The government wants YOU to volunteer as a school covid tester

[noelgiraffe]

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/

[quote exLtEveDallas]Relatable:

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1338944656063811585.html[/quote]
Depressingly accurate and relatable.

This must be designed to spread covid as part of the herd immunity plan.

Im feeling so stressed by what has happened at work as a result of covid that I just cried yesterday. I can't take anymore. (Sen teaching)
This.. well thankfully I'm done crying but I don't think I'm quite at laughing point yet...but...what the fuck????..

@YellowHighlighterPen

This must be designed to spread covid as part of the herd immunity plan.

Yes!

Surely schools will need consent for these tests?

This is so shocking. Thank you OP for informing us. It is utter madness

I would imagine that they'll manage it logistically by doing a year group a day.
It takes 30 seconds.
Follow the register. The volunteer goes and calls the student one by one.

In the NHS trust I work certain departments have certain days. Okay so we do them ourselves but it is so we don't overwhelm occ health with the results if we were all to do it on a Monday.

I'm not sure why there is so much hysteria over this. It is not an invasive test at all. Lateral flow even less so as theyll probably just do nose swabs only. It is a good idea.
We have picked up loads and loads of asymptomatic at work and therefore I would imagine limited the spread somewhat.
As I say I would volunteer and I hope others would too.

It will make the schools safter

For those crying out about having trained medical staff do it. Whilst I disagree and feel like it is a massively dramatic perhaps we could utilise military medical staff.

I’d volunteer because it may just help make things better and I find the comments from people saying all the negative things about people who would volunteer atrocious.

I have worked with pupils with sometimes quite severe additional needs in secondary school for many, many years and have experienced a fair bit in that time so I think I well understand that it would be hard.

The fact that someone may be Kevin’s mum doesn’t mean that they don’t also have many skills which would be very relevant and useful.

Obviously tge system would need proper thought.

I’ve had COVID as have one of my children- I’ve had enough tests to know exactly what it entails.

My children’s school has had 2 positive tests since September. The school I work in has not been so lucky - I’ve been in a room with a very large number (100+) students some of whom were found to be close contacts. Trust me I know how scary things are. I have children in both exam years and I want them in school. If I can help I will.

@Carrotcakeforbreakfast

I would imagine that they'll manage it logistically by doing a year group a day. It takes 30 seconds. Follow the register. The volunteer goes and calls the student one by one.

In the NHS trust I work certain departments have certain days. Okay so we do them ourselves but it is so we don't overwhelm occ health with the results if we were all to do it on a Monday.

I'm not sure why there is so much hysteria over this. It is not an invasive test at all. Lateral flow even less so as theyll probably just do nose swabs only. It is a good idea.
We have picked up loads and loads of asymptomatic at work and therefore I would imagine limited the spread somewhat.
As I say I would volunteer and I hope others would too.

It will make the schools safter

For those crying out about having trained medical staff do it. Whilst I disagree and feel like it is a massively dramatic perhaps we could utilise military medical staff.

Well I teach SEN. The thought of this happening in my school, where if would distress the children to the point of meltdown, probably wouldn't be possible anyway as so far only one parent in the school has been able to successfully test a child.... and then aside from the rest itself, the new faces, and the change to the normal routine would also cause an unacceptable amount of stress and anxiety... Yeah...this has just added to the extreme stress of this situation this term which genuinely has had me in tears this week.

And those who are saying the volunteer will just pass it around and this is part of the plan.
I assume the volunteer will have have ppe.
I have managed to scan 100s and 100s of patients this month without spreading it all around.
Everyone needs to apply a bit of common sense here.

Well SEN is obviously different and I think should be treated as such.
So potentially a known member of staff to try and carry out the tests. At least to reassure the children

@Carrotcakeforbreakfast

I would imagine that they'll manage it logistically by doing a year group a day. It takes 30 seconds. Follow the register. The volunteer goes and calls the student one by one.

In the NHS trust I work certain departments have certain days. Okay so we do them ourselves but it is so we don't overwhelm occ health with the results if we were all to do it on a Monday.

I'm not sure why there is so much hysteria over this. It is not an invasive test at all. Lateral flow even less so as theyll probably just do nose swabs only. It is a good idea.
We have picked up loads and loads of asymptomatic at work and therefore I would imagine limited the spread somewhat.
As I say I would volunteer and I hope others would too.

It will make the schools safter

For those crying out about having trained medical staff do it. Whilst I disagree and feel like it is a massively dramatic perhaps we could utilise military medical staff.

All children are not being tested.

This is not mass testing.

The only children who will be tested are close contacts of positive cases who, under current Covid-19 measures, should be self-isolating.

It will not make schools safer. It will keep infectious people in the classrooms for longer.

@Carrotcakeforbreakfast

I would imagine that they'll manage it logistically by doing a year group a day. It takes 30 seconds. Follow the register. The volunteer goes and calls the student one by one.

In the NHS trust I work certain departments have certain days. Okay so we do them ourselves but it is so we don't overwhelm occ health with the results if we were all to do it on a Monday.

I'm not sure why there is so much hysteria over this. It is not an invasive test at all. Lateral flow even less so as theyll probably just do nose swabs only. It is a good idea.
We have picked up loads and loads of asymptomatic at work and therefore I would imagine limited the spread somewhat.
As I say I would volunteer and I hope others would too.

It will make the schools safter

For those crying out about having trained medical staff do it. Whilst I disagree and feel like it is a massively dramatic perhaps we could utilise military medical staff.

Aww that’s sweet. You actually think the military have the people power to do it. Not only that you think they have enough medically trained staff to be deployed across the country to do it.

@Carrotcakeforbreakfast

Well SEN is obviously different and I think should be treated as such. So potentially a known member of staff to try and carry out the tests. At least to reassure the children

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

To quote the info in the OP.... Seems they're including us so we would not be treated differently....

Testing should be done at home and supervised by parents. Many schools do not have the space to set up testing stations. Our teachers have enough on their hands without more added pressure and still no extra funds to make our schools safer.

@Carrotcakeforbreakfast

Well SEN is obviously different and I think should be treated as such. So potentially a known member of staff to try and carry out the tests. At least to reassure the children

Oh and also we can barely manage to feed some of our children their lunch. I can assure you the fact that we are known members of staff doesn't mean anything .... If their own parents can't test our kids neither can we Please also bear in mind that for every child in mh class they become physically aggressive when upset or stressed, so during this procedure we as staff would also likely be kicked, hit, bitten etc.....

@Carrotcakeforbreakfast

I would imagine that they'll manage it logistically by doing a year group a day. It takes 30 seconds. Follow the register. The volunteer goes and calls the student one by one.

In the NHS trust I work certain departments have certain days. Okay so we do them ourselves but it is so we don't overwhelm occ health with the results if we were all to do it on a Monday.

I'm not sure why there is so much hysteria over this. It is not an invasive test at all. Lateral flow even less so as theyll probably just do nose swabs only. It is a good idea.
We have picked up loads and loads of asymptomatic at work and therefore I would imagine limited the spread somewhat.
As I say I would volunteer and I hope others would too.

It will make the schools safter

For those crying out about having trained medical staff do it. Whilst I disagree and feel like it is a massively dramatic perhaps we could utilise military medical staff.

but how will schools keep the people who should otherwise be isolating as close contacts away from the rest of the school community? Where do they stay until a negative result is confirmed? Are they all lumped together somewhere? In an enclosed room where if they weren't positive before they will end up positive at the end of it? The travel to school as normal mixing with everyone? All this before we even consider the reliability of the test? I'm all for testing in schools but not this way. This is not the scenario we were promised by our government. Do not accept this disaster in waiting.

Whilst I disagree and feel like it is a massively dramatic perhaps we could utilise military medical staff

They are already mobilised at testing centres.

I could do this. I have medical training (from previous career) and current first aid quals. But I would want guaranteed immunity/insurance that I cannot be held responsible for any child or parent that says I completed the test inaccurately, or painfully, or dangerously etc. Having been on the end of an angry parent wanting to take me to court for assaulting her child, and only ‘saved’ by CCTV, I want written assurances.

It takes 30 seconds.

No it doesn't.

Had mine done by an efficient experienced nurse but it took longer than that with me, and time to open and do the necessary stuff with the swab afterwards.

Plus changing gloves, checking form details.

would imagine that they'll manage it logistically by doing a year group a day.
It takes 30 seconds.
Follow the register. The volunteer goes and calls the student one by one.

Depends on the size of the year group. Even just doing school photos can take all morning.
If it is 30 seconds per child, that’s about 2 hours 20 (so missing just over two lessons) and then getting them all to come from their classrooms would be another 20 minutes. Getting them in alphabetical order usually another 20 minutes, so that’s another lesson gone.
We have five 1 hour lessons every day. Each year group would only have 2 lessons on their testing day.
Way to go on catching up on pupil lost teaching time!

I would imagine that they'll manage it logistically by doing a year group a day.
It takes 30 seconds.
Follow the register. The volunteer goes and calls the student one by one.

Zero clue of what it would actually involve demonstrated here.

As for 'sneering' about parent volunteers - while yes, there may be a retired army paramedic who previously worked as a teacher among school parents with the time and ability to do this for free, what should be happening is a proper recruitment and training program to get this staffed, not the head desperately casting his eye over the PTA during the Christmas holidays to get it up and running by January.

Serco got billions to do this. And yet when it's schools, there's never the money, time or resources to do it properly. It's always 'cobble it together yourselves in your own time and out of your own pocket.'

@ChloeDeckTheHalls

*would imagine that they'll manage it logistically by doing a year group a day. It takes 30 seconds.* Follow the register. The volunteer goes and calls the student one by one.

Depends on the size of the year group. Even just doing school photos can take all morning.
If it is 30 seconds per child, that’s about 2 hours 20 (so missing just over two lessons) and then getting them all to come from their classrooms would be another 20 minutes. Getting them in alphabetical order usually another 20 minutes, so that’s another lesson gone.
We have five 1 hour lessons every day. Each year group would only have 2 lessons on their testing day.
Way to go on catching up on pupil lost teaching time!

Don't forget that your scenario involves everyone doing what they're supposed to and you having permission at the right time from all parents.

I've not taught mainstream for a very very long time but I would imagine you'll also have to deal with children getting upset by it , resisting, panicking... Misbehaving while they're waiting and you'll have to make sure that appropriate social distancing happens which is next to impossible in schools. And then I would also imagine you'll have some children who's parents won't consent, and then you'll not have all the forms back on the right day and some children will confuse the situation saying their mum said they can't have it so then you'll need tk check through the paperwork again. Some kids will sneeze, pull away, refuse completely, burst out crying...then you'll have to try to comfort them, but hey! Social distancing people... Can't get too close.... Right we're all done back to class now...more hand sanitiser...if your hands are like mine that's one more lot of sanitiser to add to your already cracked and bleeding hands.

I can imagine a whole day being lost to this when plenty of years have lost 4+ weeks already this term.....

@Itisasecret

Oooh all the people that have 24/7 to post on MN about schools staying open. Here is your chance. Not one should be on here during working hours from January because that would be stellar hypocrisy.

Don’t be ridiculous. Having the freedom/annual leave available to take a day or more off to volunteer to help testing isn’t in any way comparable to spending five minutes every hour posting on mn. When you say things like this, it just makes you look stupid - no parent would take this as anything other than an attempt at a cheap jibe and it would make them then dismiss anything else you have to say. Why do you want to stoke resentment and discord instead of encouraging people to work together to make schools safer? Weird.

Serco got billions to do this fuck all.

For those of you saying this would be easy and evidently aren't school staff, I welcome you with socially distanced arms to spend an hour in my special needs classroom , or indeed any of my mainstream colleagues classrooms... At the end of this term which I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say has worked us into the ground..... You may then see in this time why this is not as simple, easy and wonderful as you seem to think it is.