Coronavirus

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Pierre

weren't so many teachers working from home first time around, unless you count emailing out a PDF every Friday for the next week, working.........................

Quite a few had to attend school to look after the children of key workers, too.

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Originally Posted by jfman

The problem is he’s trying to offer polite opposition rather than meaningful opposition, while always trying to appear “ahead” of the curve. Trying to pre-empt this Government is a farcical ask.

Sir Keir's invisible manifesto policy is doing the trick on polling so I doubt he'll change tack whilst this is the case. He did call for a national lockdown yesterday so he may have had over 24 hours' disagreement with the government!

[jfman]

Hong Kong: 9,000 cases since the start of the pandemic - schools online til 14 February.
Scotland: 9,000 cases in last 4 days - schools online to the end of January.



---------- Post added at 16:46 ---------- Previous post was at 16:44 ----------

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Sir Keir's invisible manifesto policy is doing the trick on polling so I doubt he'll change tack whilst this is the case. He did call for a national lockdown yesterday so he may have had over 24 hours' disagreement with the government!

In fairness to him it’s the David Cameron playbook circa 2005. Folk laughed he stood for nothing and didn’t have any policies then too.

Originally Posted by Pierre

weren't so many teachers working from home first time around, unless you count emailing out a PDF every Friday for the next week, working.........................

Missus would give you an absolute leathering if she saw this ...

Trust me, the workload was horrific. Even that Friday PDF was most likely compiled from material that was never intended for use as remote learning.

I spent two whole evenings separating massive PDFs into usable daily chunks for her one week, including cutting the answers to all the questions off the documents before they could be sent to the kids.

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Quite a few had to attend school to look after the children of key workers, too.

---------- Post added at 16:42 ---------- Previous post was at 16:35 ----------


Sir Keir's invisible manifesto policy is doing the trick on polling so I doubt he'll change tack whilst this is the case. He did call for a national lockdown yesterday so he may have had over 24 hours' disagreement with the government!

And vulnerable children, too...

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...onal-provision

Meanwhile, in Colchester...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-55531589

Security officers removed Covid-19 "deniers" who were taking pictures of empty corridors at a NHS hospital where the intensive care unit is at maximum capacity, its chief executive said.

The incident took place at Colchester Hospital at the weekend.

Chief executive Nick Hulme said it "beggars belief" some people were calling the pandemic a hoax.

He said it was "the right thing to do" to keep corridors in outpatients units as empty as possible.

Mr Hulme said hospital security had to "remove people who were taking photographs of empty corridors and then posting them on social media, saying the hospital is not in crisis".

"When you've got that sort of social media pressure and those people denying the reality of Covid it really concerns us. Words fail me," he said.

"Why would people do that when we all know somebody who has died from Covid?

"Of course there are empty corridors at the weekend in outpatients, because that's the right thing to do.

"We are facing the biggest health challenge we've ever seen and we are still seeing people flouting the [social distancing] rules."

BREAKING: COVID-19 Threat Level has been raised to 5 it's highest level yet:
It is different and separate to the tiered system but the raised level indicates:

"We are at a “material risk of health services being overwhelmed."

[Julian]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Quite a few had to attend school to look after the children of key workers, too.

---------- Post added at 16:42 ---------- Previous post was at 16:35 ----------


Sir Keir's invisible manifesto policy is doing the trick on polling so I doubt he'll change tack whilst this is the case. He did call for a national lockdown yesterday so he may have had over 24 hours' disagreement with the government!

IS IT ??

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Chris

Missus would give you an absolute leathering if she saw this ...

Trust me, the workload was horrific. Even that Friday PDF was most likely compiled from material that was never intended for use as remote learning.

I spent two whole evenings separating massive PDFs into usable daily chunks for her one week, including cutting the answers to all the questions off the documents before they could be sent to the kids.

And this is why not having a plan for online/blended education to supplement face to face education has been flawed from the start. There were quick wins to be had around existing holidays which would have prevented the inevitable.

Councils could (should) have developed one to two week chunks of long standalone sections of each course, prepared centrally, allowing teachers to concentrate on the teaching part. Now there’s a reason for no contingency plan and it’s that central Government absolutely never countenanced the idea and threatened schools that didn’t open with legal action.

[denphone]

According to the FT the government have not ruled out closing schools until the mid-February half-term break.

https://www.ft.com/content/f1550dbb-...7-306ccfdaffca

[nomadking]

A study found that during the Spanish Flu outbreak, a US city that kept schools open, fared no worse than another which kept them closed.
The kids aren't going to be cooped up at home are they? At the very least they will be traipsing around the shops, mixing with the rest of us that have to be in shops.
It's not a matter of where people are, but what they are doing wherever they are. Behave responsibly, and they will be no impact, whether you are down the street, at a holiday home in the country, or in New Zealand. Attend a party of 100 people, and that is possibly going to cause problems, wherever you are on the planet.

Originally Posted by jfman

And this is why not having a plan for online/blended education to supplement face to face education has been flawed from the start. There were quick wins to be had around existing holidays which would have prevented the inevitable.

Councils could (should) have developed one to two week chunks of long standalone sections of each course, prepared centrally, allowing teachers to concentrate on the teaching part. Now there’s a reason for no contingency plan and it’s that central Government absolutely never countenanced the idea and threatened schools that didn’t open with legal action.

I wholeheartedly agree ... the SNP should have done much better.

All kids in our high school have a chromebook now, with the intention to extend this to P7, although in our LA that hasn’t happened yet. The programme seems to have minimal central input though.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Chris

Missus would give you an absolute leathering if she saw this ...

Trust me, the workload was horrific. Even that Friday PDF was most likely compiled from material that was never intended for use as remote learning.

I spent two whole evenings separating massive PDFs into usable daily chunks for her one week, including cutting the answers to all the questions off the documents before they could be sent to the kids.

I apologise for the sweeping generalisation. I'm sure there was good and bad practice throughout the country. I am only calling on my experience, which I wouldn't describe as positive.

There was no personal contact (apart from the email) from the teacher for the eldest Y5.

and the youngest who was in reception - well they were just written off for the year - there was nothing, absolutely nothing in regards to any contact or work - we had to come up with our own.

If they do shut the schools I hope my lot have upped their game.

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Originally Posted by Hugh

And vulnerable children, too...

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...onal-provision

Meanwhile, in Colchester...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-55531589

"Why would people do that when we all know somebody who has died from Covid?

I don't, fortunately....I don't even know anyone within extended friends and family that have had it.

2 work colleagues that had it in March are the only people I know personally that have had it.

Before anyone jumps on me, I'm obviously not denying it exists of course not. Just pointing out people have different experiences.

"Why would people do that when we all know somebody who has died from Covid?

Originally Posted by Pierre

I don't, fortunately....I don't even know anyone within extended friends and family that have had it.

2 work colleagues that had it in March are the only people I know personally that have had it.

Before anyone jumps on me, I'm obviously not denying it exists of course not. Just pointing out people have different experiences.

Same here, as I have noted a few times.
Even after 10 months now, I still dont personally know of anyone.
The closest Ive come is (still) a couple of people at my wifes school, who both recovered just fine.

(and yes, they were back at school today).

I know of more people who have survived Covid-19, myself included, than have died of it, I only know of one person who died but they did have other underlying health conditions.

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BREAKING: 26,000 are now believed to be in hospitals with Covid-19 - Prof Whitty is understood to have advised Prime Minister, the new variant is now in every part of the country. Source Laura Kuenssberg BBC.

This is it folks, we're heading for another national lockdown, with potentially more heavy sanctions for people who break the instructions.

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Latest from BBC's Laura Kuenssberg: This from the 4 Chief Medical Officers across UK- 'We are not confident that the NHS can handle a further sustained rise in cases and without further action there is a material risk of the NHS in several areas being overwhelmed over the next 21 days.'

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BREAKING: Scotland Police have arrested SNP MP Margaret Ferrier over alleged Coronavirus restriction breaches in September 2020.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...h-covid-rules/

[jfman]

Think that one shifted into the public interest. Although it's not an arrest for a breach of the Covid regulations as the previous view (from the Met?) was she had breached guidance but not regulations I think.

[Stephen]

About time too. She was my local MSP and should have been charged when the incident happened.