To insist that my friend doesn't go back to work on Tuesday without a negative covid test result?

[RingPiece]

Teacher friend at a large inner city secondary school, says she's woken up feeling ill - sore throat, no sense of taste, temperature, shivers, etc. She's back to work on Tuesday. I've told her to get a covid test sent to her home and wait for the results before going back to work.

She said it's unlikely she'll get the test, send it back and get the results by Tuesday, as it's BH, and so will

'have to go in anyway , as it could just be a cold and I always go to work when I have a cold'

She also thinks she may be better by Tuesday.
Aibu in saying she really needs to get a test. Her school's huge and she'll come into contact with loads of staff on the Tuesday and then with the 90 children in her bubble on the Wednesday, not to mention all those commuters on her train and tube journey to and from the school.

Go to a drive through, she'll get results in 24hrs as she's a key worker

She could start a second spike

She doesn't drive and lives alone

Can't she just call the head if the school and explain the situation and follow the policy that the school has set out? Then the missing school is not on her, it's following her supervisors instructions.

If she's worried about what school would say, she needs to ring or email SLT and ask them what they want her to do, she then can't be blamed for anything if she feels she'd be victimised.

At the hospital I worked at there was a point when the results were available in less than 24h. Now they are promising within 4 days due to the queues.

Speaking as a teacher and a parent of a secondary school child...TEST! TEST! TEST!

DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL!!!!

If she doesn't follow the VERY CLEAR GOVT. GUIDELINES then she is a being hugely, disgracefully irresponsible!!

@CodenameVillanelle

What is she thinking of? Surely she'll get sick pay if she's off! She's going to put everyone at risk for nothing?!

Sadly as a teacher she will be so used to powering throw and being guilted into coming in when ill that she'll be think that she can't not go in as she'll be letting the side down.

Schools will need a rethink about how they treat teachers who are needing time off for illness if they actually want them to not come in when they have covid symptoms.

For fucksake. People like your friend are why this is going to just keep going. I hope she was just looking for 'permission' as your pp, because otherwise it's frankly quite scary that someone with so little sense is going to be teaching DC and partially responsible for their health during a pandemic.

I'm the first to criticise the gvt response in terms of schools etc, but this is exactly the sort of nonsense that ends with a massive cluster in the school which is then blamed on gvt/management/masks and not the person who chose to ignore all the advice because they think they know better. Sorry OP, touched a nerve there!

@BlackeyedSusan

Teachers and parents have been told that they/their children are to come into school unless they have a valid death certificate or are possibly under general anesthesia for several years. All attendance matters etc.... Quite hard for some people to turn this off and keep them home and test for mild symptoms. I have had a cough. Not unusual for me, usually cough for several months of the year. Normally would carry on unless too bad as children would not get fed etc. Quite strange to be getting tested and waiting for results when previously you have still had to get on with stuff. ( Negative) but this is what we have to do now.

As an aside from this thread, I think this has been the culture in most workplaces in recent years ; really hoping that Covid will bring changes to this .

I agree she needs to test BUT there’s such an entrenched culture in teaching that time off is the end of the world - schools can barely afford pencils, let alone cover staff and actually having a supply in is a huge amount of extra work for the ill teacher.

I’m not saying it’s right, or even that school leaders encourage it, it’s just how it’s been for years now.

And she is supposed to be intelligent!?

@CarrieBlue Yes, this! We all run at a low level ill through autumn term that it’s normal and you don’t feel actively ‘ill’. We need to retrain ourselves to stop and think how we are actually feeling.

Fuck me, I’m not one for hand wringing over every little non compliance of the guidelines but this is just pure selfishness. You ALWAYS stick to this rule, surely??

She needs to test.
We went for a test at a drive through centre at 4pm on a friday and the results were emailed at 7am on the Saturday morning.

@uglyface

I agree she needs to test BUT there’s such an entrenched culture in teaching that time off is the end of the world - schools can barely afford pencils, let alone cover staff and actually having a supply in is a huge amount of extra work for the ill teacher.

I’m not saying it’s right, or even that school leaders encourage it, it’s just how it’s been for years now.

Do you think it’s so entrenched that it will continue now? I know it’s hard to speak for others but as a teacher what do you think

@HoneysuckIejasmine yes you can, the postal collection for covid tests is running 7 days a week. My test was delivered to me on a Saturday, collected on the Sunday and result Monday evening.

@RingPiece If your friend goes to work knowing she has symptoms and knowing the rules (which you have sent her), she is an arsehole. From an clinically vulnerable parent sending her child to school next week!

I really hope that all the (valid) advice being given to the OP's teacher friend here will also apply to ANYONE ELSE in the next few months, thinking of going out, either to work or socially, if they think they have symptoms.

And their kids, Angelina. Definitely shouldn’t be sending kids into school with symptoms even if it means taking time off work.

@RingPiece

I told her she's risking disciplinary action and now she's going to think about it. It's funny what motivates some people.

This is absolutely correct. I work in HR and knowingly attending work in a school with those symptoms could lead to disciplinary action being taken. It's is highly irresponsible.

In our work COVID absence or isolation does not count towards absence triggers/warnings.

@CallmeAngelina

I really hope that all the (valid) advice being given to the OP's teacher friend here will also apply to ANYONE ELSE in the next few months, thinking of going out, either to work or socially, if they think they have symptoms.

So do I.

Please get a test. I would be nervous if you worked in my school. Now is definitely not the time to be a teacher martyr.

@lljkk

She's back to work on Tuesday.

I did not know that any London secondary schools started staff on 1 September. London term dates are funny, though. How many staff have been in already, OP? Are there London secondary schools that started having kids in class last week, too?

I am a London teacher. Inset Tues and kids in Wed. Pretty common around here.

Yep here too inset then back Wed in London

Ringpiece

If you have been physically near this friend will you also be booking a test?