Children who don’t consent to a lateral flow test should be treated as positive and sent home

[user1471505494]

Schools now have much higher numbers attending than in the first lockdown. The lateral flow test was brought into schools to try and keep Staff and pupils as safe as possible.

If a parent or child refuses consent is absolutely their RIGHT to do so and I appreciate that there are many varied reasons for this. It should therefore be the RESPONSIBILITY of the schools to safeguard others and send the child home to self isolate.

@Mumofsend yes that could be a problem but otherwise it is 10 days isolation for the whole bubble, at least the testing offers the opportunity for that not to be the case, especially in the case of whole year bubbles when our children may have had no contact at all with the positive case. I understand that children with sensory issues will struggle to have the test but that is the way it is with this situation. Testing to try to prevent mass disruption is a positive to me.

@Bixs

Dn is autistic, having the test would cause her a lot of distress. She cannot engage with online learning. Do you really think it would be right to deny her an education?

Then she'll have to be distressed or work at home somehow. You can't jeopardise literally everyone else and their teachers and families because she'll be 'distressed'. Parents should start working with her now so she's ready to do this.

@lockdownconfused but that is discriminating against predominantly SEND kids. It should be ten days isolation for the whole bubble to prevent it ripping through the whole group

@Mumofsend of course it isn't! The option is there for everyone they are not being excluded from testing now that would be discrimination.

[quote Mumofsend]@lockdownconfused but that is discriminating against predominantly SEND kids. It should be ten days isolation for the whole bubble to prevent it ripping through the whole group[/quote]
Yes but people dont care if it's discriminatory do they? As some of the attitudes on this thread are clear. about that

@Mumofsend actually it is discriminatory to not allow children who are able to be tested not to attend because someone in their bubble can't or won't be tested.

@Chel098 yes, they do it themselves. It's definitely nose and throat for schools.

She'll just have to be distressed???
Oh not god that attitude .makes me so cross for the parent you have just written that to.
You have no clue

@lockdownconfused the only way to test my DD is through sedating her first. She would be sacrificed by this policy for the benefit of her class, have we gone back to the 1950s?!

How about a fair policy of all doing the 10 day isolation as close contacts to prevent certain kids being impacted because of their disability.

@lockdownconfused no its not!

I don’t agree with going on a whim to avoid isolating which may well be crucial. I think it’s really wrong.

[quote lockdownconfused]@Mumofsend of course it isn't! The option is there for everyone they are not being excluded from testing now that would be discrimination. [/quote]
Fundamental misunderstanding of discrimination.

@mumofsend I wouldn't waste your breath trying to explain, it's not being understood. Save your energy for your child.

Are you saying that stopping your DN suffering distress is more important than her being asymptomatic and risking infecting more people at school

You understand it's not just distress but sometimes total non cooperation.how do you propose to test a non-cooperative child/teen? Are you gonna pin them down, force their mouth open and the swap test in?

you cannot just deny a child an education (and for children with complex needs school is so much more than just a place to learn) just because they cannot comply with a for some physical too intrusive test.

@Mumofsend why is it discrimination one way round but not the other? That is the point I'm tying to make. It would only be discrimination if some were given the opportunity and not others. The opportunity is available for everyone therefore is not discrimination against anyone.

@Mumofsend of course it isn't! The option is there for everyone they are not being excluded from testing now that would be discrimination.

being prevented from accessing face to face education because you can't manage a test is also discrimination.

Government guidance is very clear testing is voluntary and that children that haven't been tested for any reason should not be denied face to face teaching.

[quote lockdownconfused]@Mumofsend why is it discrimination one way round but not the other? That is the point I'm tying to make. It would only be discrimination if some were given the opportunity and not others. The opportunity is available for everyone therefore is not discrimination against anyone. [/quote]
I think you need to look up the term discrimination

*@Mumofsend of course it isn't! The option is there for everyone they are not being excluded

I can never work out with these types of responses if posters are thick or simply disablist. I suspect it's the latter.

Taking temperatures is the best way, the tests are hardly reliable.
My dd school (boarding) take temperatures throughout the day, staff and day students tested on arrival.
They do have tests but use these only when accompanied with symptoms.

@lockdownconfused because for many kids with sen it isn't an option at all. Because of their DISABILITY the tests aren't an option. It is discrimination.

It was fair when all close contacts have to do the ten day isolation. How is that not understood?

I think there are too many issues with the reliability of lateral flow tests and that people should isolate instead. Maybe the tests for others in the class, rather than the current "they weren't sitting directly next to infected person so are fine as displaying no symptoms" scenario. If they are going to insist on using the lateral flow tests, then I absolutely agree with OP, of course kids should isolate if they can't or won't do the test.

@GypsyLee

Taking temperatures is the best way, the tests are hardly reliable. My dd school (boarding) take temperatures throughout the day, staff and day students tested on arrival. They do have tests but use these only when accompanied with symptoms.

But she’s at home now with you, right?

@Mumofsend why is it discrimination one way round but not the other? That is the point I'm tying to make. It would only be discrimination if some were given the opportunity and not others. The opportunity is available for everyone therefore is not discrimination against anyone.

would you say it is discrimination towards someone in a wheelchair if a building has no lif but stairs? After all, the stairs offer themselves to everyone - it's just up the the people to use this opportunity to get to the higher floors.

@Mumofsend you are assuming that all children with sen are unable to access the testing this is not true. You are always going to feel that things are unfair if you always exclude your child from even trying. I have a child with sen it's not that I don't understand it's that I also have NT children and I can see that it is a positive to have testing so that children can attend school. I don't feel it is discrimination if my sen child cannot test but my NT children can. Life is tough and situations like this are not what anyone would have expected in life. I absolutely do feel that anything that helps to keep schools open for children is a positive thing.

@user1494055864

So my teens can't go to school unless tested, but I'm free to come and go as I please at primary school every day with all the other untested staff and kids. It's all utter bullshit. Who bloody cares about testing. It doesn't work, and the more false positive cases the more likely the panic and more shut down. Why can't people just wake up.

LFT’s don’t tend to give false positives, the issue is false negatives, which is why using them instead of isolating close contacts of positive cases is madness. I understand the inclination to refuse consent on this basis, almost as a point of principle, but that is also self defeating, picking up some cases with LFT’s has to be better than none. FWIW I think they should be putting pooled LAMP testing in place for entire classes/half classes. Much more efficient and accurate. Then PCR for whole pool is there is one positive picked up.