I'd like to know what teachers think about school opening up next week. In WA it won't be compulsory for parents to send their kids to school but it is encouraged. I'd like to know if teachers feel safe going back to school and if they think social distancing and good hygiene could be maintained, especially at primary schools.

Who cares
Kids are stupid
And schools farked

Safe, of course they are, the government tells us they are! ( I think they are, were, still are)

but the notion of social distancing and rigid high efficiency effective cleaning.
By the "cleaning agenda" set out I would have to clean PE equipment before and after each class ( maybe catch footies mid flight and clean them before the next kid catches them) The cleaners will have to clean playground equipment regularly...maybe 3hours of their day, clean drink taps, door handles and desks every couple of periods

IF over 70% of kids turn up (and I think they will - using the numbers of kids taken out of class before the Gov gave the ok to) Social Distancing in classrooms will be impossible, contrary to popular cartooning and classroom depictions students sit at double desks not single!!

Kids must be kept at the SD norm of 1.5m upon entering/exiting rooms...cool but what about when in the room....Just "teach" them outside...look a Doggy!! .....lesson over or hang on it's raining and all 12 classes can't use the U/C area

In Kindy and PP it will be impossible to commit to the "norms" ...Stop licking your foot Johnny, why did you wipe your snot on Jane? and worse

Will those parents who always send their kids to school with a hacking seal cough and green mucus seeping out of their every facial opening suddenly not send them and or bother to turn up to pick them or even answer their phone!!!!!

The often said and cartooned situation is true...It is ok at work at school, shops, hospitals etc but as soon as work finishes it's not ok
Ironic to think I can work 6hrs a day with the same 20+ adults (and up to 280 kids) but if I socialise (with the adults) after hours I could be fined $1k and pilloried in the paper or FB for breaking the "rules"
apart from the above Yes we can do it but it's not going to go like the ministers say it will because...well .... Kids

My old music and art teachers were smoking hot
If I was at school I'd be hanging out to go back, student oppinion

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theDoctor said..

Who cares
Kids are stupid
And schools farked

What an interesting post.

Thanks for that mocha1, pretty much what I was thinking. So you reckon 70% attendance? In WA at least it seems that there's no community spread for now but wide spread testing hasn't been done yet. I suppose we'll have an answer to that by the end of Term 2.

All it will take is for a nasty outbreak and some death and maybe there will be a reconsideration. I just dont get how management ask us not to wear ppe because it might promote hysteria amongst stufents. What the hell man

Can't teachers just opt out?
ie. Quit their job and sit at home not getting paid like so many others have had too.

Those that have been laid off had no choice, so lets not talk about what is isn't fair.

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kk said..
Can't teachers just opt out?
ie. Quit their job and sit at home not getting paid like so many others have had too.

Those that have been laid off had no choice, so lets not talk about what is isn't fair.

Nah, Im happy to go along and wait for some deaths, then will issue an almighty "Told you so!"

As long as its not me I guess, but at least I will die with a smug grin on my face because I was still right

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kk said..
Can't teachers just opt out?
ie. Quit their job and sit at home not getting paid like so many others have had too.

Those that have been laid off had no choice, so lets not talk about what is isn't fair.

I thought the point of this thread was about the impact of sending all the kids to school will have on spreading the virus again?

With regard to that question, my wife teaches primary and says it's a total waste of time trying to keep a class full of Year 2 or Year 3 kids to follow separation rules. She was just shaking her head in disbelief when the Chief Medical Officer was reporting that schools were following social distancing practices.

Sure, let the experts decide if schools should resume, as long as in their epidemiological modelling they make the assumption that there will be no social distancing occurring at school, because....there simply won't be.

My neighbor is Italian and a doctor, he was telling me in Italy they closed the schools quite early on in the piece and that has been blamed at least partially for the high death rate. Because of the their social structure the kids automatically went to the grandparents for day care when the schools closed.
Just hearsay though.

How many unaccounted for cases of covid 19 are there thought to be?

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Harrow said..

kk said..
Can't teachers just opt out?
ie. Quit their job and sit at home not getting paid like so many others have had too.

Those that have been laid off had no choice, so lets not talk about what is isn't fair.

I thought the point of this thread was about the impact of sending all the kids to school will have on spreading the virus again?

With regard to that question, my wife teaches primary and says it's a total waste of time trying to keep a class full of Year 2 or Year 3 kids to follow separation rules. She was just shaking her head in disbelief when the Chief Medical Officer was reporting that schools were following social distancing practices.

Sure, let the experts decide if school should resume, as long as in the modelling they make the assumption that there will be no social distancing occurring at school, because....there simply won't be.

I don't think the plan is eradication of the virus, that's impossible. We would have to completely close our borders until a vaccine is found and there is every chance there won't be one. If one is discovered we are probably looking at 2022 before it becomes widely available. So sending the kids back to school, is in some ways an experiment to see how quickly the virus spreads and how well we can manage it before we start opening up businesses and slowly returning to normal. We want the kids to get it, just not lots of them, all at once. The virus will spread through Australia, but we will hopefully be able to do it gradually, over a long period of time and be able to manage it compared to the USA who are now having mass burial graves...

They did a much better job here by keeping the schools open for those that couldn't stay home. My wife has been teaching via Zoom each day, and the 3 kids in her class that couldn't stay home were able to attend school and join the teleconferencing like everyone else. With only a few kids in each class, they were able to spread around the room and maintain distance.

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Zed said..
...but we will hopefully be able to do it gradually, over a long period of time and be able to manage it compared to the USA who are now having mass burial graves...

So people will just die more gradually here, rather than in a hurry like the USA. But, if there's no vaccine, that's probably the inevitable outcome.

I wonder how much difference good medical intervention is actually having on the death rate?

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Harrow said..

I wonder how much difference good medical intervention is actually having on the death rate?

All the virus mainly does is cram the probability of you dying in the next year into 2 weeks. The related question is can medical intervention extend your life by 12 months?

www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-comment-on-individual-and-population-risk-of-covid-19/

Exactly how many children under the age of say 14 have tested positive and how many proved to pass it on in Aust.

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Harrow said..

Zed said..
...but we will hopefully be able to do it gradually, over a long period of time and be able to manage it compared to the USA who are now having mass burial graves...

So people will just die more gradually here, rather than in a hurry like the USA. But, if there's no vaccine, that's probably the inevitable outcome.

I wonder how much difference good medical intervention is actually having on the death rate?

Yeah. I think in places like Italy, more people have died because they simply haven't had the facilities, staff and equipment to deal with 1000 deaths per day. People with respiratory illnesses are not getting critical ventilators, for example.

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Ian K said..

All the virus mainly does is cram the probability of you dying in the next year into 2 weeks. The related question is can medical intervention extend your life by 12 months?

www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-comment-on-individual-and-population-risk-of-covid-19/

I call BS on that "expert opinion".

There are thousands of people living long productive lives with serious underlying health issues. Take everybody on chemo for a start, practically no immune system whilst undergoing treatment. Very high chance of dying if they get the virus. Even years after treatment most have compromised immune systems but will live a long life but not if they get the virus.

Then there's all the people with asthma, heart kids etc,etc.

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Bananabender said..
Exactly how many children under the age of say 14 have tested positive and how many proved to pass it on in Aust.

Fark all have been tested so hard to tell. the main issue is asking teachers to do 3 things - teach kids at school, provide online education and prepare work packages for kids with no internet. Then mark it all and put it on one scale to grade them as well.

Our local pub is re-opening its restaurant/bistro starting tomorrow for sit down dinners and lunches.
Its a lot nicer sitting down to a pub T-bone lunch without heaps of kids running around , so yeah, get them back in school so I can enjoy a feed and beer at the local in peace.

All essential workers are facing risks by working, like a coles checkout operator or trolley pusher as they don't get PPE. The lockdown has worked pretty well so they have an opportunity to open something up and school is important especially for the older ones. It would be a disaster for year 12 students. Maybe if a teacher does not want to work it can be leave without pay, if all the students don't come back they won't need all the staff anyway.

I wonder how the schoolies week party's will go this year.


All schools will be obsolete soon anyway, all will be online in the near future, cheaper than paying teachers who spend half the year on holidays anyway. And online will save millions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ a year on upkeep of buildings etc that aren't really needed in this day and age.

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Little Jon said..if all the students don't come back they won't need all the staff anyway.

Usual ignorant comment with no knowledge of how a school works. So how do we know who will turn up everyday?? We are told we have to provide face to face so we have to staff every class even if less than 50% turn up. Then we have to provide online education and hard copy. So who do I send home and say you do not have a job?? Oh but 70% turned up the next day. Welcome to come a do work experience at my school of 1700 kids and see how easy we have it.

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hilly said..

Little Jon said..if all the students don't come back they won't need all the staff anyway.

Usual ignorant comment with no knowledge of how a school works. So how do we know who will turn up everyday?? We are told we have to provide face to face so we have to staff every class even if less than 50% turn up. Then we have to provide online education and hard copy. So who do I send home and say you do not have a job?? Oh but 70% turned up the next day. Welcome to come a do work experience at my school of 1700 kids and see how easy we have it.

Typical work day for my wife.....

Weekdays: At school from 7:30am to 5:00pm, with 20 minutes lunch break to herself 2 days a week. Work from 8pm to 10pm each night.
Weekends: Around 3-4 hours each on Sat and Sun.
So yep, a 60+ hour week easily.

School holidays: Minimum 4 hours work each day.

It's not the easy job people think!

Hang on while I get the tissues.
Father was teacher , Uncle was high school headmaster in Melb. whose specialty was going to schools that needed sorting out. Sister was teacher.
The only reason the kids are not at school is because the union is running the show.
Too many female teachers who are only there to earn money NOT a career but hey cant blame them we have allowed our teaching standards to slip dramatically and now care more about climate change , aboriginal protests etc. instead of actually teaching.
Boy is there a wake up call coming.

Yeah the teachers I know are in the water at 3:30pm every arvo and down the beach all day on weekends a holidays.
8:30am to 3:30pm weekdays and every weekend off, public holidays off, 2 weeks off every end of term and 8 weeks off at xmass must be tough.

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Harrow said..

hilly said..

Little Jon said..if all the students don't come back they won't need all the staff anyway.

Usual ignorant comment with no knowledge of how a school works. So how do we know who will turn up everyday?? We are told we have to provide face to face so we have to staff every class even if less than 50% turn up. Then we have to provide online education and hard copy. So who do I send home and say you do not have a job?? Oh but 70% turned up the next day. Welcome to come a do work experience at my school of 1700 kids and see how easy we have it.

Typical work day for my wife.....

Weekdays: At school from 7:30am to 5:00pm, with 20 minutes lunch break to herself 2 days a week. Work from 8pm to 10pm each night.
Weekends: Around 3-4 hours each on Sat and Sun.
So yep, a 60+ hour week easily.

School holidays: Minimum 4 hours work each day.

It's not the easy job people think!

That's only coz she cares.
A lazy teacher could do it in half the hours

Hey Hilly
don't forget allwe do is potato prints and macaroni necklaces anyway
or in my case
throw balls (dodge balls) at kids

it is such a good job with such fantastic conditions that everybody is clamouring to do it

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mocha1 said..
Hey Hilly
don't forget allwe do is potato prints and macaroni necklaces anyway
or in my case
throw balls (dodge balls) at kids

it is such a good job with such fantastic conditions that everybody is clamouring to do it

Oh dear, the kids at your school are in real trouble if this is how the teachers there punctuate and create sentences.

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lotofwind said..

mocha1 said..
Hey Hilly
don't forget allwe do is potato prints and macaroni necklaces anyway
or in my case
throw balls (dodge balls) at kids

it is such a good job with such fantastic conditions that everybody is clamouring to do it

Oh dear, the kids at your school are in real trouble if this is how the teachers there punctuate and create sentences.

Pretty sure it was sarcasm. not many people want to do the job. So the myth that it is easy and overpaid is well and truly put to bed. it is a tough gig not made any easier with dipshyt comments from the knob of a pm who totally devalues teachers.

^^Hey, at least you have a job to go to.
1000 000's of Aussies have no job to go to at all, cant pay the mortgage and don't know if or when they will be able to work again.
You are one of the lucky ones. Cheer up, thousands would be really happy to be working like you atm.