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Back2Skool2Die

Started by Shoulders?-Stomach!, August 22, 2020, 12:17:52 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

BlodwynPig

Crerar was on Marr this morning regurgitating that 'pathological optimist' line. Sickening as it is criminal.

'Reverse ferret' to be uttered 1 billion times in the next few days and then never again.

idunnosomename

you have to laugh dont you

Attila

My university has already warned us that we must be back teaching from the classroom when the schools open back up, no excuses (including for colleagues who are currently living out of the country). Just dreading it, as I don't expect the students to come back for just a few weeks, since it'll be so close to the end of term -- my commute easily eats a minumum of four hours out of the day when taking the limited number of trains into consideration.

Right now, my timetable is spread out so that I teach 1-2 hours a day, and the rest of the time am available on Teams for tutorials, marking, recording all of the lectures I'm not allowed to give live, re-writing prep to try to make our limited seminar time more engaging, admin, meetings, and even trying to sneak in some of my own writing and research. The last three weeks of the semester are just so much marking in the spring with dissertations coming in...to lose so many productive hours every day just to commute to teach to an empty classroom makes my stress levels go through the roof.


olliebean

QuotePM accepts this is likely to push R rate back over one

Fucksake. So he's not even pretending any more that he doesn't want more people to catch Covid. You might as well say, "PM accepts this means more people will die as a direct result of his actions."

BlodwynPig

Quote from: Attila on February 14, 2021, 02:29:22 PM
My university has already warned us that we must be back teaching from the classroom when the schools open back up, no excuses (including for colleagues who are currently living out of the country). Just dreading it, as I don't expect the students to come back for just a few weeks, since it'll be so close to the end of term -- my commute easily eats a minumum of four hours out of the day when taking the limited number of trains into consideration.

Right now, my timetable is spread out so that I teach 1-2 hours a day, and the rest of the time am available on Teams for tutorials, marking, recording all of the lectures I'm not allowed to give live, re-writing prep to try to make our limited seminar time more engaging, admin, meetings, and even trying to sneak in some of my own writing and research. The last three weeks of the semester are just so much marking in the spring with dissertations coming in...to lose so many productive hours every day just to commute to teach to an empty classroom makes my stress levels go through the roof.

Government are bringing in a free speech champion to make sure you can have ALL THE FREEDOM in the world to tell your employer to fuck off

Fambo Number Mive

I assume Keith will be fine with the plan to open up schools three weeks from now. I doubt the fact that cases are still above 10,000, hospitals are still overwhelmed and hundreds of people are dying a day with COVID (according to the government's within 28 day figures which are of course a fraction of those really dying with COVID) will change his mind.

"Open the schools again. No ifs or buts. Fuck the teaching unions and the plebs" he will say.

"I back the government on its ongoing culture war, but I think it should sound a bit nicer about it" he will say.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n383?fbclid=IwAR2EDZy29N_s400vif3OMRDF2koVq2503EqHm40n_PtANVUJOXwjBodbPpo

Bold bits are my edits, sorry for the distraction from the main thrust of the text but i felt that needed pointing out

QuoteExperts have warned that schools must be reopened with caution, amid emerging evidence from Israel and Italy that more young children are being infected with new variants of covid-19.

Paediatricians in Israel, which has surged ahead in vaccinating its adult Jewish population not its adult Palestinian population, reported a sharp rise in covid-19 infections among young people, with more than 50 000 children and teens testing positive in January—more than Israel saw in any month during the first and second waves.

Yuli Edelstein, health minister, told the Jerusalem Post, "We got a letter from the Israeli Association of Paediatrics that says they are very worried about the rate of disease in younger students." Some experts in Israel said that the rise in child cases was due to the emergence of the more contagious UK variant, which has spread more easily among younger age groups.

Cyrille Cohen, head of the laboratory of Immunotherapy at Israel's Bar-Ilan University and member of the country's national covid-19 vaccine clinical trial advisory committee, told The BMJ that his figures indicated that, since the emergence of the UK variant B1.1.7 in Israel in mid-December, the proportion of new daily cases accounted for by children aged under 10 had risen by nearly a quarter (23%).

Cohen urged caution over schools reopening. "Though I am convinced that education should be the first sector to open up because of its importance, it is my personal opinion that we should still reopen gradually . . . until we understand better the infection pattern of this new variant," he said.

He said that no evidence yet showed the new variant to be more dangerous to children, but he noted that in January Israel had opened its first special covid-19 intensive care unit for children, admitting four or five children.

SpiderChrist

Nick Gibb confirms that regular testing and face masks will not be compulsory when all the kids go back to school.

I just... I can't get my head around this. What POSSIBLE FUCKING REASON do they have for being such cunts about this?

bgmnts

So you can force kids to wear pointless school uniforms and homework, but you can't force children to wear necessary PPE in order to save lives?

Tories again deliberately fucking this up, no question about any of this.

BlodwynPig

Quote from: bgmnts on February 25, 2021, 12:48:14 PM
So you can force kids to wear pointless school uniforms and homework, but you can't force children to wear necessary PPE in order to save lives?

Tories again deliberately fucking this up, no question about any of this.

Yup.

Blinder Data

Interesting - I still support teachers getting prioritised for jags FWIW...

Quote from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56238468School staff do not have a markedly higher risk of infection than other working-age adults, a study suggests.

The number of staff testing positive for Covid antibodies increased by a similar percentage to their peers while schools were fully open.

Experts described the findings as "very reassuring", and suggested efforts by schools to control infections were working.

They said this did not mean teachers were at zero risk, however.

Testing positive for Covid antibodies indicates someone has had the virus in the past.

In December, 15% of teaching and support staff tested positive for antibodies compared to about 18% of people of working age in the same local authorities - giving them about an average risk for their age.

But the working-age population includes people not in work and working from home, as well as those going into work.

It would be "naive" to think teachers going into schools wouldn't have higher risks than those working from home, according to Dr Shamez Ladhani who is leading research for Public Health England.

His team, from Public Health England, the Office for National Statistics and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, tested staff and students at a sample of schools for current and past infections.

'No evidence' schools spread lots of Covid
When do children go back to school?
Anyone working outside their home is likely to have some elevated risk, the researchers explained.

However, teachers' risk was not substantially higher compared with people working in other settings.

Between 25% and 50% of hospital staff had antibodies, according to various studies, while in care homes that at least one Covid outbreak, two-thirds (66%) of staff had antibodies by the end of the first wave.

In contrast, the proportion of school staff testing positive for antibodies rose to 15% from about 12% between November and December 2020.

Given schools were completely open during this period, "you would expect much higher antibody conversion if it was a high risk environment," Dr Ladhani said.

He said the long-term harm of keeping children out of school was "enormous".

"The benefits outweigh the risks, but the risks are not zero," he said.

It was not possible to tell from the study whether any infections detected had been caught in school or in the wider community, or whether teachers were catching the virus from pupils or other teachers.

"The very fact we've not seen a high antibody rise when at school suggests staff were not being infected [at high rates] during that period".

He said schools had never been in a better position to think about re-opening.

And it was a testament to the infection control efforts of schools and their staff, one of the study's lead authors Prof Sinéad Langan added.

"Schools and their staff have made a huge effort to protect themselves and their students by implementing Covid-19 control measures to try and stop infection entering the school site, and reduce on-site transmission," she said.

It was announced last week that no occupation would be prioritised for vaccination - instead people doing different jobs would be offered the jab according to their age or health status.

That's because those are the biggest factors driving whether someone will get very ill or even die after being infected.

A relatively small proportion of Covid deaths have been in the working-age population.

Two-thirds of deaths in under-65s were in men and the most common occupations of those who died were in caring, service jobs and "elementary occupations" like cleaners, shelf-fillers and hospital porters.

Cuellar

No more at risk than other workers working in other settings. Right, but who is working in other settings, at the moment? They're obviously more at risk than ME at work, because I don't leave the house.

Are they no more at risk than the people mentioned at the end, the shelf stackers, cleaners, porters, who make up 2/3s of the under 65 dead?

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quote'No evidence' schools spread lots of Covid

'Lots of Covid'

That's the BBC's googoohgahgah Covid learning for babies. Dangerous moronic agenda-pushing subheading.

This comes just as they are softening us up with attacks on working from home, even though we are being directed to do so by the government.

There are a lot of people who don't like this and interestingly they happen to overlap with the same people who didn't want a change of government.

Let's stick to the topic though:

Firstly, ask yourself why schools closed in the first place.

Secondly, ask yourself what schools not being uniquely dangerous places for infections proves in the sphere of protecting public health. Why is that the new threshold? Isn't it of more significance that there are a very large number of schools attended by a very large number of children, whose parents collect them, frequently by car, every day.

Then remind yourself why schools closed in the first place.

Blinder Data, you went awfully quiet after having refused to accept school closures weren't just desirable and necessary but inevitable. The first glimmer of news you think indicates the opposite and here you are again.

jamiefairlie

It's utter shite. Kids go back, they pass the virus to each other and, even if they don't get sick, they then pass it onto their families and to the wider population. Kids aren't a special case, they need to be locked down. Health needs to come first.

JamesTC


BlodwynPig

Fucking hell. How much wool over the eyes does it take to fool the sheeple. Not much it seems.

Flotillas on the Thames by June.

Pretty young smiling things promoting the BEST OF BRITISH.

FUCK YOU!

Getting this out before purdah.

Shoulders?-Stomach!


Fambo Number Mive

Apparently back in September the government paid a television presenter to  "reassure parents on the changes and safety measures in place at schools".

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/tv-star-and-celeb-gp-hired-for-back-to-school-promo/

Quote...Experts told Schools Week they could cost anywhere from £4,000 to £15,000.

They come as school budgets are squeezed by coronavirus-related costs – and a government refusal to pay for preventive measures such as cleaning.

"There's a point where you wonder whether the government is running a safety campaign or a PR one," said Hilary Goldsmith, a school business leadership consultant,

"I'm sure that most parents would far rather that the public money used to pay for these celebrity endorsements was directed to schools to buy the resources and equipment needed to keep their schools safe, rather than see it spaffed up the wall of a celebrity photo shoot."...

I wonder if they will do the same this time round or if they will concentrate on paying for advertorials in Tory papers.

BlodwynPig

Quote from: Fambo Number Mive on March 07, 2021, 02:55:02 PM
Apparently back in September the government paid a television presenter to  "reassure parents on the changes and safety measures in place at schools".

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/tv-star-and-celeb-gp-hired-for-back-to-school-promo/

I wonder if they will do the same this time round or if they will concentrate on paying for advertorials in Tory papers.

I just caught a fragment on BBC breakfast, talking to a woman who may have been a minister (or could have been an plummy voiced influencer, it didn't have her name underneath - I wonder why?). If R number goes > 1, schools will remain open - there will be no schools lockdown - this is on advice from the scientists "it is the scientists who provide this advice".

LIES. LIES YOU FEMALE BABY HITLER CUNT. GENOCIDAL MANIAC.

She said it with such dead-eyed weariness, mogadon disinterest, I bet she was a real harpy of a cunt before she turned to downers to assuage the last remaining feelings of guilt at who she is.


Attila

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on March 07, 2021, 01:09:40 PM
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/03/06/univ-m06.html

Looks like bad news

Wey-hey, a shoutout there to my u/g alma mater, and my PhD alma mater made the top 20! Talk about school spirit.

Meanwhile, my university here in the UK jumped right on the 8th March schools opening to force as many programmes back to campus from today as possible, stretching the definition of 'practical and specialist training' requirements to the absolute limits.

My email all weekend has been from students panicking that they don't want to move back to campus (especially as it's only 4 weeks til the semester ends...seems really pointless and disruptive).

Meanwhile, our little dead-end street backs up to a school grounds, and prior to covid was a rat's run of schoo-run cars and families using the street as a car park twice a day. No cars at all this morning, and only 3 or 4 families walking their kids to school past the house at the usual school run time -- usually it's absolutely jammed with both cars and walkers.

Blinder Data

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on March 01, 2021, 06:20:25 PM
Blinder Data, you went awfully quiet after having refused to accept school closures weren't just desirable and necessary but inevitable. The first glimmer of news you think indicates the opposite and here you are again.

The results of that study is good news, which I thought was worth sharing.

Considering how perilous the situation became over the Christmas period, you might be pleased to know I think it was definitely the right decision to close schools.

You seem to want to close all schools for an indefinite amount of time, which to me is unsustainable. The impact on children and teenagers is and will continue to be horrific.

However, unfortunately I don't know what the answer is to this intractable problem. I just dislike the overly simplistic "close all schools till vaccines are done - SIMPLES" line of argument.

Feel free to continue arguing but really I don't know what else to say.

bgmnts

The school system is usually pretty horrific for teenagers and children to be fair.

Bazooka

Quote from: bgmnts on March 08, 2021, 11:26:35 AM
The school system is usually pretty horrific for teenagers and children to be fair.

In comparison to many students across the world it's nirvana.

bgmnts

Quote from: Bazooka on March 08, 2021, 12:44:19 PM
In comparison to many students across the world it's nirvana.

Well of course.

Fambo Number Mive

I think we should have waited to open schools until the following was achieved

- Improvements to classroom and dining hall ventilation across the state system (also check all private school classrooms have adequate ventilation, which I suspect most do)
- Wait until cases per day below 100 to reduce the risk of cases spiking again which also increases the risk of virus mutation
- Wait until all teachers and support staff (including school bus drivers) have been vaccinated
- A government campaign to get people to social distance properly again
- Increase SSP to an amount that means people can afford to stay off work. Offer SSP to zero hours contract workers as well.
- Require buses to have at least one window open on each deck. Even if it is pouring with rain, at least it increases airflow.

None of this should take an indefinite amount of time. In fact I imagine that if we had prioritised teachers and support staff for the vaccine we would have been able to open schools by May.

MojoJojo

Most of that's not really related to schools though is it? Also, less than 100 cases a day basically means never. It's not achievable through lockdown, unless you start closing hospitals.

Vaccinating teachers - I can see the logic in not prioritising them. Several other groups are at higher risk (both of catching and becoming seriously ill).

Ventilation in schools - most schools don't have air con, so plenty of windows. It's really a case of if they are being opened, which probably depends on the school and teacher.

SAGE estimates opening schools increases the R value by 30%, current R value estimate is between 0.7 - 0.9, so there's some chance cases will keep going down, and hopefully vaccines will start cutting into the R value soon.

To be clear, I'm not 100% behind the schools opening now. I think opening up after easter would make more sense. But I can also see that opening now means that easter will be a natural block if there is a spike, and also gives a good break to evaluate what the effect of opening schools has been. I also try to be vaguely optimistic about things, rather than assuming that we have to stay in lockdown forever or we'll all die.

Fambo Number Mive

The ideas not directly related to schools such as increasing SSP and mandating windows open on buses would help bring down cases further than they are currently making it safer for schools to open. The latter would also reduce the risk of children on the way to school transmitting it to other people on the bus and vice versa.

I don't think we need to stay in lockdown forever, but it feels like we are on the way out of covid (am I being too optimistic?) so waiting a bit longer could really pay off. Opening after Easter as you suggest would probably make a big difference.

I take your point that other groups are more at risk of catching COVID and becoming seriously ill than teachers - my thought was that having teachers and support staff fully vaccinated before schools open would reduce the number of teachers who get seriously ill and therefore are unable to teach for several weeks or worse.

Pinball

At least all the scrotes have been vaccinated. Oh.

MojoJojo

What is a bit crap is that parents of primary and secondary age school children can get lateral flow tests to test twice weekly. I've only found out now as I go through all the school email that went out before reopening. Not sure why they're not encouraging it more - lack of supply? Worried parents will use negative tests as an excuse for reckless behaviour?

Fambo Number Mive

CAB teachers/parents (I know some may be both), how have the first few days back been for you?

I note on another forum a teacher has posted that almost half of her class aren't wearing masks.