Why is covid ripping through secondary schools?

[noblegiraffe]

As the press seem unable to find some photos of what schools actually look like at the moment, I thought I'd try to find some myself. They aren't current school photos but pretty much reflect the day-to-day.

1st is a typical classroom in terms of space. Fewer kids than normal though.

2nd is a typical corridor (except much cleaner). Yes they are wearing masks but they are also so close as to be touching. Note the kid with the mask half off, nose out, he has probably just been told to put it on by a teacher. What's unusual is that the kids all have a mask and none are being worn on chins. Also, they're on their phones. Tut.

3rd is what a typical break time looks like. Note the clumps of kids and the boys grappling. No masks, obvs.

Any ideas as to why secondary pupils are the most infected subset of the population?

Schools cant enforce social distancing effectively if the students dont want to do it. Seeing them walk to school its same as precovid: no masks or distancing.
Schools can't control the spread of nits in students, let alone covid!

COVID is currently ripping through our primary school. We have 12 classes shut and 19 positive cases. We think it's spread from twins who were a symptomatic.

@Badgerstmary

Presumably they are trying to encourage covid to spread throughout schools, whilst at the same time keeping quiet that there could possibly be anybody vulnerable. I would like to know the actual figures on how many staff & children this government have made catch this awful disease & how many have been hospitalised, or worse, due to it. Thank goodness they have at last admitted covid spreads in schools. Now they just need to ensure they are made more safe. I’m not holding my breath.

This The vaccine won't be used on the under 16s. Therefore the kids need herd immunity. It is pretty obvious what is happening. At are secondary a lot of teachers got the virus before first lockdown. This has resulted in a very low staff shortage now. The school has still been closed down until after Christmas though because the number of cases amongst the children.

They've not seen my sen woodwork lessons...

The sad thing is schools can be made safe. At my son's school they raised £15000 before the summer holidays and have spent it on 'sneeze screens' for every child to sit behind, hand sanitisers in every room, cleaning of desk every time they come in, my son is in KS3 and all lessons are in his form room apart from PE, no setting for maths and PE is with his form too so not mixing with other forms. All break and lunch supervised and each form in their own zone. Masks in all communal areas. Staff also patrol the pavements before and after school to make sure the students are wearing masks walking away from school. I know it's been tough on staff and the parent body are hugely appreciative. They also delivered an extraordinary online provision over lockdown, although they were already set up for it with each child expected to have a device when joining the school. It's meant they use their devices in lessons too so amount of paper used has been cut down. There have been cases but these have all been single cases and haven't spread. It is a state secondary but is in an affluent area. I feel very lucky.

Its run through the teachers in my sons secondary to the degree that the entire school shut down after the entire slt was in contact with a covid positive case rumour has it that it was the covid inspector thst spread it and as a lot of teachers were out already they couldn't safely open the school

If one of the children in those images was confirmed as positive, the PHE decides who counts as a 'close contact' to send home.

We received the 'your child has been in close contact...' text on Thursday night for our Y9. Lots of kids whatsapping, only some of the class sent home.

Two pupils not deemed to be 'close contacts' tested positive over the weekend with no symptoms. Both have siblings in other schools.

Yes, it's a mystery alright.

Oh and there is a strict one way system through school. Building work going on so no cafe and kids being their own lunch which they eat in their form room or outside if weather ok.

Oh this depresses me. January will be a car crash after the Christmas covid spreading festival.

I hate this, the government have just abandoned any attempt to keep things under control.

We saw it go through the secondary around 2-3 weeks ago (30 cases - not a big school) interestingly its now going through the junior school. 8 cases so far plus 3 key staff. It looks like asymptomatic siblings spread it down.

@lljkk

"They aren't current school photos "

Indeed.

Are you under the misguided impression that schools don't currently look like this? Have you been inside one lately?

I can’t comment on the second two - feel they’re probably reflective of the current situation and am not surprised. However my teen has a desk between him and whoever he is next to in every lesson.

My friends teens are closer but bubbled abs in the same seats.

All the local secondaries are actually adults catching it, not pupils, but we are now a bit city which might make a difference?!

Wow, beige - he must be in very small classes.

How on earth can there be room for a desk in between each child? Is his classroom the school hall? Gym?

To make photo 2 more accurate, you need at least one kid using their jumper as a mask, one kid who has broken their mask and is sort of awkwardly holding it over their face, and one kid who is refusing to put on a mask, even though you know full well they have one in their bag. Oh, and maybe someone walking along eating or something like that for good measure!

Schools can't enforce social distancing properly because there is no space. Even if the kids were all 100% compliant, they couldn't social distance. So then, it seems pointless to try and enforce it (except between year group bubbles) in outside spaces.

Thinking about where students spend the majority of their day in school:

1. Enter via a door for their year group and go to tutor time. Distancing isn't possible in the corridors or in tutor time, but they are mostly only in contact with their year group bubble.

2. Go to first lesson- this is a free for all, corridors are crowded and all year groups mix with no distancing. Students are made to go outside where possible, but the main corridors are always rammed. No distancing possible in lessons.

3. Lesson changeover- see above.

4. First break. Y7 and 8 have canteen access. No distancing is possible whilst queuing for food, and they are passed by students from other years who are going to their break time areas. Y9/10/11 are outside so can distance, but still need to come in to use toilets etc. Y10 toilets are near the canteen, so a lot of mixing goes on. Distancing isn't possible in the indoor eating areas for Y7/8.

5. Go to 3rd lesson via busy corridors. Again, no distancing possible.

6. Second break- canteen access for Y9/10/11. See above but in reverse. Y7 have to pass the Y11 eating area to get to their toilets. Y11 also have to walk through the school to get to the canteen.

7. Last lesson then hometime. We have staggered finishes and students leave via the nearest exit, so avoid mixing between bubbles and the corridors are a bit less busy than during normal lesson change overs- but lots of kids wait in the corridors for friends which partly counteracts this.

I'd say it's maybe 10-20% of the day that students could actually distance for, even if they wanted to. So, of course they don't see the point in doing it when they are walking home, outside!

@Piggywaspushed

You actually try to social distance them sugarplum? ?

Encourage them to, yes, outside. Lots of carers, nurses and other key workers among our parents so we (try!) to do what we can to reduce unnecessary contacts, both in terms of how many we’d have to send home but also just to keep them safe! We’ve gone fairly strict on bubbles and, apart from a Year 10 friendship group, we’ve not yet seen a case of in-school transmission (that we know of, fully accept the possibly of asymptomatic speaking!!)

Yes, and add in several kids who use their hand as a face mask, dozens of kids whose masks don't fit them and they move right down every time they speak, dozens who just point blank refuse to wear them...and nearly every single child who does have a mask and wears it properly wears the same one every single day.

@BeigeFoodLover

I can’t comment on the second two - feel they’re probably reflective of the current situation and am not surprised. However my teen has a desk between him and whoever he is next to in every lesson.

My friends teens are closer but bubbled abs in the same seats.

All the local secondaries are actually adults catching it, not pupils, but we are now a bit city which might make a difference?!

How big are his classes? I have seats for 32 students in my teaching room (34 at a push if some sit on the side). Bar bottom sets, all my classes have 28-32 students.

It's completely impossible for them not to sit shoulder to shoulder.

Also, even one empty seat doesn't give a distance of 2m.

We have had cases in children, but none in staff. However, staff are far more likely to be symptomatic than children, so it makes sense that cases are often first detected in staff.

It isn't. Schools are totally safe. No need for safety measures in any schools. Nothing to see here- now move along please everyone...

I have a desk between each pupil in my bottom set, but all the rest are 30+

While masks are compulsory in corridors we can only tell them to wear them, not sanction them. By now at least a third are wearing them under their noses, chins or not at all. They don't give a shit.

It's cheap childcare.
De-funding of Sure Start and Early Years interventions has lost the momentum of building parenting skills.
Investment in information technology, technology support staff, and training of teaching staff in effective use of technology has been cut for the last decade through underfunding of schools.

The government can't afford to close the schools because they've been progressively defunding the schemes that would have built the resilience in the general population to cope with closing the schools. They haven't invested in the technology and skills to universally deliver a high quality blended learning model, and they haven't invested to ensure that every pupil would have access to it if it could be delivered.

So of course it's rife in schools. We know it. They know it. They know we know it, but they aren't going to acknowledge it.

This is exactly what my teenage DC describe at their schools. One year group fully out following a cluster of positives among students (one of whom came to school while awaiting their results...)

I work in primary which brings its own delights. Children are in year group bubbles but staff are stretched so thin that we are all in and out of different year groups to provide PPA for each other. No PPE allowed in classrooms. Rooms are tiny and windows only open two inches, if at all. It’s impossible to SD from children or other adults in the room.

It’s a mystery why cases in schools are on the increase...

My sons whole year group are out and they wear masks in lessons as well, it's impossible to SD in schools!

Some actual pictures of school corridors: www.thesun.co.uk/news/13033716/coronavirus-scotland-dundee-harris-academy-crowd/

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/worried-parent-blasts-scots-school-22581068

These are surprisingly hard to find, interestingly.

@DogInATent

It's cheap childcare. De-funding of Sure Start and Early Years interventions has lost the momentum of building parenting skills. Investment in information technology, technology support staff, and training of teaching staff in effective use of technology has been cut for the last decade through underfunding of schools.

The government can't afford to close the schools because they've been progressively defunding the schemes that would have built the resilience in the general population to cope with closing the schools. They haven't invested in the technology and skills to universally deliver a high quality blended learning model, and they haven't invested to ensure that every pupil would have access to it if it could be delivered.

So of course it's rife in schools. We know it. They know it. They know we know it, but they aren't going to acknowledge it.

Bang on. Class sizes are increasing in sen schools. I had a class of 5 once. That never happens now.