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Covid

Secondary schools are totally stuffed, WELL-RESPECTED SCIENTISTS ADMIT

922 replies

noblegiraffe · 17/11/2020 01:03

I don't normally get asked for an encore, more usually 'urgh, not another bloody thread', but per a request we have a follow-up to the resoundingly popular:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4078722-Secondary-schools-are-fucked-BOFFINS-ADMIT

Feedback has been received and acted upon re the title so hopefully that will temper the urge to complain.

Quick round-up of where we were at:

  1. the infection rate is now highest in secondary school pupils in Y7-11, higher than uni students and sixth formers. They're not catching it at the pub...

  2. The government/ONS put out misleading figures to suggest that teachers weren't at higher risk than NHS frontline workers, where actually looking at the data, they may well be. They fudged this by calling the largest group of teachers, who are at higher risk than frontline NHS staff 'teachers of an unknown type' and pretended they were irrelevant.

  3. The DfE have changed the format of their attendance statistics report to remove the reference to how many hundreds of thousands of kids are currently isolating due to exposure to covid at school.

  4. Boffins are cool


    New info: The Guardian reports that teachers are being instructed to ignore app notifications to self-isolate by the school helpline and this might be a bad thing. They can't help themselves though, and have a lovely photo of a socially distanced classroom of lies at the top of the story.

    www.theguardian.com/education/2020/nov/16/union-says-teachers-in-england-being-told-to-pause-covid-app-in-school
OP posts:
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BlackeyedSusan · 17/11/2020 01:08

not you again op... Wink

must catch up with the last one

no, I am not from the staffroom, yes I am a concerned parent pissed off that the dc are in and out like the hokey cokey...

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TheSunIsStillShining · 17/11/2020 01:09

HI! :)

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TheSunIsStillShining · 17/11/2020 01:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BlackeyedSusan · 17/11/2020 01:12

where do the other 20 kids sit in that classroom?

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SheepandCow · 17/11/2020 01:14

Why can't we do what the French are doing?

Masks in schools for all (children over 6).

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LimeLemonOrange · 17/11/2020 01:14

Love the new thread title :-)

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BlackeyedSusan · 17/11/2020 01:21

Spoiling the ship for an hap'orth of tar.

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SheepandCow · 17/11/2020 01:24

Also in France anyone can get a test. They prioritise getting results back faster for symptomatic cases, and (I think) essential workers, but they're available to anyone who wants one. Would probably make it easier for parents who aren't sure whether or not there's a need to keep their kids off school.

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borntobequiet · 17/11/2020 04:26

I preferred BOFFINS 😕
But ta anyway. Informative, educational and entertaining! Better than the Beeb.

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Piggywaspushed · 17/11/2020 05:26

I have not heard good things about how the French government are treating teachers and parents, have to say sheep. I think there might be better countries to look towards.

Also in Guardian this morning (look away from the photo noble!)

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/11/schools-coronavirus-ventilation-masks-pupils

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TrashedMammoth · 17/11/2020 05:43

Thanks nobel.

I've tried to point out on another thread a few times (nc at the mo) that some of the school data isn't being interpreted through numbers of schools of a very type.

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monkeytennis97 · 17/11/2020 05:45

Jumping inSmile

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PineappleUpsideDownCake · 17/11/2020 05:47

Joining in!

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ScubaSteven · 17/11/2020 06:12

Joining in. We have been asked to ignore the app too, after union intervention we are now being asked to speak to HR regarding whether we actually have had close contact - we tell them our 'contacts' and they'll advise whether we need to self isolate.

We don't isolate if we've had a positive case in our class unless we were next to them (within 1m) for more than 10 consecutive mins.

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SquirrelFan · 17/11/2020 06:19

No way is that photo representative. Squash the desks closer, add the same number of chairs again, and then take a glance into the hall where the unmasked dance students are shouting and laughing. I wish the media would stop pretending.

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PineappleUpsideDownCake · 17/11/2020 06:22

The not isolating is scary isnt it. I read the article about a room, a bar and a classroom - we definitely should be isolating bubbles/classes as wasnt that the system!?

If Boris needs to isolate after a brief cintact, and the general public are told to from track and trace after 15mins contact. Why in earth aren't we isolating people jn a busy crowded badky ventilated room after cases!?

None of it makes sense at the moment

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thenewaveragebear1983 · 17/11/2020 06:23

Thanks @noblegiraffe , I did lurk on the other thread but it was so long I didn't read everything.
I work in school admin. I've just returned after doing 10 days of quarantine with Covid (caught at school) along with the other 4 in my office team. 1 lady is still quite unwell and she was a week before me..

Do I infer from your post that the wretched daily setting status I provide to the dFE isn't even being used? Every day, I report numbers inside/outside, students/staff/SLT etc. Do they not even use the figures?

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thenewaveragebear1983 · 17/11/2020 06:26

We were also told yesterday that a child who had moved away from the seating plan on the school bus to sit by her friend was not allowed to isolate because 'we can only go on the seating plan' - so we now have the best friend of a child who's now tested positive who sat by that child every morning last week wandering round school, not allowed to be isolated.

It is frightening in school at the moment, it feels so precarious

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Danglingmod · 17/11/2020 06:26

I wish I knew why the media is very colluding with the govt on this and why those ridiculous pictures exist...

Also, within that Guardian article she still says "hand washing and social distancing may not be enough..." There IS NO SOCIAL DISTANCING IN SCHOOLS. There is not the space nor the insistence (for dc).

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StealthPolarBear · 17/11/2020 06:29

@thenewaveragebear1983

We were also told yesterday that a child who had moved away from the seating plan on the school bus to sit by her friend was not allowed to isolate because 'we can only go on the seating plan' - so we now have the best friend of a child who's now tested positive who sat by that child every morning last week wandering round school, not allowed to be isolated.

It is frightening in school at the moment, it feels so precarious

Shock
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BefuddledPerson · 17/11/2020 06:30

I'm so sad about schools, I'm not a teacher, just a parent. We've been completely let down.

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BefuddledPerson · 17/11/2020 06:30

I am Angry about schools. Just no attempt to limit spread imo.

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SansaSnark · 17/11/2020 06:34

So where are the other 20-25 + kids in that class in the guardian article? I really doubt she usually teaches a class of five!

A school localish to me has now closed due to staff shortages: www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/callington-community-college-closes-down-4703854

If schools down here are closing, I can't see how they are staying open in the rest of the country- unless it's because it's easier to keep schools open when you have whole year groups off and isolating.

I reckon at least some of the attendance figures being published don't treat the X code as a proper absence.

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SansaSnark · 17/11/2020 06:35

@thenewaveragebear1983

We were also told yesterday that a child who had moved away from the seating plan on the school bus to sit by her friend was not allowed to isolate because 'we can only go on the seating plan' - so we now have the best friend of a child who's now tested positive who sat by that child every morning last week wandering round school, not allowed to be isolated.

It is frightening in school at the moment, it feels so precarious

That is ridiculous.

Can they not see that long term telling the friend to isolate is more likely to lead to less absences?
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Danglingmod · 17/11/2020 06:36

They can't be doing, Sansa. Especially in the first few weeks of September when whole year groups were being sent home as a matter of course. Most schools round my way (supposedly tier 1) had at least one year group out in September/early October. So, 1/5 or 1/7 of the school at any one time.

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