Primary school seems obsessed with covid

[Lightswitch123]

My children's primary seem obsessed with covid.

We had a few cases in school before half term (??20 positive tests in the whole of the school?)

Now we are back, because 2 parents emailed the head over half term to say their child had a also had a positive result, the school have cancelled all in person events, after school clubs, parents not allowed in playground, reintroduced bubbles, staggering drop offs, minimising lunch and play times, kids not allowed to use class pens or pencils, no water provided etc

We get at least 1 parentmail a day "updating" us on the situation.

This is in spite of no one actually being unwell- just positive lateral flow / pcr results off the back of being named contacts. And we've all been off for ages for half term as well.

It all seems so bloody punative and OTT.

I'm beginning to think I'd rather the kids went elsewhere or just stayed at home away from this crazy.

Aibu?

YABU - School response sounds reasonable

YANBU - School is OTT

Also any advice as to how to tackle this with the school? It's doing my head in.

How dare they try and keep staff, students and their families safe! What would you prefer, that they waited until it was rampant before taking any measures? Sorry it's 'doing your head in', but would it do your head in if they had to close due to having insufficient staff as a result of illness/positive PCRs? Because that is happening elsewhere. I always find it odd that people see taking action BEFORE shit hits the fan as 'being ridiculous', whereas waiting until everything goes to shit is, what, sensible?! Maybe that's why our government gets away with it.

YABVVU, but, as you say, you do have the option of removing your kids if you feel strongly about it.

In our LA the enhanced measures are LA directed, not school directed

Fair enough if this was still 2020.

But it's not.

Kids don't get ill from covid.

This obsessive testing and disrupting does not happen for the flu or rsv or other communicable illnesses that actually make children and adults of parental age unwell.

We are almost 2 years down the line.

Everyone who wants to be is vaccinated.

At what point does this madness end?

Cancelling the after school clubs is a nightmare for parents who need the childcare. Plenty of employers have had enough of being flexible around children being home and staff needing to be providing childcare at the same time as working. And then obviously there are loads of parents who can’t wfh. I’d be annoyed at this.

I think this is crazy and I'm with you. My nieces go to a school like this and my sister is pulling them out.
I really sympathise with you. I think we are massively underestimating the psychological impact this will have on kids.
Sadly the opinion in this is very divisive. There is no dialogue. It's either everything or nothing.

You sound incredibly selfish and entitled OP. ‘Kids don’t get ill from Covid’? Where is your evidence for this then? They might be less likely to become seriously unwell but that’s not a guarantee and some children are clinically vulnerable in the same way that adults are.

it never ceases to amaze how many grown adults think the world should revolve around them and their needs 🙄

It doesn't matter what year it is - cases, and deaths, have been rising. It also doesn't matter (though it's obviously a good thing) that MOST kids will experience a mild illness. If teachers are off sick, the school could end up having to close, or partially close. By taking these measure, which are annoying but not inconvenient really, such measures could be avoided. Isn't that a good thing?

Also, no one should be relying on after school clubs for childcare. They are run by staff through goodwill usually and as such are subject to change/cancellation at short notice.

Kids don't always get ill. But they do pass it on to the staff. If too many staff test positive the school may well have to close. What the school is introducing seems like a very sensible, measured approach, and far better than the possible alternative.

Every single person I know who has tested positive in the last 6 weeks can trace the infection back to schools. They are hubs of transmission.

I know its mental. The back to school conversation instead of being how was your holiday etc has instead all been about which christmas events will be cancelled. Children upset and disappointed once again.

School currently seems to be prepping us for them all to be off. Madness.

It's so sad for them and I simply cannot fathom it.

Only thing I can think is that whoever is driving it is not a parent themselves.

They’re keeping pupils and staff safe, and keeping the school open.

Hardly complaint material.

@coffeerevelsrock unfortunately a lot of people don't have the option of just removing their kids.
I've worked in schools for years and staff absence is always an issue in winter.
I do really think we have lost the plot with COVID. The directions around isolating are very different to last year. There are vaccines available.
I do think there should be mitigating measures in place but most schools have these even during flu season.
Staff morale around in schools is at an all time low, these protective measures are 1000x more frustrating for the staff that have to carry them out. It means that more things go in the backburner because the staff are stuck in bubbles etc.
There will be as many members of staff annoyed with this, as there are parents.
The things OPs school has put in place are things that were in place at the height of the pandemic. This really shouldn't be the norm. It is an airborne virus and these 'precautions' aren't even all that effective.

@coffeerevelsrock indeed. How many times do we have to point out that school isn’t childcare?

Errr cases are falling!

Cancelling after school clubs etc too? Back to bubbling? I'd write to my MP this goes against everything Boris has said. It is seriously damaging for the children's mental health.

Yes its disappointing that school life isn't back to 'normal' but the school leaders are trying to keep the school running and as many children in as they can. Hopefully they will try and do alternatives & video events where people can't attend in person.

I do think cancelling the after-school clubs seems harsh as the children can still go to sports, cubs & brownies, music, dance and art extra-curricular elsewehere so they are losing out on school provision.

Where there are a cluster of cases in our primary they are doing bubbles for the year group with a high number. It seems a bit like shutting the stable gate after the horse has bolted as siblings to positive household members are still attending the other years anyway.

The scientists and medics always said this winter would be tricky so I don't think the schools response is just about what you are experiencing now e.g. uptick of cases pre half term, rather they are planning for the remainder of this term and there will be more mixing inside, more cases, so they are trying to minimise that.

[quote BiscoffAddict]@coffeerevelsrock indeed. How many times do we have to point out that school isn’t childcare?[/quote]
🤣🤣🤣🤣 ok then. So you all employ a full time nanny too do you? Pay them to sit in the house from 9 till 330?

They have done the same at our local primary and it just resulted in parents stopping testing so there are no official positive cases.

@coffeerevelsrock also after-school club IS childcare. Staff are paid for this and things are planned accordingly. I have not come across a school where after school club is not classed as childcare. Parents pay for this and the staff are paid too. This is literally a job in and of itself. BC and ASC are normally run by the same team.

@BiscoffAddict ASC is childcare. School is not.

YANBU! Seems like a massive over reaction

Parents will just stop testing.

[quote Nevermindthesquirrels]@coffeerevelsrock also after-school club IS childcare. Staff are paid for this and things are planned accordingly. I have not come across a school where after school club is not classed as childcare. Parents pay for this and the staff are paid too. This is literally a job in and of itself. BC and ASC are normally run by the same team.[/quote]
After school clubs and after school care can be totally different things in many schools.

I agree OP. I’ve just been applying for secondary schools for my yr 6 child, and a big part of my decision making was based on how the different schools are dealing with Covid.

So full marks to the school that emphasised getting back to normal as much as possible, the school trips, clubs, etc that are now returning in full force. Not so high marks to the school that didn’t offer in person visits, and whose virtual open day suggested a very risk adverse approach, where covid trumps nearly every other consideration.

Staff morale around in schools is at an all time low, these protective measures are 1000x more frustrating for the staff that have to carry them out. It means that more things go in the backburner because the staff are stuck in bubbles etc.

I'm a teacher and a parent and I'm well aware of how low staff morale is. What has affected morale in my school is feeling that staff welfare is of no importance and that our health doesn't matter. Being crammed into poorly ventilated rooms with 30 people not wearing masks and then moving on to the next 30, then the next is not great for morale.

the OP is NOT incredibly selfish or entitled - she is raising concerns about the impact of unnecessary restrictions on children at the school.

Bubbles/ playground restrictions etc have blighted the lives of children for TOO LONG. My daughter has developed mental health problems after being made to isolate four times in a short period.

Restrictions like these are NO LONGER RECOMMENDED BY EXPERTS - SAGE do not believe schools need to do this now.

By contrast our own primary has several current cases and is open as normal - none of the cases have spread and children are thank god not having to isolate when friends get sick. OUr teachers and management are happy with this because they recognise the incredible damage done by COvid restrictions to children - who don't get sick.

We have now vaccinated the adult population and Covid is on its way to becoming endemic. Children have never been a key source of transmission as Sage and multiple key scientists have acknowledged. Primary age children are six times less likely to pass the virus on than an adult - a fact I learnt from a Sage scientist on the Today programme.

The hysteria has to stop now.

Since the start of the first wave children are at 10x higher risk of comitting suicide than of being ill with covid.

Yet we keep on forcing this disruption on them.

It's not for them. Stop pretending the children benefit from this

It's a joke.