To be pissed off that secondary school are doing next to nothing about Covid?

[MushyMushi]

Despite the huge risk assessment, reassuring letters, promise of bubbles and social distancing, segregated classes, coloured badges, separate entrances and staggered times for year groups, masks in corridors etc...

Absolutely none of this has been enforced.

Small class bubbles have become bubbles of full year groups of 150 pupils. The segregated break areas have been mixing with all year groups with no enforcement by teachers. Masks aren’t being worn. Pupils are entering and leaving school whenever they feel like it.

Not to mention that if one case of Covid hits, the entire year group will be expected to self isolate for 14 days!

AIBU to think this is really poor or is this the reality of secondary schools now? They’ve only been back two days and it’s all gone to shit.

Thanks. I suppose I just expected there to be an attempt at enforcement - that’s my main issue. There is no point in having rules if they go out of the window in the first 24 hours.

Would love to home school but I work FT and DD is in Y11 so her education has suffered enough without inflicting more disruption on her!

Basically, our kids have been abandoned by our elected representatives. Don't forget this next election.

This. My teenage DC can vote in a few years and I hope there's a whole generation of children who will vote with their feet.

@MushyMushi

Thanks. I suppose I just expected there to be an attempt at enforcement - that’s my main issue. There is no point in having rules if they go out of the window in the first 24 hours.

Would love to home school but I work FT and DD is in Y11 so her education has suffered enough without inflicting more disruption on her!

Same here (well two in year 10) but those are the options this left us, when our children sh/could have had so much more. I'm furious - but not with schools.

I just expected there to be an attempt at enforcement

I’d expect more enforcement as time goes on and people figure out wtf is meant to be happening when and actually look at the duty rota.

Bubbles are a waste of time tbh. Siblings completely negate any effort at bubbles.

I was all for kids going back, desperate for it. But stood watching yesterday thensheer number of kids at just 1 primary, plus siblings at different schools I was like, yeah be lucky to get to October half term. .

Makes me wonder if they have opened everything else over the summer so when cases shoot up they can blame schools and shut them with a 'well we tried and it's not working'. Schools don't contribute to the economy other than provide child care. And I think the focus will be on the economy from now on.

Fully prepared for homeschooling as well as doing a degree. A year 2 and a year 12. Will be lots of jolly old fun 🤣🤣

And yet they have said schools will be the last to close. Especially primary schools.

It was never going to work. Teachers have been saying so for months but MN teacher bashers wanted them all back to work.

@Frouby

Bubbles are a waste of time tbh. Siblings completely negate any effort at bubbles.

I was all for kids going back, desperate for it. But stood watching yesterday thensheer number of kids at just 1 primary, plus siblings at different schools I was like, yeah be lucky to get to October half term. .

Makes me wonder if they have opened everything else over the summer so when cases shoot up they can blame schools and shut them with a 'well we tried and it's not working'. Schools don't contribute to the economy other than provide child care. And I think the focus will be on the economy from now on.

Fully prepared for homeschooling as well as doing a degree. A year 2 and a year 12. Will be lots of jolly old fun 🤣🤣

I am convinced that schools are scape goats for this mess.

It's going to be nigh impossible to control such huge groups of students.
Without watching their every move... Without building new classrooms..

Yup. They've set the scene that teachers, schools and the unions are to blame, and they've obviously kept Gavin on just so he can be ceremoniously got rid of when it all goes to pot.

I'm a secondary teacher. We have each year group in their own area and during the school day the bubbles are kept separate. Teachers are moving between classrooms to reduce the numbers in corridors.

But bubbles were always going to be year groups. Our year 7s are almost in form group bubbles (we don't set until after Christmas) but still mixing with other forms for PE and breaks. Options mean there's no way to do single class bubbles for GCSE and above.

My school has two entrances and staggered starts/finishes, but there's no way to enforce every year 7 turning up through Gate A at 8.30 and every year 8 turning up through Gate B at 8.35, and there being no crossover. Especially when there are siblings coming together, buses all drop of by Gate A so most students have to come that way, etc.

To be honest op, it's exactly this that so many teachers have been deeply worried about. There is no safety, we can't sd, we can't force the dc to do anything.

This is exactly what @noblegiraffe warned would happen and she got a torrent of crap for it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think the bottom line is the school plans were never going to work.

Whether this is conspiracy (as in we don't care if plebs catch Covid) or cock up (sorry, aren't state schools twelve to class like Eton?) is not yet known.

I'm not sure mine are going back due to this, it just seems ridiculous when Ireland, Italy, Germany, Sweden.... are all social distancing at secondary school.

We are in the Israel group. That went well, of course.

According to some of the more vocal teacher bashers on another thread, the Israel school resurgence was down to teachers. Their fault.

Teachers have been saying for weeks that we cannot social distance in school. Think of any crowd of large people and how hard it is to get them to behave in a specific way, let alone teenagers.

All pupils and staff here lots to deal with and systems to try and work out to make the best of unworkable guidance.

As for corridors you can have teachers at the door to try and supervise moving around but they will be breaching the 2m guidance in going so. Do you also think that when a teacher is walking around corridors the pupils there's is 2m of space around them which pupils will observe? Ditto classrooms you cannot maintain social distancing for the entire lesson or at all at times.

At least some schools we and pupils can only obviously wear masks when moving around but remember this was vehemently opposed by lots of posters on here who likened it to child abuse.

If the school has separate areas like football pitches etc it may be possible to segregate pupils but in lots of cases they won't have enough for 5 year groups. If a pupil leaves a notionally separated area it is not like they can be physically stopped and unless the staff member recognises them it is difficult to follow up too because as I'm sure you recall from your own school day pupils rarely "snitch"

I work on Ireland. All 1500 students are back. Social distancing is recommended if possible but its impossible. Year bubbles and all students wear masks. Three schools have had cases in the last three days.

It is impossible for secondary schools. I would expect cases in most schools by half term.

Secondary school and 'covid secure' are incompatible. In fact, much of society and life cannot operate with 'covid secure' measures. We're either going to have to learn to live with that or learn to live with massive and dangerous social ills such as widespread poverty, unemployment, homelessness and decreased tax takings from an under-educated generation of people.

@WhyNotMe40

Yup. They've set the scene that teachers, schools and the unions are to blame, and they've obviously kept Gavin on just so he can be ceremoniously got rid of when it all goes to pot.

Exactly.

@Readandwalk

I work on Ireland. All 1500 students are back. Social distancing is recommended if possible but its impossible. Year bubbles and all students wear masks. Three schools have had cases in the last three days.

It is impossible for secondary schools. I would expect cases in most schools by half term.

Apologies I thought Ireland had distancing!

It was never going to be any other way.

"There is no point in having rules if they go out of the window in the first 24 hours."

There are plenty of laws never mind rules that cannot be enforced right now. If a pupil does not wear a mask they cannot be excluded.

Teachers can stand at doorways and try to refuse entry until they put them on or show exempt passes they have been given but again staff will be breaching the 2m separation rule while doing this.

@WhatamessIgotinto

It was never going to be any other way.

Then the government shouldn't have kept saying 'distancing distancing distancing safe safe safe' on the fricking news.

@MushyMushi

Thanks. I suppose I just expected there to be an attempt at enforcement - that’s my main issue. There is no point in having rules if they go out of the window in the first 24 hours.

Would love to home school but I work FT and DD is in Y11 so her education has suffered enough without inflicting more disruption on her!

We've been back 3 weeks - Scotland - and schools are enforcing the rules.

School split into two for lunch/break so they're not all out at the same time. No changing for PE. Kids are wearing masks between lessons and teachers are providing masks to those who don't have them. Kids are all sanitising their hands and wiping down desks at the end of a lesson before leaving. They are observing social distance with adults.

They are absolutely doing their best to adapt and cope with changes. Doesn't really need "enforced" though as kids are doing what's expected of them with little argument.