Exclusive: DfE considering delay to start of next term

[herecomestheSon]

www.tes.com/news/exclusive-dfe-considering-delay-start-next-term?fbclid=IwAR1QLOa7VrpJz2QeOpMo90R45SfwOfIPsr9pI_SMYEoClaJwJuAjbGB9cB8

According to the Times Educational Supplement.

Yesterday the NEU teaching union urged the government to move teaching online for the first week of next term to give schools enough time to train staff in administering Covid-19 tests.

The Department for Education is expected to make an announcement about the potential later start tomorrow, according to sources close to the DfE.

I thought it would interest you lot.

I wonder, Aldi, if the Liverpool pilot also studied the differences in accuracy of test results between self-administered tests and those done by trained staff. Maybe only a couple of schools used NHS staff to perform the tests. I don't know of any but I don't know exactly what all the schools in Liverpool did.

Im sure private sxhools will be fine. Space resources. Of course they will.

So the shitshow continues, and I guess the DfE announcement about a delayed return for students in January will come around 5pm on Friday. The teachers and SLT where I work are on their knees from keeping everything going. This will be such a kick in the teeth to leave it so late.
Our test kits for students arrived this afternoon...another shitshow in the making.

Seeiously!? rhe test kits already arrived. This is happening!? And they've not thought to mention in

And all the fuss abour not allowinf people to stay off for safety this week.

Ffs.

Teachers on MN: "School students are spreading Covid! Secondaries are all FUCKED! The evil Tories have thrown us under the bus!"
Govt and Public Health: We have a plan to test secondary school students who are close contacts of someone who has tested positive, thus reducing the likelihood of Covid spread and keeping students and staff safer. Plus staff can have weekly tests.
Teachers on MN: "Bastards!"

@FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue

Teachers on MN: "School students are spreading Covid! Secondaries are all FUCKED! The evil Tories have thrown us under the bus!" Govt and Public Health: We have a plan to test secondary school students who are close contacts of someone who has tested positive, thus reducing the likelihood of Covid spread and keeping students and staff safer. Plus staff can have weekly tests. Teachers on MN: "Bastards!"

🤣

@FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue

Teachers on MN: "School students are spreading Covid! Secondaries are all FUCKED! The evil Tories have thrown us under the bus!" Govt and Public Health: We have a plan to test secondary school students who are close contacts of someone who has tested positive, thus reducing the likelihood of Covid spread and keeping students and staff safer. Plus staff can have weekly tests. Teachers on MN: "Bastards!"

thus reducing the likelihood of covid spread is incorrect. The close contacts of cases are currently isolating for 10 days. Next term, they'll be turning up at school each day, taking an unreliable test and then sticking around unless it's positive. Even if it is positive, they'll still have turned up and spread it around for a bit first. This is why they're bastards. They are determined that students should be in school, even at the expense of public health.

plus staff can have weekly tests I've not seen this part of the proposal. Is that right?

When are teachers going to have time to teach - amidst all this testing?

When will the kids learn?

It won't be a quick thing to test all these kids will it?

Did they even test more than a dozen secondary schools in Liverpool trial?
Did they do primary at all ?

I gather army or ohe helped doesn't say school were in charge if them.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/08/army-carry-out-mass-covid-19-tests-children-liverpool-pupils

thus reducing the likelihood of Covid spread and keeping students and staff safer

This isn’t the intention. The intention is to improve attendance figures. The actual effect will to make students and staff more at risk of catching covid.

Bastards indeed.

Only the most marginal weirdos members of the public would volunteer to do this to random kids.

I don't want a marginal person having any contact with my child.

@RememberSelfCompassion

I absolutely cant believe staff will go along with administering these tests. Or that they wont continue to send people home to isolate.

If theres covid in my kids school I truly want them to isolate the contacts.

I wonder if its a bit like the boiling frog analogy and headteachers are just going along with it all.

It’s definitely been boiling frog since September. I just hope people have long enough out of the pan over Christmas and that more truth outs.

plus staff can have weekly tests have looked into this part. Interestingly, it's in the press a few times, but not mentioned in the actual DFE info. Suspect that's because it was never going to happen, but DFE leaked it to make them look good

@RememberSelfCompassion

But id the shit storm is coming in January whg on earth introduce somethibg that will make it worse....

They want to look in control. It took Hancock 6 weeks to get the tests ready for the start of term. This will be right royally and perhaps deliberately messed up. They need to change the narrative soon and make younger adults and kids realise they are actually at risk so that they’ll agree to be vaccinated.

@2020out Secondary school and college staff can have weekly tests.

Why is it, if my son was in a restaurant and was treated as a contact for test and trace, he would have to self isolate at home for 10 days, not being allowed outside the front door. But if he is treated as a contact at school by sitting next to someone who had a positive test, he would be allowed to go into school every day on the bus and then get tested using a test that is only 50% effective. Why the difference?

This is per the guidance @2020out:
All secondary schools and colleges, including special schools and alternative provision settings, will be offered test kits to facilitate weekly testing of the secondary school and college workforce.

This will be coupled with serial testing of close contacts for both staff and pupils in secondary schools and colleges. This will help preserve face-to-face education by preventing close contacts from needing to self-isolate at home.

@FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue

Teachers on MN: "School students are spreading Covid! Secondaries are all FUCKED! The evil Tories have thrown us under the bus!" Govt and Public Health: We have a plan to test secondary school students who are close contacts of someone who has tested positive, thus reducing the likelihood of Covid spread and keeping students and staff safer. Plus staff can have weekly tests. Teachers on MN: "Bastards!"

I wish my child wasnt in a school we'd lose her place for, or she wasn't thriving so well or we would be homeschooling for a term...

@ineedaholidaynow

Thanks for the info on staff testing. Obviously failed in my reading comprehension there! This testing sounds sensible. I doubt it will prevent much spread as it will only be weekly and on a tiny proportion of the people in schools, but it will prevent some. I think i was incredulous because it sounds too sensible for the DfE of late...

I'm not sure why your other post tagged me. I neither was involved in the DfE's decision making nor do I support it. So all I can propose as the answer to your questions is that the DfE must still believe that schools are magic.

It’s very depressing

On a side note, can you all sign this petition for vaccines for school staff please
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554316?fbclid=IwAR27m9aq41iJNYHrWAJTUFZcAW9QRj-902koI3qT7MoHl4fok5XIKM-kJBQ

I’m a teacher and I won’t be testing anyone. It involves getting far too close to infected children and seems to have the intention of keeping close contacts of positive cases in school for longer. So it’s a big, fat NO from little, unpatriotic me.

What IS lovely is that UsForThem (and Humber) can step up and help by spending hours testing children, many of whom will be infected. Maybe they’ll even be allowed to wear masks. And wasn’t there talk of giving three days paid leave to employees of large firms who wished to undertake voluntary work? That would be fortuitous, wouldn’t it? In fact, perhaps ‘service’ should be enforced so Every Person Can Play Their Part. MPs could start with Year 9 when we go back in January.

What an absolute mess.

Is there any other workforce that is asked to test for 7 days instead of isolating when they’ve been in close contact with a positive?

@FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue

Teachers on MN: "School students are spreading Covid! Secondaries are all FUCKED! The evil Tories have thrown us under the bus!" Govt and Public Health: We have a plan to test secondary school students who are close contacts of someone who has tested positive, thus reducing the likelihood of Covid spread and keeping students and staff safer. Plus staff can have weekly tests. Teachers on MN: "Bastards!"

Government apologist: these tests will sort it all out!

Sensible parents (and teachers on MN):

-you don't understand the science!

-the tests aren't effective enough

• this is a cosmetic exercise

• which is poorly thought through and poorly organised

• it will create a false sense of security and encourage spread more than the current plan for self isolations

I won't be giving consent for anyone to test my child and I'd prefer him to isolate if he's had contact rather than put his poor teachers at risk.

Nowhere is there any suggestion that teachers or other testers are vaccinated before taking on this task. Of course there is a month between the first jab and immunity. Surely this massive effort would be better directed towards a vaccination programme.