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?

Have got used to it. It's when I've seen visitors to the school that I get a jolt as they look really anxious. Makes me question what I'm doing.

I'm an exams officer in tier 1.

We have had one case in one child since school went back.

I have a shield to wear during th mocks ne, tbhalf term, as do my invigilators.

The children stick to the one way system perfectly well which I see when I'm out and about in school. They clean every desk and chair at the start of every lesson.

The pupils wear masks in Common indoor areas.

I currently feel safe at school.

There may be capacity for testing, but there is not capacity for processing.
We had to have a trip to the local testing centre - loads of people sat around idly looking at their phones just to direct you down the road. Maybe 50 employees there?
4 different testing bays, all manned, but apparently they only use one as they are restricting tests due to processing capacity - yet the site is still fully manned!
Still took 3 days to get the results.

Nope not happy at all

Rest of us out in the community and in work are doing our bit but school kids aren’t bothered..... they are being protected, no masks, no enforcement of hand washing/sanitizer.... nobody wants to scare the kids so it’s played down

The children stick to the one way system perfectly well which I see when I'm out and about in school. They clean every desk and chair at the start of every lesson.

The primary methods of transmission are close contact (like sitting together in a classroom or at lunch) and aerosol (like being in a room together). Wiping seats is doing very little.

@yomellamoHelly

Have got used to it. It's when I've seen visitors to the school that I get a jolt as they look really anxious. Makes me question what I'm doing.

I’d bloody love to make it compulsory for MPs to visit corridors at lesson changeover and to stand at the front of a class with 2m of the front row for hours. Oh, and break duty.

Any of them that has said schools are safe should be up for it.

Well there isn’t meaningful protection at school.

As a teacher and a parent of primary age dc I’ve come to terms with going to work / sending them to school being a risk I just have to take (& luckily we’re all low risk in terms of Covid), and we’re just super careful in our interactions with more vulnerable family members.

I quite like going to school and everything being normal because let’s face it the rest of life is pretty rubbish right now.

I wish my ecv TA didn’t have to keep coming to work. I worry a lot about her.

But our government have made it abundantly clear they are not prepared to spend more (any) money to make the changes needed to actually offer protection and so for my mental health I am carrying on in an oblivious bubble and hoping everything is ok.

I’d bloody love to make it compulsory for MPs to visit corridors at lesson changeover and to stand at the front of a class with 2m of the front row for hours. Oh, and break duty

Any of them that has said schools are safe should be up for it

I would tweak this to specify in your standard 1950s built inner city comp. Not one of the new airy academies

I should have added the school is v rural and VERY well ventilated in every room including the office which is now freezing!

My children's schools are the same.

I'm not saying that the virus isn't spreading in other schools, but our school is doing its absolute best and I feel safe working there in close proximity to lots of children daily. I appreciate I'm not teaching them though.

@user1471530109

There should be random testing in schools. Why the hell is that not a thing?! All this capacity for testing and it's not being reached...but no one has thought to do this? Total shambles.

I’d imagine the thought is there but they don’t want people to know the results. Large scale testing is done in other high risk places so it can is is done.

There’s been very little in the press re number of schools and cases, I wonder why. The data re cases and occupations hasn’t been released either or hard to find despite being collected at tests. I also read on another thread that there is a special code for covid absence so it doesn’t affect attendance figures.

If they insist on schools remaining open so parents can work, then at least be transparent and release the figures daily re how many schools have cases, how many, split between staff and pupils etc. Parents who then don’t need or want their children in school can make informed decisions knowing all the facts.

Fellow teacher here - I’ve resided myself to the fact I’m going to get coronavirus. Schools aren’t secure no matter what provision is put in place because we cannot do our jobs properly with a lot of the guidance and we are still being held to account for our data and children’s progress. Stuck between a rock and a hard place really.
In Primary, no masks, no social distancing, not enough manipulatives for each child, not enough books for each child, still have to physically instruct them, still have to do first aid, classrooms absolutely tiny. Hand washing and ventilation doesn’t mitigate these things.
It’s only a matter of time before we get ill.

Utterly indifferent if I’m honest.

My children are fit, healthy and happy. And delighted to be back at school and thriving.

That - is all I’m bothered about

I mean - no, if covid gets into my classroom then I’m at risk. However we’ve had classes close due to a positive case and then no other child has had symptoms (that we know of...) so it’s not a case of it definitely getting everyone in the bubble. We’ve only had one staff member test positive and no one else she was in contact with got symptoms.

I don’t worry about it though. I’d go mad if I did.

They test care home staff weekly - I know care home residents are more at risk statistically from Covid. However, if it gets into a care home, it basically stays in the care home. If it gets into a classroom then you have the potential for it to infect 34+ families and their workplaces. They are not testing every week because they are relying on children being asymptomatic. They want to keep outbreaks quiet as they don’t want to shut schools.

I’m a teacher, I know we are not Covid secure but I don’t really care as I have no fear of catching it. I’m 96% likely to be absolutely fine if I do and I like those odds.

The government need to explain this graph if they want people to believe that schools are safe.

Instead they sat on this data, only releasing it at half term. Wonder why.

@MarjorytheTrashHeap

I like the way all the posters on here who say they aren't worried and are just happy schools are open full-time don't actually have to set foot in a school!

No but our children do!! And I regard my children as far far more important than... me!

And I’m super relaxed about what’s going on in schools. Just so happy my children are happy and thriving being back at school.

Our primary has hand sanitiser, increased hand washing, no staff crossing bubbles, no assemblies etc where classes mix and unless masks are social distancing are implemented, it's as safe as possible.

On the other hand the only thing in place in our secondary is masks in coridoors. That's it. It's hardly a wonder it was spreading in almost every year group before half term, sending home only close contacts obviously isn't working. I'd like the option of my eldest doing blended learning so they can be spread out to decrease the risk. Alternatively I'd like to keep them home to learn without the threat of fines or losing their school place. I genuinely can't understand why parents who could and would be happy to keep their children home weren't allowed without the threats. It would have slowed the spread and made it safer for the teachers, children and families that still attended. I think it's because the joke of 'covid secure' schools wouldn't have been able to be trotted out if the option was given.

I can see schools needing to be closed now with the huge rise in cases and now increasing deaths. It's the fault of the government being stubborn.

All this talk of can we can't we meet up with family for Christmas. The government expects people not to have 2 households meet inside for lunch but is forcing vulnerable teachers, children and parents to go along with 30 households mixing inside. And it was argued there's no proof of increased transmittion in educational settings. Yeah sure when you can't go into a supermarket without a face covering.

@Sodamncold

Utterly indifferent if I’m honest.

My children are fit, healthy and happy. And delighted to be back at school and thriving.

That - is all I’m bothered about

Do you go by another username at all? I fail to see how someone could be so utterly self centred as to claim they're 'indifferent' about the risks to all involved.

I really can't understand so many parents happy with their kids and their kids' teachers being given so much less protection than kids in other countries. That post upthread about Italy, for example.

I feel like I must be making some stupid mistake, but as far as I can see, the death rate yesterday was nearly 7 times higher than it was on the day we locked down.

I would love to just keep pretending that everything is normal but it simply isn't.

Do you go by another username at all? I fail to see how someone could be so utterly self centred as to claim they're 'indifferent' about the risks to all involved.

Because for the massive massive majority - COVID 19 is like a mild case of the flu.

And in children, not even that.

So armed with that information, I look at my children - happy, settled, thriving at school and I think.... hallelujah!

The things that are in place to make schools "safe", like teachers moving rooms every hour, just make life harder and probably not safer anyway.

Utterly indifferent if I’m honest.

My children are fit, healthy and happy. And delighted to be back at school and thriving.

That - is all I’m bothered about

Thankfully your in the minority and most people do seen to care about other people.

Do you go by another username at all?

Yes thought exactly the same

I bet the people oh so happy with the level of protection in schools don't live in Manchester, Birmingham or Liverpool.