I would be careful about quoting studies and surveys carried out in April / May when the pandemic / lockdown was very raw and new for the teaching profession (who certainly weren’t equipped for remote or digital learning) and making aspersions about how hard they are now working 8 months later…
From someone now having to share a desk with a teacher due to school closures 
That’s a fair point, although as far as I can see it’s the best evidence available at the moment.
Can you present a more recent (and equivalent) study that proves the situation has changed?
Having experienced a few weeks of quarantined schooling with both kids sent home for a couple of weeks at the end of last term, I am absolutely in awe at the way their school handled the switch from in-school to at-home remote learning. They both had several hours of zoom classes every day, and work we emailed in was marked and returned quickly.
I cannot imagine how much pressure teachers are under to provide a satisfactory education for all their pupils, under trying circumstances, whilst trying to ensure those without suitable devices are also catered for. Let’s also not forget that schools are operating for key workers’ children, as well as vulnerable children, which adds a further layer of complexity to what they are offering.
And given this tragic news from one of the local schools about a teacher who died of coronavirus over the holidays, the risks are clearly very great for some in the teaching profession:
We had a 2 week lockdown for my Y5 son in November after a case in his year group. It was handled very well by the school and at his age he is reasonably self-sufficient at learning. His younger brother in Y2 is starting today, and will need more attention.
We are lucky in that we have sufficient laptops etc for this. There is no doubt however that learning this way cannot replicate in class learning, and some children will not have the suitable hardware etc to take advantage of learning remotely.
During the first lockdown I know of parents of children who moved their children to other schools as they were unhappy with how their school approached it, and from speaking to other parents there were different approaches. Some had weekly class quizzes and regular calls with students, others had virtually not contact (my son for example had no contact with his teacher the entire lockdown bar 2 postcards). I think schools will have learned from this and will be better prepared now (in a week or so, the late notice of this wil be extrememtly difficult for them).
All schools will have different pressures in terms of staffing levels, number of key worker pupils etc which will influence what they can provide, and I am mindful of that and we all should be. All the teachers I’v met at my son’s school have always wanted to teach and teach well and I see no reason that has changed. They have my every sympathy going into work with what is a more transmissible variant.
More locally I see Kings have cancelled some urgent cancer operations which is quite scary for those involved, and more widely of the pressure on local hospitals. Hopefully we can start to get the vaccine out locally and bring numbers down with the lockdown to relive some of that pressure.
If I were I don’t think I’d have time for this lovely thread after the last minute change of plans!
I just thought it was silly to suggest that some people here couldn’t understrand the situation without having kids. If true, then surely one can’t understand the situation in full without being a teacher. I think both are silly positions.
I didn’t know her myself, but I know she was very popular with pupils. Very sad.
On a slight deviation from the above, one thing I can’t quite figure out is the interaction between the reasons that we are able to leave our homes, and the businesses that can remain open for collection of goods.
The reasons we can leave home are:
But then businesses like garden centres and cafes can remain open for collection. Personally I quite like this as being able to pick up a coffee/sandwich whilst on a walk is one of the few remaining activities to enjoy outside the home - but what exception to the stay at home order do I rely upon in order to visit a cafe/garden centre to pick something up? The only relevant one I can see is to shop for basic neceesities but I can’t see that produce from a standard cafe or garden centre falls in to this category…
Food is a basic neccessity.
Presumably if you are out for daily exercise or one of the listed reasons, you can grab a sandwich, coffee or pot-plant on the way?
For example, after a few laps of Mayow Park, Brown & Green are open for take away:
I’m quite happy if that’s the purpose of cafés staying open for collection, it just seems to run contrary to the wider guidance, and I can’t see where garden centres come in to it at all…
And then stop by shannon’s on the way home for some compost of course!
No idea about garden centres but the takeaway food/drink thing is surely because food for consumption off the premises is allowed to be sold - we do not have a definition of essential food - that would be far too dystopian!
Now you could say no cooked meals could be sold but that is pretty hard on people with limited skills or ability to cook.
Yeah I see that issue. I can’t quite recall but weren’t cafes etc closed in the first proper lockdown? That’s why I think these rules are interesting as it felt like we were going to ‘total’ lockdown but actually for hospitality and leisure it doesn’t seem too different to tier 4 (I can meet a friend for a walk, can buy a coffee and sandwich on way home, can buy a tree or whatever). Not suggesting that’s wrong, just interesting that there seems to be more flexibility this time around.
Brown & Green has a really good system in place where you just go to the counter, not even inside. It must be very low risk, lower than going to buy food from a supermarket where you have to go inside.
Garden centres sell a lot of perishable goods which may go to waste if not sold. If garden centers are forced to shut then unfortunately supermarkets are likely to just take that trade like they did in the previous lockdowns. Although I am unsure if the govt. has now changed the rules around what essential businesses can sell during lockdown, so maybe not anyway!
Kirkdale Bookshop had a good system in place during the last lockdown You just went to the door and made your purchase, Hopefully they can do that this time too, otherwise supermarkets and Amazon will likely take their trade although there are other platforms now like bookshop.org or hive.co.uk.
That’s good to know, thanks. I really recommend rise on brockey rise too, they’ve got a great outdoor hatch for serving takeaway sandwiches and breakfast baps.
And good point re perishability, maybe that’s it, but then that does cause a gap between businesses that are allowed to open and those which are necessary to visit. Not seen anything re bookshops yet but hope they can continue too!
As far as I recall in the first lockdown cafes and restaurants could sell cooked/prepared food for consumpion off the premises. However many small places chose not to open at all. This was when we thought lockdown was going to be a just few weeks or so.
There was a small furore in East Dulwich when the ice cream place opened selling takeaway ice cream and a few self appointed Covid Marshalls reported them for selling “non essential food” until it was pointed out regulations allowed takeaway food to be sold, ice cream is food, ergo …
Looking back I think you’re right, they could still open, it must have just been all the ones close by opted to close!
it makes some sense garden centres being open and I’m glad they are, having been involved in use of gardening as a form of mental and physical therapy at Sydenham Garden for several years. B&Q and suchlike I’m not so sure. I can’t really leave home and claim shopping in B&Q is essential- but if I was a tradesperson needing supplies then click and collect at Tradestation, Screwfix, B&Q etc could be very important. Guess as long as we don’t all congregate in Shannons for a chat or the B&Q aisles for recreation we can all live with a little ambiguity.
I can’t find out whether newspapers count as essential items. Can I legitimately continue to combine my morning walk with the dog (which must count as exercise) with a visit to Ram’s general store/newsagency to pick up my ‘Guardian’ (which I’ve already paid for through a subscription, although I doubt whether that’s relevant really!)?
I would have thought an argument that any garden centre trade body might have made to ensure they are able to stay open under lockdowns might have involved garden centres’ role as a source of seed, plants and sundries to help people who grow their own food on allotments or in their gardens.