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What will schools do when kids get the inevitable temperatures over winter?

241 replies

toastmeahotcrossbun · 27/07/2020 16:02

Won't they be having to close down every 5 minutes? So many will get temperatures over autumn/winter as they always do. Or will the schools just rely on people getting kids tested ASAP and then close for 2 weeks if someone tests positive? I'm struggling to see how it will work in practice

OP posts:
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slipperywhensparticus · 27/07/2020 16:14

@frazzledquaver

I'm sure I saw that the schools were going to be provided with supplies of COVID tests for the families to use. So kid has cough or temperature (or presumably loss of smell, etc). Gets immediately isolated in school awaiting parents (who must collect "immediately"). Only allowed to return to school on production of a negative test result. I understand that the school may shut down if two members of the school community have a positive test. I think the bubble needs to isolate if a positive test within the bubble. It's going to be pretty disruptive and I hope schools really make an effort with hygiene measures, ventilation and social distancing as much as is possible, in order to minimise the amount of school lost. We'd be lucky to get away with 6 temperatures for my three kids over the winter, which means several days of the family isolating while we await test results.
not exactly in my area you and your family will still have to lock down for 14 days regardless of a "negative test"
BelleSausage · 27/07/2020 16:14

@Witchend

If you child feels ill during the day and has any Covid symptoms, including temp, they will be sent home.

And how long before certain children discover that coughing in lessons gives them a day off. Grin

I’m guessing parents are going to be stamping down on that from home.

Our normally Gengis Khan like first aider (whose motto is ‘back to class unless you’re bleeding or actually dead) has been told to pack them off home at the slightest sign of symptoms.

We’re doing two temp checks a day.

actiongirl1978 · 27/07/2020 16:16

how do we give a child a test?? My ds10 doesn't even have the flu jab as he is violently sick. He has a need for a nasal spray but short of pinning him down screaming we can't use it.

labyrinthloafer · 27/07/2020 16:18

@actiongirl1978 I guess you'll h

TheSunIsStillShining · 27/07/2020 16:19

@BelleSausage

And schools won’t close. But if there is a suspected case then a bubble will be sent home until tests come back.

I wonder how understanding employers will be now that they’ve been told to get everyone back in work.

What a mess.

But in secondary a bubble is the whole year group .... just sayin'...
labyrinthloafer · 27/07/2020 16:19

Oops... I guess you'll have to do the seven days instead? I have similar concerns.

BelleSausage · 27/07/2020 16:19

You’ll probably be able to send him back after a seven day isolation period.

It is going to be a nightmare for parents.

frozendaisy · 27/07/2020 16:20

@Witchend

If you child feels ill during the day and has any Covid symptoms, including temp, they will be sent home.

And how long before certain children discover that coughing in lessons gives them a day off. Grin

They will soon realise that the test can be unpleasant at the moment, that might slow them down! Of course an accurate saliva test will change their tactics!
ballsdeep · 27/07/2020 16:21

@toastmeahotcrossbun

Also my experience suggests that lots of parents do send kids in with temperatures - sometimes unknowingly of course but not always. Would the school make them stay off and prove they've had the test do you think?
Yes and I think any parent who sends their child in with a known temp should be severely fined
TheSunIsStillShining · 27/07/2020 16:21

@actiongirl1978

how do we give a child a test?? My ds10 doesn't even have the flu jab as he is violently sick. He has a need for a nasal spray but short of pinning him down screaming we can't use it.
You are a parent, there are things you have to do that are not nice/good... but because of health reasons mostly you do it. Talk and if nothing works yes, pin him down. a 10 yr old can be reasoned with and bribed.
Letseatgrandma · 27/07/2020 16:21

I’m guessing parents are going to be stamping down on that from home

I’m not sure that they all will. Some parents might be keen to have a week off from the school run come November. If they are working and don’t get paid if they don’t go in, they would have a different attitude though.

userabcname · 27/07/2020 16:22

It's going to be a logistical nightmare. We will have "bubbles" of about 250 pupils in my school. Most of the staff are parents, including me with 2 pre-schoolers. Between the usual coughs and temperatures circulating, possible positive covid-19 tests and my own children probably getting bugs and colds, I anticipate a lot of disruption and real difficulties for working parents. I remember last winter teaching a class where every single child in the room had a cough. All of those children would have to be off getting tests/isolating now! It's going to be a nightmare.

BelleSausage · 27/07/2020 16:22

Yep! It is going to be a whole term (or even longer) of year group Hokey Cokey.

You put year seven back in
Year eleven back out
In out, in out
And shake all the learning all about.

Struggling to remember now why parents were so against investing in good online learning tools and going with part time schooling.

labyrinthloafer · 27/07/2020 16:22

I think those who don't generally force their kids to do homework etc. are not easily going to force a test tbh.

It is obviously going to be chaos!!

Alloverthegrapevine · 27/07/2020 16:22

The DFE guidance for September doesn't close schools even if a student tests positive. There will be no closures for symptoms or isolating (although I imagine they will be unavoidable if staff are isolating with symptoms).

Closures will be "considered" if there are two confirmed cases within 14 days.

BelleSausage · 27/07/2020 16:26

@Alloverthegrapevine

I bet you a pond that there’ll be at least one school closure within a week of term start, caused by children returning from foreign holidays.

BelleSausage · 27/07/2020 16:27

Good grief! A pound, not a pond. I’m not that rich! Blush

labyrinthloafer · 27/07/2020 16:27

I would not be pinning a child of ten down Shock unless life threatening. Really goes against medical advice and could result in real issues later when trust is needed.

If your child is a refuser, seek good and compassionate medical advice before you create an issue.

It is only a test. So long as you isolate for seven days, save any 'pinning down' for treatments.

Feel very sad at what some parents will presumably do to their children.

frozendaisy · 27/07/2020 16:27

This will be a nightmare but what are the alternatives to prevent an outbreak and keep staff, children and their household members covid-free? Because if, and can only presume some will be, some tests are positive if your child avoids transmission, you will be thankful for the system being slightly over-cautious. Oh god we need a vaccine.....which I know (and am silently cheering on) is being researched as quick as it can be.

megletthesecond · 27/07/2020 16:28

@Witchend Grin There'll be a Ferris Bueller level of fakery going on.

Letseatgrandma · 27/07/2020 16:28

@Alloverthegrapevine

The DFE guidance for September doesn't close schools even if a student tests positive. There will be no closures for symptoms or isolating (although I imagine they will be unavoidable if staff are isolating with symptoms).

Closures will be "considered" if there are two confirmed cases within 14 days.

I suspect the class will close if the teacher is off with symptoms, as trying to find someone to cover a potentially infected class, would be very difficult. If they told the cover teacher they are covering in a class where the usual teacher might have the virus and they were just ‘seeing what happened‘ regarding the children in the class who may also have ben exposed, I would imagine many would refuse!

Some unscrupulous heads might lie to the cover teacher about the reason for absence, just to get them to agree, but I would imagine they’d be on very thin ice doing so!

ohthegoats · 27/07/2020 16:29

The same as we give everyone else a test.

It's going to be shit. I don't think I'm being negative without a 'can do' attitude or whatever it is that teachers area always being told on here. This is realistic.

Your children will be in 'bubbles'. This might be a bubble of 30 (so, one class), it might be a bubble of 300 or more (year group in secondary for example). Those children will be mixing freely with each other, with no social distancing, or very little. Adults will try to keep their distance, but this is impossible in primary school. No one is allowed to wear a mask or visor (although some schools are allowing this).

If a child has symptoms, they have to go and get a test. In that time, they need to isolate - so that's one parent too. If that test is positive, then things will be looked at in the bubble to try and keep children further apart. The bubble doesn't close on this basis, it only closes with 2 confirmed positive tests. When there is a second confirmed case, PHE work with the school to decide if there have been enough 'close contact' issues to get the whole bubble to isolate for 14 days. This will be teaching staff and all children. This has an impact on family members, obviously for childcare, but if your child is a positive, then your family isolate. The child for 7 days, family for 14. In theory, the child could come back to school if symptom free and 'well' after 7 days, but there won't be a bubble for them to go in to if there has been another confirmed case.

At this point, online learning picks up straight away. Schools will have to have this up and going v. quickly just in case. Not sure what happens if it's the teacher who is ill - are they meant to be teaching from their beds?

Anyway. If there is a first confirmed case in your child's bubble, and it gets out on WhatsApp or FB, are you going to keep your child at home? Or are you going to send them in to gamble with maybe already having it, or being around children who already have it because of their close contact with someone who has?

Also, school itself and that whole learning thing, becomes very tricky. Children are going to be in mixed ability bubbles, with little option for intervention groups (for example), and no streaming. So children who can't read in year 3, will be with children in year 3 who are reading Harry Potter, and the teacher will somehow be expected to do catch up. Some schools are allowed other adults into other bubbles for intervention support or PPA cover, others aren't. That means there will possibly be adults working closely with your child, who are also working closely with tens of other children.

Meanwhile, anyone with a temp, a cough, a sore throat, will have to be off for a test. So they are probably missing a minimum of 2 days at a time. By November, most classes will have a significant minority of children out getting tested at any given time, creating big gaps in learning journeys. They will allegedly have to have online learning for those 2 days - but who is setting that? The teachers are still teaching, and what if they child isn't able to actually do work because they are ill? Teachers are going to be having a tricky time with that.

Ways round it? None that I can see being financed by this government, or able to be resourced in a country where teaching already has a massive retention and recruitment issue.

labyrinthloafer · 27/07/2020 16:29

@BelleSausage
Struggling to remember now why parents were so against investing in good online learning tools and going with part time schooling.

This is what I wanted all along! Because of the ridiculousness of what is happening am thinking the fine looks a good option.

Alloverthegrapevine · 27/07/2020 16:30

There's no black and white "send the bubble home" in the advice for September.

From the DfE guidance

"Response to any infection:

  1. Engage with the NHS Test and Trace process.

  2. Manage confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) amongst the setting’s community.

  3. Contain any outbreak by following local health protection team advice."

ohthegoats · 27/07/2020 16:31

I recommend parents reading the guidance. I know it's long winded and boring, but you can miss out chunks that don't relate to your child's stage of education.

That way you'll know what schools are actually dealing with, and it will help with understanding when the shit starts hitting the fan.

Let's hope that extended cleaning and hygiene stuff reduces general sniffles and other cold viruses as well, so there is less churn in terms of absence and symptoms that need testing, because some children will be getting tested the whole time, and it's not very nice.

We need a saliva test.