Back to school. Uniform face masks? Use of songs. Tracking forms. And staycations.

Secondary schools have finally received guidelines about what to do when schools reopen next week. They have now been told that schools in local lockdown areas should introduce a rota system to limit attendance and compulsory face masks in communal areas. Presumably there is other stuff to think about as well, giving headteachers a bit of last minute homework to do. Understandably they are a bit miffed at the short notice.

Our teenage grandson goes back to secondary school on Thursday. The youngsters have been told that they must wear a black face mask is corridors and open spaces. I think the school plans to issue them to pupils on day one but, as my daughter says, they will need more than one as they will need washing or youngsters might lose them. So she is seeking spare black face masks. And they have to be black. Other colours will not do. Pupils without a black face mask will be put into detention. Welcome back to school!

My younger sister and I went to a girls’s grammar school with strict uniform rules. As face masks look like being a school uniform item, in the regulation colour, my sister wondered if we would have had to wear bottle green ones to match the bottle green knickers we were obliged to wear!

I could understand the delay in informing schools and generally getting things done if Gavin Williamson had to make it all up himself, sitting all alone in an office working through all the decisions that need making. At least, I assume that is not what happens. Surely he has a team of advisers who get together and devise systems to cope with whatever problems might arise. And maybe it would be a good idea to have some representatives of the teaching profession there, maybe some teachers’ unions people. Running the ideas past the people who will have to implement them is never a bad plan! I’m just saying!

Talking of advisers, someone needs to explain to Mr Trump that he can’t just use any song he likes at his rallies and conventions. There are laws about copyright and ownership that need to be taken into account. Perhaps he thinks that being POTUS gives him overriding powers. The latest fracas concerns the repeated unauthorized use of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” during two performances at the Republican National Convention. SONY/ATV Music Publishing said this:

“On the eve of the finale of the convention, representatives from the Republican National Committee contacted us regarding obtaining permission for a live performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. We declined their request.”

Representatives from Leonard Cohen’s Estate had this to say:

“We are surprised and dismayed that the RNC would proceed knowing that the Cohen Estate had specifically declined the RNC’s use request, and their rather brazen attempt to politicize and exploit in such an egregious manner “Hallelujah”, one of the most important songs in the Cohen song catalogue. We are exploring our legal options.

Had the RNC requested another song, “You Want it Darker’, for which Leonard won a posthumous Grammy in 2017, we might have considered approval of that song."

Personally, I wondered if they might use “Democracy is coming to the USA”:-

“It's coming through a hole in the air
From those nights in Tiananmen Square
It's coming from the feel
That this ain't exactly real
Or it's real, but it ain't exactly there
From the wars against disorder
From the sirens night and day
From the fires of the homeless
From the ashes of the gay
Democracy is coming to the USA.”

But I imagine Mr Trump would not like the mention of anything relating to China, such as Tiananmen Square! Otherwise, it has lots of topical references.

Here’s another bit of nonsense.

People arriving to the UK from abroad must submit a passenger locator form online beforehand, to be shown at the border either in printed form or on a mobile device. Failure to provide details risks a fine of up to £100. That is not the nonsense aspect. If travellers are expected to quarantine for two weeks, then some way of tracking and tracing them is needed. But it now seems that Border Force have been set a target of checking less than a third of arrivals to the UK to ensure they have the forms. As passports are checked you would think a quick check that the passport holder had actually completed the form could be carried out. Obviously not very single form can be perused in great detail. And even if they were, what is to be done to guarantee that they details are correct and truthful? But surely rather more than 30% would be a good target to aim for. Once again, just saying!

Perhaps everyone in every country should aim to have staycations for the next year. That would reduce the numbers coming through airports and make form checking easier. The air line companies would have a fit though! But maybe other aspects of the tourist industry would balance out.
According to this article  places like Magaluf are seeing an influx of local visitors to their beaches and tourist facilities. Italians and Spaniards, and people of other nationalities are rediscovering how nice some of their own places are when not packed out with foreign visitors.

Selfishly, however, I still want to be able to visit foreign places, see the sights, eat their interesting food and show off the fact that I can talk to them in their own language. Modern dilemmas!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!