100 signatures reached
To: Government / Department of Education
Close schools or switch to remote learning on 10/12 to allow time for pre Christmas self isolation
Close schools or switch to remote learning on 10/12/20 to give pupils and school staff time to self isolate before Christmas allowing them to *safely* see family members whom they’ve not been able to see due to covid19 restrictions and/or family members’ vulnerabilities. This could significantly help reduce transmission during the Christmas period. It could also provide a school “firebreak” to help drive down cases with minimum disruption to children’s education.
Why is this important?
There are approximately 10.3 million school children across the U.K. Add to this the school staff needed to run each school including headteachers, teachers, teaching assistants, administrators, midday supervisors, school cooks, cleaners etc. This is a huge number of people potentially moving around the country and visiting different households none of whom can elect to take annual leave to self isolate due to the school term system. If schools either closed or switched to remote learning on 10/12 these people could self isolate allowing them to safely see family. This could also help reduce transmission rates during the Christmas period.
Closing schools or switching to remote learning on 10/12 would also allow for a 3 week school “firebreak”. Given the data is increasingly showing significant numbers of cases in secondary schools & also in primary schools a firebreak could help to further drive down covid19 cases following the England lockdown. The extended half term implemented by Northern Ireland appears to have been particularly effective in reducing cases there.
