Will Schools Close after Christmas?

I've heard it suggested that schools might be closed for the whole of January. I suspect that the PM will flip and flop for the next two weeks and make a decision the day before years 11 and 13 are due to return.

I wipe all our shopping Readymeals, with Dettol wipes, before putting it away, even frozen food-one of my daughters wipes her with a solution of sterilizing fluid, like for babies bottles, but it smells like bleach.

I work in a primary school in Wales. We have a couple of extra days to prepare and to see what the staffing levels are like after Christmas. My husband -school caretaker , myself plus a couple of children had covid just before we broke up. As we hadn't been anywhere apart from work, then we must have caught it at school. Asking teachers and support workers to work with up to 32 families all through this pandemic, then telling them they can't spend Christmas with their own family is ridiculous. I do feel sorry for those with small children who have to work, but teachers are not babysitters.

Ive lost all faith that Boris can get us out of any of this, or brexit mess. As have loads of others i guess! I think labour will have a good chance of taking power in next election! We've gone further& further downhill as the conservatives have 'ruled'! (& what happened to the coalition?)They should have given the others a try, it couldn't have been any worse, surely?

When Boris Johnson said that we should be in a better position by Easter, my first thought was "Well that's Easter written off then". I wish he would just stop making these stupid statements!!

Nannan2

I wipe all our shopping Readymeals, with Dettol wipes, before putting it away, even frozen food-one of my daughters wipes her with a solution of sterilizing fluid, like for babies bottles, but it smells like bleach.

Yes as do I. But only the outside. So for instance if I get a quiche, it is inside a box (the outer packaging) and inside the box there is a foil case with the quiche in. I don't sanitise that. And that's the sort of thing my husband and I might both touch as we cut ourselves a portion. It had to be something like that!

Well said Helenlouise3- i said that too, they're using teachers/tutors for free kid care just so parents can work- and teachers & kids are being used as cannon fodder for the virus! They dont all have parents who even do work either, so thats a big joke! And as for the 'vulnerable kids' they should sort something SAFE out for them instead- not just expect the teachers to care for them. All this is ridiculous! And they dont think of the other kids who are vulnerable to covid19 because of underlying health issues, who they are forcing to go to school/college, whose parents would willingly keep them at home for their health & safety, but theyre not letting them! My son has had more stress & worry caused by going than if he was not, so the 'kids staying home is causing mental stress' is a load of gov't trash!

Nannan2

Yes they need to give vaccine first to teachers and tutors also, as well as the kids, alongside the nhs, frontline workers, care homes & elderly.In fact id have thought they would have vaccinated kids earlier as they are given all their other vaccines as part of their health programme, from a few weeks old, and even go to schools to dish out the flu jabs/nasal sprays etc, and the childs health vaccine programme is usually second to none! Plus kids are well- known super-spreaders of all bugs! & Have they forgotten already how many cases of covid were found in the universities recently?!

Under 16s can't be given the vaccine yet because it hasn't been trialled on this age group. Secondly, it hasn't been established whether the vaccine stops transmission, so children and teenagers could still catch it and pass it on to others. Thirdly, there is only a limited number of doses available and it has decide that it's more efficient to give it initially to those who will be affected most badly.

Im sure it does, for some, but not for ones who have medical problems etc and know they are at higher risk!

i know that the gov have made mistakes but, lets face it, its something no one has encountered anything like this before and mistakes will be made, funny how we all think we know what to do to sort it all out, we have all now become experts , can we not just pull together and forget politics for once and not do all this infighting

So if its 'not been trialled' on that age group- what happens exactly when they get to the group all under certain age groups who have underlying health issues'? Which must surely include SOME children? Or when everyone else has been done and theres no one left to vaccinate but children? Are they just not going to bother then just cause they haven't trialled it???

Readymeals- but wont the food INSIDE the boxes etc have been packed either by machine (if mass produced) or by people wearing the gloves already required by food prep/packaging even before we had covid in our midst?? I can only reccomend you zap everything you eat in microwave for a while then, and wash hands after touching foil dishes etc, or wearing disposable gloves to handle everything you prepare, also wear them to open/clean your shopping, and wash& gel hands before eating, even if you used gloves to prepare, just to be on the (extreme) safe side I think if you picked up a bug its in the unpacking stage though, not from the foil inside the boxed up product?So maybe wear disposable gloves for that- i also use sanitiser on the gloves during the wiping session.

And how did they work out if all the other vaccines they give to kids from being a few weeks old upwards are 'safe' to administer then, how do they 'trial' them?? Theres going to come a point where they have to include kids in this programme surely?

I know, ive a haven holiday booked for easter next year, so i guess i should try cancel it (again!) soon after new year?

Aepgirl

Judging by the crowds queuing down the road for about half a mile outside my local Sainsbury’s today, I’d be very surprised if we’re not all in lockdown immediately after Christmas.

When will people learn to stay at home?

Just walked to local Aldi it was quieter than usual and the shelves were all fully stocked.

Nannan2

Readymeals- but wont the food INSIDE the boxes etc have been packed either by machine (if mass produced) or by people wearing the gloves already required by food prep/packaging even before we had covid in our midst?? I can only reccomend you zap everything you eat in microwave for a while then, and wash hands after touching foil dishes etc, or wearing disposable gloves to handle everything you prepare, also wear them to open/clean your shopping, and wash& gel hands before eating, even if you used gloves to prepare, just to be on the (extreme) safe side I think if you picked up a bug its in the unpacking stage though, not from the foil inside the boxed up product?So maybe wear disposable gloves for that- i also use sanitiser on the gloves during the wiping session.

But if I had picked it up while unpacking, which is theoretically possible - then I'd expect there to be a few days between me becoming ill and my husband becoming ill after catching it from me, since he is not involved or anywhere near the delivery, unpacking or cleaning process. We have heard that at one time there was a high level of covid in food processing factories and I guess it's possible someone coughed over the foil cases while putting them into the assembly machine, or even while manufacturing them.

An alternative explanation would be that what we caught was a rhinovirus, which are similar to norovirus inasmuch as they require bleach to be killed, not the alcohol based products we've been advised to use for coronavirus. I've been using alcohol products not bleach.

Some (many?) Tier 4 nurseries are still open for all kids.

Govt knew about this new strain a while ago, but waited until schools had closed for Christmas to announce new measures. That's days after the govt threatened a local authority with legal action if it closed its schools early.

Is govt trustworthy? No.

When my girls went back to primary school in September I sent them with masks. They were prepared to wear them all day. The school won’t allow it. I’m utterly disgusted.

I think they will need to close. I’m in the shielded clinically vulnerable group but can’t have the vaccine. Parents should be able to choose to send. Lessons could be made easily accessible on line via PowerPoint, centrally if needs be for each year group.

My grandson is in year 11 so due to take his GCSE'S, IF they close schools I hope they will announce the cancellation of exams at the same time, rather than the poor kids not knowing what will happen

Whatever happened to ' Every Child Matters' and the 'Voice of the Child'
Children have a right to an education, and to be treated as human beings, not just germ factories ready to infect everyone else.
On line learning did not work for many. Children don't always live in perfect homes, with lap tops. Many don't even have enough to eat!
School for many is a safe haven away from abusive home lives.
No one much on here seems to consider this and are more concerned with themselves. Teachers have always caught things from pupils, and usually accept it as part of the job. Perhaps if you work in a school and are overly concerned about your health, it is time to seek another job.
I have GC in both primary and secondary schools, and I have nothing but praise for both. They have worked hard to make the education of the children paramount.
I am just sick of posters on here shouting for the closure of schools.
There has been so much evidence recently of the damage done to children during lockdown, are you really all so blinkered that you can't see it. Are you really all so concerned for yourselves.
Maybe it really is time I packed in GN, yes it is!

No most of us are able to see it as a complex issue. As someone who works with very vulnerable children I am well aware of the issues facing all those children. Many of us on this thread spent months on here being told schools must open whilst we pointed out that there were many complex issues to address. Being told that we should get out of teaching etc if we don't want to get ill is just more of the same in my view.

If teachers and school staff were vaccinated it wouldn’t be necessary to close schools. It beggars belief that people over 80 have priority over teachers for vaccination. It appears that the current variant causes mild or no disease so allowing it to spread amongst the healthy population including children would be beneficial in getting towards a general level of immunity in the population. Evidence from around the world shows that lockdowns do not work and do nothing to hasten a return to normality. They simply cause massive collateral damage. Fundamentally the virus is here to stay and we must learn to live with it by doing everything possible to help vulnerable groups shield themselves, allowing those not at risk to carry on with their lives and vaccinating at the earliest opportunity.

Lazyriver I think I was singing from the same hymn sheet as you six months ago.
I criticised the online learning you mention because it was something abhorrent to my style of teaching. I now stand corrected because, on the whole, teachers have proved that it is an important and effective learning tool. Especially for KS3 and KS4.
I also thought teachers were only concerned for their own safety and were hiding at home. I apologise for underestimating their tenacity, especially those (like my DD) who went into schools throughout the entire summer holiday to look after the children of key workers.

Teachers deserve praise. They would, however, get more respect and less criticism if their unions kept their noses out and made less fuss about every minute detail.

Autumnrose

If teachers and school staff were vaccinated it wouldn’t be necessary to close schools. It beggars belief that people over 80 have priority over teachers for vaccination. It appears that the current variant causes mild or no disease so allowing it to spread amongst the healthy population including children would be beneficial in getting towards a general level of immunity in the population. Evidence from around the world shows that lockdowns do not work and do nothing to hasten a return to normality. They simply cause massive collateral damage. Fundamentally the virus is here to stay and we must learn to live with it by doing everything possible to help vulnerable groups shield themselves, allowing those not at risk to carry on with their lives and vaccinating at the earliest opportunity.

I disagree 100%. There is currently a limit to the number of vaccines available in the UK. We don't even have enough vaccines for all front-line care workers and health staff.

Over 80s are the people who are dying from Covid and must be protected. I'm afraid I think it "beggars belief" that you think otherwise.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that being vaccinated prevents transmission. Therefore, there would still be a need to close schools because teachers, school staff and pupils would still infect each other and be able to take home the infection to their family.

BBkay

My grandson is in year 11 so due to take his GCSE'S, IF they close schools I hope they will announce the cancellation of exams at the same time, rather than the poor kids not knowing what will happen

I agree. I'm in two minds about the cancellation of exams, but whatever is decided must be decided soon, so that last year's uncertainty and stress isn't repeated. School assessment isn't ideal, but at least teachers would be able to plan and the pupils would know where they stand.