Regular testing in schools

[sortmylifeoutplease]

For those that are against regular testing of secondary school kids, what are your reasons (from a parent perspective)? I don't have kids that age, but a friend of mine has a 14 year old and said she has told her school she won't consent. I try to steer clear of brexit and coronavirus conversations with this friend, so thought I'd ask on here as genuinely curious!

My DCs are primary age so and in Wales, so not even in the running, but my issue with it is that lateral flow tests are unreliable and simply can't replace self-isolation of close contacts. Schools are currently unsafe but will be breeding grounds under these plans and couldn't possibly stay open.

If your child tests positive, then the whole household has to isolate. Not everyone wfh or can afford to lose the income.

Some parents think their children (particularly those with SEN) will not tolerate the test.

At 14, I'd expect a lot of parents to be letting their child make the decision (and realistically if the parent consents and the child refuses to have the test, the school aren't going to force the issue).

@SaltyAF

My DCs are primary age so and in Wales, so not even in the running, but my issue with it is that lateral flow tests are unreliable and simply can't replace self-isolation of close contacts. Schools are currently unsafe but will be breeding grounds under these plans and couldn't possibly stay open.

I agree that I don't think lateral flow testing in lieu of isolating is a good idea.

But, if schools are forced into using lateral flow tests - isn't it better that your child is tested as opposed to not?

I am concerned that the lateral flow testing is not sufficient to stop the need for isolating. If my child was a close contact i'd rather he isolated at home to prevent further exposure from the other close contacts missed by the test who he would still be sat with and wouldnt be confident enough of the negative to let him mix with older relatives anyway so its a bit pointless him testing.

I dont mind the mass testing idea as it could reduce the number of asymptomatic pupils in school and slow spread - but i am not sure how this will work out with the much more transmissible strain.

This. I think it might catch some asymptomatic cases, but think if a child is displaying symptoms they should have a more robust test too, but don't know if this will happen.

Btw, friend is a sahm, child has no SEN issues and school said child can attend irrespective of whether they test or not. I have an uncomfortable feeling it's because she just wouldn't want child to miss any school if they tested positive as she's sure child would be ok. She also refuses to wear a mask in shops etc and has no issues as to why she can't. The testing and mask wearing seem such small things to do at the moment (tier 4 area). I doorstepped a present last week and she thought I was mad for not going in for a cuppa, so we are viewing things very differently to each other.

I will not be consenting. Firstly the tests are not reliable enough and also I do not want this testing to replace proper isolation. Mary has covid, so her bubble is kept at school and tested daily - on day 7 Tom also tests positive, but he has been in school the previous days potentially spreading the virus. Testing also has to resume as day 1 from that day.

Seriously the same people who are hand wringing about 7 people meeting in public are now trying to make others think this is a good idea. (not necessarily you OP)

I had to send a pupil home from primary school. I explained to the parents that their child was unwell and showing symptoms so had to isolate for 14 days (at the time), but if they had a negative test, we’d accept them back into school sooner.

Dad refused to get the child a test because he said a negative test meant he’d have to isolate too and they couldn’t afford to take time off work. So the child stayed off school for two weeks.

Many parents don’t want to know if they child has Covid.

I don’t know why that says primary? I’m secondary.

DBML
In that situation the whole household should have isolated because one of them had symptoms!

I am not going to consent because the use of lateral flow tests instead of isolating close contacts will make schools less safe, not more safe. 50% of positive cases are missed, maybe more.

Your thread has just sparked a thought for me OP.

I understand parents not consenting due to reliability issues with the lateral flow test but are they actually going to be told that their child is a contact??

If a school has testing in place and there is a positive case in say, year 8, would the school be required to report the positive case to parents? Or would they be exempt from that as majority of students would be tested every day thereafter? So those year 8's not being tested would just continue going to school with no testing?

Mass testing when pupils start back - all pupils who consent. No other mass testing.
Positive test - the close contacts will be offered daily testing OR have to self isolate for ten days.

skylark they don't test the whole of year 8 for 1 test, just the close contacts who would have been sent home to isolate this term.
Anyone who sits outside the magic 2m wasn't classed as a close contact anyway.

What they should do (in my opinion) if there is a case in year 8, is send home the close contacts to isolate as before, then use the unreliable tests to test the rest of the year group, as that would be an improvement on what happened this term.

@Candycane2020
True, but not having a confirmed case in black and white makes the guidance easier to ignore unfortunately.

I mostly don't care about DC being tested. I think it's often a considerable waste of resources for little benefits, but that's a problem with lot of things nowadays anyway.

It's not clear from OP whether she is talking about mass testing (i.e. testing everyone) or just the testing of those who've been in direct contact with an affected case.

I'd like to see mass testing (not sure how frequently or whether this would be practical), self isolation of direct contacts of infected students (as per now) and testing of others that are not identified as direct contacts but might have been infected (e.g. they sit 3m away from infected student in the classroom).
What's currently suggested seems like the worst of all worlds, but I'm not sure how refusing consent will help.

I think they need to think through their plans with more realism!

However:

I think people being tested regularly will help to stop parents sending in children who are ill - and could be ill with covid. They may not consent for their child to be tested but their child has to isolate instead. Sending in ill children risks cases being picked up when spread whether it's your child tested or not.

My DCs (private) school has its own testing machine and has been testing teachers and boarders. They have picked up asymptomatic cases. I would very much like them to roll it out to the rest of the school.

I also will not be consenting, I do not want to put my children through regular testing I do not agree that only the positive child goes off and all those around them are still in until they test positive and the process starts again. We also have to present for each test which is impractical with my own work commitments. Our school has had lots of positive cases and only ever sent the children who sat next to home then of course more case few days later and the in the sibling years. This new method will just make the case explode through out the school.

I guess the problem is schools are a great environment for this virus. Throw in a couple of other things such as the current narrow range of symptoms to test for, only isolating contacts within two metres despite sharing the same space with many others for hours at a time, children living with others etc. Some sort of mass testing does seem good to draw out some asymptomatic kids, but it shouldn't replace other measures such as isolation of close contacts and proper testing of others who have shared the space. When the unis started, lots of cases were flushed out this way.

Secondary teacher here and at my school are years are due back next Tuesday. Monday we have an inset to be trained in mass testing. I’m not sure what they means - whether I’ll be administering the tests, supervising them or even where and when they’ll be done. Guess I’ll find out more Monday! I’m not opposed to testing per se but I don’t want them to replace isolation which I think it very risky.

I feel if lateral flow tests indicate an issue and the child needs to isolate I would rather know

If my child has or contracts Covid and is asymptotic but spreads it to my parents or in laws or me without knowing then I spread to my clients (close contact services) that's a whole pile of people potentially at risk.

If we know if the child has it then we can stop the spread in its tracks hopefully.

I really want my child to stay in school as gcse year and they've missed enough however I also really want to keep everyone around us safe so at least with lateral flow testing we have an idea of what's going on.