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This is the point. We're told there is no risk, that schools and colleges are COVID safe. It's bolloxs. If it's not safe to mix with 1 family indoors then it's not safe to mix with 150. Make them wear masks. We haven't seen our families for months because of what we do and where we do it but the risks to us, and the families of the kids, could be reduced with the simple use of a mask in class. It's not rocket science.

Snowing again here. Heavily. I may have to crack the turbo out and subscribe to Sufferfest and start the training a bit earlier than planned.

150 households per week, more or less. You explain to me the science that says that mixing in a confined space with 150 different households, without masks is safer than mixing with 1 household outdoors, with masks. I'll wait.

It's about getting the R rate down. Imperial etc have just released studies about this, hence the rush to shut the London primary schools. That said, binmen aren't in an enclosed room with 30 others, which changes every hour or so, without masks, which are banned. I've always maintained that if I can mix with 30 households every hour or so in my working life as it's deemed safe then why can't I mix with my own family?

You'll not get change whilst those in power look at the Singapore/Korean model and not the Finnish/Estonia model of education. As for GCSEs, take maths for example. Foundation maths should only cover the maths that people are going to need in the real world, to make them literate in finances etc. These aren't kids who are going on to do A level maths so there is no need for Pythagoras, algebra or any of the more complex ideas which they simply cannot grasp, and then exam them on them. But no, despite all the professional bodies, both education and maths, telling the DfE this, they insist on them doing it, and then repeating it 2 or 3 times if they go to college and they don't get a grade 4. I get why the higher maths paper, at the top end, blurs the line with 1st year A level as it's from that cohort that you A level students will come from, but why put lower ability kids through the mill instead of teaching them maths for life? I've seen various arguments around exams v predications. It's not as if we sit around having a brew and just make up the grades. My lot have already done 3 short assessments and a mock paper, just in case, and they know that every piece of online work that I set them, the grades "could" go towards a final grade. There are always those, usually lads, who can do no work or revision, cram the night before and pass, but most of us know our students, have seen them working over a period of time, have timed assessments and assessed work to base grades on. Last year I had to justify, with evidence, each grade I gave to SMT. 150 odd kids. It was a mammoth task but we wanted to be fair and accurate. The vast majority of those involved in delivery will be similar. Yes, they'll be chancers but not many.

I can well imagine. It makes no sense bar teacher saying hello and perhaps do some storytelling? Not a lot of experience with the little ones personally.

None of it makes any sense TBF. I'd suggest that they want to keep the early learning open so the minions can work. Keeping the Special Needs schools open really does seem nuts. I get why they're closing the primaries but how can you do remote learning for 5 year olds? Perhaps they should have just said remote for KS2. My lad is in Y13 and attends 2 different 6th forms as we have collegiate 6th form where I live so he'll have live lessons from Monday. ATM, he doesn't know how to access them from one school but has had full details from his "main" school. My girls are in Y9 & Y10 and they already know that they have a full timetable from W/C 11th. My wife has no idea yet what they're doing but it's a fee paying school so it's up to them to decide. She's a SENCO so her "darlings" will be in regardless. I know I'm remote all next week. I'm going in to deliver instead of doing it from home as I want my smartboard. Our problem is, the kids engaging. We've had OFSTED in to look at our delivery and they rated it very highly but if the kids don't log on what can you do? The elephant in the room though is exams. So many have missed so much now, both in Y10 and Y11 as well as Y12 and Y13 that the exam format no longer fits. In addition, the marked difference in closures/bubbles across the country means no level playing field. Friend of mine is a tertiary teacher in Cornwall. They've had no students lose any learning. I compare that to where I am where both the city 6th form and one of the highest rated FE colleges in the country had to close for 2 weeks due to an extreme amount of + tests, plus Y12 or Y13 bubbles being out over and over again. Y13 A level maths have only managed 5 weeks in since September. Similar for A level physics. My own GCSE classes have been hammered. I've had some kids I've seen 4 or 5 times this academic year. I do believe an awful lot of this could have been avoided if the students had to wear masks all of the time but this should have been modelled and a plan been in place.

Took me ages to clean the winter bike on Friday after the Festive 500, it was utterly gopping. The plan was to do a solo century today as the forecast was cold but bright. Got all the kit ready, bike set up, lights charged etc. My Mrs was up before me as she had to drive down to Kiddy to collect something. I got up, showered and she walked in the bedroom and said "it's snowing". She was right, it snowed for another 2hrs FFS. So much for the Met Office app. 100miles will become 100km tomorrow instead hopefully.

I'll be interested to see how they develop it from where they are now. Also, the book of Boba Fett. Yes please.

What a shock that they'll take action in London but give no fucks about the rest.

About 3000km skinny than a normal year due to a big CBA in Feb and a shit driving coffin dodger in May. Around 35,000m short too as I've been mainly riding with a flat earther but the previous couple of years have had Mallorca, Alps and Dolomites which upped the vertical.

My wife and daughter 1 are loving it.

Lad, that's nowt. Crayfish (Aldi or Lidl?) and mayo on seeded brown. Gone proper lower middle class me.

I read an article, Indy/Guardian/Times, can't remember which, suggesting that post COVID, so next summer hopefully, we will see an explosion in hedonism as people cut loose. That said, at my age, it's more likely to be a very small puff of smoke, a small flicker of flame and then back home for nine.

La La Land. Don't @ me, it's fucking brilliant.

God knows but I do know it won't be involving me!

Just waiting as to whether we are in a "hotspot" or not and how it's going to impact us. My wife's school most definitely is. I'll still be in on Monday as I know my SEN class after lunch will all be rocking up, although it now looks as if there isn't even any remote learning for Y11 & 13 which seems odd. At least it gives everyone a fighting chance to get some sort of testing regime up and running. Edit - There is remote learning for Y11 & Y13.

I use my Smartboard, PowerPoint & my visualiser. I keep my webcam on and pointed towards me and talk directly to it when addressing those who are remote. It took some getting used to but works a treat but as you say, many CBA. We've had to make things very simple to access as when we 1st planned we were thinking from a teachers perspective and not a student who may only have a phone to access classes. There is been pretty excellent collab across the city TBF and that's helped. My own kids grumble that they are doing more actual work when at home then they do in class which I view as a good thing.

I'm not sure about primaries. There is currently research being done looking at the new strand and it's impact on youngsters and if they transmit it in the same way the teenagers do. Secondary, 6th Form, FE and HE should all be paused and flipped to remote bar the usual caveats around SEN, LAC etc. Personally I'd still want Y11 and Y13 in as DfE insist exams are still going ahead and it doesn't matter how good your remote delivery/content is, it doesn't replace face 2 face. Many are screwed anyway unless there is a serious rollback on exams, how they're marked and boundary grades etc. Not just for GCSE and A level, but all awarded subjects across all tertiary.

Yep, really hard decisions to be made. That said, the exam situation could and should have been sorted ages ago. My gut says keep them open for Y11 and Y13 as well as LAC etc but remote for the rest for a few weeks. It's pretty obvious that some regions have been particularly badly hit and the lower demographics hit hardest. There isn't, nor will there be, a level playing field in GCSEs or A levels across England. Even the disparity that clearly exists in remote delivery is going to play a big part in that. Not just the delivery and content, which I accept can vary massively, but access to it. With the latter at least predicted UCAS grades are in for A levels after the PPE exams. My lot have done 2 full sets. I know my lad has done two sets too. It's also things like the extended BTECs and Access courses as well as all the apprentices re-doing GCSEs that needs addressing urgently.

Disused oil and gas rigs are clearly the answer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55471095 I particularly like the bit when it's suggested that the army could set up mobile testing units on each school playground/carpark for testing and vaccinations for staff and students despite kids not being on the vaccination list. 1500 troops for 3500 English secondary schools plus 300 tertiary. Another world beating idea.

Depends on the setting. Where I am they move across the campus as they're not all in all day. My wife's fee paying school they move. My kids school it's divided into "sectors" with each year group per sector and each year split into two and staff move between sectors. They all have to wear masks when moving around but in the class none do and staff aren't allowed to either. Anyone who believes the bolloxs that schools and colleges are "COVID Secure" is living in cloud cuckoo land. We've had to cope with students losing grandparents, parents, relatives etc. So many of them have wondered if they infected them. It's been very hard for some of them mentally. We stayed open every holiday up until Xmas, when our governing body ordered everyone to have a proper break. Staff have happily given up their time. We've delivered food parcels, supplied grief counselling, all sorts of things we shouldn't have needed to do but ask to wear a mask and the government lose their shit. Ask about exams and we're ruining life choices.

One, very, very simple thing the government could and should have done and should do now, is to make sure secondary and tertiary students wear masks in schools and colleges at all times. It's absolute bolloxs that it hasn't been happening are it was pretty damn obvious to anyone that educational environments were driving infections in London before Xmas. Even where I am we've had the city 6th form and one of the FE colleges close for 2 weeks as infection rates were so high. Those kids, who thankfully in the main are fine, are infecting family etc which just drives up the R rate.