 

[billsykes]

He should have just kept his response to the little un simple and tell him that the germs might never go away and there might never be a vaccine and that he better just get on with it.

 

[Erimus74]

Someone posted this on Facebook. Made me laugh but it also pretty much sums up the shambles of returning kids to schools.

“Good news son, you get to go back to school!”

“Oh great, so the germs are gone?”

“Ummmm yeah, pretty much... I mean technically there’s more deaths per day than there was when they closed the school... but I’m sure it’s fine.”

“I can’t wait to play with my friends!”

“Well yeah, you might see some of your friends, but you won’t be able to touch them or play with them.”

“Why?”

“Because of the germs.”

“But there aren’t any germs now?!”

“Right....but there might be... so you can’t go close to your friends.”

“Oh well, at least I’ll see them.”

“Well, you might not see them all because you might not all be in the same classroom.”

“Oh, but I’ll be in my classroom though right?”

“Well you might not be because you’ll have to spread out a bit.”

“Spread out to where?”

“To the other classrooms.”

“But won’t the other classes be in their rooms?”

“No the other classes won’t be there.”

“Why?”

“Because of the germs.”

“But why am I the only one going back?”

“Ummm..... because you’re small and you can spread out more?... because you don’t take up so much space?!?.... honestly no one knows mate.”

“Oh well, at least I’ll see my teacher... but wait...Mum how will my teacher be in all the classrooms at once?”

“Well, you might not have your teacher.”

“Who will I have?”

“I don’t know...”

“Oh.... if I’m going back to school can we go and get my new school shoes? Remember you said I would have to get new shoes because my feet have grown?!”

“Right... yeah... it’s not safe to open the shops so we can’t get shoes.”

“But it is safe for me to go to school?”

“Yep, maybe... unless there’s a spike in the virus, then we might have to stay home again.”

“How will they know if there’s a spike in the virus though Mum?”

“Hospital admissions... and number of deaths.”

“But what if I’ve already got it by then, from going to school?”

“Well you probably won’t die because you’re young.”

“Do children not die then?”

“Most of them don’t.”

“But grownups do?”

“Some, yes.”

“So what about my teacher?”

“........?”

“Mum is it ok if I don’t go back to school? It doesn’t sound like it’s the right time yet”

“Yes mate that’s fine, you’re right, let’s stay home”

Made me laugh, in honesty how do you explain to kids

 

[Ziggy]

When the House of Commons looks like this again, then send your kids to school