Schools open for half a term now with no serious cases...

[RubyandBen]

I know there's been lots of DC and teachers off either because they've had CV or been in close contact with someone who has. But it seems there hasn't been anyone very ill (hospital ill) because of this. So measures do appear to be working. As it's sounding like only the ecv are going to be getting vaccinated (if one ever appears), should just the DC with CV stay off school and parents be given the choice to keep their DC off if in the same bubble? Would be much less disruptive.

[IloveJKRowling]

And I think like most things, if everyone else was doing it, they'd be fine with it.

[IloveJKRowling]

I'd be delighted for mine to be tested regularly at school.

[Starlight101]

And my 6 year old already participates in the monthly swab study. The unpaid one might I add as I’ve had idiots in here suggest that I force him to do it for the vouchers We explained what it was, how it could help others and gave him the choice of doing the first swab or not. He didn’t mind at all and has done them every month since with no bother at all. Some children have to go through much worse in life.

I reckon lots of people would moan and wouldn’t want their little darlings swabbed as part of any school study when a lot of children would just take it in their stride.

[Starlight101]

@Ginogineli

Dd was in class with a child on Monday who has since tested positive and hasn’t been sent home as they sit on opposite sides of the class room - phe agreed with the schools contact list

It’s 2m for 15 mins and they don’t sit together so it’s fine

Some schools are simply not reducing bubbles or monitoring contacts enough

It may be officially 2m for 15 mins but studies have actually shown that this is ridiculous in an enclosed space and that it spreads everywhere. I wouldn’t want to send my child in if someone had been in the classroom with Covid for gods sake. I don’t want my child to contribute to any spread. I’d rather take the 2 weeks isolation. I would be beyond incandescent if we weren’t told about any cases in the school.

[EachDubh]

If we want to know how schools are doing with c19 cases ee need to choose some schools to do weekly testing of the whole school. We would get a very clear picture of what happens within the school population. At present we just say it doesn't spread because there appear to be so few cases. But we know younger people are often symptom free or display different symptoms so we aren't testing a sufficient number of children to see what is happening. If the results from this showed that over a few months there were very few cases within schools then we wouldn't need to close schools or ask bubbles to isolate. So why are we not doing this? Could it be because there is concern that c19 is present in far greater numbers in schools than we are aware of? Is it a lack of testing? Perhaps parenta wouldn't be willing for their child to participate, I don't know. We do not have any robust data in this country around schools, we know that the measures taken to resuce risk are weak and that with best effort kids are mixing on transport and after school if not in school. None of this is schools fault, schools sgutting is not the fault of schools and until we have data that clearly shows, from mass testing and retesting, that schools are not where people catch covid then we cannot allow arents to just choose to send in children.
Incidentally my school, 550 pupils has had no cases, since lockdown, that I am aware of. I know that we are not being told, partly due to data protection about possible cases etc. In fact i found a pupil of mine was positive before lockdown not through my work but the grapevine.

[Aragog]

And yes - we aren't being transparent within our own schools. The guilt of phoning school to tell them far outweighed the fear of being in hospital with Covid for a short while. The playing down of how you feel in real life is real - you don't really want real life colleagues to know, especially if you're concerned you might be one of the reasons it's now in your school affecting others! I didn't have close contact with any other staff but since my diagnosis several others have tested positive. It's obviously a concern!

[tinytemper66]

We had 1 teacher off after a positive test and 5 classes at KS3 had to isolate. I am amazed that is all the cases we had.

[Aragog]

Thank you. I'm getting there, albeit a bit slowly.

I do think it's important that people do realise that teaching staff are getting it and they are ill, but parents may well not be aware that's even happening in their own child's school.

Hopefully by the end of half term I'll be well enough to return. I'm just hoping I have got some immunity from all this so I might actually stay safe from doing this all over again. And I haven't even been 'that ill' really - I mean I didn't need help breathing and my hospital stay was brief. But it's been bad enough to not want it again!

There's only so much we can do in schools . We can't pretend schools are Covid safe. All we can do is see you soon that we know we need schools open, teachers want schools open but equally we would like to feel that we are being considered in all this too.

I'm 47, I'm clinically vulnerable for Covid. But my medical condition doesn't mean I would normally have a shortened life span. I'm not going to be a statistic in all this!

I know it's a pain if you or your child has to isolate for a fortnight, but honestly, if it stops one of your child's teachers or classmates from being ill maybe it's worth it in this short term.

[IloveJKRowling]

Do any parents know if this? No. Most staff I work with don't know this. They also don't know how many staff have no tested positive across school, let alone if they're poorly with it or not.

@Aragog I've been reading your story and I'm so sorry you've suffered so much. I truly hope you are well on the road to recovery and that it won't take too long to get back to your former self.

You're right, there is no way parents would know. One of the things I've found personally most difficult about this is the secrecy and the lack of trust I feel in institutions and some individuals to be honest and transparent. The WHO said at the start that transparency was important in tackling covid-19, but we have precious little of that in this country. It's partly, I think, why we've done so badly. Everyone is afraid to speak honestly.

Thank you so much for posting and providing some of that much needed honesty in the middle of what is clearly a very difficult time for you. I think it is important that stories such as yours are heard. It's all too easy at the moment for people to stick their heads in the sand.

[Aragog]

Does your school track secondary school students during lunch breaks? What about in school buses? It at normal break times? Between lessons?

[Aragog]

Gino - I work in an infant school. SDjng isn't possible nor expected with this age of children.

We clearly are tracking hence different rules for each case that's happened. But the reality is that in an overcrowded infant school where classrooms are interlinked and space is restricted then sometimes it affects all year groups.

I work across every class. It was pure luck that my symptoms and positive result came through at a time when it was over a weekend and my class contact was so low. Had it happened a few days before or a few days after it would have closed a number of classes. As it happened none were affected. That was pure luck.


As for whether people are becoming very unwell. I was in hospital and admitted overnight due to Covid. I'm only just in the road to recovery a fortnight and half later. I'm still shattered every day and still have breathlessness and chest tightness. If my blood pressure hadn't been checked as routine I could have been even more unwell. Luckily medication was able to bring it to a less dangerous level to reduce the risk of stroke or heart attack.

Do any parents know if this? No. Most staff I work with don't know this. They also don't know how many staff have no tested positive across school, let alone if they're poorly with it or not.

[Glitterynails]

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince I can’t leave right away. I’m a pregnant teacher and need the maternity pay to survive while I make an exit plan. But I’m terrified working without social distancing in a tier 3 area and the attitude of so many posters on this site towards all school staff including vulnerable and pregnant ones is awful. My health and the life of my unborn child do not matter. It stinks.

[TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince]

Glittery nails. The horrible attitude is what has made me leave😞

[Ashard20]

Sorry - Downton!

[Ashard20]

@Dowbton57 and @Glitterynails
I totally agree. Meanwhile on another thread, posters are indignant that their children should properly self-isolate when a bubble closes and not be allowed to go out. Total disregard for the bigger picture. A lot of people need a serious reality check.

[Glitterynails]

@Downton57 it’s a horrible attitude to read. The attitude towards teachers during all of this is what will make me leave the profession.

[Downton57]

This thread is hard reading. Some posters basically saying they are willing to let teachers die so that schools can stay open full-time. Teachers are having to go to work without any decent protective measures being put in place and parents seem all too willing to swallow government lies about schools being safe places and Covid secure. If only the government was willing to spend money on making it so.

[cologne4711]

My son's 6th form college has had one case this half term - they and the students who were in close contact are all back at college now.

There have been two cases at one of the local secondary schools (with around 2000 pupils). I don't know about the other secondary, which is smaller. The primary schools have had cases but remained open and I've not seen anything in local FB groups about whole year groups being sent home.

[ForthPlace]

gino do you work in a school, there seems to be so much you don't understand. As you don't understand it is pointless you trying to work out how PHE apply their expert knowledge.

I've had full schools shut, for instance...only two positive cases across a large junior and infant school...but closed because this was two key staff with responsibility for safeguarding. From the outside you would not have the information to know the reasoning behind expert decision making.

[Notthemessiah]

I have no doubt that the SLTs at many schools are deliberately down-playing, minimising and keeping children, parents and other teachers in the dark about positive cases because they have been told to keep the schools open at all costs and, like all good middle-management, they know which side their bread is buttered and who butters it for them.

It really doesn’t take a genius to work out that while cases may be levelling off in older school year groups, all of the homes they have taken it back too are responsible for the current rise in cases in the over 40s.

[Mistressiggi]

12 in Maths, 12 in English, 6 in French, 12 in RS, 6 in Geography, the whole lot in PE - not a year group no but certainly a whole class

[IceCreamAndCandyfloss]

I’d rather they sent the whole year group home, makes it less likely to spread (obviously depending on parents actually following isolation rules) and teachers only have to worry about the remote side. 2m isn’t some sort of magical container where after that distance the virus knows not to infect anyone.

It would be much better to just go remote with secondary and take the stress of both children and staff along with the worry of bringing it home every night. Maybe the R rate will drop in time before flu season hits in force.

[Ginogineli]

Agree mistress but that’s not whole year is it? And whether they’re have been cases of infection from fleeting contacts is irrelevant as it’s not the guidance 🤷‍♀️

[Mistressiggi]

Depends where a positive case (pupil) sits in the room. Back row, in the corner = 5 others within 2 m (that's just one class though).
Sitting in the middle of the middle rows - 12 students within 2m. And then add on the contacts from all the pupil's other classes.

[IloveJKRowling]

2m is not a magical distance. There are lots of examples of people having been infected 2m away from the positive case. In fact, there have been examples where people have been infected when getting onto a bus or lift after the infected person has left.