To stay off school and work anyway?

[jesscakess]

DH has tested positive for Covid. DS has symptoms and I don't. We have both tested negative. Current guidelines say DS should go to school and I should go to work as normal and we just keep testing. This feels bonkers to me. Surely we should be isolating? I'm double jabbed and work in a busy open plan office. I don't have the option to work from home.

AIBU to make up my own isolation period, based on the old guidance?

In our local area guidance to schools is that children should not attend school for 5 days if someone in their household tests positive. They also need a negative PCR before returning to school. This seems a sensible approach tome, not just for school and I think you are doing the right thing.

Most schools will be advised to do things by DfE or PHE under their outbreak policy. One of our local schools has had to bring back bubbles. Secondary school has brought back masks

@toomuchlaundry

Both of those policies are directly against government guidance. Bubbles in particular meant that millions of healthy DC missed school unnecessarily.

Hopefully parents will report what’s going on to the local schools commissioner.

I know a head near me got a swift dressing down from the schools commissioner when they tried to reintroduce contact isolation and masks in corridors.

@Cabbagepie

It’s not a sensible approach at all. Covid isn’t going anywhere- we have to live with it.

We cannot have healthy DC missing school indefinitely. Our young people have already sacrificed so much- it’s time that their needs were put first now that the vast majority of people are vaccinated.

[quote GreenLakes]@JustMarriedBecca

Hopefully the government will intervene to stop that.

They have been very clear that local schools commissioners will step in to prevent schools and LAs keeping DC off school unnecessarily against policy.[/quote]
They won’t the situation has (very predictably) changed since the government wrote the stupid guidance and threatened schools with regional commissioners. In any case, the LA will have taken advice from PHE based on incidence in their area and this will overrule the DfE guidance.

An entirely predictable situation that could probably have been avoided if the government hadn’t been so fucking useless and done something to prevent this.

@GreenLakes - I’m a school governor and we are taking advice from DfE and PHE am I’m sure other schools are doing the same when changes are made regarding masks, bubbles and contact isolation.

One model doesn’t fit all schools at the moment, particularly those in areas of high cases.

@jesscakess

I won't get paid for work if I don't go, but I'm also in my notice period so don't care if it pisses them off. I can honestly say I'd be livid if I knew someone was coming in to work when their OH was positive. It feels inevitable that I will catch it from him.

If you don’t mind pissing them off then email the boss cc’ing your team and ask for advise. Say you can’t afford to not be paid but that you are very uncomfortable coming in. Make them answer to everyone else in tne office! I’d keep your son off.

[quote GreenLakes]@Cabbagepie

It’s not a sensible approach at all. Covid isn’t going anywhere- we have to live with it.

We cannot have healthy DC missing school indefinitely. Our young people have already sacrificed so much- it’s time that their needs were put first now that the vast majority of people are vaccinated.[/quote]
They are trying to put their needs first. They are trying to keep schools open so that more of the healthy children can be in school.

In some areas, the cases in secondary schools are so high that unless something is done to control the spread then either PH might be reduced to closing the school for a short period or so many staff are off with covid (even if vaccinated) that the school don’t have enough staff to be able to open for all years.

It isn’t the fault of LAs if some HTs are a bit too short sighted to see the problem.

I isolated when dd tested positive, and then went on to test positive myself. I'm glad that I isolated as I'd have felt so guilty if I had passed it on to someone.

@GreenLakes the Government guidance stipulates that schools must have an outbreak policy that gives details of additional measures that may need to be temporarily introduced if the number of cases increase.

This is an extract from the Government guidance:
'Mixing and bubbles
We no longer recommend that it is necessary to keep children in consistent groups (‘bubbles’). This means that ‘bubbles’ will not need to be used in schools. As well as enabling flexibility in curriculum delivery, this means that assemblies can resume and you no longer need to make alternative arrangements to avoid mixing at lunch.

You should make sure your contingency plans (sometimes called outbreak management plans) cover the possibility that it may become necessary to reintroduce ‘bubbles’ for a temporary period, to reduce mixing between groups.

Any decision to recommend the reintroduction of ‘bubbles’ would not be taken lightly and would need to take account of the detrimental impact they can have on the delivery of education.'

So bubbles can be reintroduced if felt necessary. Schools will contact DfE/PHE to check whether they need to implement their outbreak policy and at what level. They would be going against Government guidance if they didn't take this action

@AlexaShutUp - would be good if more followed your approach

We all tested positive this weekend, except for DS. School said he needs to go back but we're taking the unauthorised absence. Doesn't sit right with me risking other families.

@girlmom21

Some schools will mark it down as an unauthorised absence if you've got a negative PCR.

Schools aren't allowed to ask for evidence of test results, so they will never know it's not negative if the OP doesn't tell them.

Most schools are more than happy for children to isolate due to a close contact at home in their household. I don't know if any marking covid isolation as unauthorised at present. I'm sure you may have some that do, but many don't/won't. Tbh most schools don't really want very close contacts in school, especially this close to half term!

@MinnieMountain

LFT isn’t supposed to work if you have symptoms though. It’s to catch non-symptomatic cases.

This is not the case. I've seen it a lot on MN but it really isn't true.

LFTs can be used for symptomatic cases and will generally show a positive.
However, they should never be relied upon entirely for a symptomatic person as they aren't sensitive enough to pick all cases up.

@GreenLakes

I would also add OP that you may well be fined for truancy if you keep your DS off.

DH is a headteacher and has begun dining parents who go against the guidance and force their DC to miss school. They will also be referred to the education welfare officer and possibly social work services.

EWO and SS really wouldn't act in this. If your Dh is a headteacher and doing this he is wasting their time. What an utter waste of a much needed resource.

Also, let's home your dh has no vulnerable teaching staff or children under his care. Doesn't sound like he cares much about ensuring his staff and pupils are kept safe and healthy.

In most cases the fines won't stand. If pushed like this, parents will just say that although the test was negative the child felt poorly. It will then go down as sickness. Unless the child had a substantial sickness record already then it won't go anywhere and no fine will be made.

Sounds like your headteacher dh is wasting a lot of people's time tbh. It is entirely the opposite approach to the management teams and the education mentors in schools I know right now.

@GreenLakes

I hope the regional schools commissioners will be intervening to make sure schools in these areas are not going against government guidance.

It’s not fair that DC in some areas are missing school unnecessarily while others are able to attend.

It's entirely in line with Government and LEA advice if cases in an area, or a specific school, are deemed at a high enough level.

Your dh should have all the policies, risk assessments and guidance which state this.

One of our local schools is having a three week half term. They can’t function as too many staff off sick and each week another group of children are also off. Having a big effect of continuity of any teaching so the school is hoping a longer break will give some of the staff chance to recover.

The rules keep changing so I don’t know what they are today but I wouldn’t send anyone to school with symptoms. All the best.

How did things work out op?

We had 2 negative PCR tests. LFTs are all negative. We took 2 days off school and work when technically we could have gone in. After the 2nd PCR was negative I was satisfied we were negative and safe to be around people.
DH is now passed his isolation period but still feeling very unwell and been signed off by his GP.

I was reading a Twitter thread that explained why increases in those double jabbed are happening: DH had his 2nd jab 6 months and the immunity is starting to wane. I still have better protection because my jabs are about 6 weeks behind him, which probably explains why I haven't caught it. He needed a booster really but not been offered one yet. At least this improves his immunity for a few months now.