Flying Crete - UK

[Guy M]

Oh thanks Guy
I do find it a tad hypocritical when some feel it is not safe to send their kids to school on plague island but willing to take their family through airports and aircraft full of people from said plague island,
But it's a free world mostly, and we all have our opinions views and morals.
Ps sober as a judge

Well, my daughters are going back to school, if only for their parents’ sanity.No parent in their right mind wants to keep their children away from school for longer than the nearly 6 months it will have been by early September.

The problem the U.K. govt has is they’ve lost many people’s trust ever since the Cummings ‘eye test in Barnard Castle’ incident - they’re not believed when they say it’s safe to go back to school, even when the evidence says it is.

[Kilkis]

Safe for whom, Guy? Safe for the kids - absolutely, I don't doubt it at all. Safe for teachers - possibly. Safe for everybody else - perhaps. θα δούμε.

I just get the impression that every time the government makes statements along the lines, "We can do ... as long as it's made COVID safe" the phrase "as long as its made COVID safe" has the ring of a Harry Potter spell about it. They have no idea how to make sure it is COVID safe but if they say the magic words it will be all right. I would have a lot more confidence if they were making statements along the lines of, "We currently have an R value of x (where x is less than 1). Our modelling predicts that children going back to school will cause the R value to rise to y (where y is bigger than 1). Putting in place mitigating measures A, B and C will bring the R value back down below 1". Instead we get "The science says it is safe for children to go back to school". There is now only a bit over 1 week before they go back and schools still seem to be discussing exactly how they are going to do it, especially achieving social distancing.

Warwick

[Guy M]

It’s another issue of trade offs just like the economy vs the virus.

If children don’t go to school they will be harmed, if they do go and spread the virus they’ll harm other, older people even if they themselves are ok.

What we will do; take daughters to school and collect them after school by car (usually It’s a 7-8 mile bus ride); keep them socially distanced - still no seeing grandparents just like they haven’t done since March even though they are close by (funnily enough, v near the school).

I’m sure other parents won’t be so careful but they wouldn’t be anyway. It is what it is.

[Kilkis]

Don't get me wrong, Guy. I'm not suggesting children shouldn't go back to school. I totally agree that, for the children themselves, not going to school is much more damaging than going. What I expect to see is a government saying we must get children back to school, we recognise that could cause an increase in the infection rate so we are going to ... to counteract that. I have no idea with what to replace the ellipsis but I expect government to know what to insert there. I don't see any evidence of that being done. Do you?

Do you know what measures your children's school has taken? Have they reduced class sizes? If so how? Are your children going to be able to go to school everyday or will there be some sort of rotor system? If a rotor system what happens on the days they are not there? What distance will students be apart in classes? Will they have to wear masks? How will social distancing work at breaks and lunchtime? Will they move from classroom to classroom? If so what disinfection regime is in place between classes? How long does disinfection take? What proportion of the school day will be taken up by mitigating measures? If not what happens to classes that need specialist facilities like laboratories? Have you received any information from the school on these issues?

This isn't a specific dig at the UK government. I see little evidence of the Greek government controlling the virus since they eased lockdown. I am not sure what is going to happen to the infection rate in Greece when schools go back.

I see an infantile level of analysis. For example, "Denmark sent kids back to school and there was no significant increase so we can do it." Does anybody look at what the measures were in Denmark? Does anybody know what steps they took to mitigate spread? Does anybody know what the relative infection rate was in Denmark? Does anybody know how effective test-trace-isolate was in Denmark? Does anybody know how those things compare to the situation in the UK. Did the UK government send a delegation to Denmark to see what they did, how they did it and why? Is there a report detailing their findings? Obviously not because everything the UK does is world beating so why would they ask anybody else?

Warwick

[Guy M]

There are quite a few rules the school has. Each of our two daughters will go in on different days for a day of familiarisation/rule setting including “traffic” directions when moving around (though this is limited as all lessons in the same classroom) only half the school is there, then they will go in as a whole school. No lockers, no moving between classrooms, no canteen, no PE (they are pleased about that!) etc. Be interesting to see how the trial works. Got to give it a go - there appears to be a lot of thought given by the school, which would be entirely typical of them - for what it’s worth they are the Sunday Times South West secondary school of the year.

[bobscott]

Isn't this all a bit off-topic now? What UK schools are doing is of course interesting for those of us who have kids in education, but that's not 'Flying Crete-UK'. New thread perhaps? Bob.

[Guy M]

It’s completely off topic. Sorry.

My other half has got a £60 flight from Bristol to Chania (return) in early October. I shall be thinking of all in Crete as I take my daughters to school during that time.

[chrissyg]

Back to topic then, are we any clearer with the PLF forms? When we came out in July they were telling people at the airport that everyone including kids had to have one filled out but apparently it is officially one per household. I still hear horror stories in the press that airlines in the uk are stopping people getting on the flight because they havent done one each. 'Check with your airline' ! Well, that is impossible as it takes over an hour to talk to anyone and would you trust the answer? Safer to fill in one form each but will the greeks be alright with that if we have effectively filled the form in wrong which clearly states one form per household.?

[bobscott]

Back to topic then, are we any clearer with the PLF forms? When we came out in July they were telling people at the airport that everyone including kids had to have one filled out but apparently it is officially one per household. I still hear horror stories in the press that airlines in the uk are stopping people getting on the flight because they havent done one each. 'Check with your airline' ! Well, that is impossible as it takes over an hour to talk to anyone and would you trust the answer? Safer to fill in one form each but will the greeks be alright with that if we have effectively filled the form in wrong which clearly states one form per household.?

Just another bugger's muddle I'm afraid Chrissy. Hope you get a satisfactory answer. We are going nowhere yet! Bob.

[Kathleen]

I am coming over on Tuesday with Jet2 for a week since I must come over to close a bank account. They have sent an extra email warning travellers to Greece they must complete the PLF before travel otherwise they will not be allowed to go. This is in addition to the information available on line at the time of booking. Having completed and submitted the form I am now awaiting the final response from the Greek website.

I have taken the chance of an earlier trip in addition to one booked for the end of September in case flights are cancelled due to any upturn in infections as was the case with Croatia last week. I am not worried about possible self isolation on return, being an elderly(!) person I have already endured the 14 week period imposed earlier in the year. With a well stocked freezer and pantry two weeks is a doddle!

Looks like I will be facing the perils of Lidl in Tsesmes, however, when stocking up on arrival as well as the airports and flights

[shine on]

Back to topic then, are we any clearer with the PLF forms? When we came out in July they were telling people at the airport that everyone including kids had to have one filled out but apparently it is officially one per household. I still hear horror stories in the press that airlines in the uk are stopping people getting on the flight because they havent done one each. 'Check with your airline' ! Well, that is impossible as it takes over an hour to talk to anyone and would you trust the answer? Safer to fill in one form each but will the greeks be alright with that if we have effectively filled the form in wrong which clearly states one form per household.?

It states ’All passengers’ I would then assume that means per person, maybe I’m wrong. But good luck.

[Kathleen]

Just received a text reminder from Jet2 in addition to their email, so they at least are making things very clear for all travellers.

They say :

'All passengers you are travelling with can go on the same form, including children. Select Add at the top of the page for each extra name before you hit continue'

Kathleen

[evansmr1]

Can we close this thread please. It is boring and not about Living in Crete.
I care about what happens here (very Safe in our area) not what happens in Britain.

[Kilkis]

Apologies for the thread drift into schools. I will desist.

The thread itself is about procedures for getting to Crete so it is relevant. If Carol decides to delete all the school stuff I don't have a problem but I think the original thread should continue. It might bore you but it is clearly of interest to some people.

Warwick

[Maud]

If you find the thread boring evansmr might I politely suggest you just ignore it? Shutting it down would be a shame for all the useful posts on it......regarding filling in the PLF etc.

I think with all the uncertainty when visiting countries just now, it is good to have as much information from fellow travellers as possible. I appreciate some people are not likely to leave the island at the moment, but the website is there for everyone, and needs to cover more topics than purely those happening on Kriti itself. Travelling to and from the island is a huge topic for many in normal times, even if one is a full time resident. - Even ex-pats have family visiting.