Now we know why the govt were suppressing the schools infection data

[noblegiraffe]

...because for secondary it’s very worrying.

They choose to release it the day before we break up for half term, too late for any circuit breaker like the other U.K. countries.

They’ve quietly removed the assertion that schools aren’t high risk settings from the guidance. At what point are they going to start to be honest about the risks, particularly in sixth forms and colleges?

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/928749/Weekly_COVID-19_and_Influenza_Surveillance_Graphs_W43_FINAL.pdf

[christinarossetti19]

Case in point re: ideology not 'affordability'.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-54675620

[Whatshouldicallme]

@christinarossetti19

That's shocking. billions spent on furlough every MONTH and over half a billion spent on EOTHO but no investment to keep kids safe and learning.

[christinarossetti19]

It's heart-breaking. I cannot imagine what it must feel like to be a Head at this time and receive an email like that.

But I'm sure it's as simple as they opened up the money box and there was just nothing there.

Wankers, utter wankers.

[MrsHamlet]

We're running a huge deficit so we can provide the resources for the students.
We're all on tenterhooks because it is likely to mean redundancy. Do we cut learning support staff, hurting those with SEND? Or do we chop a subject, reducing options at GCSE and A level? Do we get rid of the counsellor, the nurse and the learning mentors, and reduce support for the vulnerable? We can't increase class sizes because we're already at capacity... so those are our choices.

[Whatshouldicallme]

@christinarossetti19

The furlough programme cost £14 billion per month. There is no reason that spending can't be allocated to education. It just hasn't been prioritised, sadly.

[Starlingbird]

@noblegiraffe. What does your Head Teacher and whoever else are the signatories of the risk assessment say about the school being unsafe due to Covid risk?

[WhyNotMe40]

[quote Starlingbird]@noblegiraffe. What does your Head Teacher and whoever else are the signatories of the risk assessment say about the school being unsafe due to Covid risk?[/quote]
But the government and the DfE say schools are safe, and that PHE agree with them. So they say.

[WhyNotMe40]

www.bbc.com/news/education-53795439

[noblegiraffe]

What do you want them to say?

We all know it’s a sticking plaster but it follows the DfE guidelines and has been signed off by the health bods.

[christinarossetti19]

@MrsHamlet

We're running a huge deficit so we can provide the resources for the students.
We're all on tenterhooks because it is likely to mean redundancy. Do we cut learning support staff, hurting those with SEND? Or do we chop a subject, reducing options at GCSE and A level? Do we get rid of the counsellor, the nurse and the learning mentors, and reduce support for the vulnerable? We can't increase class sizes because we're already at capacity... so those are our choices.

Yes, the emotional burden and anxiety that teachers are carrying is horrendous.

It truly is heart-breaking.

[Starlingbird]

@noblegiraffe

“What do you want them to say?

We all know it’s a sticking plaster but it follows the DfE guidelines and has been signed off by the health bods.”

I agree with you that following the government guidance doesn't make the school safe.

That’s why I’m interested whether you’ve raised this with the Head or other risk assessment signatories?

Does the Head believe it’s unsafe too?

[noblegiraffe]

Does the Head believe it’s unsafe too?

If he did, who would you expect him to share it with? He can't go around telling his staff that the school is unsafe. He certainly can't tell the parents. He has the responsibility of managing anxiety levels on top of everything else.

Just like I reassure the kids about who counts as a close contact when half their class has been sent home and yet they are still in, despite having been in poorly ventilated classrooms for extended periods with a positive case.

[Nellodee]

My head told me I was fine because I had been 2m (pretty much exactly) from one of the positive cases in my class.

I told him there was nothing magical about 2m. He replied, "No, there isn't."

And that was it.

[Sonnenscheins]

My head told me I was fine because I had been 2m (pretty much exactly) from one of the positive cases in my class.

Would you prefer it if they changed it to 3m?

I thought 2m was enough to prevent the transmission. In Germany it's only 1.5m.

[PineappleUpsideDownCake]

2m isnt going to be enough to prevent transmission when there are a lot of you in a poorly ventilated room.

Even early on I read studies about airflow in an office and in a restaurant. Both affected people more than 2m and both followed the airflow in the room.

[Sunflowers246]

2m isnt going to be enough to prevent transmission when there are a lot of you in a poorly ventilated room.

Could the windows and doors be opened?

[HipTightOnions]

That’s why I’m interested whether you’ve raised this with the Head or other risk assessment signatories? Does the Head believe it’s unsafe too?

At my school, whenever anyone points out that the RA is being breached, we are told that we need to deal with our own “personal issue” and are otherwise stonewalled. I might have some sympathy with our Head - the RA is impracticable but it does follow the gov. guidance - but it’s very unsettling when our concerns are simply dismissed.

[PineappleUpsideDownCake]

I open the windows in my class but I only teach sdults so I am given about 7 in a room as that's been risk assessed for the room.

The windows dont open fully. Often this is intentional to stop kids escaping. A few windows that do wont provide enough fresh air for 30 people. It just doesn't. There's calculations that are above my brain that work it out.

[Starlingbird]

Heads have a duty to provide a safe school for staff.

A head who believes the school is unsafe can share this with superiors, the local authority, academy owners, the Health and Safety Executive, unions etc

I understand the difficult and dangerous position schools are in.

[noblegiraffe]

And maybe they are, Starling, but I am not privy to those conversations.

[PineappleUpsideDownCake]

Heads are in an impossible position arent they. Full on cognitive dissonance.

Have to reassure parents and children its fine. While knowing it really isnt.

[HipTightOnions]

@Starlingbird

Heads have a duty to provide a safe school for staff.

A head who believes the school is unsafe can share this with superiors, the local authority, academy owners, the Health and Safety Executive, unions etc

I understand the difficult and dangerous position schools are in.

I have no idea whether our Head believes it’s safe or unsafe. That’s one of the things I’m finding difficult!

[noblegiraffe]

Full on cognitive dissonance.

Definitely had that. Reassuring anxious kids while they bring up well-founded concerns.

[MrsFezziwig]

2m isnt going to be enough to prevent transmission when there are a lot of you in a poorly ventilated room.

Could the windows and doors be opened?

@Sunflowers246 this is page 26 of the thread. I think maybe someone thought of your groundbreaking suggestion already.

[EmpressoftheMundane]

I’ve just tried to Google the number of teachers hospitalised for COVID. Can’t find any stats.

I’ve also just tried to Google the number of school aged children hospitalised for Covid in the UK. I’m struggling there too. We know deaths are miniscule and cases are meaningless since many kids will be asymptomatic.

I want to know the real impact of all this. How many teachers are ending up in hospital, how many kids?