The government is encouraging covid spread in schools

[noblegiraffe]

Bear with me, because if they're not, you have to explain this:

1. Schools will stay fully open end of. Even when they're not.

1. No masks allowed in classrooms where teachers and pupils spend the most time. The expectation that they would be mandated in corridors is fudged at the last minute to lockdown areas only.

1. Pupils are not allowed to be tested for the symptoms that kids are most likely to get.

1. Teachers (who in secondary will teach all bubbles without masks) are not to self isolate if there is a case in a class they have taught.

1. Fudge any data that may show teachers getting ill at a higher rate than the general population and Chris Whitty lying about it

1. Fudge data that may show school pupils having a higher infection rate than the general population

1. Not permitting / trying / mass testing in schools where there have been cases in case they find out how bad the spread is.

1. Actually sending letter to parents to tell them to stop getting kids tested.

9 Fine parents who try and keep their kids off when in contact with a known positive case.

10. Launch a propaganda campaign to convince parents that schools are safe using data from schools in lockdown, which every news outlet dutifully publicises. Continuing that propaganda campaign by releasing a video of socially distanced school kids wearing masks in classrooms.

11. Hide Gavin Williamson in a cupboard so that no journalist can accidentally ask him how his aim to reopen schools safely is going.

12. Announce that one of the school safety measures will be children in bubbles which will burst when there are cases. Stop this midway through September and start sending home as few kids as possible. Remove the schools remit from PHE control and put DfE in charge to enforce this.

13. Produce a Tiered system of responses to infection levels (rotas, masks, closures) to reassure parents, and shut the unions up. Then never mention them again and in fact state that they are not to be used.

14. When Hull begs for rotas due to imminent collapse of system, send a letter to all local authorities re-iterating NO ROTAS

15. Have some strange control over the media so they don’t mention any issues, or if they do, it must be accompanied by a picture of a jumbo classroom containing max 5 kids.

16. Tell teachers to ignore the app when it tells them to isolate, or to turn off the app completely

17. No funding for schools to implement any covid safety measures

Any other explanations for this list?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55057125

BBC News
"Collapse in Secondary Education"
1 in 5 missed school last week, due to Covid/isolation.

Thank you so much noblegiraffe.

You have much more clarity about this situation than me - I've emailed a tweaked version of your letter to my MP.

69 posts advertised with a January start. That is unheard of here. I often browsed to see what was on offer before all this. You wouldn't see that many jobs advertised for a September start let alone mid year.

Off to read the bbc link.

Did you all enjoy the piece on BBC News at 6 that accompanied this story? An English class with 4 (count em) students in it, and about 10 going single file down some stairs.

The stairs footage was particularly hilarious.

@SophieB100

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55057125

BBC News
"Collapse in Secondary Education"
1 in 5 missed school last week, due to Covid/isolation.

Finally! The problems are being reported by the bbc! There's an email at the bottom of that article if anyone wants to comment.

Why does that article have a picture of a numpty member of staff standing less than 2m away from a student with no mask on? Hardly leading by example is he?

Noble please do email a reply to the bbc article with your points on...

news.sky.com/story/covid-19-almost-three-in-four-secondary-schools-have-students-at-home-self-isolating-12141117

And similar from Sky News

That picture is rather old : it was a first day back at school pic form September. Staged , obvs.

Thank you so much @noblegiraffe. Copied, added to and sent to our MP.

The BBC report says only 0.2 % confirmed pupil cases. But doesn’t clarify if this is 0.2% of pupils sent home, or 0.2% of pupils generally.
Also ignores the fact that you can only get tested if showing symptoms (or if told to), but that the symptoms listed are adult ones, and children often present differently.
Obfuscation is the name of the game.

I have no idea because the figures usually seen give a higher percentage than that for the whole population of secondary school students going by ONS data.

No idea what that 0.2% figure is - unless it's only 0.2% of close contacts actually manage to get a test.

Sky News also have a class with four students all wearing masks with half the desks taped off.

@TheHoneyBadger

Usual story with one rule for us....

My school is presumably considered, 'open to most pupils'. We have in fact closed to year 8 and year 9 due to critical staffing issues and in addition to those two year groups we have a further 270 kids self isolating.

4 new cases today, unsurprisingly as the case that emerged last Friday and resulted in having to partially close was in a new group that hadn't been hit before only the 'close contacts' were sent home despite knowing it was likely rife in the year. Some parents decided to test (no doubt done by lying on the website) and that's 4 more positives already.

I spent my weekend recording lessons and updating remote learning platforms etc and spent my day off today checking in with students, answering questions, marking work of those who'd done great and got it submitted and recording clips to summarise what they should have learned.

Ds whose year group has closed has had 2 lessons work out of the 10 he has missed in these two days. Not overly impressed. My department is definitely getting it right others are frankly taking the piss with the effort they've put in and I've made my thoughts clear to the person whose supposed to be in charge of remote learning.

Bit frustrating when I'm putting it days of extra work to support my remote learners and some colleagues are doing nothing for my son.

People telling good teachers to quit if they are stressed or want a safe job - please stop! We really need to hang onto the ones who DO give a shit so education doesn't go completely down the toilet.

In the nicest possible way you surely can't be condoning staff working all weekend to upload online learning?

Managers will assume it's doable in the time given if you grind yourself down.

They need to see that we can do 1 or the other but not both.

If 0.2% of pupils are confirmed to have covid last week, but the infection rate modelled by ONS random sampling is 2% for secondary and about 1.25% for primary, then what that demonstrates is an awful lot of cases not being caught by testing.

WHO KNEW?

@noblegiraffe

If 0.2% of pupils are confirmed to have covid last week, but the infection rate modelled by ONS random sampling is 2% for secondary and about 1.25% for primary, then what that demonstrates is an awful lot of cases not being caught by testing.

WHO KNEW?

You're not suggesting that:

1. Gov know most infected kids will be asymptomatic but still infectious

And

1. The symptoms that kids get are not the ones you are allowed to test for, and they also know this....

... But are handily ignoring this when talking to the media so all is pretty little mummies and air headed teachers don't get all het up and "hysterical" - are you?!

You know bride I just want my students to be ok. Sorry if that seems treacherous but that's my priority at the minute. Years 8 and 9 have been fucked over by having school shut to them (presumably old enough to not need babysitting but not terribly important because they're not exam years even though year 9 is the start of gcse).

The year 8s who do want to learn have had a hard time of it this term because they're shoved into one block without enough room, with only 3 toilets for all of them and some students with really poor behaviour at the best of time let alone when shut in the same room all day every day and with the doors open so the noise from other classes makes it hard to focus. Now school is closed to them and they're stuck at home possibly on their own with their parents at work and trying to make sense of what they're meant to be learning.

So yes, I did spend my weekend recording videos and I did answer email questions and give feedback on work that I don't have to technically let alone on my day off.

If I was full time it wouldn't have been necessary perhaps as I'd have more time in work time to get things done given 2 year groups are out but I'm part time and I have my own child not allowed in school to take care of supporting so I used my weekend.

No I'm not advocating people should have to work all weekend but having a load of gain back time from two year groups being out should provide more than enough time to be setting at least some attempt at meaningful lessons rather than nothing at all or an inappropriate powerpoint being linked to.

That laziness makes us all look bad I'm seeing now as a parent because I literally have lost any respect I had for the teachers who haven't bothered to do anything - I work at the school my son goes to. I know the clarity of guidance we've been given and how clearly it's been laid out what is expected if students can't be in school and I know how much gain back time people are getting because I can see their timetables and I know there's a whole block of empty classrooms plus a floor of another block available for them to use.

I'm not complaining that they've not worked all weekend but that they've seemingly taken all of the spaces on their timetable from year 8 and 9 being out as paid holiday. You surely don't condone that do you?

Not a case of 'condoning' them. More likely they're covering for colleagues in the other year groups but honestly, who knows.

However if you can't fit your job into the allocated hours (no bashing here, no teachers can. Most of us do extra etc) and have to work all weekend and on your day off then maybe they can't fit their job into their hours and also can't put the extra hours in because of toddlers at home, looking after elderly relatives or just needing to crawl into bed after work.

No not covering. One gained 5 lessons of non contact in the 2 days because of his year 8s and 9s being out yet didn't set anything for them.

There is such thing as lazy people who don't care in all professions. Providing remote education is mandated now so the time gained should first be used for that. Realistically if you're gaining 5 hours where you would be teaching 2 year groups you've obviously got time to produce at least one decent lesson for each of those year groups.

Article today about secondary absence. www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/education-55057125
Both my kids are off now due either to an outbreak in their year or staffing problems due either to teachers isolating or looking after isolating or ill kids. We were in the lowest tier before and my kids hadn't had to be out of school at all until now. It's just suddenly got worse round here. Another local secondary school is shut completely

Article is called "Collapse in secondary school attendance

Totally agree, i have 5 dc at 3 different schools. Whole bubbles are now not being sent home. Just a select few who have apparently been close to positive covid subject. Every week ive had one of them off, I have chosen to take them out for 2 weeks as our area is very bad with cases. All 3 schools agreed, infact the secretarys at all 3 schools have admitted to me many parents have made same choice and they feel unsafe to be working and they believe kids shouldn't be at school during such rising numbers all in their own words. One headmaster wasn't too happy but i told him I'd be willing to go to court to avoid a fine and I know i will win

Why are these bloody useless news outlets reporting a 'collapse in secondary attendance' as if it's linked to 'increasing numbers of pupils isolating' and not linked to the complete lack of mitigation measures in schools?

It should be 'collapse in secondary attendance' due to increasing infection rates in secondary school children causing more students to need to isolate and more school closures due to lack of staffing fuelled by the government insistence that large groups of people congregate in small, poorly ventilated rooms for long periods of time with no masks on.