to think that it's a massive ask to ask schools to be ready for mass testing by the end of the first week of Jan

[chomalungma]

Mass testing is a good idea
Although the test used only detects about 1/2 of positive results - so a negative test doesn't mean it's negative.
It will need people to organise it To run it. To allow these people to administer it to children.
Oh - and it all needs to be ready during the first week of next term.

So teachers, forget your Christmas holiday. You may be knackered, you may need a break - but the Govt expects you to plan for remote learning, but keep some year groups in and other pupils in for school learning, and get your school ready, including recruiting people, to administer tests.

I quite frankly don’t see the point. Schools don’t really have the budget in the first place, and if the test hardly works what’s the point? It’ll take one false negative for a flu to spread through a school, personally for me it’ll be a waste of money, stick to masks and social distancing.
Very few students will actually consent to a test as well.

Our school has just sent a letter out advising that they are very disappointed at the notice they have been given and they haven't worked out how they're going to achieve it. The headteacher sounds thoroughly pissed off

Same here @PandemicPalava, school have also emphasised that testing will be voluntary and subject to consent of the parents and the child. DC school is a middle school so they will have year 5 and 6 in attendance as normal.

It's absolutely ridiculous to expect schools to implement this with no notice and no extra money. It's not their job. The DfE is not fit for purpose. There are so many things wrong with this idea. Idiots. Feel so sorry for schools.

We’ve just received an email from school asking for parent volunteers to supplement the staff who will be involved in this. They’ve said that they need people from 8am to midday Monday to Friday (I am assuming that it won’t be the same people every day, as presumably most people who are willing to volunteer won’t be available every day). They say that full training will be given.

Same here PandemicPalava we received an email - very scathing about the lack of notice, training, tests etc. Another member of SLT said they are waiting for another U-turn.

Ridiculous

What a joke. Last day of term, and via the news.
We're still delivering online lessons, so how does that free up time to learn how to test kids?
And- how long does a DBS check take- about a month usually.
The DFE clearly have never worked in a school.

If you count an hour and a half of online training as " full" then I suppose they're right.

Also - who's going to do the contact tracing when a positive case is found? That takes hours!

We are not allowed to apply suncream to small children. Yet we are expected to do a medical procedure on very little training?! And presumably if not done correctly the results will be incorrect, allowing a potentially deadly disease to spread through the school. It’s absolute madness.

@Xiaoxiong

Also - who's going to do the contact tracing when a positive case is found? That takes hours!

Schools are already doing this to be fair (contact tracing)

We do the contact tracing.

I had a stand up row today with a very rude Yr11 girl who didn’t see why she couldn’t sit next to her friend as it was the last day- because we use the seating plans for contact tracing and will continue to do so for the next six days.

Just sit in your usual seat FFS.

@modgepodge

We are not allowed to apply suncream to small children. Yet we are expected to do a medical procedure on very little training?! And presumably if not done correctly the results will be incorrect, allowing a potentially deadly disease to spread through the school. It’s absolute madness.

Ministers today were saying it would be the military plus agency staff rather than teachers doing the actual testing as teachers have their hands full providing education.

It seems to me either that the decision was announced late out of nastiness from the Education Secretary, or is a panic measure. I am not sure which.

My adult son got one of these rapid tests. He was given stick and told to put fown.his throat then up his nose himself. Then handed it back to dispenser person. Surely secondary school kids could do it themselves too if shown how to do it. Don said it takes about 1-2 minutes.

Ministers today were saying it would be the military plus agency staff rather than teachers doing the actual testing as teachers have their hands full providing education

There are a lot of schools out there.

Have we got enough military to help?

It's not mass testing of all students, it's only for those who are close contacts of someone who has tested positive. They choose to take the test or isolate at home. Yes, secondary age students can do it themselves.

I agree it's a massive ask to set it up from an organisational point of view. But nowhere has it said that teachers will be forced to give the tests.

Does anyone know if there are even.enough Army personnel to do the Rapid test? I thought the Army had been cut back over recent years.

@FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue its daily testing for close contacts. Weekly testing for all other students.

DfE have been utterly useless through the entire pandemic. Rotten from Gavin Williamson down. That man shouldn't be in charge of anything of national importance.

This one I agree with the schools on. It’s bloody ridiculous. Education staff are not health care professionals, currently we’re not allowed to put antiseptic cream on cuts fgs. Why don’t they fund school nurses like they used to! If everywhere was funded like it used to be you could get an NHS person in to help the school nurses organisation get set up and trained. Education is there to educate.

[quote redsky21]@FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue its daily testing for close contacts. Weekly testing for all other students.[/quote]
Surely that will take all day in some schools?

I live in one of the largest counties in England. There are THREE school nurses for the whole county.

I understand it's mass testing initially when they return and then weekly testing unless a close contact, in which case it's daily testing. A logistical nightmare.

@spanieleyes

I live in one of the largest counties in England. There are THREE school nurses for the whole county.

I know, it’s ridiculous. This is what you get for running down infrastructure for years. It was there for a reason.