Sunday 17 May 2020

Day 60

Day 60...

Well today has been a very quiet day, and to be honest I've not really felt like doing much.

I completed my online grocery shopping ready to collect tomorrow morning, I've kept on top of household chores and spent time chilling outside with a coffee and doing a bit of reading.

Simon has taken some time to get on with his next piece of commissioned art this time completing retro game manuals for a contact in the US.

We took a walk out early afternoon and just did a couple of miles in about 40 minutes. I was surprised again at the number of people out and about near to us. Yet again there were about 8 cars parked on the main road which we would never normally see and these were people driving into our village to then walk some of the local footpaths. Thankfully almost everyone today was considerate and helped ensure that social distancing was met and most spoke and smiled.

This should have been a really busy weekend. Last night we should have been out at La De Da Cabaret, a burlesque show, and tonight we should have been seeing Boniface in concert but these were not to be. I am sure we will get chance to do both of these in the future but it is difficult to see when that will happen just yet.

I am trying not to get sucked into the news and social media around this virus but it can be hard some days. It can also be hard trying to decipher all the information out there and who to believe; there seems to be a plethora of opinion, differing papers, tweets, articles and just 'noise' so that it becomes a minefield for a lay person to know where to turn.

I am increasingly frustrated at the way in which the teaching profession is being portrayed as cowardly in the media just because they are questioning whether returning to school for our very youngest of children at the beginning of June is the right thing to do. Private schools have openly said they will not return till September...I wonder where most of the politician's children go to school and all those high rolling executives that have their 'say' in political decision making?

This is the information that we have been given around, and I quote, 'What the Science tells us' -
  • severity of disease in children – there is high scientific confidence that children of all ages have less severe symptoms than adults if they contract coronavirus
  • the age of children – there is moderately high scientific confidence that younger children are less likely to become unwell if infected with coronavirus
So note there is no scientific evidence just 'confidence' - what does that mean? And nowhere in the information provided by the government to schools and early years providers does it mention the teachers health and well being or how infectious the children could be or how this may infect all the staff that work within educational establishments.

Teachers love their job, they put their heart and soul into it as well as hours and hours outside the working day to get the job done. Teachers have been doing as best they can during this lockdown, keeping in touch with their students and parents as best they can in extraordinary and never seen before circumstances. But they should not be expected to put their own lives on the line for their job. Early years workers in particular do not get the recognition they deserve, nor do they get the pay that they deserve with most working at the national living wage or just above.

Teachers want to teach, but they want to do it when it is safe for everyone, when what they can teach will be beneficial to all. In a world where we are being fed horrible statistic after horrible statistic what are teachers, childcare workers and parents supposed to think?

Take care out there,
xx

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