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The government wants YOU to volunteer as a school covid tester

716 replies

noelgiraffe · 15/12/2020 23:42

The govt have proudly announced that there will be mass testing in secondary schools, colleges and special schools from January.

What the headlines don’t quite convey is that schools will be expected to set up and man their own testing centres and that this make-shift testing of close contacts of positives will replace close contacts having to isolate. The tests pick up about 50% of positive cases so I’m sure this will be fine.

Covidy kids will be getting the bus to school to queue up and be tested by people who have watched a video and a couple of online worksheets.

Even better, they want those people to be YOU!

“The document says that reasonable costs for additional workforce will be reimbursed.

It adds that a school may want to hire temporary staff, such as agency and contract workers, or draw on volunteers such as parents, retired teachers, Red Cross, St John Ambulance and community organisations.”

If you can’t help in person, perhaps you can support by talking positively about this effort on social media and parenting forums?

“Under a section labelled “social media guidance”, the document reads that “consistent, accurate and positive communication about testing activity is essential”.

They want to see “proactive public social media using agreed materials” and schools are encouraged to “monitor your existing social media channels, parents forums etc. and provide any feedback”.”

Come on folks, do your bit!

schoolsweek.co.uk/7-staff-roles-2-hour-training-and-dhsc-sign-off-on-press-schools-given-mass-testing-instructions/

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Incredulous2020 · 17/12/2020 22:00

4. Schools can hire more staff
The document says that reasonable costs for additional workforce will be reimbursed.

It adds that a school may want to hire temporary staff, such as agency and contract workers, or draw on volunteers such as parents, retired teachers, Red Cross, St John Ambulance and community organisations.

School nurses can also be used, or schools can use existing staff.

The government needs to be held to the promise that "reasonable costs for additional workforce will be reimbursed."

The latest figures show that an additional £7 billion has been allocated to 'Covid-19' track and trace...for a whopping total of £22 billion. Surely a big part of this will be spent on reimbursing schools for hiring additional workforce to fill the seven designated roles in a school testing site, which is totally reasonable. Since schools will still be out of pocket for the other associated expenses anyway.

uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-testing/uk-says-covid-19-test-and-trace-system-cost-to-rise-to-22-billion-pounds-idUKKBN2832FL

noelgiraffe · 17/12/2020 22:09

I don’t mean watch your tone at all.

And yet your major concern in all of this is that I described a kid with covid as a ‘covidy kid’. This is ‘hostile and worrying’

You really, really are desperate to have a pop at teachers if that’s what you have focused on.

I really, really don’t give a shit about your opinion about my wording. You have just shown yourself for who you are.

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farfallarocks · 17/12/2020 22:25

Nope sorry. I know it doesn’t fit your martyr narrative. Not having a pop and it’s my major concern. You don’t ‘give a shot’ about anyone who doesn’t agree with you so why do you start these endless threads?

farfallarocks · 17/12/2020 22:27

Should say it’s not my major concern. Bah auto correct. Anyway peace and love. You seem to think anyone who disagrees with you hates teachers and you could not be further from reality but I think you enjoy your echo chamber

christinarossetti19 · 17/12/2020 22:28

I don't think reading this thread, or one of the many, many others outlining concerns and solutions to the unsafe situations in schools is as exhausting as being a teacher who has been working in an environment that would be unlawfully unsafe in any other sector, trying to 'catch up' children who did no school work from March to July, trying to make sense of every idiotic, late-in-the-day and completely off the mark directive from central government, having no idea whether their Y11 and Y13 classes will or won't be doing exams in a few months time, in a sector that has been relentlessly underfunded for over 10 years now with major problems of staff recruitment and retention and full of over-excited, possibly covid-asymptomatic children is, in all honesty.

ItsIgginningtolookalotlikeXmas · 17/12/2020 22:28

@noelgiraffe

Noble and others, honestly it’s exhausting just reading your negative posts. What’s your solution?

I have spent many, many threads detailing my solutions. It wasn't this shitshow that will make schools less safe and place an unbearable workload on them in a time when their workload is already unbearable.

Parents should be caring about this just as much as teachers, and should be pleased that they can hear from teachers online who can "tell it like it is" rathe than the fakery you get from the government
christinarossetti19 · 17/12/2020 22:30

That was for farfallarocks btw.

I don't see teachers being martyrs on here. The opposite in fact, they actually don't want to become ill or die for their professional commitment.

noelgiraffe · 17/12/2020 22:41

@farfallarocks

Should say it’s not my major concern. Bah auto correct. Anyway peace and love. You seem to think anyone who disagrees with you hates teachers and you could not be further from reality but I think you enjoy your echo chamber
No, just the ones who come onto threads like this to make shitty comments about how something totally banal sounds hostile and worrying.

Why don’t you do something more productive like write to your MP in support of teachers and against these insane proposals?

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W00t · 17/12/2020 22:42

The government needs to be held to the promise that "reasonable costs for additional workforce will be reimbursed."
@Incredulous2020

You mean like schools will be supplied with laptops for pupils without devices.
Months later, oh, they're coming, they'll be here soon. Even more months later, oh, we don't think you need that many (my school was only about 150 devices short Hmm)

And that other wheeze- oh, we'll fund catch-up for all England pupils. Oh, sorry, just vulnerable/PP pupils. Oh, actually, each vulnerable pupil can have an hour and a half of tuition. Hmm

noelgiraffe · 17/12/2020 22:53

Sam Freedman, former adviser to Gove, has been forced, by circumstance, to retract his statement about Williamson suing Greenwich earlier this week.

The government wants YOU to volunteer as a school covid tester
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CraftyGin · 17/12/2020 22:53

I’m a secondary teacher and welcome testing. I don’t think it will be a particular logistic problem, eg do it in one of their PSHE lessons.

My student DD did two lateral flow tests before coming home. She went to the sports hall, showed the bar code on her phone, self-administered the test, received the result 30 minutes later. It wasn’t rocket science or the equivalent of defusing a WW2 bomb.

With all medical interventions, you should consider BRAN - benefits, risks, alternatives and nothing.

Benefits - you pick up positives who then isolate and no longer transmit.
Risks - false negatives who think they can drop social distancing
Alternatives - PCR tests but too long to get the results
Doing nothing - where we are now.

I favour the LF tests to pick up positives, but still encourage negatives to maintain social distancing.

noelgiraffe · 17/12/2020 22:55

Risks - false negatives who think they can drop social distancing

No, the risk is the many false negatives who would have previously had to isolate at home now being in the classroom spreading covid.

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CraftyGin · 17/12/2020 22:55

Huh?

SantaAssociationRepresentitve · 17/12/2020 22:56

The Head of the DfE has said there is no extra funding for testing and that schools have to get on with sorry.

We will get guidance at some stage.

noelgiraffe · 17/12/2020 22:58

Crafty the government wants to replace sending home close contacts of positives with daily lateral flow tests conducted in schools for 7 days.

Given the risk of false negatives this means that those students who would have been at home will now be in classrooms.

This is the main aim of setting up covid labs in schools. The mass testing the first week back is a bit of a late, mad addition.

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EndoplasmicReticulum · 17/12/2020 23:02

Crafty there are two separate things.

Today they are talking about testing everyone before they go back to school. This is a good idea (logistics aside) as will catch positives who wouldn't have otherwise be picked up.

Yesterday's thing was about how close contacts are no longer going to isolate, they're going to come into school in the morning for a test, for seven days. If the test is negative they go to lessons. If the test is positive they go home.
The tests miss 50% of positive cases.
Benefits - the DfE's attendance figures might initially look slightly better as less sent home to isolate
Risks - lots of false negatives sent into lessons to spread Covid.
Alternatives - still send the close contacts home to isolate. Use the unreliable tests on the rest of the year group / bubble who would not have been sent home as close contacts but still could have been exposed.
Doing nothing - actually better see Risks above.

Incredulous2020 · 17/12/2020 23:03

@CraftyGin At what age exactly is the test OK for children to self-adminster? I just can't picture 12 year olds doing it properly.........

CthulhuInDisguise · 17/12/2020 23:04

In order to help schools prepare for launching this onsite testing in January, the DfE have announced a live event for asking questions. This Friday. The day schools break up.They have no fucking regard for the workload they are putting on headteachers here at all.

What makes you think the DfE even KNEW about this before today? Gav did, but even at PAC this morning the policy hadn't been signed off by the ministers. Left hand, right hand. It's unfair to blame the dept for the actions of the ministers, they merely carry out the whims of the government.

farfallarocks · 17/12/2020 23:06

Who’s patronising now! Why don’t you do something more productive. You have no idea about me or my productivity. I just disagree with you. It’s not shitty or patronising or anything else.

BungleandGeorge · 17/12/2020 23:08

@MitziK

*DBS checks are not portable.

They are if you pay for the update service*

Not exactly. They're directly portable if you work within the same organisation, so if you work for a school run by the local authority, you can also work for another school run by the same local authority without having another DBS. But if it's academies, a different local authority, a different NHS trust, a different employer, etc, then it's another DBS application every time. Whether or not it covers exactly the same workforce/level of disclosure.

At one point, I had a volunteer one for my council for Adults, a Child standard, a Child Enhanced, an Adult Enhanced for one NHS Trust and another Adult Enhanced for another NHS Trust. All registered with the Update Service. DP has three running at present - one for the main job, one from the local authority from one school and one from a local college.

Registering for the Update Service does seem to make actually getting new ones quicker, however.

They’re portable between employers however they have to be the same level and type of workforce. If you’re doing the same type of work at the same level for different LAs then yes they should be portable. In your example they’re not because some are adult, some child, some volunteer etc
noelgiraffe · 17/12/2020 23:12

@farfallarocks

Who’s patronising now! Why don’t you do something more productive. You have no idea about me or my productivity. I just disagree with you. It’s not shitty or patronising or anything else.
You said “It’s your language as relates to the kids that is hostile and worrying.”

That is not simply disagreeing with a point I’m making is it? That’s trying to imply that I have an unpleasant attitude towards children and given that I’m a teacher is something that is intended to be pretty offensive.

So your holier than thou attitude isn’t really working.

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noelgiraffe · 17/12/2020 23:36

Not many volunteers on this thread which is a bit worrying since schools will need 100,000 volunteers per day. All signed up by January 4th.

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DonkeyMcFluff · 17/12/2020 23:50

I presume you can’t volunteer just for a couple of hours because it won’t be worth training you. And the retired people who comprise the majority of charity volunteers are too much at risk to do it. Nobody is going to sign up to donate huge chunks of time and risk their lives in the process. And hiring people will cost millions. Typical of the UK government, who frequently have good ideas but don’t want to pay for them to be implemented.

garlictwist · 18/12/2020 00:18

I work in a university and we had to man and operate the Christmas test centres for our students.

I'm just a secretary - not really something I ever thought I'd have to do and I hate all things medical but hey.

noelgiraffe · 18/12/2020 00:19

Did you have to man and operate them at the same time as doing your full time normal day job?

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