Private schools will not have testing funded

[DrizzleandDamp]

Not sure where I sit on this one, state schools are obviously having the lateral flow tests funded by government.

Private schools have been told no funding, no help with extra staffing, ultimately a cost of around 12 extra members of staff who can’t teach (depending on size of school), and £20-30,000 a month on tests. That won’t encourage take up.

Not all private school parents are rich, some are just managing, some are on hardship bursaries and an awful lot right now are getting free schooling:help because their businesses have died from Covid or jobs lost and they can no longer afford fees. So the schools are at the moment subbing them, but it won’t last and they’ll be removed.

Around 6.5% of U.K. (c.600k+) pupils are in independents. Will the government provide those school places when parents have to pull them or private schools go under?

I’m just not sure it’s ethical when parents are paying into the NHS, and into schooling (twice) that they aren’t providing these tests.

Just wanted to have the debate!

Private businesses who have established mass testing for employees... who has been paying for that?

No @HappyNewYear2021 we couldn't stretch any further. I can't work during the pandemic and we were only just able to afford the fees as it was. As is the case for many many private school parents. We sacrifice a lot to pay the fees because the local state has been in emergency measures since 2014 and looks to be getting worse not better.

Seems a bit 'cutting your nose off to spite your face' to me. The private schools will just not test, and then those kids can pass the virus on to vulnerable people in the community. We all suffer, not just the private school kids and parents.

We don't punish children whose parents can't afford to feed them (because that is their parents issue not theirs, so we give them free school meals) so why are so many people in favour of punishing private school kids because of a decision their parents have made?

I'm a private school parent and wouldn't dream of taking state funding for this. £99 for each test at our school.

To be honest, the key word in there is ‘told’.
Schools were told they would receive money to help with costs for making the place COVID secure, extra cleaning materials etc.
That money hasn’t actually materialised. Certainly my school is using savings.
I am very sceptical that any money will actually appear when it comes to lateral testing. Private schools may actually have an advantage in that they know the money won’t be coming, and the press won’t keep talking about all the money schools have had, and blaming teachers for not using the new equipment to keep their school COVID safe. They will be able to say straight out - we had no money.
I suspect state schools will be in the same boat with the difference that money has been talked about so everyone will assume they’ve had it, and get cross when the system collapses (because there wasn’t money to do it).

They should have tests though, same as anyone else who needs them.

dumplings

The businesses have been, mostly because it was a benefit to them.
My company had been offering free PCR and antibody tests from June this year because it helped prove the office was COVID-safe and could therefore be used to get people back into the office.
They weren’t sharing the results with the national track and trace service though. It wasn’t for the benefit of the government, it was for the benefit of the company.

At the point the government requires cooperation from all schools to mandate a full testing regime in order to participate in the national testing program, the government should make the resources available to properly test.

Otherwise it is a bit like telling a pub they must stump up the costs of tracking and tracing all their customers and the government only paying for track and trace for people who have been in the library or public parks.

I have one child in an independent secondary. I previously opted in for my child to be tested by the government - end of last term. I will now opt out. End of. And so will the majority of independent school parents so those kids just won’t get tested.

To be honest, my DD’s school despite being in a hotspot only had 1 case right at the end of term in a different year and the school had already spent loads of money on Covid safety measures like plexiglass/temperature checks on entry and masks everywhere/vulnerable staff at home etc. So no doubt it was safer than most state secondaries. However, many independents are not this rich/well set up so it could backfire.

I thought the schools were getting the tests but not funding for staffing?

Everyone should have access to testing regardless of means. That's a safety issue.
Thid doesn't change my feelings on some such institutions classing themselves as a charity when it suits them however.

I’m not sure I agree with lateral flow testing anyway be honest.
With a 50% success rate it means half of all those tested will be wandering around dispersing the virus but oblivious to the fact they are infectious.
I’m not sure we can see it as private school pupils missing out, maybe more as dodging a bullet!

The private schools will just not test

Any evidence for that?

Private or state school , you are as healthy as your community.
As much as you might hate private schools, you are cutting your nose despite your faces and letting your emotions talk.

Our school must be very rich then because we've had in school testing since October half term.

All kids get a test when they go back in Jan and it costs parents 99 as I said upthread

Private schools have to test, they have to follow directions. The government is sending all the stuff out, for free, just like with other schools. The difference is that's where it stops. No funding for the staff doing the testing, it all has to be sorted out, organised and done with existing staff, no funds for overtime….we are expected to do all the extra work voluntarily.

@WanderingMilly

Private schools have to test, they have to follow directions. The government is sending all the stuff out, for free, just like with other schools. The difference is that's where it stops. No funding for the staff doing the testing, it all has to be sorted out, organised and done with existing staff, no funds for overtime….we are expected to do all the extra work voluntarily.

Our school has sorted it all out very efficiently already. But then they are normally more organised than the government anyway

Good if you can afford private education why should the poor bail them out.

@Wannabangbang

Good if you can afford private education why should the poor bail them out.

Why should my taxes pay for peoples furlough 🤷‍♀️

Many posters have no clue on what the phrase PUBLIC HEALTH and PANDEMIC mean.

And, no, as a parent of privatly educated kid: we cannot pay more, not even 50 more as we are stretched. Why do ppl think that people who opted for private in normal times, calculating on 2 salaries or business to go in a certain direction are totally exempt from all the shit that has been going on? I've been made redundant because of covid, so 1 salary less than when we made the decision. Our company has lost 50% of it's customers due to covid/brexit. Again, not something that we could have planned for.
And I still pay taxes for your kid's education. so please fuck off.

But testing is about HEALTH (NHS. Still free) not Education.

The government has a responsibility to all citizens and all children, not just those in state funded schools.

@DumplingsAndStew

Private businesses who have established mass testing for employees... who has been paying for that?

But they have not been told that they need to in order to open.

@TheSunIsStillShining My DCs private school have their own rapid testing machine. They have been testing since September. They moved the seniors to remote learning before Christmas as they were concerned about rising numbers and also extended the Christmas break to allow for a two week period after “Christmas mixing”. They make sensible decisions and should be allowed to continue to do so.

The government should fund all testing - as PP said, it's a health issue, not an education issue. If private school students/teachers fall ill, they'll all end up in NHS hospitals.

[quote BunsyGirl]@TheSunIsStillShining My DCs private school have their own rapid testing machine. They have been testing since September. They moved the seniors to remote learning before Christmas as they were concerned about rising numbers and also extended the Christmas break to allow for a two week period after “Christmas mixing”. They make sensible decisions and should be allowed to continue to do so.[/quote]
Similar here. They should definitely be allowed to carry on sorting things out themselves.

“ Good if you can afford private education why should the poor bail them out.”

Poor people aren’t bailing anyone out.
The point at which you become a net tax contributor is currently around £36k
If you earn below that, you are costing the public purse more than you pay back in tax
And I don’t consider anyone earning more than £36k to be ‘poor’

@Cismyfatarse

But testing is about HEALTH (NHS. Still free) not Education.

The government has a responsibility to all citizens and all children, not just those in state funded schools.

This is how I feel about it tbh. I realise testing is being done through schools but every single young person in this country is entitled to the same NHS care as the rest and this shouldn't be based on which school they go to.