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.

@noblegiraffe

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

You’re right that things need to change though.

The thing is anything you close you're just dragging it out aren't you? So you're dealing with closures for longer...

It would be ideal to combat the virus to keep secondary dc off till March but socially and emotionally that's too much.

They should be staggered and go in on a rolling basis for core subjects then 3 days at home. Best of all worst and best worlds.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss
Secondary and colleges should just switch to remote learning until Easter
Seriously? Because it worked so well last time didn't it? At my DS's school 30% of students didn't even log onto the learning platform and that's way above average compared to other schools. You're advocating ruining this generations education for a virus that doesn't even make them ill.

@3littlewords people have made it clear, our children's well beings don't matter. Only Covid deaths matter.

If schools DO close again, it will be catastrophic for children and families. As you say, it is essentially locking children away. Parents will lose their jobs and therefore their homes.

Teens will be left to their own devices, because parents have to work, to keep food in the cupboards and a roof over their heads. Either living lonely, soulless existences on screens all day, or roaming around with no supervision (just as many were last time).

A large proportion of parents aren't capable of home schooling, children will learn very little or nothing.

That is not even to mention children trapped in homes with abusers, drug addicts, alcoholics. Where school is a respite.

I've posted on other threads about cases in the school I'm at in the GM area.

13 cases in the first month. 2 of those were staff. At one point most year groups went home. DfE advised the school to contact trace. In many way this seemed better as fewer people were sent home attendance was up and we had 2 weeks with only a few cases.

End of last week we had multiple cases in staff across multiple departments. We've had 7 or 8 cases in a single year group and 5or 6 across the others. Pupils isolating are also back up for year groups that have not been sent home etc

This week we've had a third of staff off. Not sure how many of these are positive cases as we are not being told but there have been at least 6 in only 2 dept. Close contacts appears to be only the kids directly next to the pupil on seating plans even if there are 3 or 4 more within 2m behind or in front.

At this rate I expect most staff to have caught the virus in the next couple of weeks. Some are older and vulnerable or have extremely vulnerable people at home. No one seems to care as long as the school stays open. I'd hope they would proactively test all staff or close for a deep clean or similar. The rate in the community is 4 infections per 1000 people and the rate at the school is at least 3 to 4 times that from students alone. The rate for staff far higher.

I suspect that asymptomatic cases are rife since the cases in this one week exceeded that for the first 5 weeks. I don't mind admitting I'm pretty worried and feel pretty disposable at the moment.

I dread to think what will happen next week but in our situation a circuit break might settle things down again

Wow pheasant!! That's terrible! What sector and phase are you in? As pp has said, totally negligent. Must be hard to have an SLT like that! I'm thinking of all those vulnerable family members who will have no idea what's heading their way. So sad...

@RubyandBen In the 80s when I was at secondary school there were teachers strikes that went on for a couple of years. We were sent home repeatedly, no one really kicked off about it and there was no remote learning provision. The strikes were about duties and length of lunchtimes.

Both DH and I 'suffered' under this... we are both now teachers wishing that duties and lunchtimes are all we needed to worry about.

Imo all schools should have been open first as priority back in June. Possibly part time, and then seen what wiggle room they had for other sectors.

If the government hadn't wasted millions on the ridiculous furlough scheme, there'd be money in the pot to help those industries now.

But of course nobody wanted schools to open in June, everyone wanted to wait for the magic month of September.

Over the last few weeks I've seen more and more groups of teenagers hanging around in town during school time, and parents with younger school age children at shops etc. Most likely sent home to self isolate being close contacts. But they're not. Shutting the schools isn't going to stop this kind of mingling.

Ruby I think it really depends on how it was handled.

In my dc school they were cut adrift for 3 months then all of a sudden sparodic random classes appeared.
Not many dc turned up and the school had the absolute cheek to blame the students.

However at my setting, at friends schools setting... Mix of private, grammar and comp, got on line within days of lock down.
This gave the feeling of continuity and strength. There would be no holiday or slacking.
Students were required in some cases to get dressed in school uniform for 9am! If they did not turn up, parents were called within 10 minuets and chased.
Or the older child.
There was no room for students to simply not turn up. It was business as usual.
So it can be done, I've worked it myself, seen it, seen others do it.

A balance is best, after I'd say a 3 week minimum lock down now!

@monkeytennis97 I don't remember being sent home for MONTHS. Where did you go to school?

[quote RubyandBen]@monkeytennis97 I don't remember being sent home for MONTHS. Where did you go to school?[/quote]
In London. I'm not identifying where. 1984-mid to late 86.

I don't remember being sent home from school for up to a year.

But of course nobody wanted schools to open in June

Schools did open in June

You say part time but the govt said no which is why they only opened to particular year groups.

It was worse as it was on/off during this time.

No deadly disease to worry about though.

I did write 'we were sent home repeatedly' that does imply going back and being sent home again.

Teachers don’t qualify for furlough, don’t spout bollocks

They don't qualify for furlough because they are paid in full no matter what. It's not really bollocks.

@monkeytennis97 no offense but you really can't compare a few days off now and then to this. I was also school in the 80s.

If we had blended learning in my school, we might have every year in 50% of the time.

Instead, we have our exam years out completely

All year groups in completely is just not an option for us any more.

[quote RubyandBen]@monkeytennis97 no offense but you really can't compare a few days off now and then to this. I was also school in the 80s.[/quote]
It wasn't a few days off! It was years of repeated disruption. Oh and you're right you can't compare, the teachers were striking over length of lunch breaks not a deadly virus. I bloody wish we would strike quite frankly at the moment.

Thats not to mention children trapped in homes with abusers, drug addicts, alcoholics. Where school is a respite

I'm sure someone will throw in the "vulnerable children can still attend school" card but how many children in these circumstances go under the radar?

I could get on bored with a temporary 2 week closure its just like another half term break. What bothers me the most is I don't believe it would just be 2 weeks. How long is acceptable to keep sat in front of a laptop day after day? No face to face, or at best very limited social interaction with another human being outside their home for a significant period of time.
We forever hear no one cares about teachers but in reality no one cares about the children. Theres collateral damage whichever scenario we are in.

@SaltyAndFresh

The thing is we don't know whether the school spread is actually hospitalising anyone or whether not very ill children are just making other children not very ill. The first would be a problem the second isn't really is it?

Can I ask, @TrustTheGeneGenie, what other coronaviruses only transmit from child to child rather than from child to any other human host? Idiot.

Can you refrain from name calling? Considering half the country aren't allowed to see relatives the only other people but me and dp our child could give Corona to are people at school, most of them children. Same will go for a lot of people.

Engage your brain before you start throwing petty insults around.

@Nellodee

If we had blended learning in my school, we might have every year in 50% of the time.

Instead, we have our exam years out completely

All year groups in completely is just not an option for us any more.

Can you do completely remote?

I didn’t see any handwringing over vulnerable kids with child abusers when 13,000 kids were home for two weeks in Birmingham (now 10,000 I think), due to rampant infection.

I guess some people only care if they can be used as an argument to keep their own kids in school.