Is a change beginning to happen regarding schools?

[Covidfears]

I’ve been noticing more articles lately in the mainstream press about the difficulties in schools (which will come as no surprise to most people). There’s also been some research which has basically confirmed that schools are driving infections. So, along with it looking like this lockdown has been a waste of time (due to schools being kept open to continue the spread) and people in power calling for Hull schools to be closed do we think that schools will be closing early for Christmas?

Is there any chance that blended learning or rotas will be coming in after the Christmas holidays?

We are a vulnerable family with children in primary school and the risk that sending them every day with no safety measures poses to our family is causing me huge amounts of stress.

@Nellodee

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that people saying they had no cases could fuck off - only the ones that insinuated that because they had had no cases, everyone else was exaggerating the problem.

Its fairly clear to me whats been going on in the north.

Its being hugely under reported on a national level in terms of bed problems and school issues.

I have extreme frustration with this especially with the naval gazing data nerds only interested in case numbers snd deaths. It misses a huge problem.

At one point i ended up ranting to a friend who works for the bbc about this regional difference and her attitude was that 'the detail wasn't relevant to the rest of the country'.

Yes it fucking is, if its indicative of a problem that could move elsewhere.

Interestingly having noticed the bed problem in one place and them being unusual in publishing the daily number of occupied beds, the same council are now realising a daily report of the number of schools and early years settings with cases and the number of children who are isolating at home. Its been over 2000 kids a day since half term.

Theres clearly an issue and the council are very aware of it but seem to be unable to do a lot but publish the data.

I think anyone facing this daily and/or directly has every right to scream, be rude or otherwise angry at the absolute shit show of this and how people just aren't interested, dont think it important, relevant or worthy of acknowledging.

They can all get fucked. The information is there. Its just not being tracked or collected well to create a picture. Its not interesting cos its not dead bodies nor has it got a sufficient sob story for human interest tv.

Its 'just the north' full of 'selfish idiots' who should 'just follow the rules'. Anyone in the midst of it with half a brain cell can see this is prejudiced bullshit and its 'rather more complicated than that'.

But hell if you point that out its a bit inconvenience and something might have to be done rather thsn sitting on hands and pretending theres no problem because its not happening on your patch.

Thursday is going to be interesting. By interesting i mean uproar and arguments all over the place when new stricter restrictions for the tier system are announced (yet tiers1, 2 & 3 are being rewritten and 'standardised' so everyone can understand them yet again).

You can bet your life the north will still be stuck in ongoing restrictions not much different to this second lockdown and its going to cause distress, anger and frustration especially in Greater Manchester who still remain particularly fucked with very little sign of the problem resolving.

Honestly the whole thing is a farce and fucking obvious by now that high schools are the elephant in the room no one but the local newspapers really wants to touch with a barge pole. Even when it has been reported more widely theres an uncomfortable 'lets just skip over this inconvenient story' as quickly as possible.

I'm sure retrospectively this will all come out and it will be of fuck all comfort to all those saying it all along.

@Xenia

Danmask-19’ trial results are out. They used about 6000 people and half wore masks and half not. Just about no difference which probably show the government was right in the UK earlier in the year not to require mask wearing (and is wrong now) and why the government is right not to force school pupils and teachers into them.

www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6817

www.spectator.co.uk/article/do-masks-stop-the-spread-of-covid-19-

Interestingly even though this is a proper study facebook or its automatic tools have apparently been stopping links to it two academics said.

There are 3 issues with that study unfortunately.

1. They did not get other household members to also wear masks outside the home
2. The results have not been repeated elsewhere and in fact there are many other studies that say the opposite
3. We know masks protect others more than the user - which is why everyone needs to wear them.

Great posts, Nellodee and RTB.

My area is halfway between the situation in E Yorks and not affected at all. I just wish people would realise it takes very little time to go from Fine to Hull and even less to go from Nearly Fucked to Fucked.

Untenable. Disgraceful.

Just noted the attached as well - it seemed that the mask wearing group had unfortunately more households with an infection in another household member. Quite a lot more. Which is just chance.
That's the problem with such a small sample. This really needs to be repeated in an area of higher prevalence.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1330294388354899969.html
ONS, breaches, + teachers: THREAD

Today I reported an ONS breach to the UK Statistics Authority.

This is an interesting thread read.... It has some criticism on twitter but i think there are definitely some very fair points on here.

@WhyNotMe40

Just noted the attached as well - it seemed that the mask wearing group had unfortunately more households with an infection in another household member. Quite a lot more. Which is just chance. That's the problem with such a small sample. This really needs to be repeated in an area of higher prevalence.

It does, doesn’t it?! It should be so easy to get large samples and perform some Big Data analysis to it and yet it’s not happening.

@Nellodee

This pretty much says everything you have.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/exam-fears-funding-crisis-teachers-19318621
Exam fears, a funding crisis and teachers at breaking point... how Greater Manchester's schools have 'descended into chaos'

Education leaders say northern schools are paying the price for pandemic in more ways than one

Thousands of pupils, teachers and support staff have found themselves isolating. For the most unfortunate, it's their fifth time sent home.

FIVE TIMES. TEN weeks in ISOLATION since September??

How on earth is that better than home schooling and at least being able to leave the house in that time?

How on earth is that better than home schooling and at least being able to leave the house in that time?

Well it's clearly not, and I'd be worried about the lack of exercise over 10 weeks for any child. Not everyone has a garden. And I'd suspect it becomes ever more unlikely that people with in this situation WILL isolate.

What's happened to the 'vulnerable children' gang now? Those who seemed to use vulnerable children to open schools without meaningful mitigation (like masks), seemingly not caring that the lack of mitigation would mean children could very easily end up isolating and out of school rather a lot.

I think it said it all when they were putting places into Tier 3, and totally ignored Humberside. We're just not click worthy. I honestly feel this is what this has descended into. Not, Does this place need help? But, Does anyone care if we don't bother helping this place?

@Nellodee

I think it said it all when they were putting places into Tier 3, and totally ignored Humberside. We're just not click worthy. I honestly feel this is what this has descended into. Not, Does this place need help? But, Does anyone care if we don't bother helping this place?

Nellodee, its because the government don't have a map that goes outside London. They probably don't know where Humberside is. Just East Yorkshire. And yes I am being 100% serious.

I'm not going to disagree at all, RTB.

To be honest, I doubt they even know that (E Yorkshire).

There's London and the SE, Scotland (because we want to best Sturgeon) and then that bit around Manchester with those gobby North Westerners.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/two-primary-school-teachers-fighting-23053290.amp

At least something truthful about schools is being reported now. Very sad for these teachers, their families snd the school community. I hope they make a full recovery.

Shame about the misleading temperature check photo in the article and the money the council wasted on advertising that schools are safe. That money could have paid for extra cleaning and other risk mitigations in a school.

😪Absolutely devastating. Thank you for posting this. So much is kept quiet.

I wonder if there will be cases bought against schools/local authorities by staff or parents but I suppose the argument would be it could have been picked up anywhere.

I hope those two teachers make a full recovery.

A lovely young teacher at my school was sent home for self isolation today. This is the second time. She’s young, lives on her own with her dog and struggled the last time. She was in tears this morning ‘ I can’t cope. I can’t do this again.’

So many of us in schools have been angry at the way we’ve been treated the last few months, but today, at my school, we were just so sad. I’ve been lucky and not had to isolate, but I live with my husband, kids and dog. But to be stuck alone, inside, every day for 10 days...

We’ll be ‘forming a square’ around her and provide as much support as we can as her family live in a different city but the undeniable fact remains that she’s in this emotional nightmare because her job puts her at risk.

It’s just so shit.

My Y10 son has had 4 periods of SI from school since Sept (West Mids).
Now he has Covid as do several classmates.

My other Y10 at a different school was also in SI.

This is no way to exist. Months now of self isolation for healthy teens in key exam years. This is more disruptive than anything.

How is it fair that next year they'll sit exams with those whose education has remained in school and unaffected since September?
We barely get a week in before they're back home.

Now my boy has Covid and was quite poorly with it, yet he's a fit strong boy generally. We must wait to see if his asthmatic brother contracts it now.

This is a postcode lottery but as it mainly decimated the North and the Midlands nobody gives a shit.

@Kingsley08

A lovely young teacher at my school was sent home for self isolation today. This is the second time. She’s young, lives on her own with her dog and struggled the last time. She was in tears this morning ‘ I can’t cope. I can’t do this again.’

So many of us in schools have been angry at the way we’ve been treated the last few months, but today, at my school, we were just so sad. I’ve been lucky and not had to isolate, but I live with my husband, kids and dog. But to be stuck alone, inside, every day for 10 days...

We’ll be ‘forming a square’ around her and provide as much support as we can as her family live in a different city but the undeniable fact remains that she’s in this emotional nightmare because her job puts her at risk.

It’s just so shit.

I'm sorry you are being left hung out to dry like this. It makes me so angry too.

I'm so sorry, Middleager, that is terrible.

I hope your ds gets well and his brother doesn't develop it.

Yes, it's utterly unforgiveable that no-one cares about the students constantly self-isolating. Not just missing their education but having to stay in the house for 14 days x many occasions.

I also know of year 11s who have had 3/4 periods of SI and others in the same year/school who've had none.

Thanks Dangling

Everyone seems to argue that closing schools is bad for kids mental health-- but while we are open, we have a significant number of kids who are not only at home but forbidden to leave the house for weeks at a time. How healthy is that?

I think the use of the word close though really doesn’t help. I don’t think anyone is advocating going back to the March situation where education was lost and no one wants that

Moving school to online though is a very different thing. A teacher in DS year (primary) was positive so they moved the entire year online for the next two weeks. To stop spread. He is still at school, still has 4 lessons a day (with his teacher over teams) and work to do after. He isn’t missing out at all. And it is easier for everyone that the whole year is learning in the same way

A local high school has moved to online learning for 2 weeks as so many are self isolating - learning is still being done and the building is shut

It’s not ideal and it is tougher (on teachers/pupils/parents) but it is the safest option but it isn’t school being closed

Attendance data just in...

And as predicted, things are getting worse. 3/4 of secondaries affected, 10% of kids out of school. Will they notice?

@noblegiraffe

And as predicted, things are getting worse. 3/4 of secondaries affected, 10% of kids out of school. Will they notice?

They might notice but they won't care.