Some parts of the country took a real pounding during the storm over the weekend. Thousands are still without power. Our area only caught a glancing blow, but there was some damage…
Damage limitation…..
As of today The UK Government has announced that pupils in Secondary schools should wear masks in all communal areas, which is in addition to masks being compulsory on school buses. All this as a temporary response to prevent a new covid variant spreading in schools. But thankfully the Government has done a deal with the virus, so the virus has agreed to not spread during lessons. The Government has deemed that MASKS are not required in Classrooms……
Let’s hope any damage is very limited…..
We either need masks or we don’t need masks. Kinda in the middle ain’t going to help anyone.
Oh how I missed the delights of setting the alarm clock to go off one hour earlier. All to fit in with the demands of the school week. I’m not sure I had an hour of sleep I could really afford to drop in the first place. It doesn’t sound much but dropping from somewhere over 3 hours to just over 2 hours sleep a night definitely brings on that semi permanent morning dull head feeling. The return of the ZOMBIE. I hear you cry – GO TO BED EARLIER …..But the thing is that it’s not as simple as just going to bed earlier, my sleep refuses to arrive much before 4am regardless of what time I get under the blankets.
That serious dull head feeling is made worse by one thing in particular. When there is no school, that extra hour provides a safe place to slowly wake. Waking on my own terms. Unfortunately the school alarm is too early for that and everyday I need the artificial alarm. That sudden jolt to just messes me up. At this rate I’m going to seriously harm my George Clooney looks 😂😂😂😂😂😂🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪 Especially if I keep zombie walking face first into stone walls.
But it’s reassuring to see so many others who are clearly suffering from zombie dull head syndrome. As I went to pay for petrol this morning, I walked past the ‘please wear a mask in the shop’ sign in the safe knowledge that my mask was on my face (albeit inside out). Strangely the other 20 odd people in the shop had not realised they had not put there masks on. How very tired they must be….
And it’s not just the great unwashed like myself who suffer from lack of sleep induced forgetfulness. It also happens to so called world leaders as well…. When your tired you clearly forget things like masks even when everyone else has taken the trouble to put one on. Or maybe in this particular case, Johnson is just an arrogant Bell-End……
If anyone knows the photo source, can you let me know
Yesterday I took Hawklad for a drive through takeout at the local Taco Bells. The drive through was coned off. After much reassurance Hawklad let me go inside to buy him some food.
Well I was wearing a mask and keeping my distance……..
The only other person with a mask was the lad preparing the food. The girl taking the orders, the chap making drinks and the person on the till were maskless. Everyone inside at the tables were maskless. Even the customers who came in after me were maskless. I even had to ask the person behind me to move back as he was no more than a foot away from me. AND the looks I got. No comments this time as I think my eyes gave away the current mood level. What’s the phrase – if looks could kill……
So have I missed something. Is it over…..
Just had an email from school saying that masks are still recommended on school buses but they are not required in any part of the school including classrooms. All social distancing rules have ceased. This follows Government instructions to schools. The email also notified parents that from the opening of schools next week, classes will now not be sent home if there is a positive case in the class. A significant outbreak would have to occur for that to happen. That decision would now not be the schools to take, it was up to area officials. Further if positive cases occur in a household then the any pupils are expected to still attend school until they test positive. Parents will now not be automatically informed of any school or class outbreaks. They will not be informed of any close contact with confirmed cases. This will only occur when a threshold of infection is reached. The school is seeking clarification on these new rules but they will have to follow them as they are Government instructions.
So have I missed something. Is it over…..
ONE MORE THOUGHT….
The Government was asked in a Freedom of Information Request to reveal what its own expert advice said about its school mask removal policy. The Government has refused to release that advice or a summary of the expert opinion as it is ‘not in the public interest to release that information’. I wonder what it says…….
Definitely a moody day. Moody means ‘it’s about to CHUCK it down again…’
It’s now 6 weeks to the schools return. In 6 weeks the classrooms will be full and the Government has removed all social distancing. So in September no masks, no screens, no class bubbles, no additional sanitary facilities, no additional distancing. Schools are perfectly safe. Currently with some protection there are just under 1000 COVID child hospital admissions with an average of 52 new admissions per day. 64 have tragically died from COVID.
It’s within this backdrop that Hawklad is struggling with a potential return to the classroom. He is already talking about the social pressure to stop using his mask if the rest of his classmates and teachers aren’t. It’s just a mess. Some families are desperate to ‘return to normal’, some families are unsure and some are still trying to shield.
On the radio I have just heard a politician describe those who are advocating a rethink on school Covid safety as ‘left wingers playing politics with our kids future’. Apparently schools are perfectly safe and don’t need any form of additional safeguards. Items like masks are not needed and are an infringement on civil liberties. Parents should listen to those that know the facts……
Ok I am just your average muppet single parent. What do I know. How can I possibly doubt the Government’s decision to remove masks from schools.
Shall we listen to the Independent Science Advisory Group. Independent Sage concluded that “don’t think we can do anything but conclude that this government is seriously carrying out its herd immunity policy through natural infection, through school children.”
Or shall we see what a leading World Epidemiologist thinks. I’d rather listen to him than some trumped up politician who plays politics.
Today we received an email from the Headteacher setting out the plans for the coming school year. Clearly he is being hamstrung by both government rules and the lack of any clarity on those rules. But currently this is the plan.
Each year group will be largely kept apart from other year groups.
Each year group will return to school on a different day. For our sons new year group that will be September 11th.
School buses will run but each child will have a named seat and the bus will be split into year groups. That will mean son will have to sit with 3 girls and separate from the boys he would normally sit with. All pupils will need to wear a mask on the bus and use hand sanitizers when they board the bus.
Masks will not be worn at any other time during the day.
Corridors will operate as normal but pupils will be encouraged to maintain as much social distancing as possible.
Social distancing will not be enforced within the classroom, so room layouts will remain unchanged.
No catering facilities will be available at break times.
Access to the canteen will be restricted at lunchtime. Pupils will only be allowed to have lunch within narrow timeframes.
More hand sanitizers will be available but it will be up to the pupils when they use them.
Toilets will be restricted to only 3 people at a time.
Year groups will be kept where possible in there own area of the school. Sons area would mean that he does not have access to the quiet room which is set aside for children with autism.
Parents will be given details of mental health services available to those children struggling.
No onsite temperature checking will take place, that is the responsibility of the parent.
If any child is showing a Covid symptom then they should be kept off school. They are also encouraged to undertake a virus test.
Class sizes may have to be increased to take account of increased teacher sickness.
Pupils will be encouraged to avoid meeting with friends who are not in their year group.
School will not be closed if virus cases are recorded.
Online tuition will have to be abandoned with the government dictating a full return to normal schooling.
So that’s the plan. I’m so hoping son decides to opt for homeschooling. Frankly opening up large schools during a pandemic with only the minimum of additional safeguards, appears reckless. So many unanswered questions, which the headteacher openly refers to. Why would you shutdown online tuition in schools which are actually up for awards on the quality of that online service. What do families do when they have several children in different year groups. Most people with the virus show no symptoms yet testing is being restricted. Why masks for buses yet no masks for classrooms. How do kids with autism access the autism services which are in a restricted parts of the school. It’s ok giving out mental health service details but those services are already overrun with significant service backlogs (waiting lists of up to 12 months) – kids need help now….. And on and on.
So frustrating. Quite a bit of the sky is blue yet the black clouds keep rolling over the top of us. Keeping the Sun hidden. That’s as close as we have been to a glimpse of the big yellow thing. Which happens to be an awful lot closer than we have had to anything resembling competent government recently…..
So this morning the Government has said that their message is crystal clear, the problem is that some people just can’t understand it…. So they have helpfully clarified some stuff. The new Stay Alert message means you must stay at home and also that you must not stay at home. You can only see one person a day from a different household. So if you have two parents then you can only see one of them. Yet people can go to work and meet work colleagues (as many as you like) as long as you follow the new workplace rules – rules which have not been written yet. People should wear masks, but only if they really want to. Don’t need to worry about things like if the masks meet minimum standards, an old sock will do – anyway that’s what many of our nurses and care workers have had to resort to using as the Government couldn’t be bothered to buy enough protective kit. It’s completely safe to go out but don’t try to use public transport as this may or may not be safe. We have the same rules across the UK and you can drive anywhere you want to. BUT not to Scotland or Wales as they might be using the same rules but differently. It will soon be completely safe to send under 10’s back to school but they won’t be able to play together as that would be completely unsafe. We have the most open and honest government in the world but we won’t be releasing the scientific advice we have been using and we will only answer questions that we think are appropriate. The Government has issued detailed rules, bizarrely many of these are still being written (that’s a minor technicality) and don’t get so hung up on the safety details. Just use good old British common sense and basically wing this …..
So yes the sun has refused to shine so far but there is always hope it will. Unfortunately with Boris there is absolutely no hope of competent government ever appearing. Sadly we are not the only country like this. I just hope you get more of the sun than we do…..
A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. 