I wonder what will happen when kids phones start pinging during lessons? "You've been in contact with a person who has tested positive." The modern equivalent of the 4 minute warning? Could be a real hoot.

I assume the whole class and teacher would have to be quarantined as they would all have been in contact with the kid who'd been in contact with another who'd tested positive.

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I assume the whole class and teacher would have to be quarantined as they would all have been in contact with the kid who'd been in contact with another who'd tested positive.

Nah, the way it's going, they'd all be sent off to get a KFC...

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I assume the whole class and teacher would have to be quarantined as they would all have been in contact with the kid who'd been in contact with another who'd tested positive.

Exactly. Sounds like a recipe for panic to me. 

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Reading a lot of the comments on social media suggest to me that a lot of parents won’t send their kids to school anyway.

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So did I, but I thought I'd keep quiet 

A counter argument is a vital part of any decent discussion, llamedos. A critical peer is one's greatest asset.

Trolls think otherwise. Keep your comments coming.

R.

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Reading a lot of the comments on social media suggest to me that a lot of parents won’t send their kids to school anyway.

And therein lies another issue. If the schools are open and all teaching staff have returned who will provide the online learning support to all these young people that is currently being delivered each week? If delivered properly this is (more than) a full time teaching role.

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I commented the other day about the doctor's union the BMA siding with the teacher's union over back to school - well it appears many doctors are not happy with the BMA attitidude:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8326981/Doctors-war-schools.html

I have had my concerns about Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chairman of the British Medical Association for some time.

From the article:

"The row over Left-wing unions trying to stop schools from reopening escalated last night as a senior medical figure was accused of using misleading research about the health risks of returning to the classroom. 

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chairman of the British Medical Association, had told the National Education Union that it was 'absolutely right' to object to the move back to lessons. 

But another doctor – an expert in childhood infections − accused Dr Nagpaul of making 'clear errors' in warning of the risks. 

...

In his intervention yesterday, Dr Alasdair Munro, a clinical research fellow in paediatric infectious diseases, contradicted a letter Dr Nagpaul sent to the National Education Union on Friday supporting their stance against reopening schools. 

The BMA chief quoted a Berlin study which, he claimed, suggested children 'are just as likely to be infected as adults, and may be just as infectious'. 

But Dr Munro accused Dr Nagpaul of making 'clear errors of interpretation', arguing that the German study's conclusions weren't supported by their data and 'did not find children were 'just as likely to be infected as adults'… [and] did not demonstrate children are 'just as infectious' as adults'. 

He tweeted last night: 'Not sending your kids back to school is a middle-class privilege. Let's start thinking about what's best for society, not just the families of the privileged few.' 

..."

 

 

 It’s touching that you are so passionate in your concern for under privileged children all of a sudden😀

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I wonder what will happen when kids phones start pinging during lessons? "You've been in contact with a person who has tested positive." The modern equivalent of the 4 minute warning? Could be a real hoot.

What happens in other countries?  

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I assume the whole class and teacher would have to be quarantined as they would all have been in contact with the kid who'd been in contact with another who'd tested positive.

Those of us with teaching experience know it can be a demanding - if rewarding - vocation at the best of times. We will ALL be able to imagine the difficulties of a premature return to school opening, from management of hygiene and distancing in the classroom, to whole school issues and staffing. School transport is another angle to consider. Most of all is the reality for already stressed teachers and other school staff, many of whom are still working actively in some capacity. They then have the tricky responsibility of keeping people safe - their pupils, colleagues, themselves and their families. They will do this knowing that at any point things could still change and we could be back in a second lockdown. I can picture the stress and worry when the first colleague succumbs to Covid-19, and quarantine, cover and class size issues build, before things fall apart again.

I wonder how many of those making the decisions on reopening will be putting themselves on the front line in the nation's classrooms. Not many, that's for sure.

Roger

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Another issue in London at least is free school travel has been removed for all
Under 16s

This could be a real blow to low income family’s who have to send their kids back to school.

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Those of us with teaching experience know it can be a demanding - if rewarding - vocation at the best of times. We will ALL be able to imagine the difficulties of a premature return to school opening, from management of hygiene and distancing in the classroom, to whole school issues and staffing. School transport is another angle to consider. Most of all is the reality for already stressed teachers and other school staff, many of whom are still working actively in some capacity. They then have the tricky responsibility of keeping people safe - their pupils, colleagues, themselves and their families. They will do this knowing that at any point things could still change and we could be back in a second lockdown. I can picture the stress and worry when the first colleague succumbs to Covid-19, and quarantine, cover and class size issues build, before things fall apart again.

I wonder how many of those making the decisions on reopening will be putting themselves on the front line in the nation's classrooms. Not many, that's for sure.

Roger

Well said Roger 

Another issue in London at least is free school travel has been removed for all
Under 16s

This could be a real blow to low income family’s who have to send their kids back to school.

Agree with this - I wonder, in the great scheme of things, just what the net saving is going to be ? 

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Another issue in London at least is free school travel has been removed for all
Under 16s

This could be a real blow to low income family’s who have to send their kids back to school.

Ironic, HW, given this very sector has had so much apparent political concern during the pandemic.

R

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Exactly. Sounds like a recipe for panic to me. 

I wonder what the R number would be for this isolated "pocket" ?

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We aren’t different. Those countries had much lower infection rates. We’re still too high.

When Denmark reopened schools over 4 weeks ago their infection rate was higher than ours is now and they have had zero issues.

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When Denmark reopened schools over 4 weeks ago their infection rate was higher than ours is now and they have had zero issues.

But, what is their PL* number?

* Pond Life.

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When Denmark reopened schools over 4 weeks ago their infection rate was higher than ours is now and they have had zero issues.

Denmark’s daily infection rate peaked at 390 and on the day of opening there were 150 new cases and 10 deaths. Think about it.

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But, what is their PL* number?

* Pond Life.

I've always wondered do we as a nation have a higher % of PL than others? Are we that different?

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Denmark’s daily infection rate peaked at 390 and on the day of opening there were 150 new cases and 10 deaths. Think about it,

But their population is much lower. Wiki says 5.8m

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But their population is much lower. Wiki says 5.8m

I know that but absolute numbers are important as well as per capita. 

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