Staff party blamed for outbreak in school

[Silversun83]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-54161544

The head says he thinks it was ill-advised despite them not breaking government restrictions at the time.. Though surely 8 of them attending another person's house WAS against the restrictions.. (Which was only two households inside or six people/two households outside)??

Yes, I seriously don't understand why he went so personal with it? He could have just said, 'the outbreak was due to contact outside of school' or 'it was beyond the control of the school's measures' or something and people would have got the gist!

Now he has made himself look like a knob, has probably irreparably damaged morale within the school (although I bet the school is now split firmly in two!) and still not achieved anything more than if he had just written something along the lines of the above.

People saying they didn't break guidelines , yes they did the guidelines were 6 or two households had been for ages the 30 was the legal figure to be used weddings etc the reason they have made 6 law is people started using the 30 but media kept saying how 30 was law so can't blame people for forgetting guidelines that were on place
But condeming them not necessary as loads were meeting up in larger groups at the time , probably 3/4 country were not following the actual guidelines

And regardless - they were also obviously flouting the 2m rule - no way that many would have contracted Covid if they been compliant with it!

Did the government have to clarify at some point about gatherings of 30 or something? This article from July says:

It states that larger gatherings of up to 30 people are legal. And there is no mention of limits on the number households that can gather.

www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/18561496.30-people-limit-gatherings-new-coronavirus-lockdown-law/

probably 3/4 country were not following the actual guidelines

Evidently because they didn't know what the guidelines actually were!

I live close to Rossendale and we have been in a greater lockdown that other parts of the UK since the end of July due to an increased in Covid cases. So they were breaking the rules I think unfortunately.

Wonder if he’s ever been invited to a staff do? Maybe covid wasn’t the reason he didn’t know about it.

He could have just said, 'the outbreak was due to contact outside of school'

Well, he couldn't - three members of staff caught it at school.

I hope the recipient of the baby shower is well.
Probably ill advised to have a baby shower anyway atm.

[quote SoManyActivities]Did the government have to clarify at some point about gatherings of 30 or something? This article from July says:

It states that larger gatherings of up to 30 people are legal. And there is no mention of limits on the number households that can gather.

www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/18561496.30-people-limit-gatherings-new-coronavirus-lockdown-law/[/quote]
However, the Government has continued to advise people to meet in groups of up to six people outdoors or two households indoors

If only Brits could read as well as the Swedish

So it's the difference between 'guidance' and 'legal'? It was pretty unclear, as evidenced by the this thread!

Where would 'lockdown rules', as the headteacher put it, fit into that?

Obviously it doesn't matter now, but I was obviously not clear on what the 'rules' (whether that means what is legal or what is guidance) were!

May not be over six households though. Many younger teachers share houses. Some might be together. It states no rules were broken.

It also includes support bubbles as well as individual houses as long as no more than 30.
I am guessing the head would have delighted in saying rules had been broken if they had given the tone of the letter.

Well I will hold my hand up and say that I was unclear on these rules over the Summer and I am a TA in a school. I met up with more than 2 households in gardens and parks. I also on two occasions had my Mum, Dad, Brother and MIL over to bbq/Sunday lunch. One time it pissed down so we were inside. I'm not going to judge.

It's also appallingly written, and this guy's a headteacher! If I worked there my resignation would be in his inbox already, along with a formal comaint about his unprofessional behaviour

I edited it to say complaint twice. My phone hates me.

@Ulelia - mine too.

I'm glad it's made national news to be honest. Although I'm sure that opinions on it will be 52% side of the head, 48% side of the teachers, as is everything else these days. With obviously the 48% being the right side to be on.

Local lockdown area?

Yes, I can see why someone would say highly inadvisable in those circs

Looking at the article, I think the editing has been to effect

@Silversun83

And regardless - they were also obviously flouting the 2m rule - no way that many would have contracted Covid if they been compliant with it!

2m distance reduces the risk but doesn’t eliminate it- you can be 2m away from someone and still catch. The risk is just smaller. www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/10/science-behind-coronavirus-distancing-rules-2-metre

And I hate it when schools write their formal correspondence in Comic Sans as well!

No it wasn’t a local lockdown area when this took place.
It had been for a short period of time over the summer and looks to be again this weekend.

@mrshoho
2/3 households reasonable IMO.
At least 8 teachers were at the party (one would assume 8 households) plus others. Not quite the same.

That head is an utter arse. The staff did nothing wrong. They were unlucky. I feel sorry for them working in that school.

As it states in the head teachers letter - the teachers did NOT break government guidelines.

@Timekeepspassing

Didn’t break the law but did break guidance as the rule was previously up to 6 people inside from a max of 2 households. But the head is wrong to put the blame on them so publicly. Rubbish for morale and he has ruined trust between his staff and him as well as the trust of the parents.

This.