To ask if you are happy with the protection levels at school?

[MissMissICantDoThis]

I am a teacher so feel that I have some insight into what is going on in schools and I am feeling increasingly worried about the 'second wave'.

We have guidelines at our school and they mainly protect us adults. In reality, I couldn't do my job without breaking the guidelines and putting myself at risk. I accept this and felt that I accepted the risk in general. In my circle it is generally 'brave face and no complaining' attitude so I do not hear anyone talking about it.

I have mixed feelings for my own children. My son seems genuinely scared for the adults in the family and I am doing my best to support this.

I do not think that they will close schools again. The damage that the last lockdown did is evident. However, I am increasingly in favour of closing them again for a circuit breaker at least. The scientific evidence is so mixed that I do not know what to believe and wonder if the government are purposely being vague to avoid lockdown. Death rates are inevitably down compared to the first wave now that they only count deaths within 28 days yet they announced that it can take several weeks for someone to become critically ill.

My friend has a worried child too and she has said that if necessary, she will take her child out and face the fine. Is anyone else's child really worried? How do you feel about this?

I am genuinely prepared to accept that I am on half term and have spent more time watching the news than I normally would. Am I allowing myself to be scaremongered?

Can English kids not manage where kids in every other country can?

The kids can cope. Mine wear them quite happily in shops
Some may not be able to cope which is why I said masks for all who can.

@noblegiraffe don't be silly...what a bunch of special snowflakes this country has produced!!!

@Nibor1991 I have written similar to those things on my pregnancy risk assessment.

I have 2 separate friends who taught in Asia where masks are routine. They were expected to wear masks while teaching if they had coughs or colds, as were the students. They both said it was fine, no drama. Had to enunciate a little more clearly but you soon get used to it.
There really is no need to have such a drama about masks in schools. Especially if you want them to stay open.

I teach secondary and personally, I don't feel worried but I appreciate that some people do. My school have done everything possible to minimise risk:

Y7-9 remain in one room all day in form groups. Seating plan set up at the start of term must remain in place to aid contact tracing.

Y10-13 move within zoned areas. Seating plans as above.

The way our school is laid out and the one way systems mean the year groups don't mix. All have designated social spaces. They line up in these designated areas each morning so no mixing with other groups.

Masks are worn by pupils and staff in corridors and our kids have been brilliant with that. Sanitizer and cleaning equipment in every room. Again, kids do well with sanitizing- I stand there putting sanitizer on every member of my form when they enter the room in the morning!

Staff teach from the front as much as possible and can wear visors in class. I wear mine a lot as I have some lower ability groups who need me to help them.

Cleaners are cleaning hand rails/toilets etc. far more frequently during the day and each year group has their own set of toilets.

We are not collecting books in. Assessments are quarantined before being given out.

In a large school we have had only a handful of cases (in a tier 3 area!) And haven't had any spread from those cases. They way we work things means it's been small numbers of pupils who have had to self isolate when we have had a positive case.

I'm not saying it's perfect and as a teacher, it's been bloody hard work getting them all back into being in school, social distancing, sanitizing, providing work for those isolating and generally managing a whole new way of working but overall, I don't think we could do anymore. Our pupils have managed so well and overall they are pleased to be back in school.

You haven’t mentioned ventilation, pumpkin which is one of the most important measures you could be taking.

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow

Masks on kids in clsssrooms?! Really?

My DD (age 11) insists on wearing them for some of her classes. Some of her teachers are > 60. She feels it's her ''duty''.

When I asked her if it is uncomfortable / hard to communicate / made it difficult, her response was:

'why it would be?'

followed by

'' my teacher is really, really old Mummy. I don't want to give her Covid by accident. Don't you know kids often don't always have symptoms but can give it to people??''

Apparently she'd read it on the news...

Your Dd sounds very wise and responsible

Another teacher who feels unsafe and unprotected at work.

Pumpkin, if you’re putting sanitiser on your form’s hands, you’re within 1m of them so if you tested positive your whole form would have to SI for two weeks, as that’s what is currently being recommended when someone has been in contact of under 1m for any length of time. Unless I’m misunderstanding your post, it’s an unnecessarily risky thing to do.

I actually just made a new thread in the Coronavirus section.
Our local senior school at the start of half term it has become apparent had a large outbreak.
The school 'officially' communicated 3 positives: 2 teachers including the head and 1 student. As the head is across all bubbles they 'advised' all years from 7-13 to isolate for 2 weeks. Due to the small number of positives involved it has become apparent that students have not spent their 2 week half term isolating and still gone on days out, shopping to the local shopping centre, sleepovers and parties. I know first hand of 30 positive cases from one year group over the course of half term but still zero communication from the school the extent of the outbreak there. Parents have emailed the SLT to express concern that they are minimising the outbreak but you just get a scripted, generic reply of 'we advised all years to self isolate' and that's it, they have washed their hands of it.
The plan to open the school as usual on Monday for mocks and all years to return, it's like they just want it brushed under the carpet. My friend is a teacher there and even he hasn't been told the extent of the outbreak and what he's walking into on Monday morning.
The school are clearly not making the community aware of the volume of positive results from their environment as they don't want finger pointing or that they weren't Covid secure enough.
I don't even blame the school for the outbreak, shit happens in a global pandemic but their subsequent response has been woeful.
I'd hope if parents were aware of the volume of positive results, they would take the advice for their teens to isolate more seriously (you would hope) as it is, it's been business as usually whilst a large number of the teens may have been silently spreading Covid throughout the community for the last fortnight.

It's the senior school teachers and parents of the teenagers who Will be the ones who suffer. When will the first Covid death of a senior school teacher happen (if it hasn't already) I am a parent of a teen who caught Covid at school and passed it to me. I faired a lot worse than my teenager being older!

We have opening windows , handgel and staff wearing masks in corridors. I am climbed over by children 5-12 daily but we are doing our best. Love being back at school and not stressing , but live in a very low risk area. Parents don't seem to be able to follow simple playground rules or keep ill children home. Don't kid myself it's safe, as ut isn't. However we do what we can, try to avoid distressed pupils throwing hand gel in our eyes and am grateful that inam not teachibg online. I do worry for high risk staff daily though.

I'm a parent. Not a teacher but have been bowled over at the dedication of teachers and enraged at what's being expected of them.

I'm furious that parents have had the choice removed from them as to school attendance and even more furious that the intelligence of all adults in the UK has been insulted daily...

We all know it's not safe -they know we know and I'm filled with dread until somebody sees sense and puts the remote /blended learning back into place for those who are happy to do it.

I feel that we are very lucky - small country school, large airy classrooms, small class size , class is split into bubbles of four per table , all classes has seperate entrance/exit with separate paths and gates out of the school grounds. They apply sanitizer when they arrive in class, wash their hands with warm water and soap before breaks and then sanitizer again at home time. They spend lots of time outside in the fresh air and if it is dry they will take their lessons outdoors. There hasnt been a case in the school yet and we are in a very low risk area despite being on nationwide level 5 lockdown here in Ireland

Please don't forget about those of us working in nurseries. We are not covid secure either. There is no way to distance from tiny children, who cover us in bodily fluids day in day out. We are not allowed masks or any other form of PPE, apart from what we normally wear for nappy changes/serving food. We physically can't maintain social distancing from each other as there isn't space. Despite the extra two hours we are working every day (now 13 hour days) to clean the classrooms, we have all been ill several times since September, though not with Covid thankfully. I don't feel safe at work.