Masks in school in area NOT in local lockdown - England

[Jamdemic]

Anyone else's school in English gone straight in at the deep end for the start of term and made masks compulsory in communal areas like Scotland?
I think the advice is that this is a measure for areas in local lockdown, but my DC school is doing it anyway.
Going to be really really really hard and horrible for pupils new to the school to make any friends or recognise any teachers.

[C8H10N4O2]

It is devastating to be joining a new school under these conditions

Devastating?
Unless your DC has a specific communication issue/hearing impairment do you seriously think a face mask is going to stop a bunch of pre teens getting to know each other and make friends/enemies? Its a mask not a sound proof box.

There are pros and cons to masks for pupils in secondaries but that really isn't one of them.

[beelola]

So basically nobody gives a fuck about trying to keep teachers, vulnerable students or their vulnerable family members safe because your little angel might not make new friends when wearing a mask?

[Jamdemic]

But it doesn't avoid local lockdown if all the other local schools do not also enforce masks.
For the measure to work in avoiding local lockdown, all schools and other settings (e.g. factories) need masks too. But they are not doing it, just our school. So the value of the measure is massively devalued.

[loutypips]

You say cases are low, surely you want to keep it that way?
Whilst it's an inconvenience for some, for others it may be necessary to help protect them or their families. It's an unprecedented situation. It's good that some schools are making them compulsory, this will help to avoid year groups or more having to isolate for goodness knows how many times.

[FourTeaFallOut]

Sorry, I didn't mean lockdown, I mean that your specific school is closed down due to infection.

[MoreW1ne]

I think you're probably overreacting. You're child will probably handle it a lot better than you are so I wouldn't worry. It might even mean they're less affected by the likely absence of staff and isolations as it will probably spread less.

Let's be honest having 2 week periods off school over the next year (either child or their teacher) will be more disruptive to learning than just wearing a mask in a lesson.

[Jamdemic]

But school is not an island. Most pupils and teachers will have contact with people elsewhere. The measure is of little value if pupils are doing out-of-school sports, their parents work in offices, hospitals, factories etc., they go in shops... Measures like this only work if adopted consistently on a widespread basis.

[ihearttc]

I’m the PP whose son has to wear a mask all day. I have absolutely no issue with the wearing of them in communal areas and had already assumed that would be what was happening. I didn’t for one minute imagine they would be made to wear them all day and trying to learn/catch up on content for their GCSE’s as well (DS1 is in Year 11).

[SqidgeBum]

I am sure kids and teachers both find it inconvenient. I wouldnt go as far as devastating. What is devastating (both emotionally and to the learning of students) is a 50 year old teacher, doing their job, being exposed to 300 students a week who arent wearing masks, who either die or end up on a ventilator because they have asthma and were told to go to work because kids (rightly) need education.

I think if kids are returning to school, precautions should be taken to keep staff safe, the same as we all do when we go into shops or other indoor places. We all have to think of the health of those around us as coming before being comfortable. It's just unfortunately how life is at the minute and we all have to make the best of it.

[Jamdemic]

@MoreW1ne - unfortunately I think the fact that the whole year goes home for 2 weeks if just 1 or 2 pupils get a positive result will mean that pupils will be at home more than inside school until there is a vaccine or the virus goes away or guidelines change.

[beelola]

There is no other environment in which 1 or 2 adults are in a poorly ventilated space with 30 other people not distancing. Presumably the offices, hospitals, etc are putting their own safety measures in place so that's bullshit.

[MarshaBradyo]

@CarrieBlue

I think where it gives a higher safety level than ‘guidance’ then yes.

It’s not definitive. Early on advice was to change mask regularly. I can see there may be benefit when shopping for 30 minutes but six hours is not as certain.

[Jamdemic]

I really only wanted to find out how widespread this kind of measure is. I really thought it was just in areas of local lockdown.
I clearly don't want people put at risk, but people are at risk everywhere now, not just in school.
Really I am furious that the government has squandered the low virus levels achieved during lockdown and now it is no longer safe for our children to go back to school without masks etc.

[MarshaBradyo]

@Jamdemic

I really only wanted to find out how widespread this kind of measure is. I really thought it was just in areas of local lockdown.
I clearly don't want people put at risk, but people are at risk everywhere now, not just in school.
Really I am furious that the government has squandered the low virus levels achieved during lockdown and now it is no longer safe for our children to go back to school without masks etc.

How do you think they have squandered it?

Don’t worry it’s not just your school doing masks, London school here in low risk area doing it.

[megletthesecond]

My dc's secondary in Hampshire is asking all pupils to wear masks. I have already emailed in support.

Jolly good thing too. Might give them a fighting chance of making it to half term without the teachers and pupils getting ill.

[Jamdemic]

@MarshaBradyo - are you tempting me to say things that will make more people pile in on me? OK, let's see, low virus levels achieved by lockdown, which would have enabled safe school reopening have been jeopardised by foreign holidays, unsafe return to work practices, reopening non-essential things like casinos before schools. I could go on and on. Virus levels are rising before schools go back and that's the government's priorities being all wrong.

[netflixismysidehustle]

Our school has made it optional but a local school has made them compulsory despite is not being in a lockdown area.

[MarshaBradyo]

[quote Jamdemic]@MarshaBradyo - are you tempting me to say things that will make more people pile in on me? OK, let's see, low virus levels achieved by lockdown, which would have enabled safe school reopening have been jeopardised by foreign holidays, unsafe return to work practices, reopening non-essential things like casinos before schools. I could go on and on. Virus levels are rising before schools go back and that's the government's priorities being all wrong.[/quote]
Op no I don’t think so! But I tend to feel better about decisions when I consider how badly we need the economy to restart. And everything the government is doing is to pull us back from the cliff edge of massive unemployment.

Also I feel reassured by the very low rate of hospitalisation atm, and deaths. We’re in a good starting place for schools.

All this helps me feel a bit less nervous. Although it is a tense time.

[Nobeautysleep]

@Jamdemic of course it’s a relevant point. In classrooms and tutor times kids will not leave their seats and it’ll be easier to keep a distance. Have you been in a school corridor at lesson change over? It’s a crush most of the time. Masks in communal areas where social distancing isn’t possible is a good plan to protect both students and staff. Social distancing is more possible in a classroom.

[Whatelsecouldibecalled]

All secondary schools in Sheffield are I think

[ihearttc]

@Nobeautysleep

Which makes the decision my DS’s school has made that they must be worn at all times including lessons even more crazy!

[MarshaBradyo]

Also finally messaging has been about the priority of schools for everyone from Whitty and MPs which I find better than before. Masks in corridors etc is not a big deal to me or dc

[singersarp]

No it's not devastating to wear a mask. It is devastating to have dead parents and teachers. Do people not understand that it's contagious? So fabulous news that numbers are low. If you'd like to keep them that way wear a mask. Or how many dead teachers will it take until you deem it time to don the mask in a lesson?

[Nobeautysleep]

@ihearttc
I agree, I would not like students to be wearing masks in lessons at all, I’m a teacher and I’d find that super difficult

[CarrieBlue]

There’s no way to have 2m (or even 1m, and it should be 1m+another measure) in a secondary classroom with normal class sizes. A couple of minutes in very close proximity in the corridor is a risk, an hour at less than 2m is as much if not more of a risk.