Not getting symptomatic school child tested...

[Stuckhereagain]

Is unreasonable?

I appreciate there will be children with SEN who won't tolerate the testing and I mean won't tolerate not just find it unpleasant but assuming this isn't the case, in a mainstream primary class with no students with diagnosed SEN , I find it baffling to refuse testing.

So now the whole class is off for two weeks, parents forced to take unpaid leave, go back to not taking the kids to see vulnerable grandparents etc.
Issues getting siblings in too as kids are meant to be isolating not going on the school run.

Just annoyed it's causing chaos when it might be a negative test but we don't know because the parents are refusing to test!!

If that actually is the guidance that's ridiculous, why should multiple children miss their education because one family refuse to test.

Is there an easy place to find out if this is true?

@lifesalongsong

If that actually is the guidance that's ridiculous, why should multiple children miss their education because one family refuse to test.

Is there an easy place to find out if this is true?

I work in school... it isn’t true! PHE guidance is very clear and bubbles only have to isolate if there are CONFIRMED cases. Bubbles do NOT have to isolate for “possible” cases.

@stuckhereagain If you don't even know that the parents have refused the test, rather than can't get one, it is pretty awful that parents at your school are saying they should lose their school place, no?

Regardless, it is madness to say that a child should lose their school place unless their parents consent to a medical procedure on their behalf. What is the world coming to.

A boy in my DDs class is just back after having 2 weeks off with suspected covid. He is autistic, non verbal with a lot of sensory issues and the parents decided not to subject him to the test as it would have been extremely traumatic for him. He's had 2 weeks off, everyone else carried on. I don't think your school have made a sensible call here.

I work in school... it isn’t true! PHE guidance is very clear and bubbles only have to isolate if there are CONFIRMED cases. Bubbles do NOT have to isolate for “possible” cases.

Its true that this interpretation of the guidelines is totally wrong.

It might be true, however that some schools are interpreting it the way OP describes. Which of course, is an issue if they are going against the actual advice. Hers may not be the only one doing this.

Ive been pondering this and thought about a scenario that may explain why it seems a good idea to isolate if a test is refused.

Imagine you have a new partner who has symptoms of an STD and you say you wont sleep with him if he has a test and its positive, so your partner says OK I wont have a test and you say, thats OK then I will sleep with you as you havent tested positive for an STD.

The risks are still there regardless of whether the person has a test or not to confirm it.

The difference here being that Covid symptoms are extremely generic and statistically it remains unlikely that any individual with a cough, or fever, or loss of smell, actually has it. Unless they have definitely been in close contact with a confirmed case, when it becomes less unlikely. Still not likely, but less unlikely.

The other difference I suppose is the STD won't go away without treatment, so you would really need to know whether he had it before you sleep with him as he will never otherwise be "safe". This child will be "safe" 14 days after the onset of symptoms without treatment (statistically).