Covid 19 -

[xxx000]

Originally Posted by Romulus

If it’s not news from ABC, 7, 9 or 10 it must be fake news

Alex Jones ain't the lternative you're suggesting i hope.

7, 9 and 10 are lightweights.

Dr Norman Swan on 2 seems intelligent and reasonable in his summaries.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by xxx000

Alex Jones ain't the lternative you're suggesting i hope.

7, 9 and 10 are lightweights.

Dr Norman Swan on 2 seems intelligent and reasonable in his summaries.

Alex Jones is my spirit animal

[FairmontGS]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Alex Jones is my spirit animal

He's very entertaining if you keep the right perspective. I love how he goes completely off.

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by xxx000

Alex Jones ain't the lternative you're suggesting i hope.

7, 9 and 10 are lightweights.

Dr Norman Swan on 2 seems intelligent and reasonable in his summaries.

Right. ABC shill undermining official policy. He’s a joke.

[Tickford.]

England death numbers are higher than what has been reported. England is only including deaths that occurred in a hospital, and tested positive to Covid-19.

Notes about data on deaths

Figures on deaths relate to patients who have died in hospital in England and who have tested positive for COVID-19.

We do not include deaths outside hospital, such as those in care homes. Our approach allows us to compile deaths data on a daily basis using up to date figures. Our data includes confirmed cases reported as at 5pm the previous day. Confirmation of COVID-19 diagnosis, death notification and reporting in central figures can take up to several days, so totals reported at 5pm on each day may not include all deaths that occurred on that day or on recent prior days.

In addition to our data, the Office for National Statistics are now publishing weekly counts of deaths in which COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This publication is to be issued every Tuesday, starting on 31st March. It will include cases outside hospital and will also include some cases where COVID-19 is suspected, but no formal diagnostic test has taken place. ONS data will initially cover England and Wales only and will report on registered deaths up to 11 days before the date of publication.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/04/t...date-of-death/

[Polyal]

Has anyone heard any rumblings about NSW schools going back next term? As it stands my wife and I are "lucky" enough to both be working and once schools close I am not entirely sure how we are meant to do that and home school?

I can "WFH" but certainly not effectively, wife has been home the last couple of weeks thankfully and even then its hard not to be distracted.

How are others going?

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Has anyone heard any rumblings about NSW schools going back next term?

My Wife is a High School Teacher(& Head Teacher of her Dept) & has been told to expect to be "Online Teaching" Only for at a Minimum Term 2 & possibly Term 3 as well...

i guess only Time will tell.

[Franco Cozzo]

We should host an AFF national drinks night post COVID-19.

We might be able to get cheap tickets for the Ruby Princess after their legal dramas have ended

[LG17]

Originally Posted by hayseed

My Wife is a High School Teacher(& Head Teacher of her Dept) & has been told to expect to be "Online Teaching" Only for at a Minimum Term 2 & possibly Term 3 as well...

i guess only Time will tell.

Qld has been told 6-8 weeks at the absolute minimum.

[Yellow_Festiva]

I think most of term 2 is a write off for schooling.

Which will pose its own problems. Sure parents my be able to take a few weeks off in a time of crisis to stay home and babysit but for en entire term?

If they have to also be at work and are expected to be at work it's going to be a disaster.

This year I'm working as a casual teacher and watched over the implementation of online classes before my work dried up.

Early indications are that it will be a disaster unless parents are right next to their children and following the classes full time.

Kindy to year 8 will need near full time supervision - very few year 9-12 students will have the dedication and ability to try follow their lessons unless their have an adult over their shoulder.

I have a daughter in Kindy, and I'm qualified to teach kindy to year 12. The amount of work parents have to do with these online classes is also a factor. I've had to record my daughter reading and singing songs, take pictures of her working as well as her work (all of which needs to be uploaded), allow her to listen to teacher feedback etc.

There are parents who are not tech savvy and have no clue how to select the right video resolution for uploading a video online or to manipulate a picture to be saved as a PDF.

Not all families have 'devices' and stable home internet.

What about the children of new migrants that don't have a good grasp of English - if at all?

I don't know the answers - either way will be a disaster.

[Work Horse]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

I think most of term 2 is a write off for schooling.

Which will pose its own problems. Sure parents my be able to take a few weeks off in a time of crisis to stay home and babysit but for en entire term?

If they have to also be at work and are expected to be at work it's going to be a disaster.

This year I'm working as a casual teacher and watched over the implementation of online classes before my work dried up.

Early indications are that it will be a disaster unless parents are right next to their children and following the classes full time.

Kindy to year 8 will need near full time supervision - very few year 9-12 students will have the dedication and ability to try follow their lessons unless their have an adult over their shoulder.

I have a daughter in Kindy, and I'm qualified to teach kindy to year 12. The amount of work parents have to do with these online classes is also a factor. I've had to record my daughter reading and singing songs, take pictures of her working as well as her work (all of which needs to be uploaded), allow her to listen to teacher feedback etc.

There are parents who are not tech savvy and have no clue how to select the right video resolution for uploading a video online or to manipulate a picture to be saved as a PDF.

Not all families have 'devices' and stable home internet.

What about the children of new migrants that don't have a good grasp of English - if at all?

I don't know the answers - either way will be a disaster.

Is that glass half full or half empty Yellow?

My wife is a leading teacher at a Primary School for new arrivals.
She has just posted out lessons for all students in various languages.
The show must go on, things will be different and challanging for teaching.
It is not a disaster IMHO
Just another problem to be overcome.

[cheap]

Originally Posted by Work Horse

Is that glass half full or half empty Yellow?

My wife is a leading teacher at a Primary School for new arrivals.
She has just posted out lessons for all students in various languages.
The show must go on, things will be different and challanging for teaching.
It is not a disaster IMHO
Just another problem to be overcome.

They're implementing online schooling as quickly as they can. There will be a loss of 3-6 months schooling, but younger high school kids with 5 years left of schooling these months will be caught up.

I feel for the older kids especially this year 12's and there will need to be some dispensation/relaxation for university entrances - who knows maybe C19 will resent the foreign student intake with more places for Australian kids attending Australian universities.

[FTE217]

Originally Posted by Work Horse

Is that glass half full or half empty Yellow?

My wife is a leading teacher at a Primary School for new arrivals.
She has just posted out lessons for all students in various languages.
The show must go on, things will be different and challanging for teaching.
It is not a disaster IMHO
Just another problem to be overcome.

further to the above that I agree with.
My 14yr old daughter is coping fine working online.
I've seen a few of her class's it works better than I expected and I'm sure as times goes by will improve.
My wifes works at a leading Gov school here in Sydney, all online now and has been told expect Term 3 will be as such.
The main concerns as mentioned by cheap, the Yr12 students, felle for them and are stressing and don't blame them.
Hard to adjust for their final year.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by FTE217

further to the above that I agree with.
My 14yr old daughter is coping fine working online.
I've seen a few of her class's it works better than I expected and I'm sure as times goes by will improve.
My wifes works at a leading Gov school here in Sydney, all online now and has been told expect Term 3 will be as such.
The main concerns as mentioned by cheap, the Yr12 students, felle for them and are stressing and don't blame them.
Hard to adjust for their final year.

Yourself and your wife sound like highly educated people and your daughter has followed suit.

Would you have the same praises if your were a single parent that didn't speak English and had no choice but to work leaving your 14 year old daughter who had the English level of a year 2 student at home to educate herself with no internet and laptop?

With my comments you need to cater for the absolute worst case scenario possible.

[prydey]

Many schools in Adelaide will be open for those who need to send their kids to school, from term 2, which starts in 3 weeks here.

[DOC]

Originally Posted by Work Horse

Is that glass half full or half empty Yellow?

My wife is a leading teacher at a Primary School for new arrivals.
She has just posted out lessons for all students in various languages.
The show must go on, things will be different and challanging for teaching.
It is not a disaster IMHO
Just another problem to be overcome.

Sounds Good my daughter is also a primary teacher, last week I also donated and set up 4 complete websites for them and between a few teachers they already have next term ready to roll out with a few kinks to sort.

So yes all go ahead full steam with many people coming in double time to get the job done, a great effort by all. Tell chicken little the sky is not falling just yet.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by DOC

Sounds Good my daughter is also a primary teacher, last week I also donated and set up 4 complete websites for them and between a few teachers they already have next term ready to roll out with a few kinks to sort.

So yes all go ahead full steam with many people coming in double time to get the job done, a great effort by all. Tell chicken little the sky is not falling just yet.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

Time will tell I guess. Glad you also come from a highly educated, English speaking family.

Just remember that not all are as smart or lucky as you.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Work Horse

Is that glass half full or half empty Yellow?

My wife is a leading teacher at a Primary School for new arrivals.
She has just posted out lessons for all students in various languages.
The show must go on, things will be different and challanging for teaching.
It is not a disaster IMHO
Just another problem to be overcome.

Term two is yet to start. Lets see how things go next term.

[Work Horse]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Term two is yet to start. Lets see how things go next term.

Sure, we actually have no choice!

We do have a choice about how we react and how we behave.

A positive outlook is vital!

If a problem is worth worrying about, it is worth doing something about it.
If you can not do anything about it, stop worrying.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Work Horse

Sure, we actually have no choice!

We do have a choice about how we react and how we behave.

A positive outlook is vital!

If a problem is worth worrying about, it is worth doing something about it.
If you can not do anything about it, stop worrying.

No one is suggesting you use a negative outlook when dealing with the kids, but keeping a level of reality away from them is also important or all you're doing is burying your head in the sand.
As a parent of an 8 and 15yo going through this I maintain a positive outlook and try to make it fun and enjoyable, the reality is I can already see that the 15yo is far from interested and we're only 2 weeks in, this is reality.

[Polyal]

I can only go on my experience, but we have 4 in primary school Kindy to 6 and while you can delegate tasks they all still need near constant supervision to make sure they are on the right path.

If I am meant to be WFH and administering that I am stuffed, my wife has been doing it for the last two weeks and its difficult doing it full time. She is off to work next week so thankfully its holidays but when T2 starts I sincerely hope kids can go to school still.

Our school still had ~40% students going, Id say we will send them back from T2 if its open.

[Bossxr8]

Let's hope this happens.


https://www.goauto.com.au/news/gener...-03/82281.html

Opportunity for Aussie manufacturing as pandemic highlights over-reliance on imports


3 Apr 2020


By HAITHAM RAZAGUI


AUSTRALIAN manufacturers that serve the local automotive sector have labelled global supply chain bottlenecks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as a “wake-up call” that highlights an over-reliance on imported goods and the related risk to national sovereignty in times of crisis.

General manager of Melbourne-based Sneddon & Kingston Plastics, Blair Sinsheimer, told GoAuto he was conscious of how much it had cost global vehicle manufacturers to stop or slow production when the COVID-19 outbreak stymied component supplies out of China.

“When we were a Tier 2 supplier to Ford and Holden, we were always reminded about the costs of the production line stopping if we didn’t supply, so I can just imagine how many automotive manufacturers around the planet have not been operating properly since early January because they were not able to get product out of China,” he said.

“Any money they would have saved by outsourcing to low-cost countries has probably been ****ed up the wall, to say it bluntly.”

Mr Sinsheimer – who oversaw Sneddon & Kingston’s diversification away from reliance on engineered plastics for the local automotive sector toward rigid food packaging and medical products – predicted that the effects of COVID-19 on global trade would result in a “big review” once the pandemic had blown over.

“People are really going to be looking at the globalisation model and asking themselves if it’s really worth it,” he said. “This will be a time to reflect on that and to look for opportunities in the future.”

Ty Hermans, managing director of Brisbane-based product commercialisation specialist and plastics manufacturer Evolve Group – which supplies the majority of plastics used by nearby Century Batteries and produces off-road recovery equipment under the Tred brand – also told GoAuto that a recent trend of companies looking to “reshore” production to Australia had accelerated as a result of COVID-19.

“With COVID-19, clearly there are people looking at reshoring and are now realising very quickly how important it is to have manufacturing here on home shores rather than relying on overseas,” he said.

“As we’re seeing now, when the **** hits the fan, we get left behind very quickly because of our lack of buying power and our heavy reliance on imported goods.”

Mr Hermans said a “silver lining” of COVID-19 was the potential for Australia to come out of the crisis with a stronger and more stable manufacturing sector.

“People are calling us saying that not only do we need to reshore now because of the crisis, we need to reshore now to protect our sovereignty going forward because we’re way too reliant on overseas,” he said.

He added that the trade war between the United States and China had also sparked interest in reshoring, as well as an uptick in enquiry from sectors such as baby and healthcare products for which a ‘Made in Australia’ badge increased their desirability and value in Asian markets enough to offset the increased costs of Australian production.

Mr Sinsheimer agreed that “people are starting to realise the risks” of over-reliance on imports and was optimistic about the ability of Australian manufacturing to capitalise on its reputation for quality and reliability.

“I think Australia has a reputation for being a reliable source in terms of manufacturing,” he said.

“We’ve always had good manufacturers here – unfortunately not as many as we had in the past – but on a global basis I think we still do have some of the best manufacturers on the planet.”

Although both Sneddon & Kingston and Evolve Group produce plastic products for a diverse range of industries and shared similar stories of tooling delays caused by COVID-19 impacts in China, Mr Sinsheimer and Mr Hermans had differing views on how Australian manufacturing could be sustained and prosper.

In Mr Sinsheimer’s opinion, securing Australia’s supply chains would require government efforts – including the return of protectionism – to encourage more local manufacturing.

“It has to be government incentive driven because unfortunately the way the world is, this will be forgotten before too long and I think this is a wake-up call for a lot of places and will definitely change peoples’ attitude to offshore sourcing,” he said.

“But like all things in life, the end user needs to be willing to pay accordingly and in Australia we have very high wages. This is where the government needs to lead the way by protecting the industry, making it expensive to bring things in from overseas.”

On the other hand, Mr Hermans was wary of protectionism and said it was already more cost-effective to make plastic injection-moulded products in Australia than China, without tariffs.

“You’ve got to be careful with tariffs and things like that,” he said. “There are more than a billion people in China and we’ve got 25 million here, so I know where I’d rather have no tariffs, and that’s on China so we can export more there.”

Mr Hermans was critical of using government funding to support industries that would otherwise never be viable in Australia, such as car manufacturing.

"You’ve got to look at industries that make sense, that are right-sized for this type of country, the type of workforce and skillset we’ve got, focus on the stuff we can do really well at and make sure we’re always innovating,” he said.

“As long as you’re at that cutting edge you’ll be fine, but some industries don’t make sense in Australia so we shouldn’t be using taxpayers’ money to breathe life into them.”

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Let's hope this happens.


https://www.goauto.com.au/news/gener...-03/82281.html

Opportunity for Aussie manufacturing as pandemic highlights over-reliance on imports


3 Apr 2020


By HAITHAM RAZAGUI


AUSTRALIAN manufacturers that serve the local automotive sector have labelled global supply chain bottlenecks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as a “wake-up call” that highlights an over-reliance on imported goods and the related risk to national sovereignty in times of crisis.

General manager of Melbourne-based Sneddon & Kingston Plastics, Blair Sinsheimer, told GoAuto he was conscious of how much it had cost global vehicle manufacturers to stop or slow production when the COVID-19 outbreak stymied component supplies out of China.

“When we were a Tier 2 supplier to Ford and Holden, we were always reminded about the costs of the production line stopping if we didn’t supply, so I can just imagine how many automotive manufacturers around the planet have not been operating properly since early January because they were not able to get product out of China,” he said.

“Any money they would have saved by outsourcing to low-cost countries has probably been ****ed up the wall, to say it bluntly.”

Mr Sinsheimer – who oversaw Sneddon & Kingston’s diversification away from reliance on engineered plastics for the local automotive sector toward rigid food packaging and medical products – predicted that the effects of COVID-19 on global trade would result in a “big review” once the pandemic had blown over.

“People are really going to be looking at the globalisation model and asking themselves if it’s really worth it,” he said. “This will be a time to reflect on that and to look for opportunities in the future.”

Ty Hermans, managing director of Brisbane-based product commercialisation specialist and plastics manufacturer Evolve Group – which supplies the majority of plastics used by nearby Century Batteries and produces off-road recovery equipment under the Tred brand – also told GoAuto that a recent trend of companies looking to “reshore” production to Australia had accelerated as a result of COVID-19.

“With COVID-19, clearly there are people looking at reshoring and are now realising very quickly how important it is to have manufacturing here on home shores rather than relying on overseas,” he said.

“As we’re seeing now, when the **** hits the fan, we get left behind very quickly because of our lack of buying power and our heavy reliance on imported goods.”

Mr Hermans said a “silver lining” of COVID-19 was the potential for Australia to come out of the crisis with a stronger and more stable manufacturing sector.

“People are calling us saying that not only do we need to reshore now because of the crisis, we need to reshore now to protect our sovereignty going forward because we’re way too reliant on overseas,” he said.

He added that the trade war between the United States and China had also sparked interest in reshoring, as well as an uptick in enquiry from sectors such as baby and healthcare products for which a ‘Made in Australia’ badge increased their desirability and value in Asian markets enough to offset the increased costs of Australian production.

Mr Sinsheimer agreed that “people are starting to realise the risks” of over-reliance on imports and was optimistic about the ability of Australian manufacturing to capitalise on its reputation for quality and reliability.

“I think Australia has a reputation for being a reliable source in terms of manufacturing,” he said.

“We’ve always had good manufacturers here – unfortunately not as many as we had in the past – but on a global basis I think we still do have some of the best manufacturers on the planet.”

Although both Sneddon & Kingston and Evolve Group produce plastic products for a diverse range of industries and shared similar stories of tooling delays caused by COVID-19 impacts in China, Mr Sinsheimer and Mr Hermans had differing views on how Australian manufacturing could be sustained and prosper.

In Mr Sinsheimer’s opinion, securing Australia’s supply chains would require government efforts – including the return of protectionism – to encourage more local manufacturing.

“It has to be government incentive driven because unfortunately the way the world is, this will be forgotten before too long and I think this is a wake-up call for a lot of places and will definitely change peoples’ attitude to offshore sourcing,” he said.

“But like all things in life, the end user needs to be willing to pay accordingly and in Australia we have very high wages. This is where the government needs to lead the way by protecting the industry, making it expensive to bring things in from overseas.”

On the other hand, Mr Hermans was wary of protectionism and said it was already more cost-effective to make plastic injection-moulded products in Australia than China, without tariffs.

“You’ve got to be careful with tariffs and things like that,” he said. “There are more than a billion people in China and we’ve got 25 million here, so I know where I’d rather have no tariffs, and that’s on China so we can export more there.”

Mr Hermans was critical of using government funding to support industries that would otherwise never be viable in Australia, such as car manufacturing.

"You’ve got to look at industries that make sense, that are right-sized for this type of country, the type of workforce and skillset we’ve got, focus on the stuff we can do really well at and make sure we’re always innovating,” he said.

“As long as you’re at that cutting edge you’ll be fine, but some industries don’t make sense in Australia so we shouldn’t be using taxpayers’ money to breathe life into them.”

That requires accountants to be able to see further than the piece of paper in front of them, so no they probably won't

[FairmontGS]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

That requires accountants to be able to see further than the piece of paper in front of them, so no they probably won't

[MercuryT]

Yeah I agree could be a disaster if months go on and children stay home.

There is a major flow on effect even to those without kids to look After. Plenty of workers at my office will need to stay home - so whilst I can still go to work, it's near impossible for me to do my job without supporting staff.

Challenging times for all no doubt.

[BENT_8]

I think we should wait until mid term 2 before we start claiming a victory in the move to online learning, it'll be a novelty to begin with but something tells me by week 5 all those kiddies left to their own devices will be less than enthusiastic about the idea of rolling out of bed and doing their lessons without supervision.
A lot will depend on the demographic the child comes from.

[Citroënbender]

And the stream of education prior; can’t imagine Montessori or Steiner students falling flat in this situation.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

And the stream of education prior; can’t imagine Montessori or Steiner students falling flat in this situation.

Agreed and this is what I referred to pages ago, the better engaged and resourced will go on whilst the have nots will be disadvantaged through no fault of their own.
The belief that every parent has the ability to fill the shoes of a professional who spent 4yrs at Uni is wishful thinking at best, then throw in multiple age brackets and teaching levels and the question being asked gets bigger.
It's one thing to setup a system, another to have it function as intended.
Btw, that's not chicken little stuff, that's just the reality of the situation, teachers don't last long these days due to struggles with student engagement, but COVID19 comes along and suddenly kids are keen to learn..at home...under the guidance of the very reason they have no respect for Teachers..

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Agreed and this is what I referred to pages ago, the better engaged and resourced will go on whilst the have nots will be disadvantaged through no fault of their own.
The belief that every parent has the ability to fill the shoes of a professional who spent 4yrs at Uni is wishful thinking at best, then throw in multiple age brackets and teaching levels and the question being asked gets bigger.
It's one thing to setup a system, another to have it function as intended.
Btw, that's not chicken little stuff, that's just the reality of the situation, teachers don't last long these days due to struggles with student engagement, but COVID19 comes along and suddenly kids are keen to learn..at home...under the guidance of the very reason they have no respect for Teachers..

Bingo.

Perhaps after this there may be a new level of respect for the roles teachers play in society.

[falcon_bandit]

As per article posted earlier...... Elderly, sick & vulnerable isolate, and the rest allowed to go back to work, enjoy their lives, pay their bills, kids go back to school. The restrictions are too damaging, and I'm starting to feel that everybody has been forced to panic, rather than think for themselves