Schools guidance released

[Orangeblossom78]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53253722

No dropping of subjects at GCSE then. Posting for info

@AldiAisleofCrap it’s secondary and in the south of England. I think they are being realistic, lots of parents won’t want to take the risk and I don’t blame them. That said mine will be going back although they don’t want to.

I’ve only just seen this thread - has there been any discussion of the DoE guidance on contingency plans for remote learning for September?

I’ve got a thread about it on AIBU which is dropping like a stone.. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3958600-AIBU-to-think-there-should-be-Robust-Remote-School-Plans-for-September-is-your-school-ready

Thanks @Llamazoom I am shielding and hope my dc school take a similar sensible approach.

I also find the idea that teenagers would be 'embarrassed' to wear masks very odd. My teenage DS and all his friends have masks. They wear them on public transport and enclosed places. They understand it is to protect others and are completely on board.

This hopefully might bring about some changes to guidance by September or am I being naive?

mobile.twitter.com/linseymarr/status/1280149342444113922

@oaktree55 I saw that earlier, seems worrying but also I understand no consensus yet?

I assume we'll need to deny it could be possible for a few months, before finally accepting it but doing nothing about it, as we did with masks and the fact children can catch it and spread it

It’s frustrating I think WHO need to formally recognise that airborne is a transmission route. Yes contentious from what I’ve read but evidence seems to be heading that way. Lots of protests outside etc which haven’t seemed to have led to even 2nd generation increase in cases in older relatives etc. Seems outside is safe, closed stuffy classrooms logically less so. I hope this is picked up on with further research etc but I suppose the implications are huge were it to be accepted. Doesn’t fit well with the plans does it!

I think it is a real risk that we will ignore evidence we don't like because it doesn't fit the plan, rather than making the plan based on evidence.

I'm pretty worried tbh, it's being so badly handled. The govt just don't seem interested somehow.

Please don't compare supermarket staff to teachers.
Supermarket staff are allowed to wear masks, their employers will provide them. Shoppers are encouraged to wear masks. Supermarket staff are only in brief contact with shoppers. Many supermarket staff who work on till have a Perspex screen installed.

Teachers and TAs are in an enclosed, poorly ventilated (our windows do not open) space for many hours, no social distancing, no masks allowed. I am a TA in Reception. I often need to perform intimate care. There is no sink in my classroom. It's much worse for secondary teachers who are going to be in a bubble of basically the whole school - many hundreds of children. Children do pass COVID on. Trenchers have as much right to safety at work as everyone else in the country.

I am glad this is beginning to be noticed. I read stuff early on that clearly this is how it was transmitting and time estimates were suggesting 50 minutes in the same room as someone was enough to get infected. It also brings up the issue of viral load and the likelihood of it being ‘big’, therefore more likelihood of serious illness. This is particularly an issue with primary colleagues who are going to be spending 6 hours a day in the same room and it is an even bigger issue in winter when we use modern blow the air around heating systems and can’t keep doors and windows open because of the cold. I have said all along there will be deaths of adults in schools in larger than average numbers - it explains the higher death rates in bus drivers and taxi drivers. More importantly, it will also ensure children of all ages are infected and they will walk out of school into the wider community and family homes.

Teachers have resigned and will continue to do so where they can afford it. God only knows how schools can effectively manage risk for older and vulnerable staff and students.

I just hope all those staff who have known risk factors aren’t shy or hesitant about removing themselves if possible from the classroom. This is so new each day they are learning more about this disease. Even a couple of months off, however that might be orchestrated could make the difference.

With all the news about the virus being airborne and how easily it spreads in enclosed spaces, how can the government possibly say its safe to open schools? And that teachers don't need ppe!?
I am vulnerable to Covid with a disorder that makes me prone to blood clots and I'm completely terrified about the DC's going back in September. I desperately want them to go back but I'm just so scared all the bloody time .

[quote Oaktree55]This hopefully might bring about some changes to guidance by September or am I being naive?

mobile.twitter.com/linseymarr/status/1280149342444113922[/quote]
We live in the United Kingdom and the Prime minister is Boris Johnson who yesterday blamed care home owners for the deaths in care homes despite there being no testing available for people being moved out of hospital to care homes and the pressure placed on care home by Central and local government to accept these older people despite the obvious potential risk they posed.

Yes. Naive.

This government says what they want.

They don’t give a shit about teachers, students or anyone else dying

We live in the United Kingdom and the Prime minister is Boris Johnson who yesterday blamed care home owners for the deaths in care homes despite there being no testing available for people being moved out of hospital to care homes and the pressure placed on care home by Central and local government to accept these older people despite the obvious potential risk they posed.

This is a very good point. The government have several times now pointed the blame elsewhere - and have ignored the science several times. And the science is politically led. See why the alternative SAGE group felt they had to set up - they were so sick of seeing the actual SAGE group be so ineffective.

I made my own decisions in the lockdown, however I was lucky as I have a scientifically relevant background and know my stuff, and have several friends in similar areas. So I told my elderly relatives to shield way before they’d even invented that word - I took my kids out of school early. I cancelled events. I worked from home. I didn’t shout about it or make a huge fuss - as like on this thread you just get told you are being hysterical. Which is an age old word used against women to shut them up. I also talked with my DP and we made some decisions (e.g. he started his whole team working from home) that when we look back - probably saved us from having COVID19 and me passing this to at least three people who would have been critical/died. We know this as several people tested positive for COVID19 that we would have been in very close contact with - if we hadn’t made the decision that we did - and I made others shield early.

So what I’m saying is - Teachers, Parents, families... do read the latest advice on infection control of COVID19, do look at the Alternative SAGE reports, do ask questions and challenge. That does not mean panic, but the safest way through this is middle road of SCIENCE. As in, don’t take anything for granted, question question question.

Children are not as at risk, they may not spread it quite as easily (although we are not totally sure of this yet) - however indoor transmission in unventilated spaces in close proximity for long periods of time IS an issue. It doesn’t mean schools shouldn’t open. However it does mean we need to do it as safely as possible.

If the infection rate remains low, AND we have a good contact tracing system in place - then schools will be much, much safer places. Contact tracing really is key. South Korea has very low rates and all the schools are open.

So if I was a Teacher or a parent and worried - I’d get onto your MP and insist that the contact tracing programme is improved NOW and insist that indoor transmission in schools is analyzed by a scientific group (independent of SAGE who are not as good as I’d hoped), and make your voices known.

I'm concerned that the blame is going to be pointed at schools when there are outbreaks for not following the guidance to the letter. Even though the guidance clearly says 'where possible' and bits of it are impossible to follow. For example in secondary schools you cannot keep students 1m apart in classrooms without changing the size of the room. It is not possible for staff to always be 2m away from the students, some rooms are too small and some roles like teaching assistants require them to work closely with students to support those with SEN. Also it's all very well keeping students in bubbles at school but they are going to mix outside school (siblings, childcare, friends, transport).

@Socialdistancegintonic

Thank you. Yes to all of this. Agree wholeheartedly.

I’ve contacted/tweeted Union 4 times about masks.

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