Do people realise that if their child's bubble bursts.....

[IfYouCantSeeMyMirrors]

.....and that child is therefore sent home from school for 14 days, the child is supposed to stay solely within their own house or garden for that entire period? They might be completely well for the full 14 days, but during that time, they can't take any walks. No bike rides. No drives in the car. If they haven't got a garden, they cannot go outside at all.

Many, many children are going to be in this position very soon - quite possibly multiple times - and it goes some way beyond the initial lockdown situation.

For those of you saying there are no exemptions for medical needs and pets I checked the guidance today! I checked because my dc has ASD, ADHD and I have PTSD. We can, if felt essential, go out for exercise (walks) away from others. It's not advised for everyone but if my MH goes then it's months into years of recovery. It affects my whole family and the risks are high and long term. I will be going out for walks very early some mornings and evenings into the fields near me. Day 5 of isolation and I'm mentally going downhill very fast. I'm approaching winter etc and this is just the beginning of a potentially a very hard long winter. If the suicidal thoughts take hold of the panic attacks/flashbacks start then there is no going back this year. I'll have to be sectioned because my support network is unreachable. If I tested positive at any time I would not go. I feel this is about as good a reason as any to consider 30 minutes in the country walking away from others. We need to be kind to ourselves and each other. Not point fingers and blame.

I’ve just seen that there are exemptions for those with SEN/mental health issues.

@FinnyStory

Play time means every child is closer than 2m to every other child for more than 15 mins? How long is playtime ?

A close contact is anyone you’ve had a conversation with at a distance of less than 1m. How do you identify those in a primary school playground?

FinnyStory are you really guaranteeing that pupils are more than 1m apart at all times outside the classroom? How?

I was on break duty with 200 year 9s last week and it was completely impossible to keep them all apart.

They are all less than 1m in the playground. Also in the class, also during PE.
It will be all that class!

It will most likely be other staff too as most dont SD from others too.

@HipTightOnions

FinnyStory are you really guaranteeing that pupils are more than 1m apart at all times outside the classroom? How?

I was on break duty with 200 year 9s last week and it was completely impossible to keep them all apart.

Of course not but staff will have a good idea of which kids have been in close contact in primary and in older kids, you ask them! This is why the first action the school takes on hearing of a positive test is to contact the local Health Protection Authority, so they can risk assess the contacts. You don't automatically close the bubble.

My experience of primary school children playing together at break times is that 100% of the bubble have very close physical contact with each other.

@Walkaround

Well, honestly, the idea that a child with zero symptoms is too dangerous to even go for an isolated walk for 14 days, because someone in their enormous school bubble has coronavirus, but the rest of that child’s family can still go to school, work and socialise, is f*cking ridiculous. If the symptomless child is that lethal to society, then so are the rest of the household. Given the fact the rest of the household can still trot about the place, it is not bloody surprising there is little respect for, or understanding of, the rules.

Absolutely this.

There really shouldn't be any reason for an entire bubble to "burst". Only those who have been 1-2m for 15 min plus etc etc need to isolate. That isn't going to be a whole year group
You're being idealistic here.

How do you decide who the infected person has come into contact with if students are in different classes, are moving around site, lining up with others, having break with their friends from the same bubble, then lunch, and getting on school busses with with others from their bubble.

If you can say you can list everyone that's come into contact with the infected student then you're a better person than me.

@LolaSmiles

There really shouldn't be any reason for an entire bubble to "burst". Only those who have been 1-2m for 15 min plus etc etc need to isolate. That isn't going to be a whole year group You're being idealistic here.

How do you decide who the infected person has come into contact with if students are in different classes, are moving around site, lining up with others, having break with their friends from the same bubble, then lunch, and getting on school busses with with others from their bubble.

If you can say you can list everyone that's come into contact with the infected student then you're a better person than me.

You don't need to know for older children. You ask them, just the same as if contact tracers contacted you after a positive test, you'd be asked who your contacts are and they'd help work out which ones have been "close".

I have 2 DDs off because one had a cold, with a cough and a temperature (99% sure it's a cold). Their bubbles haven't burst because there are no positive covid cases BUT I've been trying to get a test for 37 hours do they can both go back. Who's to say if it's COVID or not? Maybe the bubble should burst as there are many, many kids off with virus symptoms at school.

So for now we're are stuck at home for 2 weeks, unless I get a test by Monday. For no real reason if it's another virus. And yes we will be in the house (we do have a moderate sized garden). It's a PITA but we will survive this early setback and isn't that the point?

And this could be repeated ALL winter. But what to do if Covid is a possibility - it's too contagious to ignore. Just take everything a day or a fortnight at a time and get on with it.

Of course not but staff will have a good idea of which kids have been in close contact in primary and in older kids, you ask them!

Yes fair enough about the older kids, up to a point.

The Y9s in the playground didn’t even realise they were too close and at the end of break they are rammed (0cm distancing) on the stairs and corridors.

Perhaps that is just my school then...

People need to get over idea that the system or the contact tracing needs to be "perfect". That's never been the aim of any of the controls, they just need to be good enough to keep things under control.

Will he end up isolating on a large country estate with plenty of outdoors space, while the most disadvantaged children are forced to spend 14 days entirely inside, over and over again? And will people stand for this?

This....!! Most Students in my school live in high rise flats with no outdoor space, in cramped conditions, major overcrowding. They can’t keep staying home for 2 Weeks, they fare better getting covid.

I think it’s really telling how many of the ‘FFS, just deal with it!’ posts on this thread talking about staying within ‘the house and garden’. Living in a smaller home without private outdoor space makes two weeks a hell of a lot longer. As a single parent, in practice if/when my school aged child’s bubble bursts, I will be required to keep him and my toddler indoors for a fortnight. Every time it happens. I’m quite concerned about their vitamin D, they have brown skin so need more exposure than I do to make enough of that, and certainly early on there was a lot of talk about the role of vitamin D deficiency in covid vulnerability.

I’ve stuck to the rules throughout (and more besides - I’m not currently visiting indoor pubs/restaurants even though that’s permitted, for example, and I’m continuing to avoid public transport at considerable personal inconvenience - not because I’m worried for us, but because it’s socially the right thing to do), but honestly I’m not sure I would do this to my children, potentially multiple times through the winter. Flame all you like.

Ok well at least they take mental health and other issues into consideration. It's about time some consideration was shown to overall general health too.

Single parents with one child are going to be fucked; single parents with more than one child are going to be doubly or trebly fucked, especially if they can't wfh.

Each child could be SI for two weeks at a different time to the other.

You don't need to know for older children. You ask them, just the same as if contact tracers contacted you after a positive test, you'd be asked who your contacts are and they'd help work out which ones have been "close".
Let me put this another way, I couldn't tell you which students I was within 1m of at lesson changeovers or when on duty because even with a really good set of measures, our school site isn't able to come off more than 1500 students on a site that was never made to have that many.

I doubt students could list everyone they've been close to during a school day. That's why they have bubbles. It's why bubbles close if there's cases.

**zone off

@LolaSmiles

There really shouldn't be any reason for an entire bubble to "burst". Only those who have been 1-2m for 15 min plus etc etc need to isolate. That isn't going to be a whole year group You're being idealistic here.

How do you decide who the infected person has come into contact with if students are in different classes, are moving around site, lining up with others, having break with their friends from the same bubble, then lunch, and getting on school busses with with others from their bubble.

If you can say you can list everyone that's come into contact with the infected student then you're a better person than me.

They have to sit in set seats in each class and for the younger ones who haven’t picked subjects yet they sit next to the same people in each one. As far as I can gather the school give test and protect the seating plans and the kids will know who they’ve hung out with

Right or wrong, schools/government need to find a way to stop whole bubbles closing. As OP says, it's not workable to have who year groups isolating on a regular basis.

Life is tough but then you think of all the kids that were alive during world war 1 and 2 who spent years not seeing anyone or going to school and living on rations and you think 2 weeks at home in your house with ipads, netflix home deliveries and takeaways and you get a grip!!

This government is the the biggest case of child abuse since Savile.
And nobody objects to it.

i think it’s really telling how many of the ‘FFS, just deal with it!’ posts on this thread talking about staying within ‘the house and garden’

Totally agree. I live in a block of flats. We do have access to a garden, but it's a communal garden, reached through the communal staircase. As is my washing machine, in a communal washing room behind a fire door. I don't have space in my flat to store more than a few days worth of food and household items, the rest is stored in my cellar again accessed through the communal staircase. Although I would be staying within the house and garden...