Angry teachers why aren't your leadership team doing more?

[Blanketyblankblankety]

If there's 2-3 teachers catching Corona daily in one school (15 a week) as stated on another thread why on earth has your leadership team not shut the school? Another school with 66 cases in pupils in one week, why is the school still open?
Before you say the government won't support it, that's rubbish. My DCs school has recently shut for 2 weeks at least to all but year 11 and 13. And they had much fewer cases than above and none in staff.
You should be lobbying your leadership team as they sound useless.

Hahaha fair point!

I'm just incredulous that a school can have 15 teachers testing positive a week and not close? Or 66 students a week testing positive and be open?

Don’t forget that a lot of leadership are non-teaching, or have minimal teaching. They have their offices. They are not on the front line in the same way that classroom teachers are.

@Blanketyblankblankety

I'm just incredulous that a school can have 15 teachers testing positive a week and not close? Or 66 students a week testing positive and be open?

Aren’t we all? I’m just not automatically blaming the school leadership for that.

Good to see that lots of posters have learned about the reality of it all and have had their eyes opened to the negligence of the DfE.

Shame you did not speak up louder before you were personally affected, though. Imagine how things could have been different if there had been this kind of attitude shift in September instead.

We aren't really told how many cases there are as teachers. It's very routine to go into work and follow all the very many rules in schools. I did cry the other day, not in front of kids but SLT were there, they asked me to read a piece of paper full of legal speak to verify that I had not been in 2m of this kid that had been sent home as positive case. SLT didn't know where to loo and I had to apologise. I had a review meeting as a result on whether I'm fit to work. I minimised it all and apologised profusely.
I'm in no position to be jobless. Single mum with mortgage to pay.

@Crystal90567 that sounds awful.
I agree - we are not told which pupils have been tested positive, or which of our colleagues have tested positive. It’s all very hush-hush.

In our school the SLT aren't currently doing more as they're 90% off with covid or isolation.

@Blanketyblankblankety our local secondary has had a big increase of cases and public health and the LEA said they weren't allowed to close!

Dh teaches in an independent school.

Covid is ride.

Leadership refuse to put in place even basic mitigation’s such as a one way system or allocating each bubble somewhere to eat lunch (so they congregate in corridors) or enforcing mask wearing. Practical lessons are taking place with close contact and only a couple of weeks ago students were told that physical touch was ok in a drama lesson.

Infections are rife.

I'm just incredulous that a school can have 15 teachers testing positive a week and not close? Or 66 students a week testing positive and be open?
Because the government want schools open at any cost

You only have to look at some threads on here to see that a substantial number of people haven't a clue what is going on in schools and yet they claim schools are safe, covid doesn't spread in schools, teachers are work shy etc.
Then there was all the goading and baiting before the summer when teachers said that to open safely things needed to be properly thought through. That was apparently proof teachers didn't want to work.
Now teachers are saying the reality of school life and saying what would be needed to keep schools open in a safe way and people are claiming this proves teachers want schools closed.

The government has done a frankly job of spinning the schools narrative.

I'm just incredulous that a school can have 15 teachers testing positive a week and not close? Or 66 students a week testing positive and be open?

Yep me to

I do also think that it will depend on the spread of the 15 teachers / 66 cases across the school, and the school size.

15 teachers could be a large department in a large school. Or a couple of teachers each from every department.

66 pupils could be a single year group, all connected by a superspreading event, or a whole network of students from different year groups and classes and subjects.

While some scenarios could and should trigger a lotal closure, a tight concentration of cases with a clear and obvious link is slightly less likely to than a whole range of cases across the school, indicating widespread transmission.

When our cases were spread across year groups we were told that was evidence that they were not transmitted within the school and therefore of less concern.

We didn't have 66, tbf.

Just a point of information on the ‘DfE helpline’

the reporting helpline was set up to piggyback on the phone number of the existing dfe covid helpline, because that was the quickest way to do it. When you select the relevant option you are put through to a service run by NHS/PHE.

That's interesting Ted - can I ask how you know it is run by NHS/PHE as I know someone who claims to work in one of the call centres and they are non health qualified staff

You are not put through to the local health protection team who used to deal with schools, but a special service for schools that have been briefed by the DfE.

The DfE are furious about how many kids are being asked to self isolate and have set up an inquiry asking schools about it.

"They are also quizzed on where schools within the trusts are “primarily taking their health advice from” – the DfE helpline, local authorities, or neither." (suggesting that the LA may well give different advice to the DfE helpline).

schoolsweek.co.uk/trusts-quizzed-over-covid-cases-in-urgent-commission-for-education-secretary/

@WhyNotMe40

In the grand tradition of mumsnet that would be ‘outing’.
Just because its run by NHS/PHE does not imply the staff are medically qualified - its still a call centre

schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-seizes-control-of-handling-school-covid-cases-after-phe-local-teams-overwhelmed/

@WhyNotMe40

but its not exactly a secret thats its an NHS service, despite the somewhat misleading headline

@noblegiraffe

When our cases were spread across year groups we were told that was evidence that they were not transmitted within the school and therefore of less concern.

We didn't have 66, tbf.

Exactly!

6 separate cases across a school of 1000+, with no plausible link between them - likely to be community infections brought in on separate occasions.

66 cases ..... much less likely to be 66 separate cases of community infection with no link to school!

@Ted27

schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-seizes-control-of-handling-school-covid-cases-after-phe-local-teams-overwhelmed/

@WhyNotMe40

but its not exactly a secret thats its an NHS service, despite the somewhat misleading headline

Ah ok thanks. I was given the impression that it is more "NHS/PHE" ie given the branding, than actually run by them. However the person I know just mans a phone line so doesn't necessarily know the exact set up! But we agree on it being just a call centre!

I hope you are taking it easy and doing ok. You really didn't take long off considering how ill you were

Yeah in hindsight I should have taken longer but I knew school were under a lot of pressure with classes in and out and staff absences high.

I'm getting there in terms of breathing and my blood pressure seems stable now, though still a little high, with the medication. Worst but at present, other than ongoing fatigue, is my arthritis flare so i can barely walk at times. Mix of reduced immunity following being ill and having to stop taking my arthritis meds I guess; fingers crossed that settled now I'm able to do my injections again.

I've had two 'easier' weeks with a day each week wfh and reduced contact. Just got my timetable for next week though and I'm teaching for three full days and two half days, so only half a day less than my normal pre Covid timetable. I'm not actually sure how it's going to go but if I'm struggling I'll just have to shout and say I can't do it I guess.

Least we are in final countdown before a fortnight off. Just hoping for no cases in that time and the risk of SI!

@Ted27

schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-seizes-control-of-handling-school-covid-cases-after-phe-local-teams-overwhelmed/

@WhyNotMe40

but its not exactly a secret thats its an NHS service, despite the somewhat misleading headline

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-schools-helpline-doe-phe-b1647271.html

Not strictly the case that schools are being directed to the NHS at all. The government has again given a contract to SERCO to handle many of these calls. The system is another shambles as schools are still having unacceptable delays.

Some of us whinging teachers are also leaders in schools. We take advice from above.

When I wrote to my MP concerned, he sent me an email with a link to the DfE guidance for schools.

There is also the point that at the moment, the helpline can take up to 48 hours to come back with guidance....

DD's school sent the whole year group home as a precaution during this delay. there may be other schools, in the absence of guidance, who make other decisions and then find that in that critical 2 day window, the infection has spread much further through contacts who should have been isolating. Schools are their own test and trace, but rely on PHE for advice - so if PHE doesn't get back for 48 hours, and schools have done something slightly different from what test and trace should have done, it's a chance for infections to rocket.