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.

@Boxachocs

As a teacher, when someone says to me ‘schools MUST not close’ it feels like they are saying ‘and I don’t give a shit if loads of teachers die of it’ at the end of the sentence.

@Boxachocs yes I do too

Salty it does to me! We haven’t had a case yet.

I can see the argument for good remote provision when a school is impacted so much learning is poor.

But I’m also so relieved that we haven’t had interruption yet.

I’m more in the attach teachers ft to classes whether they are in school or remote corner

Unless everyone else goes pt and exam years get access. But even I can see that may not go down well with yrs 7 to 9 and dc having been excluded from yr5 I know it sucks.

@megletthesecond

And so they should. Close schools for 4 weeks. Test everyone before they go back and increase mask wearing. That way they might get back for a month before Xmas and another 4/5 week break.

Agree with that for primary.

Secondary and colleges should just switch to remote learning until Easter. Will stop the spread, teachers are safer at home teaching or even from their empty classroom if they prefer and students get uninterrupted education rather than having to isolate for weeks at at time. It’s really unfair they have to worry if they have caught it from a classmate or passed it on in the home etc.

Good on the NEU. Seems to be very little in the news re schools and the spread for some reason.

[quote Ecosse]@monkeytennis97

There have been something like 300 deaths of healthy under 60s.[/quote]
Based on a situation in which we locked down. Doesn't take a genius ...

@Ecosse @monkeytennis97 300 deaths of healthy young people is horrendous! Only 10% exposure across the population as a whole, if you do the sums that will be 3000 healthy people dead unnecessarily by the end of this thing.
300 deaths before this in any circumstance, accident, atrocity... would have been a national disaster, now it's just collateral

@SaltyAndFresh

[quote Ecosse]
@monkeytennis97

There have been something like 300 deaths of healthy under 60s.

Based on a situation in which we locked down. Doesn't take a genius ...[/quote]
Our of 50k deaths or whatever were on now there was 300 and that was because of lockdown? Or was it because the virus generally kills older and unwell people??

Lockdown doesn't change the demographic who are more vulnerable.

I think it should be on a locally decided basis. Whenever you have more students at home in a year than at school, the year should shut. That way, teachers can focus their provision on the majority. It seems like a simple and common sense rule of thumb to me.

We had the idiotic situation of having about 20 students from one year in today.

The year usually has over 300 students.

Obviously, the time spent teaching those 20 students would have been better spent providing online provision.

[quote OverTheRainbow88]@noblegiraffe

What do you suggest then?

Blended learning isn’t feasible for most
Circuit breaker= back to square one 2 Weeks after reopening again
Closure isn’t feasible

So what?[/quote]
What do you suggest @OverTheRainbow88?

Keep schools fully open even if all bubbles are affected?
Demand that teachers double their workload indefinitely, delivering lessons in the classroom and online?
Just let asymptomatic cases stay in school?
Make sure symptomatic teachers deliver lessons from their sickbeds?

So what?

Less than half of secondary children but let's send em all home eh.

JVT said 16+ was the most problematic age group, not that the rest were fine.

As my OP states, the infection rate in Y7-11 (so mostly under 16) has increased nine-fold in a month. It’s now at 1% where the 16+ group has held steady at 1.5%.

@Nellodee

I think it should be on a locally decided basis. Whenever you have more students at home in a year than at school, the year should shut. That way, teachers can focus their provision on the majority. It seems like a simple and common sense rule of thumb to me.

I agree with you entirely.

@iskwobel totally agree.

Secondary schools, colleges and unis should move to online learning. People argue about online provision differing between schools but even in “normal” times the provision between different schools can be vast, even within the same education authority. Ofsted teams should monitor and assess provision.

The alternative to that, though, Marsha, would be some kind of system in place to prevent schools getting to the point of whole year groups having to stay at home. This would probably have to be blended learning, as I don't think masks alone could resolve the issues at schools like mine. People don't like the idea of blended learning, but if I could choose between every year being in part time, or all KS4 being at home, I would pick the former.

What has happened to the 3 tiers that was created for schools? Surely it would make sense for the school tiers to follow the current tiers E.g Liverpool is tier 3 so schools should be following tier 3

@noblegiraffe

Less than half of secondary children but let's send em all home eh.

JVT said 16+ was the most problematic age group, not that the rest were fine.

As my OP states, the infection rate in Y7-11 (so mostly under 16) has increased nine-fold in a month. It’s now at 1% where the 16+ group has held steady at 1.5%.

You want to close secondaries for 1%?

You want to close secondaries for 1%?

Do you think it will stay at 1%, Trust?!

Do we need to teach people exponential growth all over again?

Nellodee I just can’t get on with blended as it separates the student from teaching resource. I also question whether part time will actually lower disruption. How are private schools with big rooms doing? (Ie more SD)

A normal school day from home, as we had today, seemed so much better than two days a week last term then left to it.

As if you are teaching other students what are your at home students doing?

I've been keeping my DS indoors apart from school and football training to reduce his social interactions, if school closed again that's effectively putting him into full lockdown again, he's cut off again socially from his peers. For 2 weeks yes I'm sure it would be fine, but what happens if cases aren't down after the 2 weeks? Will they stay closed or re open as planned? How long do we keep them indoors? Theres been many a thread about how it's unfair to lock the vulnerable away, why is it fair to lock children away? Or do we let them socialise as normal and hope they do it with less than 6 friends at a time.

@noblegiraffe

You want to close secondaries for 1%?

Do you think it will stay at 1%, Trust?!

Do we need to teach people exponential growth all over again?

Even if it doesn't how high do You realistically think it will go?

Don't try and patronise me.

@lljkk

I don't think you like being a teacher. NobleG.

Why?

Even if it doesn't how high do You realistically think it will go?

High enough to cause chaotic and random school closures instead of orderly, planned ones.

Oh, we’re already there.

@noblegiraffe

Even if it doesn't how high do You realistically think it will go?

High enough to cause chaotic and random school closures instead of orderly, planned ones.

Oh, we’re already there.

No change then?

Er no, Trust, things will get worse as it spreads.

You’re right that things need to change though.