Secondary schools minimising positive results

[gingerbread88]

I wondered whether this had happened in other schools/areas?
Our local senior school has an outbreak that hasn't been clearly communicated.

If the school sends a message out now, it will basically be saying it knows parents have not complied with a crystal clear request for their children to self-isolate and it's too late now, but it just wants to let parents know how stupid they are.

@Walkaround alas no I think you're right. I am growing very weary of the virus deniers and the traction it is taking, you only need to look at my local FB pages to see they're lurking everywhere in high numbers ready to jump on any Covid related local post armed with their misinformation. I think you're right, there's a cross section of society who believe the virus is a load of bull and no one should follow any isolation rules so even if they were told 70% of the school had come down with it, you would be presented with the Dominic Raab snippet saying that only 7% of positive results are accurate, losing battle.

you only need to look at my local FB pages to see they're lurking everywhere in high numbers ready to jump on any Covid related local post armed with their misinformation.
You've seen my local Facebook pages I see

I don’t understand why we’re being lied to by schools, and who directs school staff to lie about the situation?
I witnessed a parent asking a teacher why a bubble in the school had closed. The teacher responded that it was "because someone in the bubble had been asked to self isolate".
Minimising massively, and the teacher knew it. The bubble had closed because of a positive case in a student in said bubble. ie, our school /our year group. Perhaps a way of minimising hysteria, but what bullshit.
The concerned parent had asked because they live with a cancer patient.
Every case I’ve heard of in our area has come from schools.
Our local college has had a massive outbreak, yet It isn’t being managed properly at all.

The thing is, if someone in a class tests positive, the whole class really needs to isolate, as anyone in a room for hours with an infected person could become infected.

This goes against what the DfE tell the school to do though, which is to only isolate close contacts at secondary school unless there are several outbreaks within one year group. Because the DfE apparently knows that the virus can only spread to those sitting within 2m of you in a classroom. DH's head closed a year group against the advice of the DfE and received a written reprimand from them.

I witnessed a parent asking a teacher why a bubble in the school had closed. The teacher responded that it was "because someone in the bubble had been asked to self isolate".

How is any of that a lie though? What more information do you need? You can't know the exact child, teachers often aren't told that either due to GDPR.

The thing is, if someone in a class tests positive, the whole class really needs to isolate, as anyone in a room for hours with an infected person could become infected.

But you need to balance that against the loss of school time for 2 weeks for a lot of pupils who only had a small chance of becoming infected. And an even tinier chance of becoming very ill with it.

And there might even be some build up of immunity if pupils do catch the virus.

@Therollockingrogue - with respect, it was a silly question. Why else would a bubble be asked to isolate, other than because they were all at risk from having caught covid 19 from someone else in the bubble? You cannot possibly calculate how specifically at risk your own child is (who knows whether or not the affected person was a superspreader or not, or if there were already several other people spreading the infection in that bubble who haven’t been tested yet?), so if told to isolate, you do as you are told because this request means you are at risk as a result of your child being in that bubble. There is nothing else you need to know. They wouldn’t ask the entire bubble to isolate if they didn’t think the entire bubble was at risk, as this thread shows.

I agree with you OP totally. People have missed the point that at the moment people aren't complying with the request to self isolate and so do need to be encouraged to do so. It's all very well saying that they are wrong but what surely we all want is for more people to comply to help reduce the R.

In my opinion the thought process goes.

A. School doesn't disclose the extent of the problem just requests that everyone self isolate.
Parent thinks; There's only been one or two cases at my child's school what a ridiculous over reaction asking all the children to self isolate. The chances of my child actually having it are very small what harm can it do a quick trip to the park to meet their friends.

OR

B. School informs parents that dozens of children are ill.
Parent thinks: OMG loads of children at their school have got it. My child really very well might have it or catch it. Let's just stay at home and not meet up with anyone. No way is my mum coming over to visit.

Parent A is a fool.

@Noideawottodo

Parent A is a fool.

They may very well be a fool but a lot of people will think this. My point is not that they are right but that the more the school minimises the extent of the outbreak the more people will think like this to the detriment of everyone. I agree with OP.

Our secondary communicates fully about any cases

@MarjorytheTrashHeap

The thing is, if someone in a class tests positive, the whole class really needs to isolate, as anyone in a room for hours with an infected person could become infected.

This goes against what the DfE tell the school to do though, which is to only isolate close contacts at secondary school unless there are several outbreaks within one year group. Because the DfE apparently knows that the virus can only spread to those sitting within 2m of you in a classroom. DH's head closed a year group against the advice of the DfE and received a written reprimand from them.

Very interesting re the written reprimand. I had no idea the DfE were public health experts

Also there are A LOT of Parent As out there.

School informs parents that dozens of children are ill.
Parent thinks: OMG loads of children at their school have got it. My child really very well might have it or catch it. Let's just stay at home and not meet up with anyone.

I'm really not sure that many parents will think this.

I knew this would happen.

Schools cannot win.

On one hand we have people shrieking that schools are safe, children aren’t at risk, teachers are lying bastards.

On the other we have people saying community transmission is now up to schools to sort out and teachers are lying bastards.

I give up.

Just saying in my hypothetical example it was supposed to be the same parents having different reactions depending on whether the school communicates the full extent of the outbreak or not.

@SmileEachDay

I knew this would happen.

Schools cannot win.

On one hand we have people shrieking that schools are safe, children aren’t at risk, teachers are lying bastards.

On the other we have people saying community transmission is now up to schools to sort out and teachers are lying bastards.

I give up.

I don't understand who you think is saying this? I thought OP just wanted better communication from the school. Some people have posted to say their school is communicating clearly about the extent of ourbreaks, others that they are not.

Yes it 100% happened in a school I worked in this half term gone.

I was literally sitting with a kid at lunchtime and she told me her brother has confirmed covid but she was told that she can come in because she wasn't in his bubble. Nothing was said. Bubble remained open, his sister was in school and only like 3 kids who'd sat near him sent home.

Ludicrous. I didn't catch it though in so far as I know.

@GrapefruitsAreNotTheOnlyFruit I totally agree.

The only potential problem - and possibly this is the one the DfE are most concerned about - is that you then get

Parent C:
Aaaaaah everyone's gonna die I'm gonna keep my precious babykins at home with me and never send them back to school until all this is over!

(If Parent C or babykins or another household member is ECV this may actually be a reasonable conclusion.)

We have been told very specifically that whole year groups do not need to isolate (secondary). Any students who have been sat near a positive case in lessons need to isolate- we have seating plans so this is fairly easy. The student is then asked who they were with at break and lunch and any other close contacts- they will also have to isolate. I have no idea if other schools have been told differently, I think we would send a whole year group home only if there were multiple cases. Any case is clearly communicated to parents - a general letter for all and then specific guidance to the close contacts.

I think we would send a whole year group home only if there were multiple cases.

Or if close contacts couldn’t be reliably established due to e.g. a positive case being in school for several days.

[quote Augustbreeze]@GrapefruitsAreNotTheOnlyFruit I totally agree.

The only potential problem - and possibly this is the one the DfE are most concerned about - is that you then get

Parent C:
Aaaaaah everyone's gonna die I'm gonna keep my precious babykins at home with me and never send them back to school until all this is over!

(If Parent C or babykins or another household member is ECV this may actually be a reasonable conclusion.)[/quote]
It is a bit off topic but I really really wish the government had used the time since March to establish a proper online school offering the national curriculum and different gcses for the main boards.

And that extremely vulnerable children or those with awful health conditions in the immediate family were allowed to enrol at the online school with a place being saved for them back at their original school for when this is finally over.

Covid aside, it would be useful anyway for children with mental health problems, school refusers, children having cancer treatment etc etc

It is a bit off topic but I really really wish the government had used the time since March to establish a proper online school offering the national curriculum and different gcses for the main boards

I don't know why schools don't just live stream lessons for these vulnerable kids. Govt could have stepped in with money for laptops for them.

There is a government-funded online school

www.thenational.academy/

Govt could have stepped in with money for laptops for them.

They were supposed to. They failed to deliver.