NEU calls for two week closure for secondaries and colleges following leap in infections

[noblegiraffe]

The NEU has called for a two week closure of secondary schools and colleges following a more than 9-fold increase in the infection rate in secondary school children in a month.

www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-teachers-demand-2-week-school-closures-after-cases-jump

The infection rate in Y7-11 was 0.5% last week, according to the ONS survey of random households, but this nearly doubled to 0.93% in the latest set of figures. This rise cannot be ignored or passed off as relating to university students as has happened so far.

In other, entirely unrelated news, 61% of teachers report that if a student doesn't wear a mask in a school where they are mandated in communal areas 'nothing happens'.

www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-61-staff-say-nothing-done-if-pupils-wont-wear-masks

And Teacher Tapp data from yesterday had 26% of teachers reporting that their schools were partially closed to students.

In the meantime, the testing positivity rate in 10-19 year olds is 17%, which means that this group is severely under-tested and lots of cases will be missed. The rate should be below 5%.

Yet the insistence continues that in any lockdown scenario, schools will remain open. Idiocy.

Teachers might catch it but as a sector they have good sick pay and generous back to work policies.So probably easier on them being ill than someone in the private sector.

That'll make the ones in icu and their families feel better. Really have seen the depths of selfishness now.

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

I meant to say ‘did not’ not ‘do not’ . But in lockdown there were no groups of kids hanging round on parks. The streets were empty

Same, but it's not lockdown now and they're out and they're mixing. If their schools shut I presume they will continue to do so.

Equally shops etc were shut last time so if they have two week off what's to stop them going out and doing loads of other stuff?

At least when they are IN school they are actually being prevented from mixing as much as they would if they were OUT of school.

Errr, no-that really isn’t true.

The secondaries in my area are doing much worse than primaries for infections. I would support home or blended learning for secondary students in the worst hit areas. And childcare is less of an issue than primaries closing. The government should never have acted as though they were the same. Completely different settings in each.

I’ve seen posters on Facebook complaining about groups of kids congregating. When I’ve seen photos, it is genuinely less than anything I walk past all the time at school.

What do people think is happening in schools? I’m genuinely baffled by the horror when it’s outside the school fence and the lack of concern when it’s inside.

@noblegiraffe

At least when they are IN school they are actually being prevented from mixing as much as they would if they were OUT of school.

Have you been in a school? They’re mixing massively with hundreds of other kids.

If schools were closed, my kids’ close contacts would drop dramatically even if they continued to see their mates.

This is absolutely true. Also, a good proportion of kids would just stay home and play Among Us or Fifa with their mates, which would carry no risk of transmission.

@noblegiraffe

I’ve seen posters on Facebook complaining about groups of kids congregating. When I’ve seen photos, it is genuinely less than anything I walk past all the time at school.

What do people think is happening in schools? I’m genuinely baffled by the horror when it’s outside the school fence and the lack of concern when it’s inside.

I know it's happening in schools I'm just saying they will mix and do other stuff if they're off because it's not lockdown anymore.

Gosh - this seems to be drifting off onto a teachers pay and conditions thread 🥱 followed by another sack/furlough the lot of them 🥱

True, Nellodee My Y10s are desperate for schools to close because of the new FIFA release.

Teachers might catch it but as a sector they have good sick pay and generous back to work policies.So probably easier on them being ill than someone in the private sector.

Whilst people are prepared to post things like this and believe that people regardless of their jobs are expendable the government are rubbing their hands.
Teachers and parents should be working together on this. Given most teachers will be parents as well no one wants schools closed just something to stop transmission rates running out of control through schools.
We don’t need to agree but all of this us against them stops us addressing those who are actually making these decisions.

I'm under no illusion of what happens in school, my rationale for keeping them indoors apart from school is it limits the amount of times they are having contact with each other. Im starting to wonder if I shouldn't have bothered and just let them meet up outside school as well if it makes no difference.

In all seriousness our young physics teachers are considering a switch to cyber - thanks to government for promoting that idea. Another own goal

The government should never have acted as though they were the same. Completely different settings in each.

This is very true. Every time anyone in govt said that the evidence is that children don’t easily spread covid they should have clarified they meant in under 10s.

The government has totally neglected secondary, its plans for June were focused so much on primary they had to delay secondary opening and it was basically an afterthought.

They only cared about the childcare issue and getting people back to work.

Their lack of regard for secondary has been obvious (look at the exams fiasco and delays over info for next year’s exams).

Leflic, so you admit viral load is a thing.

This will help parents. It's why I'm not too concerned about catching it from my son because he's a teenager and has much more interesting people to speak to than me.

It won't help me as a teacher. This week a positive case has removed over half of one of my classes. On the day of removal I was in a room with 20 potentially infectious students for an hour. Most of the front row was affected. The positive child sits on the front row. That's potentially a massive viral load.

The difference is that students will mix with a much smaller group of close contacts than in school. And in the case of very anxious teenagers/those with known vulnerabilities for either themselves or their family members, none at all.

@Leflic

Meh. They won’t shut schools.

Kids spread it but that’s going to happen regardless. At least in schools they’re made to hand wash or sanitise ( yes probably not that effectively but better than after school when they don’t bother).
Viral load so a thing so parents catch a milder dose.
Teachers might catch it but as a sector they have good sick pay and generous back to work policies.So probably easier on them being ill than someone in the private sector.

What will happen if lots of teachers are off sick? Surely there will be staffing issues so year groups, classes and potentially whole schools will have to close by default.

Teachers might not have to all worry about pay if they themselves are ill or told to isolate but surely they have a right to be concerned about their health. I certainly don’t want to get long Covid which has been reported across all age groups.

Also, many schools require sick staff to phone in daily and set differentiated, well planned cover work (which can be critiqued by senior leaders) despite the member of staff being off ill. This is certainly the case where I am even if you are being sick and can’t physically go in.

Interestingly enough, there was a thread in here yesterday about sick pay and conditions and there were a number of of posters saying they work in private sector jobs who get 6 months full pay, 6 months half pay. That sounds like a good deal to me so we can’t make assumptions about all private sector workers and their sick pay just as we can’t make assumptions that it’s okay for a teacher to be off ill.

Im starting to wonder if I shouldn't have bothered and just let them meet up outside school as well if it makes no difference.

They’re probably at a lot less risk outside in a park than they are in a classroom.

It is really hard to explain to kids that in school it’s a free-for-all because they’re in a ‘bubble’ but once they exit the gates they need to split into groups of no more than 6 and socially distance. The situation in schools is making them less compliant with the rules outside of schools, as it really doesn’t make sense to them.

If schools closed for a circuit break it would be easier to explain to them that they need to stay apart from their mates for the same duration.

Some won’t, of course, but more might, because it actually makes sense.

My DC are primary but I’d support a short lockdown, 2-4 weeks maybe. I hope home learning support will be provided though, our school was one of the ones that didn’t provide anything. I understand there is a requirement now.
We are a low case area at the moment, of course will change sadly.
Fwiw I had a high opinion of the school pre lockdown, was v disappointed with the lack of provision April- July, but they now seem much more engaged, I’ve been really impressed with the school again since September.
My DC are so much happier to be in school, I don’t need school for childcare btw, the difference in their mood is very noticeable, although we tried hard with home learning and activities, they missed school/friends/teachers. DD was quite vocal about wanting a real teacher to help her !
Of course teachers should be protected with ppe/screens and funding for cleaning etc

We should be really angry about the overall crapness of T&T and this totally inept government. Not seen much of Gavin and Matt. You’d assume they be prominent and proactive.

Just here to point out that year 6 are age 11. We now have 3 confirmed cases. I am am home waiting to see if i show symptoms. In my area year 6 are showing much the same infection rates as ks3 and 4.

I very much hope I have escaped. I am clinically vulnerable, my mum is clinically vulnerable and lives with us, my son is vulnerable. And the covid "safety " measures in school are a load of shite. Open your windows, here's a spray bottle is about the sum of it. No masks, no SD because primaries are "safe". It's bullshit. Without a break things will continue to spiral.

We should be really angry about the overall crapness of T&T and this totally inept government. Not seen much of Gavin and Matt. You’d assume they be prominent and proactive.

This 👏👏

@noblegiraffe

The government should never have acted as though they were the same. Completely different settings in each.

This is very true. Every time anyone in govt said that the evidence is that children don’t easily spread covid they should have clarified they meant in under 10s.

The government has totally neglected secondary, its plans for June were focused so much on primary they had to delay secondary opening and it was basically an afterthought.

They only cared about the childcare issue and getting people back to work.

Their lack of regard for secondary has been obvious (look at the exams fiasco and delays over info for next year’s exams).

It’s hard though as evidence is not possible until you do it.

I was in the fence re primary. Thought possibly it would be ok but no one could be sure as other countries were quite different. Luckily in practise ONS study shows a good result for primary.

On secondary it is clearly a big issue in some schools and a decision by area should be made.

I’m not against two weeks off. But we already have two weeks off so I hope they decide now.

Just here to point out that year 6 are age 11.

Yep, we definitely need more granular data. Lumping sixth formers in with uni students and 5 year olds with 15 year olds can only be seen as attempts to hide the true picture.

We definitely need more transparency from the government.

On secondary it is clearly a big issue in some schools and a decision by area should be made.

That’s making the assumption that the ‘big issue’ is somehow confined to that area and not a general issue with all secondary schools with those areas being the unfortunate trailblazers.

We should be learning from the coal-mine-canaries to take proactive measures, not try to play whack-a-mole, constantly surprised as new areas become an issue.

I think it's deliberate noble. They know full well year 6 and some of year 5 will be adolescent and carriers. Certainly all 3 in my class are taller than me and adolescent. But this way they can say that primaries are safe. I'd love to see a proper age breakdown. Interesting to note that all 3 cases in my class were picked up a week or so after they had been in school with a "cold". As a result of older siblings getting "proper" symptoms they were tested as lo and behold....

I suspect they infected their siblings.

@noblegiraffe

On secondary it is clearly a big issue in some schools and a decision by area should be made.

That’s making the assumption that the ‘big issue’ is somehow confined to that area and not a general issue with all secondary schools with those areas being the unfortunate trailblazers.

We should be learning from the coal-mine-canaries to take proactive measures, not try to play whack-a-mole, constantly surprised as new areas become an issue.

Maybe although I’m not keen with some solutions but won’t go over. But NEU are pushing for circuit breaker so there’s only that on the table atm (or may not happen).