What's the point of testing schoolkids before Easter?

[BettyBoomerang]

Sorry, couldn't think how to condense that into a thread title!

I've seen lots of news articles talking about bringing back kids from 8 March and how it may have to be done in phases due to mass testing. That there will be huge testing in schools for the return, and then regular testing at home after that (which won't happen, but that's another story).

My question is - what is the point of mass testing, right before the Easter holidays?! So they mass test them and then they're in school for 2 or 3 weeks before the holidays. And then they will mix and socialise like mad over the holidays because 'They're back in school so mixing anyway' and then back after Easter to spread it about. What a pointless exercise!

(Cards on the table - I think it should be early years and Y11, 13 before Easter and the rest after, with careful observation of vaccine effects and of these groups returning.)

Well yes, it does seem a bit pointless testing them after they’ve been locked down for months then sending them off for Easter and not mass testing on their return. But I suppose that it could be argued that the mass testing is to teach them how to do the tests properly before they have to do them at home.

But I suppose that it could be argued that the mass testing is to teach them how to do the tests properly before they have to do them at home.

Oh maybe that's it. Thank you.

Though having lots of relatives in education I'm pretty sure that the same parents who send their kids in after they've vomited or had diarrhoea or who whack them full of calpol and send them in with a suppressed fever will be more than happy to either ignore the test or do it in a way that will give a negative result...

Plus I feel like them starting the Easter holidays 'back in school' will inevitably change the mindsets of a lot of people. I've noticed how much socialising families do off the back of 'the kids are in school anyway' - both with school and non-school contacts.

It's testing for testing's sake. They introduced it in the first place and then denounced the reliability of the tests.
Although if presumably they're all tested (negative) and then socialize over Easter (which really I wouldn't blame them for!) they won't be spreading it amongst themselves unless a family member passes it to them.

Really they need to forget constant mass testing and introduce blended learning, rotas etc. Primary schools back on March 8, y11, 12 and 13 back perhaps after Easter. Then allowing remaining years back on the same rotas after watching the effects. Hopefully as more get vaccinated, reducing the deaths and severity, we will see less need to close off society.

Well not everyone has kept their kids at home during lockdown. Some teenagers from my school are regularly hanging around in groups. I can imagine going to each others houses too

Also even if the kids have stayed home. If one or both of the parents are going to work then they could infection the household.

Therefore testing the kids on first day back will help to stop infections. Any child that tests positive will be sent home straight away. That means we are less likely to get to week two and have to isolate 20 kids because of the one that came in first week with covid.

Hopefully it will also make parents get their kids to stay in and not socialise for at least 10 days before school starts back. Else they risk going back to online learning whilst there mates are in school.

No. Back on the 8th. Secondary kids in masks all the time. All teachers in masks. Testing to weed out as many as possible. The tests are not perfect but will pick up a few positives. So work fine as long as not instead of isolating. Possibly a rota system for secondary. Impossible for most primary. What with keyworker children. Primary need to stick to their own class bubbles tightly.

Consent is needed by law, this is going to open the schools up to
a whole host of new problems.

Yep it won't be easy but nothing can be done about the small percentage whose parents won't consent. The kids will still be allowed in school. However testing say 80 percent of the students is better than not testing any at all

Same goes for masks at secondary. Even if made compulsory you will not get all kids wearing them. However if you get the majority wearing masks it still makes classrooms a lot safer than if nobody is wearing a mask.

Ours at secondary have to test twice before they go back to school and will be testing regularly once back. They will ask them to be tested before they return after Easter as well.

@teachermummy1

It's testing for testing's sake. They introduced it in the first place and then denounced the reliability of the tests. Although if presumably they're all tested (negative) and then socialize over Easter (which really I wouldn't blame them for!) they won't be spreading it amongst themselves unless a family member passes it to them.

Really they need to forget constant mass testing and introduce blended learning, rotas etc. Primary schools back on March 8, y11, 12 and 13 back perhaps after Easter. Then allowing remaining years back on the same rotas after watching the effects. Hopefully as more get vaccinated, reducing the deaths and severity, we will see less need to close off society.

This.

We don't yet know (and probably won't until the day before) what is going on with mass testing in schools, do we? DC's school is currently planning to test every student weekly.

Once they are back at school, students are going to mix anyway - even if this is just on public transport travelling to school. So any test is only useful as a snapshot.

Aren't they testing them before they go back? I was assuming that was happening to give schools a hope of keeping rates low.

Testing a whole secondary school at school as anything other than a one-off is way too disruptive to the actual education they are supposed to be there for.

Using it as a way to train them to do the tests if they are then expected to do them at home from then on is fine, if we actually properly consider whether expecting secondary pupils to test themselves regularly and reliably at home, unsupervised and accurately report the results is a reasonable expectation.

Perhaps implementing mitigation measures in schools where they are (mostly) supervised is a more reliable way of making schools safer.

This testing thing is Operation Moonshot though. The govt are desperate for it to work given the money that has been ploughed into it so they're going to keep flogging it.