School - how worried are you 1-10?

[ChanceChanceChance]

I'm finding it impossible to settle on how worried I am about school, about whether my children will pick up covid there and how worried I am if that happens.

If you were to put your worry on a scale 1-10, with 1 being 'no more worried than a normal year' and 10 being 'terrified', where are you?

I think I'm going for an average of 6 right now.

[Baileysforchristmas]

My daughter had a lovely day back at school today, i’m so glad, l’m zero worried, I have been working throughout, going into work every day, luckily none of us have been sick. I hope they don’t shut schools again.

[WaverleyPirate]

Big group of year 10's sent home. Positive case identified.

Already!

[HazeyJaneII]

it's the teachers who are more at risk at school, not children

Some of the children, like ds who has shielded for most of the year, will still be at risk when they are supposed to return after Easter.

[WaverleyPirate]

it's the teachers who are more at risk at school, not children

Which is why many are leaving. So many subjects are short of teachers now.

[IloveJKRowling]

it's the teachers who are more at risk at school, not children

Ah so the children will still be fine if they get it mildly, pass it on to their parents who are unvaccinated and might get long covid or die? Right.

[MarshaBradyo]

1

[Cassandrainthenight]

I agree that they work, but most people do wear them indoors now, and it's the teachers who are more at risk at school, not children, and it was the teachers in our school who chose not to wear them, but to be honest esp working with 4-7 year olds it's very very difficult to teach in a face mask for a number of reasons, so I can see why the teachers would just give up on them. However nobody attending our primary school has had Covid yet(unless they were unsymptomatic). Overall I really don't believe it's primary schools or nurseries which are the main sources of spreading, and I don't think it was worth it to close them down.

[IloveJKRowling]

Personally I really think face masks work - especially if ffp2 - and I think part of the reason we had this last lockdown is that - unlike France - when infection started rising rapidly in schools they denied it rather than implementing face masks in class from age 6.

I think we've chosen (as a nation) lockdown over face masks.

[Cassandrainthenight]

@namechange63524 why not tell lots of other people in other countries where governments haven't taken these risks with their populations, that they all need to wise up or take anti-depressants!

I don't know any other government where they had such rigid rules, such a blow to the economy and such isolation of people over Covid.

Actually many countries in Eastern Europe and Middle East are operating as normal but many people are wearing face masks, that's all the difference to pre-Covid.
Not saying we should be like this but I detest that I haven't seen three of my children for over a year due to British government (esp Welsh with my son being in Wales) draconian rules, I think it is so wrong that members of the same family haven't been allowed to see each other.

[Cassandrainthenight]

Zero for Covid(most of the family has had it already by now), and quite pissed off that my children were excluded from learning and friends (6 year old couldn't get on with computer learning at all) for nearly 3 months when over 100 out of 150 pupils were at school throughtout (previous lockdown under 30 kids attended!), what was the point of not letting a small proportion of children attend, I very much down it affected the statistics, esp those at school were supposedly keyworkers' children....but no cases of Covid in our school since September.
Would be horrible for my youngest to go back to homeschooling and isolation.

Talked to the teachers and nobody I talked to was scared, couldn't wait to welcome the rest of the kids back to class and just generally couldn't wait for things to get back to normal, no limitations. Our teachers don't wear masks btw, and neither do most children.

[namechange63524]

1. It's too soon to be mixing everyone. Rotas for a short while could be a good compromise. Chucking everyone back at once seems to piss all over the efforts everyone has made so far. It will again impact health and the economy and non-covid health services. As for underlying conditions, i don't think it's the same list of underlying conditions that are published to show deaths of covid as those that are at risk of covid. Before anyone mentions anxiety etc, why not tell lots of other people in other countries where governments haven't taken these risks with their populations, that they all need to wise up or take anti-depressants!

[Baileysforchristmas]

@IloveJKRowling how many of your friends have long Covid? Genuinely interested as I heard it’s 1 in 10 who get Covid will be effected by long Covid, I personally don’t know anyone who’s had long covid.

[phlebasconsidered]

Well, @user1494055864 you are very lucky. Because that is not my experience, as a real primary teacher in a real place with real keyworker kids.

[JM10]

1

[IloveJKRowling]

Is anyone in the household on the vulnerable list? Is anyone in the home over 65? If the answer to both of these questions is no, then you personally should have very little to fear from school's reopening.

Rather a large percentage of 40-49 year old women I know who've had covid have also had long covid and are still ill to varying degrees. Their children are massively negatively impacted by this.

It's not just about dying.

[user1494055864]

About minus 500 for catching covid (having myself worked constantly throughout lockdown, no masks, in a primary, with hospital workers kids. Not caught a thing.)
10 for their mental health.

[notrub]

Is anyone in the household on the vulnerable list? Is anyone in the home over 65? If the answer to both of these questions is no, then you personally should have very little to fear from school's reopening.

All of the scientific arguments against the school policy are about COLLECTIVE risk and revolve around the impact on R - without going into detail here, if R goes above 1 when schools go back, then that carries enormous risk, but the consequences (if they occur) will arrive much later in the year.

[IloveJKRowling]

@QuidditchQueen

0
I am a teacher and just livid that we have to fuss with tests and masks when all the at risk groups of hospitalisation have been vaccinated.
So ‘any ‘case’ will be asymptomatic or mild other that a rarissime outlier that is sad but should not dictate policy to this ridiculous extent.

So you'd be fine if a parent of a child you teach was seriously ill or died (maybe they had an undiagnosed underlying condition), whereas if everyone was wearing masks and doing all the 'fuss' they might not have done?

Condemning that child to all the grief, pain and lifelong impacts that would entail.

Or indeed condemning a child to being a carer because their 40-49 year old Mum gets long covid (who wouldn't have done with all the 'fuss' which involves pretty easy measures)? This is apparently the most common age group for long covid.

[QuidditchQueen]

0
I am a teacher and just livid that we have to fuss with tests and masks when all the at risk groups of hospitalisation have been vaccinated.
So ‘any ‘case’ will be asymptomatic or mild other that a rarissime outlier that is sad but should not dictate policy to this ridiculous extent.

[Delatron]

It’s not baffling that people are able to perform an accurate risk assessment. As above, children in particular suffer very mild symptoms from Covid.

If you are vulnerable then yes your risk is different..

[SpnBaby1967]

@Jellybaby4

Cant belive so many of you are 0 about covid,
This is baffling.
I am 10 about covid.
My son had it last year through catching it at school, it was a extremely scary time.
So I am shocked that nobody seems bothered by covid and there is zero worry.

Because the risk of a child getting anything worse than cold or fluey symptoms is negligible.

The vast majority of CEV have been jabbed (usual caveat here that I realise that isnt all the CEV).

Most parents are in their 20s, 30s and 40s so also extremely low risk.

Plus, I had covid over xmas and I have had worse colds! I worked all the way though, just had to deal with sleepiness and a wicked sore throat.

[SidneyPlace]

@phlebasconsidered

So sorry. In my LA, teaching assistants, admin staff, teachers and head teachers are resigning in large numbers.
Recruitment is dire. In fact one school are now on their third round of TA adverts having failed to recruit.

Health and well-being and safety measures in schools are just words. No real support, no 'consideration of personal circumstances, no real mitigation. Windows that don't open...let's just pretend they do.

I'm living away from my CEV partner as I have to carry on my work with schools. Really tough times out there.

[Takemebackto98]

@phlebasconsidered 💐 from me too and also don’t blame you for wanting out.

[lljkk]

DS has a resin 3D printer. He can't come here so I am learning how to operate it.

That thing is scary -- the resin is very toxic. At least some people with these devices are going to be careless about the resin & expose themselves or others to toxic uncured resin.

I am WAY more worried about people using resin 3D printers than I am of catching covid or anyone else catching covid.

[MrsArchchancellorRidcully]

@Jellybaby4

Cant belive so many of you are 0 about covid,
This is baffling.
I am 10 about covid.
My son had it last year through catching it at school, it was a extremely scary time.
So I am shocked that nobody seems bothered by covid and there is zero worry.

You have no way of knowing where your son caught covid. It's not certain it was at school - no one can be certain.

I'm not worried in the slightest about my kids going back. Majority of vulnerable vaccinated. I'd unlock everything now if it were my decision. Properly shield the unvaccinated vulnerable and let the rest get on.