Are school staff exempt from the rules?

[FestiveFannyGallops]

I live near some of my dc's' school staff and was a little surprised to see one had visited the other for a few hours today. They blocked my drive and I didn't know who it was til I saw them come out and get in the car. Are they exempt from the rules because of working together? On one hand it does seem crazy to keep those who work together apart in the holidays but at the same time how are people supposed to have faith that staff are doing all they can to stop the spread. They did the same in the summer when we were tier 3. We are now in tier 4 and rates have doubled in a week.

There's no need @Armi. None at all.

I'll leave now as you're obviously out to rile. Nice.

It must be rubbish in prisons - so why not start your own threads and raise awareness?

Rates of Covid in prisons are lower than in the community. That's not to say there aren't other challenges, but not the same health ones that teachers and school staff are facing right now.

And yes, by all means retrain as a teacher! There was a huge crisis in teacher recruitment BEFORE Covid, after this it's going to be dire.

If it’s safe to work together and stand in front of numerous children without masks, there isn’t a problem, is there? If you are vulnerable, OP, and genuinely worried about community transmission, I’d focus on improving the working conditions in schools rather than worrying about two people meeting up who will be working very closely without any real mitigation shortly. You are very lucky to have the option to isolate and spend time curtain twitching as many vulnerable teachers don’t.

At my school two members of staff are in a support bubble, so yes they visit one another outside of school and have stayed over at one another's homes. One of the, is a single parent and eligible to form a support bubble with the other.

You think the job isn't worse?! Of course it is, it's dreadful. It's more dangerous. What do you think goes on in there?

@myhobbyisouting I don't mean in the least to take away from the dangers inherent in your job, but the point remains that prisoners aren't grouped like schoolchildren with 30 in a small room without masks, and the data does bear out the fact that covid spreads within schools more than it does in prisons, so while I appreciate we all have difficult jobs the point you make is whataboutery and not relevant to the discussion at hand.

@myhobbyisouting the thing is though, the data I could find (I'm sure it's not the most up to date, so I'm sorry) about covid cases in prisons is an article from mid November which claims that at the end of October, 1529 prisoners had tested positive since March. Obviously more will have done now.
I can't actually find the data for how many school children have tested positive for covid but considering the rates in primary are currently something like 2000 per 100,000, I think you can agree that the prevalence is much higher in schools. Of course, there are far more school children than prisoners in the U.K.! But still, you are not as likely to be in contact with someone who has covid. Of course your job puts you at some risk because you are working with the public, and people who are unpredictable and who aren't always going to observe social distancing. But let's be honest, the rates are far lower - unless my data is wrong which is possible, I've only Googled it.

Some children, unlike the vast majority of prisoners, will have been socialising outside school prior to being in a room with over 30 other people.

@User1055

If they aren't teachers (or TAs) as the OP says there's nothing for her to worry about as they are the only school staff likely to have contact with your child.

Nope 😄

There has been a huge outbreak in the prison near me.

@FestiveFannyGallops

Not support bubble no as both married with grown up kids. It annoys me because I'm CEV and expected to send dc week in to an environment that has no distancing at all. They even have extended bubbles with other years ffs. The staff are not teachers.

PurpleDaisies I wasn't curtain twitching, they were across my drive and when I let the cat in I saw them come out get into the car. Being CEV though I do like to gaze out of the window and see something of the world passing by seeing as engaging with the world is very limited for me.

Schools won't be any less unsafe because two members of staff have met up this week.

You're right to be worried.

If you possibly can, I would not send your kids in next week- make up some reason for them to stay off. I think in a week's time we will see more school closures anyway.

Colleagues meet in offices, factories and in vans everyday OP. They are co-workers. A few weeks ago they would have been allowed to book a table in a restaurant for themselves and 28 of their colleagues.
You need to apply some common sense.