Is shutting a whole year group overly cautious?

[Marcellemouse]

I have 2 secondary school DC at different schools. Both schools are old buildings with small poorly ventilated classrooms so unable to social distance. There's been a case of CV in each school however the infected DC has not passed the virus on to any other DC in their year group (year 8 and year 9). It's made me wonder how necessary it is to shut the bubbles. What experience do others have? From what I can see locally it doesn't seem to be spreading massively amongst pupils like we thought it would which is great.

Unless they have all had a test how do you know it hasn’t been passed on. Most children will be asymptomatic.

DH school has had 2 cases and they’ve been able to avoid sending the whole year groups home as they were being taught in form groups and had assigned seating at lunch and different zones or something for break time. So in each case about 50 kids are isolating instead of 250. I suppose it depends just how much contact they’re having, walking past in a corridor doesn’t warrant isolating; sitting in the same classroom for 2 hours clearly does.

They haven’t heard of any other positive cases from those who were sent home.

@BikeTyson both year groups are back at school now and nobody else has tested positive or passed CV onto their families.

Did the whole class manage to get tested, I thought it was difficult to get tests?

I would be interested to know how many families get it when a student is sent home because their class etc is.

Same, cases at our school caught in the majority outside of school and not transmitted within school to any notable extent. 1 positive case is managed by identifying close contacts and 2nd case means whole year group home for 2 weeks. No staff with positive test results after those cases - first of which was several weeks ago now.

But the the measures the school is taking will be helping with the low transmission - year group bubbles quite strict, mask-wearing in all communal areas and buses, very limited non-academic activities, if any.

@CovidChristmas obviously not but there's been no other associated cases where people have had symptoms including the parents of these 390 dc. Surely not everyone can be asymptomatic.

And some staff wearing visors if they wish.

[quote Marcellemouse]@CovidChristmas obviously not but there's been no other associated cases where people have had symptoms including the parents of these 390 dc. Surely not everyone can be asymptomatic.[/quote]
And there is increasing evidence that asymptomatic people are not great transmitters of coronavirus due to lack of cough, sneezing, fever etc. I think that changes if you live in close proximity in the same household, but not particularly applicable to school situations with distancing, masks, visors, open windows, breaktimes in separate areas, not eating together etc.

@belowradar schools are being great and trying their best but there is no social distancing between DC we know that.

@belowradar sorry I missed your last post. That's good to know and makes me think sending whole year groups home for 1 positive case is too extreme. Maybe inform parents but keep the year open unless there's a few cases.

@Marcellemouse I agree about the schools being great - but I meant distancing between the teachers and pupils (at secondary at least).

Well the measures they have taken have worked!
Were they off at all? You said they’re all back?
You really don’t know if they’ve passed it on. Only if they all got a test. I honestly think masses of people are asymptomatic
You don’t know how early they caught it. Was the child symptomatic ?

There has been 2 confirmed cases at DDs high school (of approx 1800 students), one in Y11, the other in 6th form. They’ve managed to only send home the close contacts of these cases rather than the full bubble (Up to 300 children).

I’m intrigued to find out whether there is much (or any) transmission between students in school. It can’t be that rampant or there’d be loads more infections by now.

3 kids in 3 different schools here.1 kid sent home, 2 others managed to stay in school because different classes, same year.

It's not the schools deciding though. They're told what to do by PHE or the DFE.

DCa school just sent home a whole year group for 14 days because one child tested positive. I can't see this system working . You only need 6 cases to empty the entire school.

The only solution is smaller bubbles I think which of course causes another lot of problems.

That's good to know and makes me think sending whole year groups home for 1 positive case is too extreme

Schools have to have detailed conversations with PHE when they have a confirmed case. PHE give advice about how to proceed. Schools have to follow that. It will be different in deferent cases.

Given that, what do you mean by “too extreme”?

Schools have to have detailed conversations with PHE when they have a confirmed case

The school has a policy which they have told us all about from the start of term which is to send the whole year group home. I don't think PHE will change that.

I hope the schools keep up the measures though. I know there is pressure to restart rugby matches etc, which sounds daft if it means whole year groups at risk of 2 weeks out of school. I wish the schools would just stick to the academic studies if that means schools stay open longer and for more pupils.
I personally think 1 or 2 positive cases out of e.g. 250 pupils is a little low when it is 1 or 2 for 30 pupils in primary. The risk of getting sent home for 2 weeks at secondary is thus much higher.

@MrsHamlet

It's not the schools deciding though. They're told what to do by PHE or the DFE.

Maybe the schools are interpreting the advice slightly differently as they are definitely using different approaches to isolating students.

French schools only send positive child home - might only be primary. Recent decision.

I wouldn’t follow yet but it’d be good to know what happens with follow up cases here

I also wonder if people are all being entirely honest about speaking up when they have symptoms if their livelihood relies on them being able to work.
I hope you are right and it isn’t transmitting in school but I think it’s too early to say.