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

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.

If no one was handwringing over vulnerable kids in Birmingham they should have been.

And as you well know the point of the post was to say that IF it went on for longer than 2 weeks then children would be in vulnerable situations for longer than they should be, and we know you'd be the first one after the 2 week closure saying they need to remain closed. As I stated in the comment you are referring too a 2 week closure is no different to a normal half term break.
I guess some teachers only care about children as long as they don't have to be the ones teaching them. We can all make smart arse shit house comments when it suits 👍

@Nellodee

My school were adamant we had no cases. And then lots of people came down at once. I think going for a while without a confirmed positive can lull you into a false sense of security. I would bet that every school has been affected, whether they know it or not. The problem isn’t how the school population deal with it though, it’s where they take that virus when they go home, and that we don’t know/can’t prove. That’s when the government has to question whether schools are having an impact on Covid spread in the community.

I feel your pain about exam years. My own son is in year 11 and I am heartbroken for him. He’s an A* pupil, but people will always doubt his grades when he gets them. Especially as I don’t think for a second exams will go ahead. He also doesn’t get to see his girlfriend, he doesn’t get to see his friends, but he’s a resilient kid and is finding other ways of doing things. Thank goodness we are in such a technological age at least.

@TrustTheGeneGenie or parents lose their jobs in hospitality/arts/non essential shops etc etc as well HAVE to keep schools open'.

Remember we are talking about SECONDARY SCHOOLS... particularly the 16+ age range

Yes, I am.

Have you spent over ten hours this week, within 3m of diagnosed positive cases, without a mask?

[quote monkeytennis97]@TrustTheGeneGenie or parents lose their jobs in hospitality/arts/non essential shops etc etc as well HAVE to keep schools open'.

Remember we are talking about SECONDARY SCHOOLS... particularly the 16+ age range[/quote]
Closing schools ain't gonna open arts though is it? Closing schools doesn't make theatres and concerts safe, does it? No. No it does not. Stupid comment.

Yes I am well aware we are talking about secondary schools.

@Nellodee

Yes, I am.

Have you spent over ten hours this week, within 3m of diagnosed positive cases, without a mask?

What are all your class positive cases? Are you providing them with health care?

I think there is a clear case to be made that over-16s should be taught remotely, perhaps something occasional in person like a fortnightly school/ college visit per subject for focused learning that can't be done remotely (chemistry / biology practicals for example), masks mandatory. If that age group won't study without an adult at home, then they aren't studying anyway.

11/ 12/ 13 yo can't really be left home alone all day responsible for "studying", and the infection rates are so low for that age group that I just can't see a justification for why they shouldn't be in school. From the evidence to date, I'm not convinced the younger age groups are catching nor transmitting covid as much as the older groups, certainly not in school, whereas including 11/12 year olds in any plans creates too many barriers to fixing the obvious issues with the oldest age groups.

14-15 had slightly higher risks than the young ones from previous rates shown, so it seems to make sense to have more mask-wearing at school for them and for teachers. Remote learning seems a bit extreme for them given infection rates, but maybe helpful in areas where community infection rates are very high.

@Nellodee

Yes, I am.

Have you spent over ten hours this week, within 3m of diagnosed positive cases, without a mask?

Why are they in school?

@TrustTheGeneGenie

No, I’m not happy about it. But we are where we are. I didn’t cause this. You didn’t cause this. None of us want this. It’s out of our control.
I hate it, but I have hope that it won’t last years.

Noblegiraffe schools opened for some year groups in June. The government then opened a load of other risky stuff. Cases were already rising then they opened schools in full and universities and colleges.

Imo they should have prioritised all year groups back in June to see how that went.

What people on these threads should remember when they're dishing out insults as parents, is that we are all at the mercy of this useless shambolic government and this blasted virus.

@TrustTheGeneGenie

Are you in all seriousness comparing yourself to a nurse on a covid ward?

Wow. Just..... Wow.

Well.. we work in places where there are cases of Covid and so do they.

@Qasd

Teachers wanting to shut schools when they remain on full pay in any event is hardly surprising..oddly bar and gym staff don’t share this view about their workplace but then they don’t have the 100 percent furlough scheme accessible to teachers.

They also don't get shut into a small Badly/non vented for several hours, so hardly comparable

NOT A TEACHER just a human who doesn't want teachers as collateral.

Well.. we work in places where there are cases of Covid and so do they

Yeah me n'all but I'm not so deluded that I think I'm at the same risk as them. Christ.

I guess some teachers only care about children as long as they don't have to be the ones teaching them. We can all make smart arse shit house comments when it suits

My post about the lack of care for vulnerable kids except when it suited to make an argument wasn’t actually aimed at you.

Your ‘smart arse’ comment doesn’t make sense when aimed at someone who has been teaching for 15 years, does it?

It would have been a lot cheaper than harsher lockdowns that cripple so many businesses to

1. give kids of 11+ proper access to tech and then teach all lessons so that they can be accessed remotely AND in person. (This is what local private schools are doing - video the lesson and allow kids to attend in real time via tech but also allow pupils to attend from home live on teams etc - then some kids just would have stayed off throughout and been home schooled with school support, some would stay off when they feel even slightly dodgy etc). Have at least some circuit breaker weeks per year group where each group is encouraged (but not forced if vulnerable) to stay at home for a week either side of holidays, or allow schools to do a week on and a week off (depending on what suits their demographic - trust the teachers!).

1. Monitor who does and doesn't engage and have proper follow up those who don't attend live or remotely (just like truancy, power to fine parents), with feedback for parents as to students who are not properly engaging - if the system is there properly with proper feedback given about level of engagement with it and the option to engage remotely and in person, it is then the students' and parents' issue if they haven't engaged with it properly. And back teachers on this.

1. Offer free sandwich meals to those students who DO need to attend live, as an incentive to go in if vulnerable. Some of those under occupied sandwich places/cafes could then at least supply schools.

Primary schools should stay open. No debate on that. The science distinguishes, and we should too because the educational needs are different.

Imo they should have prioritised all year groups back in June to see how that went.

And not opened shops?

@TrustTheGeneGenie are you being deliberately obtuse? It's about choices of what we can afford to open... we can't have it all obviously but SAGE have said that closing schools would lower the R 0.2-0.5 (most out of any sector) that may allow hospitality to open and keep jobs going. Yes hospitality which accounts for 4% of outbreaks compared to education's 40%.

In my opinion they should have opened before pubs, restaurants, cinemas, soft play, bowling and whatever else yes.

[quote monkeytennis97]@TrustTheGeneGenie are you being deliberately obtuse? It's about choices of what we can afford to open... we can't have it all obviously but SAGE have said that closing schools would lower the R 0.2-0.5 (most out of any sector) that may allow hospitality to open and keep jobs going. Yes hospitality which accounts for 4% of outbreaks compared to education's 40%.[/quote]
I'm not being deliberately obtuse. You used the arts as a really crap example. You think we should shut schools to open pubs?

We get contacted if someone tests positive and we have taught them within the past 48 hours. I've had four of those. I've also had another who I taught on the Thursday/Friday and by the Tuesday, they had tested positive. I'm counting them as well. They were sat roughly 1.8m away from me for over 2 hours.

@TrustTheGeneGenie

Are you in all seriousness comparing yourself to a nurse on a covid ward?

Wow. Just..... Wow.

That's quite some leap you're making there.

I don't see any comparison in terms of risk. The point is that if someone is TELLING you of their experience, it's not really for you to dismiss their reality, is it? You wouldn't do it to a Covid nurse, so why do you think it's OK to do it to a teacher?

The arts, a crap example? Oh my God. I'm out.

@MarshaBradyo

I'm having to teach both simultaneously. On Monday I have a double with 1 in class and 29 at home.

Insane! How are you doing that?

Dunno! The one in class will be bored shitless by the pace.

"Well.. we work in places where there are cases of Covid and so do they."

Lol. So do loads of people. My DPs workplace has had around 40 cases just on his zone nevermind the whole factory. Loads of clusters. No ventilation and they pretty much work shoulder to shoulder. Those masks are really working well for them... Not.