[Zizu]

Andy Burnham just held a coronavirus press conference on the current situation in Greater Manchester

Andy Burnham was joined joined by Beverley Hughes and GMP Chief Constable Ian Hopkins

Andy Burnham talking on
Schools returning -

He is asked about schools: does he agree with very young children and Y6 going back in June and does he agree with Liverpool’s mayor Joe Anderson, who says he will ‘resist’ the suggestion of a staged schools reopening June 1st ?

In some ways, he says, the position is as with the overall position - you need foresight, so at least with the schools picture you can plan ahead.

It will have to be a phased return, he says.

It is going to be a real challenge to maintain the distancing..

It is ‘desirable I think’ that we return as many students as we can as soon as we can but it has to be done safely.

Until then I don’t think any firm dates can be set.
~~~
Bev Hughes adds that she is ‘really concerned’ about the government setting this target date.

I don’t know what the evidence is, she says, on which they base their decisions.

We don’t know if children are asymptomatic carriers, for example.

I’m certainly concerned about my grandchildren.
This is also a huge challenge for teachers.

It’s ‘incomprehensible’, she says, to start with reception age children; they learn through play and socialisation, so it’s impossible for them to keep a 2m distance.

“I cannot begin to understand the logic behind that”


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[Zizu]

Mayor of Liverpool


Mayor Anderson has made it clear he intends not to follow the government's plans. Education is vital, however it does not come before the health and safety of our children & staff. I will resist allowing schools to reopen in June. To do so risks our children’s and staff safety."


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[Cherie]

Not a word from Sadiq Khan on the issue

and he hasn't put any extra trains or buses on today as he says London is still shut.... so he is happy to force the extra 9% rise in public transport use today onto the existing skeleton service ...

[Zizu]

Interesting excerpt of a school letter sent out to parents yesterday... I certainly don’t like the part about not abiding by the two metre rule - surely that is the one of the main stipulations if not THE main one ?


—
Dear parent / guardian

The Government have published guidance for a staged reopening of primary schools - provisionally on 1st June .

The government understands that primary age children cannot be expected to remain 2 metres apart from each other and staff.

Due to this, our school will work through the list of safety measures set out below to minimise any risks ...



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[Zizu]

Nobody is expecting schools to stay closed forever. But we're still seeing hundreds - closer to a thousand - of people dying every day. Is there any other country that's reopened schools when deaths are still that high?

Most countries never even reached that number to begin with.


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[michael21]

What has chages nothing school should not be going back yet

[Zizu]

The BBC are currently showing how a primary school is coping with reopening (with classes of just ten pupils !)

Denmark have only had a couple of hundred deaths in TOTAL so that’s about HALF our DAILY number.


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[Zizu]

An interesting development ..


Department for Education's chief scientific adviser, Osama Rahman, appearing before the Science and Technology Committee, said decisions around opening schools, such as which year groups went back first, had not been taken by the department.
Asked whether he had assessed the safety guidance given to schools and how it might be implemented, the DFE's scientific adviser told MPs: "I haven't."
As such he was unable to say what evidence was behind the decision to reopen schools - or to say how many under-18s had died from the virus.
And Mr Rahman told MPs there was only "low confidence" in evidence suggesting that children transmit Covid-19 any less than adults.
"As a former teacher listening to this I don't think the profession is going to be at all satisfied by what they are hearing at the moment," said Scottish National Party MP Carol Monaghan.
Patrick Roach, leader of the Nasuwt teachers' union, said the DFE adviser's comments were "truly shocking and disturbing".
In their joint statement, nine unions, including the National Education Union and the National Association of Head Teachers, rejected the plans for a phased return of primary school pupils after half term - saying it was still too early to be safe.
The unions called for a delay until a "full roll-out of a national test and trace scheme" was in place and there were extra resources for cleaning, protective equipment and risk assessments.


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[Zizu]

I’m seeing suggestions online where secondary schools are preparing to welcome back their year 10’s on the 1st June and sending out questionnaires to parents testing the water to see how many will actually be sending their children in .. ???!


I was initially under the impression that the first stage was for primary schools to reopen with reception, year 1 and year 6 but then days later it emerged that schools with nurseries would also be allowing then to return ?!?




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[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Zizu

I’m seeing suggestions online where secondary schools are preparing to welcome back their year 10’s on the 1st June and sending out questionnaires to parents testing the water to see how many will actually be sending their children in .. ???!


I was initially under the impression that the first stage was for primary schools to reopen with reception, year 1 and year 6 but then days later it emerged that schools with nurseries would also be allowing then to return ?!?




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From the address on Sunday

Our ambition is that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays.

[Zizu]

Originally Posted by Cherie

From the address on Sunday



Our ambition is that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays.

Copy / paste

—

Johnson’s plan would see pupils in reception, year one and year six at English primaries returning from 1 June, to be followed soon after by other years.

Only after that would secondary school pupils return, and only those in year 10 and year 12 – the first years of GCSE and A-level exams respectively – had a realistic prospect of returning to school by the end of the school year in JULY .




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[Zizu]

Originally Posted by Cherie

From the address on Sunday



Our ambition is that secondary pupils facing exams next year will get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays.

Also no mention of secondary schools/ pupils in this statement either ..

—


Professor Whitty said that while reopening schools would pose a low risk to children themselves, the government would be consulting with teachers over the risks they faced.
and
the one good thing about this virus, and it really is only one good thing, is it’s very, very low in children, which is in contrast to many other infectious diseases." The second risk was whether "having primary schools come back" would mean "a significant upswing" in the infection rate. "The view is, if it’s done very carefully, if it’s done slowly, then it is very unlikely to do that," he added.


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[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Zizu

Also no mention of secondary schools/ pupils in this statement either ..

—


Professor Whitty said that while reopening schools would pose a low risk to children themselves, the government would be consulting with teachers over the risks they faced.
and
the one good thing about this virus, and it really is only one good thing, is it’s very, very low in children, which is in contrast to many other infectious diseases." The second risk was whether "having primary schools come back" would mean "a significant upswing" in the infection rate. "The view is, if it’s done very carefully, if it’s done slowly, then it is very unlikely to do that," he added.


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My quote is from Bojo's speech last Sunday

[Kazanne]

People are not selfish to want businesses to reopen and the economy to get going again, it's those who sit at home, scared to live, but expecting others to 'take the risk' to ensure that post is delivered, Amazon parcels arrive on time, that medical care is available if needed, to make sure that their lights come on when they flick the switch, that their gas cooker lights when needed, that there's food on the shelves in the shops when they want it, the people available to make sure their internet works...basically everyone else can take the risks to ensure that those who want lockdown to continue are comfortable.....but somehow, others are the selfish ones for wanting lockdown lifted a bit .It has to happen at some point.

[Zizu]

Originally Posted by Cherie

My quote is from Bojo's speech last Sunday

Yes but ‘ at least get some time in school’ doesn’t equate to the 1st June for 7 weeks along with primary schools , surely ?

I took that sentence to mean maybe the last two or so weeks of the term ..



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[MTVN]

So where have you seen that any year 10s would return on June 1st?

[parmnion]

To think parents will send back their children before the end of terminus ridiculous.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Zizu

Yes but ‘ at least get some time in school’ doesn’t equate to the 1st June for 7 weeks along with primary schools , surely ?

I took that sentence to mean maybe the last two or so weeks of the term ..



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Class sizes will be cut in half so they will have to stagger when they go in, so it might take 6 weeks to give all of them time in school, I haven't seen 1st June given as a date, maybe you can link?

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by parmnion

To think parents will send back their children before the end of terminus ridiculous.

Tramtastic!

[Zizu]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Class sizes will be cut in half so they will have to stagger when they go in, so it might take 6 weeks to give all of them time in school, I haven't seen 1st June given as a date, maybe you can link?

Not a link as such just a snippet of a high school bulletin..

——


There will be no high school having a full cohort of Year 10s in on any given day indeed schools will only have half or a third of their cohorts in at any one time.

Although schools may prepare for pupils to returning on the 1st June most schools are looking at week beginning 8th June before any 'lessons' begin.

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[Zizu]

....

[Zizu]

Originally Posted by MTVN

So where have you seen that any year 10s would return on June 1st?

Sample / excerpt of a school bulletin..

——


There will be no high school having a full cohort of Year 10s in on any given day indeed schools will only have half or a third of their cohorts in at any one time.

Although schools may prepare for pupils to returning on the 1st June most schools are looking at week beginning 8th June before any 'lessons' begin.


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[Zizu]

This can’t be true ... can it ?

::::


Sky News apparently reporting on a study that has confirmed children from age of 5 to 14 more than likely to be the highest infected of any age group from covid -19 .

Also breaking news the R is now around 1 in some parts of the country


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[Zizu]

This is just typical !!

The all important meeting between the unions and the government !!??!!

Guess who wasn’t present !?

::::


Gavin Williamson wasn’t at today’s meeting which was done remotely. It was just the unions and science advisors.


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[AnnieK]

Originally Posted by Zizu

This is just typical !!

The all important meeting between the unions and the government !!??!!

Guess who wasn’t present !?

::::


Gavin Williamson wasn’t at today’s meeting which was done remotely. It was just the unions and science advisors.


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They said on the news last night that he wouldn't be there as the unions requested he not be so they could get the unbiased facts without government interruption.