I don't understand the opposition to mass testing in school

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I thought that's what teachers on here wanted. Won't it mean school will be much safer as you'll be able to identify asymptomatic DC plus not have to rely on parents not to send DC in even with symptoms. Why is there so much negativity?

It's the timing.
It's a huge thing to organise- instructed on the last day of term.

Timing, lack of resource, passing the buck to schools to organise

I understand. I'd honestly go in on my day off and help, would parents be able to? Anything to lessen the disruption my DC have had this term.

Schools are increasingly expected to do the parents' job for them. Anything that's deemed to be lacking in a child's life = "get the schools to step in".

Now there's a lack of suitable testing facilities and once again it's "get the schools to step in".

No.

It’s a shitshow. People being trained online to become testers?

People are very happy about testing. They are not happy about it being announced on the last day of term leaving schools responsible for identfiying volunteers, training volunteers, finding somewhere to put the test site, sorting online teaching, communicating with parents during their Christmas holidays, especially at the end of the exhausting term. And schools don't know how they will pay for it, since they are already struggling to afford the extra costs due to Covid.

Mass testing is a really good idea. I don't understand why we didn't do it a long time ago but the more mass testing the better as far as I am concerned.

It's a good idea in a lot of ways but very difficult to organise over the Christmas holidays.

It's not the testing.............it's the announcing that it is going to be done without any thought to how it's going to be done.

What, not blaming Headteachers for his one, OP?

I’d read the very informative threads already on the Coronavirus forum, OP and comment on those, rather than starting this new one to rub salt in already fragile wounds.

It’s not the testing. It’s the way it’s being rolled out, with no consideration for planning. They still haven’t given information on what the arrangements will be.
To be honest, this question really highlights the lack of understanding of what is happening in schools.

I didn't expect it to be down to the schools to have to organise and arrange tbh right at the last minute. I think that's pretty shit.

Also tied in with it is the announcement that close contacts will no longer have to isolate but be sent into school everyday amd tested in school... so spreading it.

Also its not very reliable...

Can't a secondary school age DC do their own test with supervision?

Teachers have wanted mass testing for months. But what they wanted was for well organised, professional HCPs to arrive, set up shop and offer their services so children and staff could be quickly tested and allowed to get back to the business of learning with as little disruption as possible, or similar.
Instead, the whole thing has been handed over to schools themselves to organise using school staff and possibly suitable volunteers (if they can be found), in premises that may be unsuitable, and without clear guarantees of funding (bearing in mind that other government promises have come to nothing), in the very last days of the term and with a requirement to be ready for the beginning of next term. And all this despite spending billions on a test and trace system that doesn’t work.
It’s shameful.

Who is going to be doing the testing? Who is paying for the testing? Parents?

Tests are not free or cheap for that matter. This is reason why a lot of NHS staff refused the tests, because the NHS trusts were trying to make the staff pay for their tests.

Mass testing is good. The objection to the single round of mass testing proposed is the expectation that schools set up fully resourced and staffed covid labs in the next two weeks while schools are closed ready for January. That’s just impossible.

Then there’s the other proposal regarding testing once the mass testing is complete. That is to stop isolating close contacts of positive cases to improve attendance figures and instead have them come to school (on school buses) for a daily covid test. This would be ok, except the test only picks up 50% of positives and so instead of being at home isolating, those positive cases will now be in classrooms with no mitigation measures spreading covid.
This will make schools even less safe.

Timing
Poor efficacy
No more isolating contacts with poor efficacy will mean greater spread in schools.

Testing for schools would be brilliant if they were accurate tests, overseen by HCPs/PHE, didn't replace isolation of contacts.

1. The volunteers need to be DBS checked which takes weeks even at normal rate of checks, let alone when every school in the country needs to use the DBS service.

1. So while we wait for the volunteers it's down to staff, who are already doing the FULL TIME jobs they get paid for, who already have lost all breaks due to increased cleaning tasks and staggered break times.

1. School staff are the only sector who are NOT ALLOWED to wear PPE, so I'm a bit at performing close up medical tests - still without PPE

On the other hand I welcome parents coming in to see what schools are like at the moment, it will hopefully prevent any future teacher bashing?

How will it make schools safer having close contacts of positive cases going into school every day to be tested instead of self isolating?

Aren’t they only wanting to test close contacts of positive cases? Which is stupid as fuck because if they’re testing in the school every day they’ll be actively encouraging potentially infectious children to come into school on buses etc to mix with classmates.

@ChristmasTreeFairy5000

Who is going to be doing the testing? Who is paying for the testing? Parents?

Tests are not free or cheap for that matter. This is reason why a lot of NHS staff refused the tests, because the NHS trusts were trying to make the staff pay for their tests.

My husband is NHS and has to test himself twice a week. He doesn't have to pay for it.

Telling schools on the last day of term that they need to oversee the logistics of mass testing on school premises from the first week of January. You can’t see the issue with it? Really?

Not to mention the ethics regarding consent from every parent.