School Has isolated one clsss

[JammyDodgerz1]

Son's high school emailed yesterday, as they have had 7 cases including 1 teacher. .

The entire year group mix at lunch & breaks & go into lessons with different students from the entire year group.

The school has sent home 1 form group & said its a bubble, the rest are expected to attend school. Local tests are currently suspended & other schools in my local and wider area have entire year groups off. The school had an inadequate Ofsted rating for safeguarding related issues in July.

I am extremely worried as I'm a carer for my mum who has terminal lung disease.

Would you trust the school in good faith and send them in, my sister thinks I should email school for clarification, but I don't want to be that parent.

Wwyd?

Someone has to be “that parent”. You have a very valid reason to be extremely concerned as you are a career. I would email the school for further explanation.

Thank you CKBJ I'll send an email.

Has your child been in close contact with an affected child, ie 1minutes under a metre apart, or 15 minutes at 2 metres?

If so he's a close contact.

Madness that they are only isolating based on one class rather than all mixes within the year.

It must be easy enough to identify which exact classes the kids are in and isolate all kids in those classes (I wouldn't be bothered about mixing outside at break etc).

If the entire year group are mixing, then you know that form group is not the real bubble. If testing has been suspended, then you also know that an absence of further positives means nothing and there could easily be more positive cases currently at the school.

I'm not sure what clarification the school could give you, unless it's to say that the first of those things isn't actually the case (but presumably you know it is). I might send the email anyway, but in your shoes if you feel you have a particular reason to avoid your son catching covid I would just keep him off.

Personally I would take my child out. That risk would be too high for me.

tbh, as ECV, I am that parent. So if there is covid in the school, I'd have a low threshold for saying that I am keeping mine off for a bit. Especially as testing is so rubbish, it's hard to know what's going on. And kids are so aften symptomatic.

Once your Son is at school he could catch it at any time, you could keep him at home for two weeks but then it would be another child or class bubble. I understand the stress but unless he stayed home schooling there’s not much you can do about it. Unless the school give out the names of poor children who are sick (not going to happen) you can’t judge for yourself how close they have been and the odds.

Do you mean they have suspended all testing in your area (and how big is that area), or that tests are not available to book (they're at capacity)?

Do you have a plan if your son has had close contact? Is he able to go stay with someone else or is someone else able to look after your mum until the 14 days are up?

If you think your child may have been in contact then in your situation with being a carer for someone vulnerable, I would take them out. If school say anything - tell them he has a cough.

7 students plus 1 teacher sounds high to me. I'm surprised that PHE hasn't closed the year group or even the school.

Many schools have had far fewer cases and quarantined more extensively.