Pulling children out of school...

[monkeytennis97]

In March schools started closing as parents pulled their kids out in droves and teachers and kids went off sick or isolating. Given the much higher numbers today and sadly the near 600 deaths yesterday is anyone thinking of doing this? Schools are on their knees in so many ways at the moment. I'm a secondary teacher and really think rota learning should come in now (for secondaries) to minimize numbers in schools to keep them as open as possible until Christmas. Will parents start pulling kids out again? I am only talking in respect to secondary schools.

There is no big budget at dds school either. It’s a school on special measures in a deprived area. Most parents refuse to wear masks in the play ground, two have been banned from the site for trying to punch the head when he politely asked them why they didn’t have them on.

@starrynight19

I one hundred percent think schools without cases are simply running on luck or a very big budget to apply the safety measures the who recommends.

Exams need to be cancelled now to take this insane pressure of the staff and students.

In areas where schools are struggling the local authority need to be given all the support from the government they need to help schools through the massive difficulties they are currently facing. Some schools are at crisis level , not all and they need to be supported accordingly.

Doing nothing is not working.

Agree with this.

My DD is in year 2, her school have had 1 case which closed 1 class in a year so far.

DDs teacher is currently self isolating so TA is leading the class and they have the teacher up on the smart board via video link running some of the lessons from home.

I think there may be slightly higher absence in the 2 weeks preceding Xmas as some people will want to isolate the whole family for 14 days to allow visits to vulnerable extended family over the holidays.

We won't be doing that, we've already accepted it will be a distanced Xmas this year and DD will be at school every day she can be.

No- in fact our school has told us they won't put them in for their exams unless the attendance is good. Presumably that is apart from periods sent home for isolation. They are really concerned about periods out of school and the significant disruption caused to the pupils education. However they are sending whole year groups home for a single case.

I would love to. My children both have additional support needs and the chaos and disruption is causing a lot of distress.

However, my eldest is in S4 and in her National 5 year. Despite assurances that work is made available to any child not at school for any reason, there's nothing on any of her Teams. She also has to be present for the constant testing and assessing that is going on in her year. At this rate, she'll be leaving school in the summer with no qualifications 😭

No- in fact our school has told us they won't put them in for their exams unless the attendance is good.
Oh the irony I hope that is without self isolation included. My dd has missed 5 weeks (3 lots of isolation) since September. More than she has missed since year 7 - 10 inclusive. If it carries on I honestly don’t think she would care if they didn’t put her in for exams she is so stressed.

People certainly weren't pulling their kids out in droves at DS's school. It was business as usual until lockdown started. The only place I hear about people pulling their kids out is on mumsnet.

Ah sorry, he's at primary though and I see you're just talking about secondaries.

I wonder if some of these schools which are performing better should be sharing what theyre obviously doing right (and I live in Sheffield where cases are fairly high currently).

A Very blame ridden naive statement.

1. Infection rates within a school are very dependent on ventilation and so how the school is laid out and how / when it was built.

1. Risk assessments are developed with local PHE experts who will visit the school and make recommendations.

1. Some parental cohorts are far more diligent and rule abiding than others. Nothing the school can control.

Cases were much higher in my postcode area a while ago and yet it's now it's hitting the schools here. Before, it was among younger age groups without children; students, young professionals (many round here.)

Also, local restrictions in September were brought in, then eased in October. There's been a rebound effect in the wider area. The area isn't comparable to other areas that didn't have that restriction.

I didn't at first but now 2 children in my youngest class have covid, and 3 cases in the academy my eldest attends. My youngest was off 2 days last week so technically doesn't need to isolate apparently, but I'm keeping him at home to isolate anyway. I've also had my eldest off for the last 2 days because I really feel quite anxious about it and he is struggling a bit emotionally (fist year in high school).

Some schools are at crisis level

They really are. So many full
Closures locally and many staff ill so unable to teach.

I have year 11s on a third and in some cases fourth period of SI too. There will need to be some very specific algorithm in place to ensure fairness, should they still all have to sit the same exams. Even for those who are in school, the lesson is significantly less productive because I need to stay close to the screen in order to be heard by those listening in from home. No funding for tech of course.

No one here pulled their kids out before the first lockdown though, I don't think anyone is doing it now either.

Not to mention how much pay staff and obviously parents are loosing if they have to take leave to look after a child who's bubble has closed.

Some schools are very kind and grant extra paid leave (to a point, not huge amounts) others haven't.

If you have rotas and smaller classes but key worker children in, it reduces numbers considerably.

This has been detailed in the latest guidance so don't assume it will never happen.

There will be plenty of asymptomatic cases in these schools that are supposedly ‘doing it right’ too so I think it’s unfair to say some are doing it better than others although clearly some have more resources to hand than others which helps.

No one here pulled their kids out before the first lockdown though, I don't think anyone is doing it now either.

Um, yes they did! And some schools shut a week or two before as they had no staff.

We didn’t go back. I know a few families that have pulled out and then on the whole been pressurised into returning, and some that are thinking of it now we are in lockdown and numbers climbing.
The problem is it’s so hard to fathom out as you have to think about where we are heading and not just where we are now 😢
It’s rubbish but I think things will be a lot better in 2021.

Do not assume all parents get their children tested.

Nor tell school they themselves have tested positive. (And send the child in)

I've seen this several times in my own school as well as heard such
stories repeatedly elsewhere.

@palacegirl77

My daughter is in y7 of a large senior school. Theve had only close contacts off (non of which developed covid) and only 3 occasions since September. I wouldnt say they are "on their knees" at all. I wonder if some of these schools which are performing better should be sharing what theyre obviously doing right (and I live in Sheffield where cases are fairly high currently).

I’m assuming the school communicate all positive tests to you? My daughter’s school certainly don’t - parents only find out if their child has been a close contact.

@hyperbolistic what about the school staff? There are plenty of school staff who are vulnerable.

No kids need to be in school if possible. We have been lucky and my kids have not been sent home at all (yet!) My son even had a case in his class but only a part of the class was sent home - I was surprised as I assumed whole year groups were being sent home.

• Do not assume all parents get their children tested. Nor tell school they themselves have tested positive. (And send the child in). I've seen this several times in my own school as well as heard such stories repeatedly elsewhere*

I believe this completely. So many reasons for them doing it, none of them make it right and it is so frustrating!

Apparently rates round here are getting higher, we were in tier 2 before lockdown and the bigger towns and cities that surround us have really high numbers but at the moment our town is doing ok.
I wouldn’t pull the dc out of school, although would support high school If they went to a part time option. Primary need to stay in as long as possible though.

This needs to be done on a local level not like last time. Why should those in low level areas suffer because of high rates in other areas? They need to wait until their rates creep up (which they more than likely will) before they close their schools.

I’ve had to hide several fb ‘friends’ as I am so fed up of hearing Them go on about closing schools. If YOU want to home educate, get on with it. No one is stopping you. Some of our children need to go to school for the sake of their (and those they live with) mental health.

@thewinkingprawn

There will be plenty of asymptomatic cases in these schools that are supposedly ‘doing it right’ too so I think it’s unfair to say some are doing it better than others although clearly some have more resources to hand than others which helps.

I think if there were, there would also be plenty of very obvious cases. It's unlikely that they would all be asymptomatic and not pass it on to others who wouldn't be so lucky.

[quote SquashedFlyBiscuits]@hyperbolistic what about the school staff? There are plenty of school staff who are vulnerable.[/quote]
Don't be silly, they don't matter. So long as there's enough left to provide hyperbolistic's dc with an education.

I feel the government has seriously dropped the ball on this. Schools could have been already implementing a more sensible timetable. Eg Week 1 - year 7 do humanities with the same teacher and class, while Yr 8 are doing maths etc. It wouldn’t be ideal at all and perhaps the schools would need to finish at 2 to allow for the extra planning but it would be far better than school closures.