Just in case you don't know - if kids in school refuse to take lateral flow test NOTHING HAPPENS

[LaurieFairyCake]

They just go into lessons like normal

Schools not allowed to send them home

Dh has had 30 parents so far email in to say they don't consent for their children to be tested

And as for masks (compulsory now) - yeah, schools are allowed to make it a rule but they're NOT allowed to exclude them if the don't

Are we all reassured by this utter bullshit?

Nope, thought not

Tests are pointless, unreliable and making g kids wear masks all day is a bloody disgrace ( and pointless)

Are we going to be locked up by cases now even if serious illness, hospitalisations and deaths become really low??
If older and vulnerable peiple have been vaccinated cases count means nothing

People really need to get a grip

I think any children who refuse either and their parents who support it are disgusting, you could be putting teachers and their families at risk or even other children with underlying health conditions

My child is not disgusting. Do you have any experience of parenting an autistic child?

What's your alternative? Children be denied education for not testing for a virus that barely effects them?

Fwiw I lft twice weekly when in school and am sure my kids would have no issue with it, but equally the testing is notoriously unreliable and children have the right to say no.

Btw my kids went in To gets their tests yesterday. All the kids came out rubbing their noses / sneezing due to the tests then touching the same door handle then rubbing noses etc . So they were probably negative today and positive for the next one..... !

@millymollymoomoo

Tests are pointless, unreliable and making g kids wear masks all day is a bloody disgrace ( and pointless)

Are we going to be locked up by cases now even if serious illness, hospitalisations and deaths become really low??
If older and vulnerable peiple have been vaccinated cases count means nothing

People really need to get a grip

... the levels are low BECAUSE of lockdown...

It's like mask wearing again. I think it's absolutely reasonable not to ask autistic children or those that will struggle with it genuinely to not do it. However there is a small minority of vocal dickheads who are conspiracy theorists and they are the issue.

@PinkShimmerSparkle

I’m refusing to consent to testing, my DC are 13 - has dyspraxia and 11. They are expected to do the tests on themselves. This makes the already unreliable tests even more unreliable as they will 90% not be done properly. As I work in a school and have to do the lateral tests myself, something which I find can be tricky to ensure that I do correctly, is why I made the decision. The children and that is what they are, are too young to do the tests correctly, why would I put my child through that, when I am perfectly capable of doing the test on them myself at home. This would ensure a more accurate test is performed. I offered to do tests at home but apparently schools are not allowed to allow parents to do this, the government have got this wrong.

Ask for tests to be sent home so you can do them.

My disabled ds had his sent home from the start due to inability to self administer.

I get it's easier to just say no rather than try and work with schools to solve issue but it's better for our children's education if we don our part to try and prevent closing of bubbles and more disrupted education. Especially as those who have learning needs will suffer the most.

@GintyMcGinty
I'm just not bothered I'm afraid.

Children are extremely unlikely to be ill if they catch it. We are well underway vaccinating those who are at risk if death or hospitalisation. So let's just crack on with educating them.
Well said.
I am a secondary teacher snd completely agree with you. Shameful that there are teachers who see education as non-essential and would exclude children for trivial reasons.

We're getting less than half of staff testing at my school. The kids are testing way more conscientiously than the staff.

Sorry pink that sounded like I was having a go at you. I wasn't. It was meant to come across as forcing the child hand because they can send them home from the start.

Apologies at how it came across. I've not had enough coffee yet!

Schools hand not child's 🤦🏼‍♀️

Pinkshimmer said I offered to do tests at home but apparently schools are not allowed to allow parents to do this @itsgettingwierd

I know. I said to force schools hand because others are. I typed underneath it looked like I was getting at her but wasn't - it was getting at school for being awkward.

It's pathetic schools are refusing as you can order home tests. They could and should make reasonable adjustments - my ds did.

OP is your DH's school sharing the testing rates for staff (with the staff). I bet they're way lower than 98%. Do you want staff who won't or don't test excluded too?

Given the unreliability of the tests when properly administered, and the fact that the majority of teenagers just won't stick it far enough up their noses to get a proper sample, it would be interesting to start a thread for people working in school to check in when they do actually pick up an asymptomatic case. I fear the numbers will be vanishingly small.
In our school, the students are allowed to refuse a test, even if their parents have consented, and we are fully aware that those students will be the tricky kids with lower levels of social responsibility, who have been happily flouting lockdown and social distancing rules, and who will either refuse to wear a mask or pull on some soggy, germ-ridden scrap of cloth every lesson for a month.
It's all just such idiocy to issue these guidelines when they take up so much time, effort and money, detract from teaching and learning, and, I suspect, make very little difference.

I'm in the unit guiding them to do the tests so I know my dc will. Such a shame with attitudes.

I have a CEV person in the household, and DC at school.

They're the biggest risk factor to our gphiusehood.

It makes me immensely sad to realise some people are not going to comply with measures that will make our schools a bit safer.

'Don't kill granny' has been ridiculed, so 'don't orphan your classmate' is not likely to catch on.

But for some families, that's what they're facing.

And no we can't just home school a Y12 and other older teens

the levels are low BECAUSE of lockdown

Are they? It's odd then that levels where I am are higher than ever after almost 3 months of lockdown and yet when everything was open last summer we had no covid deaths at all .

Where are you Moriparty ?

The national levels in the UK home nations have all fallen from second peak totally in line with lockdown

My understanding is that people who have had Covid are instructed not to test for 90 days or so, because it's likely to still show up as positive.

And kids are apparently often asymptomatic.

So is it possible that the first few testing rounds will pick up a whole bunch of students who unknowingly had Covid during Christmas or lockdown?

It sounds like the first few weeks may be disruptive even with the tests.

I hope that all the parents complaining about other people’s children not testing have gone and collected test kits/signed up for them to be delivered and will be regularly testing themselves.

ALL parents of school children are allowed to have free lateral flow tests twice a week.

If we all do that, it will negate the small numbers of children who can’t/won’t test. The more asymptotic infections we can pick up the better.

We took our tests before sending our son to school to do his and we will be testing twice weekly as well.

In our school, the students are allowed to refuse a test, even if their parents have consented, and we are fully aware that those students will be the tricky kids with lower levels of social responsibility, who have been happily flouting lockdown and social distancing rules, and who will either refuse to wear a mask or pull on some soggy, germ-ridden scrap of cloth every lesson for a month

My Ds has not happily flouted lockdown. At the age of 16 his disability means that he is unable to leave our home independently. So in lockdown he has been into school once a week for support and seen his Camhs nurse twice. He will have a clean mask every day too. So although some think he should be excluded or is disgusting, we are trying our best.

My 13 year old with ASD and sensory processing disorder tested herself in school yesterday. She had the option to test at home but chose to test in school. We are very proud of her. She found it wasn’t as bad as expected and it has boosted her confidence in herself. I think it’s all a waste of time and just for reassurance but this wasn’t a hill we were willing to die on.

@AmyC40

My Dd is at college and gets there by train. We want her to have the lateral flow tests but the first 3 have to be done in college...she then needs to have a parent / friend on hand to bring her home if any of them prove positive as she quite rightly can't use public transport. I don't drive, friends are working and parents self-isolating so she has no option to return without doing them.

Yeah because she’s so much better of having the virus and continuing to use public transport without knowing it and spreading it all around! 🤨

I'm so sorry Punxsutawney - that wasn't meant at all to sound like a judgement on your son. It's completely understandable and entirely right that he should not be put through testing.
My point was that the some of the students at my particular school will refuse the test after having taken less care with lockdowns, social distancing, hand hygiene and mask-wearing, and they are the ones at most risk of transmitting the virus. Apologies again if that wasn't how it came across and I hope your DS is ok with the return to school.