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.

@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.

Read this out to my DH (secondary teacher as am I) and he said 'both' in response to your questions. I agree. Please keep spreading the word. It's totally shit.

Social distancing is impossible in schools at full capacity. The bubble idea is also flawed as kids meet up before and after school to walk, take public transport and socialise together outside school or have siblings in different year groups. Schools are doing their best in a very tricky and frankly impossible situation and as PPs have said I think we just have to accept this and hope for the best.

Year group mixing was evident today (ks3 and 6th form) when I went to collect a class. Just driving out of work now and passed a year 12 and 13 walking together with no SD. That's the sixth form blister for you!

This isn’t the school’s fault though, is it?

It’s the government’s plan-it was in the guidance.

Secondary schools must be a nightmare for a large school. My DD year 13 is lucky as she is at a smaller school so every year group is in a bubble of 70/80 which is much easier to apply the rules. Every year group has their own common room, lunch breaks are staggered, one way system around school, masks on when moving around but not in lessons, each child is cleaning their own desk/chair once a lesson is finished. Our teachers have done an amazing job my DD's only 'complaint' is that she is walking miles every day as there are no short cuts around the school. I think everyone is just happy to be back at school and getting on with it.

"I don't even know what the actual risk is to a teacher of catching covid let alone having it seriously now the levels in the community are just so low"

We're about to find out!

@PamDemic

It was never possible. The children have siblings in other year groups, they meet after school with children from other schools. They mix form groups. They meet at clubs after school and at weekends (mine both go to a cycling club for example).

we just need to live with this - life needs to go on now. I don't even know what the actual risk is to a teacher of catching covid let alone having it seriously now the levels in the community are just so low.

Well individual risk to the adults in schools vary. However we have ECV previously shielding TAs and teachers working for hours in unventilated crowded rooms, so as a pp said - we will shortly find out.

I'm not sure what else is going to happen TBH. This is just part of a wider issue - you can have strict 24/7 social distancing or you can have a functional society, but you can't actually have both. I just wish we would all engage with that reality.

@PamDemic - obviously the actual risk to anyone of having serious Covid 19 hasn't got anything to do with levels in the community. No one can predict how the immune system of a person catching Covid from someone with mild or no symptoms is going to react. So yes, it is a risk we have to live with - but that risk is much higher for some people and adults have more risk to carry than children at the moment.

Schools other than the very strictest will be less likely to enforce distancing as time goes on (until they get an outbreak anyway).

It takes a lot of collective effort and persistence to establish any rules, but we know these are a sham and my colleagues are already shrugging and saying “Oh well, what can we do?”

And we’ve only had 3 year groups back for one day.

Yabu. It’s all one big con to make you think schools are COVID secure. Schools only have to do what they can, the guidance is wishy washy.

The secondary here has gone all out and do you know what? The kids arrive on packed out school buses, all mixed up because the LA cannot afford anymore. It renders the whole school plan useless.

How about fire your anger at the shit show of a government?

The government's plan is to scapegoat the school heads when it all goes to shit. Even if you follow the guidelines and the year group bubbles stay apart, there are no bubbles outside of school (siblings, friends, activities, transportation).

But they'll blame the schools. i have no doubt.

If you ever thought it was going to work, the government has done a great job. Classes are still the same size (actually I have 4 more than last year), classrooms are no bigger. Corridors haven’t grown wider.

I’ve spent an hour and a half washing hands and desks today- it won’t get any faster as I have one sink and 30-odd children. Parents don’t like staggered start and finish times, wanting to ‘just drop this one in your room while I’m here anyway’ (nope, I’m preparing my lessons as it’s half an hour until my class starts).

We are trying, but the government promised the earth then left us to deliver things that we just can’t do.

For those who have a higher risk (and I don't know what that would be for a asthmatic 70 year old), they need to shield
How does that work then Pam? Plenty of parents and teaching staff are at higher risk. The staff can't stay off. Parents can't stay away from their dc indefinitely.

@ithinkiveseenthisfilmbefore

The government's plan is to scapegoat the school heads when it all goes to shit. Even if you follow the guidelines and the year group bubbles stay apart, there are no bubbles outside of school (siblings, friends, activities, transportation).

But they'll blame the schools. i have no doubt.

This.

The whole concept of social distancing and bubbles in secondary is rubbish. People should accept that. I’ve got 2 at secondary and more than happy that they’re back and personally don’t want a huge list of pointless restrictions.

The school I teach at has worked incredibly hard to meet the guidelines. The year group 'bubbles' were early ludicrous! That's loads of kids. I do think the staggered break and lunches worked well today and crowding was massively reduced.
Kids piling out into the town in huge groups 🤷‍♀️

'Teachers'were probably expecting honesty. Parents being shocked at no social distancing and huge bubbles is down to propaganda. The govt have pumped no extra money into schools. They could have provided outdoor shelter/canopies for kids to eat lunches, they could have looked into hiring temporary spaces to re room classes.

Nothing has been done other than issue a myriad of contradictory guidelines and leave schools to interpret them the best they can.

I can’t believe anyone thought otherwise. Teachers have been saying this for weeks, schools haven’t doubled in size and they aren’t part time so it wasn’t ever going to be anything different.

Washing hands and hand gel only helps with surface transmission, not aerosol transmission which scientists say is the main cause.

@PamDemic

but even higher risk isn't particularly high now. What is the risk to a teacher of contracting it, dying even?

For months shop works, bus drivers, NHS staff, have all had to work - through even greater risk levels than now. It's a balance - you can't keep schools shut, you can't shut down the economy, indefinitely. I honestly don''t know what teachers thought would happen. What could happen even? In their ideal world what would be happening? Home ed indefinitely? What?

And here we go again. All teachers' fault. Ok ideally in secondary schools we would have: Extra funding for outdoor shelters, temporary buildings, extra staff, extra toilets and sinks, extra cleaning. Blended learning to enable better social distancing Face coverings for all who can wear them Ventilation.

I have told my collleagues to focus on protecting themselves. You cannot force 14 year olds to distance. You can plan, you can tell them, you can punish them - but they still won't do it if they don't want to. So, as staff, we have visors and we have a taped off zone at the front of the room to teach from.

Obviously if a child is distressed because others are not allowing them to distance, I will intervene, and we have worked out arses off making sure the set up will work. But we have no money, narrow corridors and not enough staff.