If the school class/year group has to self isolate, do the kids drip back in following Negative test or have to sit out the whole fortnight

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Just hypothetical here.

A boy in Dds class did not attend Friday as someone in his household has symptoms. I've no idea whether it's him or someone else.

If it is him and he is positive school will send the whole class home to self isolate for 14 days.

As it has been 5 days since he saw my child, and probably most if not all of the kids in the class, can the students return before the 14 days, pending a negative test?

Also, is it 14 days from his last day at school or 14 days from the results coming back?

[Kaktus]

@LoungeLizardLhama

I’ve had an email from DDs school this morning to say that a child or staff member is self isolating due to developing Covid symptoms but they’re saying that nobody else needs to isolate unless the test comes back positive. It seems like there’s loads of conflicting advice/opinion but I have to say, I’m happy with the way our school are handling it meaning the whole bubble don’t have to miss out on school ‘just in case’.

*Until we know the result of the test, there is no need for your child to isolate and they can attend school as normal.
If the individual who is experiencing symptoms tests positive, we will contact you immediately and your child will need to isolate for 14 days from the date they were last in contact with them. Other household members will not need to isolate.
If the test result is negative, the individual can return to school immediately (as long as they have not had a temperature, vomiting or diarrhea for 48 hours). There will be no further action for close contacts.
If a test result in inconclusive, or a test cannot be carried out, the individual will continue to isolate for the 10 day period (other household members for 14 days). There will be no further action for close contacts.*

I’m surprised they’ve told you that. Surely most schools have multiple kids who have had to take a test due to having a temperature or a cough? Ours has (all were negative) and no communications were sent out.

[CrumbsThatsQuick]

With a single positive case only close contacts have been sent home in no daughter's year. The rest of the bubble remains intact.

[AlwaysInAQ]

So my situation is now that my DD is off school with a cough. A test was booked last night and carried out at a centre this morning. It came on very suddenly yesterday teatime along with a bunged up snotty nose which I originally put down to hay fever until the cough started.
The positive test in her year is someone she does not have any lessons or contact with and as I understand it, just her form group was sent home yesterday to isolate (but not the teacher)
A boy who is in a lot of classes with DD has temp and cough and a test booked tomorrow and one of her closest friends at school is now poorly with a cough and test booked tomorrow.

[Hereinthesticks]

@CrumbsThatsQuick

With a single positive case only close contacts have been sent home in no daughter's year. The rest of the bubble remains intact.

That is not what has happened in my DC school. Just one positive case has sent home an entire year group of several hundred plus everyone on the school bus, which affects all year groups.

The pupil is doing GCSEs so there will be pupils isolating who at no point sat in a classroom with the positive case.

If the positive case had got a public transport bus and not a school bus, they wouldn't have contacted all the passengers and told them to stay home for 2 weeks. Everyone on the school bus has to wear a mask.

When the government's mobile phase Track and Trace is released in a week or 2, will the school isolation policy be updated? Presumably it will be possible to easily and quickly identify which pupils sat near the positive case for a prolonged period. Schools that has mobile phone bans should consider lifting these bans so that more effective track and trace can take place within schools.

I understand we need to reduce virus transmission, but it seems the threshold for pausing the education of hundreds of pupils without any proof that they had any contact with a positive case is very very low currently. The mobile phone T&T app should be able to help with this, but are schools preparing to make use of it?

[Frazzled2207]

Interesting point re mobiles. They would have to be on. But perhaps would work if just sat in bags?

Stats for school attendance are out. An “estimated” 92% of all state school pupils were in on the 10th. 8% is quite a lot. I imagine there will be a big change a week on from that.

[Hereinthesticks]

Who is deciding whether one case is going to put hundreds of secondary school pupils out of education for 2 weeks or just the identified close contacts as described by a pp above? My DC school say PHE decided that the whole massive secondary school year group and entire bus would have to stay home. Do some schools not consult PHE while others do? It seems to be that if your school do contact PHE then the likelihood of getting shut down is greatly increased. Presumably it is not essential to do that if the pp's school above just identified close contacts and sent them home.
The app would help. But intelligent solutions to limit education disruption don't seem very popular with the government right now.

[Frazzled2207]

@Hereinthesticks
Possibly it depends but our head has been adamant it is up to PHE not him. But perhaps it depends who they speak to at PHE

[Frazzled2207]

Sorry meant to add he is also bound to inform them

[Hereinthesticks]

I can see why a head would not want all the responsibility. But the older a pupil is and the more limited their subject choices, the easier it should be to identify who they have been in contact with, without sending home several hundred pupils who have not been been exposed.
Track and trace is supposed to work this way and schools could make better use of it (e.g. the forthcoming app).