Will you Christmas isolate if your child is sent home?

[DBML]

I was just wondering...

If your child is sent home from school to self-isolate in the last week before Christmas, will you stick to the isolate period even if it interrupts your festive plans?

I am a teacher and so I’m never required to isolate no matter which year groups we send home. Therefore, I’ll be ok to mix with family and friends over the Christmas period.

My year 11 son is halfway through his 3rd isolation period right now and the last time, he was back in school just a few days before being sent home again.

He’s spent months cooped up in the house, unable to see his grandparents or cousins and only socialising via online games.

He goes back to school next week and I’m hellbent on him having a Christmas to look forward to, more so because he’s so excited (and he hasn’t been this excited since he was about 9) So, I am not sure I would stick to any self isolation period. I work at the same school as my son attends atm, so if I don’t have to isolate it seems ludicrous that he should.

My parents are young and fit, but I do have grandparents in their 80s who are also insisting on being involved this Christmas. They are depressed, fed up of not seeing anyone and damned if they are not joining in the festivities. They will not be told no. So I’m leaning towards keeping my son off anyway, though as a teacher I’m despairing at how much school he’s missed compared to other year 11s nationally.

How are others going to manage the sensitive issue of year groups/ classes being sent home in the last week?

Yes if applicable we would self isolate because we don't think we are do special the rules don't apply to us and our precious darlings.

Would be utter pants mind.

@EmbarrassingMama

I have decided to keep my son off, so no chance he’ll have to SI over the festive period (earlier in thread).

I will not be required or advised to SI.

So, should my family and I just be penalised because of my job? And take it upon ourselves to SI?

Or am I ok to go?

Apparently we should be 2m away at all times, so no need to isolate

Wow. Not a chance would I achieve that.

Not many of my colleagues would either, I don't think. We've kind of accepted that, due to staff, our whole Year 5 through to Year 8 are pretty much one bubble, although officially it's Y5/6 and Y7/8. There'd be so many staff needing to isolate if there was a case in those year groups that we'd have to close to Y5 up and teach completely online. Our younger year groups are much better bubbled.

Weve all had it a couple of weeks ago so we won't be isolating again. Were only seeing my parents and grandad and theyve all had it too. I know its possible to catch it twice but I feel the chance of us catching it twice within 8 weeks is small enough not to worry about.

He’s spent months cooped up in the house, unable to see his grandparents or cousins and only socialising via online games

Why has he done this? If he’s in his third period of SI then the maximum he needed to be inside for was 21 days. So why has he not left the house for months ? Why isn’t he attending school ?

Why is he SI at all if he doesn't leave the house?

@DBML you know that you are a risk to your extended family if you go. You know your parents and grandparents are aged, so likely to recover less quickly or, lets face it, not survive if they get Covid.

Do you want to be the one who spreads it? If you found out that you had passed Covid to one of them after the event, would you feel as though you couldn't have done more to protect them, or would you feel guilty? You're the only one who can answer these questions.

But it is not "you and your family" who are being penalised this Christmas. It is millions of families.

@S00LA

2 weeks each time. He will go out for a walk, but that’s about it.

am a teacher and so I’m never required to isolate no matter which year groups we send home

Your school is breaching guidelines nicely there. What a lot of nonsense, there’s teachers off all over the UK!

@Brunt0n

am a teacher and so I’m never required to isolate no matter which year groups we send home

Your school is breaching guidelines nicely there. What a lot of nonsense, there’s teachers off all over the UK!

And in the real world teachers are only sent home if they actually test positive.

So, should my family and I just be penalised because of my job? And take it upon ourselves to SI?

You should take steps to mitigate the spread of the virus, especially to those most vulnerable. As should everyone.

If you’ve had multiple outbreaks in your school you’re clearly quite a high risk and need to factor that into your social contact behaviour.

OP if your ds was at my or many other schools he would not need to isolate unless he sat within 2m of the positive case, or ate lunch with them. Staff never isolate, unless they have been in close contact for 15 mins+
If he is asked to isolate, would they tell you who the case was so could do your own assessment of risk? I'm guessing not.

14:56Comefromaway

Brunt0n

am a teacher and so I’m never required to isolate no matter which year groups we send home

Your school is breaching guidelines nicely there. What a lot of nonsense, there’s teachers off all over the UK!

And in the real world teachers are only sent home if they actually test positive.

Not true. My teacher friend had to SI for 14 days after a pupil she'd had close contact with for hours tested positive.

Luckily, friend didn't catch anything; amazing really.

Yes totally I would!

DS1 is finishing college attendance on the 10th ( virtual lessons after that) - so hopefully limited chance he'll pick up Covid from college and still be isolating on Christmas Day

DS2 is still in until the 18th so that's a risk.

We have planned to be at home on Christmas Day, just us, anyway so that will be fine. Due to see my parents on Boxing Day so that wouldn't happen but not the end of the world

I’d me more concerned about potentially passing on the virus to your elderly grandparents than trying to cheat the system.

And in the real world teachers are only sent home if they actually test positive

Don't be ridiculous. We're not some kind of specially exempt breed of people. If we're told to isolate by track and trace we must isolate. Sounds like some teachers are very good at distancing from pupils and/or some schools are cheating the system by saying teachers are always distanced when they aren't. But if a teacher was contacted by track and trace, they'd have to isolate like anybody else.

There's been no case where I work but we've still had teachers isolating - in one case because their child's bubble had popped and they had no childcare, in one case because their mum tested positive and they had been close to her and in one case because they were contacted on the app - they think it must have been from a cafe they'd visited at a weekend.

@LadyCatStark

Interested to know how I’m trying to “cheat the system”?

And in the real world teachers are only sent home if they actually test positive

Nonsense. My child’s teacher stayed at home because her child had symptoms.

Another teacher has to SI because a pupil’s sibling tested positive.

And that’s just the ones I know about ( as a parent ) . In one school.

@manicinsomniac

I guess T&T ask the HT:
Is anyone within 2m for more than 15 minutes and the HT says no.
Then, it’s on the teacher to speak up and say ‘I was’ and no one is going to do that where I work. Even though, many of our interventions call for fairly close 1-to-1 contact.

OP, I can't believe you're not required to isolate if you've had contact or are in a bubble with others that are required to. We had 26 staff isolating last week (a complete and utter nightmare) and all of us were asked to come forward if we felt we'd had contact with any of those who'd had a positive test and been overlooked.

Even if you're not required to isolate by the school, if you've had contact with a positive case, surely you're legally required to isolate (please put me wrong if I've understood this anyone) and wouldn't risk passing it onto anyone in your family!

Xmas won't be the same for anyone this year, not matter what age. We just have to try and make the most of it and be grateful that most of us still have our loved ones around.

[quote DBML]@manicinsomniac

I guess T&T ask the HT:
Is anyone within 2m for more than 15 minutes and the HT says no.
Then, it’s on the teacher to speak up and say ‘I was’ and no one is going to do that where I work. Even though, many of our interventions call for fairly close 1-to-1 contact.[/quote]
Pretty much that, yes.

When there is a positive case the head speaks to PHE (think it might be d of E in a state school) and they tell her who must isolate. In September teachers were often sent home. Now they never are even if it's a teacher who has tested positive and another staff member has been team teaching with them.

Yes op that would be my experience of the system. Isolating due to external contact, or something involving your own dc perhaps, yes: isolating due to teaching a positive pupil for a couple of hours, no.

@ifonly4

OP, I can't believe you're not required to isolate if you've had contact or are in a bubble with others that are required to. We had 26 staff isolating last week (a complete and utter nightmare) and all of us were asked to come forward if we felt we'd had contact with any of those who'd had a positive test and been overlooked.

Even if you're not required to isolate by the school, if you've had contact with a positive case, surely you're legally required to isolate (please put me wrong if I've understood this anyone) and wouldn't risk passing it onto anyone in your family!

Xmas won't be the same for anyone this year, not matter what age. We just have to try and make the most of it and be grateful that most of us still have our loved ones around.

The teachers are not told who has tested positive (just a member of our school community) so it's very difficult to actually come forward.

...having said that, none of the staff subsequently got sick, unless they were asymptomatic.

Yes, I would, of course.

@ifonly4

I’m not in a bubble at school. Teachers are just floating around all learners (secondary).

If T&T got in touch with me because I was in contact with someone at the gym or a restaurant then yes I’d have to isolate.

If my son or husband have symptoms then I’d have to isolate.

But, if a year group goes off, we are not told which child is isolating and as a rule, we are not meant to be within 2m...so no need to isolate. That’s across the board in my LEA, not just my school.