Is it the WExO’s decision? I thought it would suit with the Wing CO as it’s a corps decision and not civil service. Happy to admit when I’m wrong.
I’m more concerned about how gash they will be at deciding and sorting the Comms to stand back up afterwards…
I’m now anticipating ‘a pause’ until sept at earliest.
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I think the issue is that the day after the PM has stated that people should practice social distancing, and avoid pubs etc, HQAC have yet to either reiterate that it’s business as usual, or stand the organisation down.
If the PM believes that daily updates are necessary, then I don’t think it’s unreasonable for HQAC to issue a daily global email stating the current policy (Close/No close), and practical advice for unit commanders should we need to shut down (message templates for social media, FAQs for parents and cadets etc). Especially since our glorious leader is a seasoned user of social media, and should therefore understand the value of communication.
I don’t want to close my unit, but what do I say to parents asking why we seem to be operating contrary to the advice issued by the PM?
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If that’s true it’s news to me… We’ve shut down a night here or there for all sorts of reasons over the years - bad weather; lack of staff; lack of cadets - we’ve never informed anyone at Wing or Region.
My advice?
I’m not an ACO officer, I’ve never held a ‘blue’ commission - but I learnt my leadership from some fantastic VR(T)'s long before I went to Sandhurst, and held it close while commanding a Battery of 200 men and women in Afghanistan.
I learned that it is better to ask forgiveness than permission, and the things I was responsible for were at least as important as the people I was responsible to: in your position, if I was wearing your socks this morning, I would think that integrity, which is how you spell leadership, would tell me that I was better asking HQAC for forgiveness for shutting the Sqn without permission, than asking a coroner, or a public inquiry, or someone who had suffered through the contagion of this virus, for forgiveness for not shutting the Sqn because someone I hold in utter contempt had not told me to do so.
Do the thing that you’ll find easiest to live with - no one is going to die because they are missing out on the Principles of Flight.
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We had message basically saying “don’t forget that you need permission from the WCO to close”
There was a scramble of emails in my wing last night… All after 1900:
“Business as usual”
“Can’t close without permission”
Yeah, great, after we’ve already been forced into a decision one way or another.
Exigent circumstances overrule that nonsense as far as I’m concerned. If no one from above is going to give me any instruction or information in a timely manner then I’m going to make a decision.
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Somewhere it was published in the past, either on an admin update (such as RAFAC / Region / Wg repeat orders) or perhaps a “standing” reference such as in an ACP. As to trying to find it though! 
It’s gone 10am and already had 4 parents message the Facebook group, started off with a parent of a Cadet who we rarely see saying that in the current climate their child will cease with non-essential social activity, minutes later the next parent saying they are doing the same. They are ok with them being round thousands of other kids in school 
and we have told parents that we are happy to be open unless told otherwise and if they want to send Johnny and Jane that we will be open as usual.
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They might not be. A lot of schools are still threatening legal action if you don’t have a ‘good’ enough reason.
This is it. First message came through about the press conference from a parent shortly after 5 last night, others quickly left supporting comments on that query, we had a private message yesterday morning that a family with 2 cadets were considering isolating from everything due to health conditions within the household.
I’d been watching emails and sms throughout yesterday waiting for news.
I don’t consider it a good enough response outside of office hours to have said “No one has said to stop”.
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Boy am I glad I binned our facebook group last month.
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I binned parents off our group over a year ago now. Best thing i ever did.
Parents are allowed on the group until the cadet has there own profile. then they are binned off.
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Some very valid points, and I completely agree with you about doing what you can live with. But…
I’ll caveat the following with the note that I’m not a healthcare professional, and the following has been gleaned from news sources, so may be complete bull.
As I understand it, the thinking was that a gradual shut down was to spread the rate of infection, ensuring the health services are not overloaded all at once.
A sudden shut down doesn’t prevent a sharp peak of infection, just moves it to a later date.
By closing down to early, are we, as a group of 45,000 or so citizens, going against the government master plan, and so becoming more of a problem than a solution? We need clear and consistent policy, which is driven by current government policy (as opposed to last weeks policy).
I agree. But as long as schools are open, on the face of it, there seems to be no real point to us closing down*. The cadets in my Sqn all attend the same large comprehensives, and come into contact with many more adults and children than they would on a parade night.
*See above caveat
IMO we need regular and consistent advice from HQAC which is driven by up to date government policy.
I’m not afraid to make a close/no close call, but I do want to make it sure that it is best for the country as a whole, as well as individuals.
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The schools being open is an economic/infrastructure decision, it’s effectively about childcare to allow essential services to continue - it’s not about the risk of infection per se - the ACO isn’t a childcare facility, its closure or otherwise has little impact on the ability of parents to work.
By remaining open Sqn staff are exposed to ‘super spreaders’ they might otherwise not be in contact with…
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Our local college explains things very clearly:
School remains OPEN 17.03.2020
Dear Parents and Carers
We are receiving a number of enquiries as to why we are not closing the College for all pupils due to the coronavirus outbreak. The situation is changing rapidly, but we must follow Department for Education Advice, which states that ‘No education or children’s social care setting should close unless advised to do so by Public Health England… Decisions on future advice to education or children’s social care settings will be taken based on the latest and best scientific evidence, which at this stage suggests children are a lower risk group.’
We have a number of staff who are pregnant, self-isolating because they are in vulnerable health groups, or because they are affected by the instruction for people to self-isolate for 14 days if anyone in their household has symptoms. This level of absence, beyond staff sickness which we can normally cover, means that we have no option but to limit pupil numbers in school.Our aim is to continue to deliver the highest-possible quality of learning for our pupils. By asking one year-group to work at home on a given day, we can use the staff made free to cover lessons for the remaining pupils in school, so that they continue to be taught by subject specialists as much as possible. This is preferable to using agency supply teachers who are in very short supply. It also means that we can cover all necessary out-of-lesson supervision in order to maintain health and safety. Cleaning of the school site is a very high priority.
We will keep you informed about future plans as they evolve, and thank you for your understanding at this anxious and difficult time.
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We’ve had one so far. All the rest were BAU and our attendance last night was well above the average for the unit.
We will shortly be doing the same, can’t say I will miss the various questions asked by parents that had already been addressed in previous posts 
One of my first acts upon becoming OC was binning all ten parents off the Facebook Group. Which is itself pretty much dead now.
It depends on how you interpret things. HQAC have been peddling the advice “for education” so you could argue with schools staying open we stay open.
On the other hand, avoid “social gatherings” and “unnecessary travel” could equally apply.
We took a decision based on the latter, temporarily erring towards caution on the basis that we were “out of hours” and expected clarification to come soon.
I’ve seen units announce they’re closed until mid April, we closed one night while we make an assessment and have been clear in our intentions to parents and cadets.
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That’s a fair point, and I certainly have at least 1 staff member who could benefit from staying at home.
On the other hand, I have a couple of staff who work in schools/public facing roles, or are parents, who are, I guess, much more at risk during the day than they are at the Sqn?
It’s certainly hard for me, as layperson, to know what is the right course of action!