I hope they announce that senior school age children have to wear masks in lessons.

[shesellsseashells99]

Just that really and teachers of course!

Surely they should be wearing them in the class now?

[Waspnest]

DD will have to wear a mask in lessons from tomorrow ( in England) but then the rules at her school have tended to be stricter than the guidance (and as a result they've only had one confirmed case). I was against them having to wear masks in school initially but actually DD is used to wearing it on the school bus and in the corridors and is fine with it so I've changed my view - if it keeps schools open and everyone safer I'm all for it.

[UpToMyElbowsInDiapers]

Where I am in Canada all kids need them all day, ages 4 and up (excluding lunch). It’s been relatively uncontroversial. I’m a bit surprised at how fraught this issue seems in the UK where cases are so much higher!

[EachDubh]

If we want to keep schools open and reduce bubbles popping then the chances are it will be masks for all, the other options are blended learning or online learning. Hard choices to be made and doing nothing is no longer an option. For glasses wearers there have been a few suggestions if different ways to stop steaming up, I'm not sure how good they are but my sister is a nurse and spenda all day in her mask without her glasses steaming up.

[Mokusspokus]

To catch covid ideally you need to spend 15 mins in the same space as the infected person.
Passing in corridors is a risk but masks in corridors is another placebo.
Unfortunately I do think masks on in class, regularly changed and windows open, heating cranked up.

But we won't get that...

[SE13Mummy]

DD2 is in Y7 and worrying that masks will become compulsory in lessons (they're already wearing them outside of lesson time) because we've yet to find one that doesn't result in her glasses fogging up. By the time she arrives in her form room, she cannot see (multiple flights of stairs) but without her glasses on she feels unsafe. We've tried various things, including different mask designs and contact lens training but as she couldn't remove the lenses herself, it's not an option at the moment.

[Porcupineinwaiting]

@Susanwouldntlikeit pretty difficulty to keep an air of normality when people around you keep getting sick or having to self isolate. What would be more normal is wearing a mask, everyone around you wearing a mask and not a constant merrygoround of in and out of school.

[megletthesecond]

Yes, they should.

I've emailed both dc's secondary schools and our MP to support masks in secondary school.

[Prokupatuscrakedatus]

Susanwouldntlikeit

There are quite a number of reliable studies on the effectiveness of masks for reducing risks for others, so 'deranged' is not the term I would use.

[DBML]

I’m a teacher and I’m quite hard of hearing. I need to lipread. I would feel safer if pupils kept masks on, but I’m afraid I’d have no idea if/when they were speaking to me or what they were saying if they did.

[Stillgoings]

Yes I think it is clear that they should.be wearing them in class.

[Susanwouldntlikeit]

No!
Secondary teacher here. Masks required in corridors which is bad enough, but at least they are removed in class. There is the odd pupil —with a deranged parent who insists— who keeps it on in class and just ignore that , but no, they bags are weird enough already let’s give the kids some level of normality in this hyperbolic hysteria.

[CorvusPurpureus]

@Shieldingending

I really hope not. Do you have any idea how many children in mainstream school still rely largely on lipreading?

My dd2 is one of them - she attends the school where I teach.

Her teachers can choose to wear either a visor or a mask with a clear window for lessons she is in.

Obviously it's not ideal. She's been withdrawn from one subject so she can spend time being supported by the curriculum support dept - basically, the teachers who know she's struggling with their subject tip off the SEN Dept re what they'd like her to have help with.

I'm very grateful to all my colleagues who are going the extra mile to support her!

[Prokupatuscrakedatus]

Actually - I am on public transport at all sorts of hours and I cannot remember the last time I heard sb of any age sneeze or cough.

[shesellsseashells99]

@notevenat20

All secondary school children in France wear masks. Because it's universal no one seems to mind.

Yes, my friend told me this and she said they have hardly had any coughs or colds either so obviously working, whereas in the first few weeks of secondary here, loads were off with coughs and colds.

[DipSwimSwoosh]

As a teacher I would struggle. I keep 2m away from students at all times as instructed by SLT. I am claustrophobic and teach languages, so a mask would make things nearly impossible for me. I would rather distance teach actually.

[Prokupatuscrakedatus]

@AllDoneIn
You are right - I have to wear masks at work now, too and you really get used to it. I don't enjoy it, but if it keeps me in work and my DS at school...

[AllDoneIn]

The bleating on this thread is what is stopping us getting on top of this virus. They have 3 year olds in Singapore wearing masks. Secondary age pupils can wear masks. It will take them a few days to get used to them just as it took me a few days. I literally teach all day in them. I don't even notice them anymore. They are less tolerable when you wear them infrequently. When you wear them all the time you literally stop noticing them. We adapt.

[OnLockdown]

Everyone over 6 years old wears a mask at all times in Spanish schools. Inside and outside. Windows are open all the time too.

[Prettybluepigeons]

I think you should spend an entire week as a secondary school pupil - which is hard enough - and do it in a mask before you say that.

Yet they seem to manage in a shopping centre without any problems ?

when you're walking around the shopping centre, you are not needing to think and concentrate. Unlike surgeons who wear them for long periods of time over many years, we are not used to it enough to make it easy to wear one and perform to the best of our ability.

Corridors and communal areas-yes but not classrooms-it is just TOO hard.

[Prokupatuscrakedatus]

Sewsisew
The N95 have to be cleaned after 40h, but I do it dayly.
DS just got a pack of 5 resuables to take to school and change as needed.
What suprised me was the amount of simple street dirt I wash out of them before submerging them in water (90°C).

DS has been wearing masks to school and about since schools restarted in August - so far no cases at his school (ca 750 pupils y5 to y12).

[Sewsosew]

Don’t masks become ineffective after a certain length of time, when they get damp?

[AlexaShutUp]

I can’t believe what I’m reading. why on earth would kids need to wear masks in lessons? What a horrendous idea. Please think about it rationally .

If you think about it rationally, it makes a lot of sense. As to why kids might need to wear masks...I think it's pretty obvious, isn't it? To protect school staff and to reduce transmission of the virus in society as a whole.

[allabitboring]

DS has been wearing a mask all the time since the start of term in his London school- year 7. Totally used to it now. Very very low number of cases despite 1000plus children coming in mainly by tube and bus every day.

[Michaelschofield]

I can’t believe what I’m reading. why on earth would kids need to wear masks in lessons? What a horrendous idea. Please think about it rationally .

[Mistigri]

In French secondary schools and universities masks have been required at all times since September. There probably isn't much virus transmission in the classroom at all.

Unfortunately they can't wear masks to eat in packed school restaurants at lunchtime ... my DS probably got covid sitting next to an infected student at lunchtime.