Secondary School - First maskless day!

[palacegirl77]

Daughter not long since home from her face day without a face mask. She said it was so strange - she felt like she was missing something all day and that she found it hard to put up her hand and answer questions as she felt weird that people could see her face. Im pleased her school have gone with guidance, the lack of confidence to communicate is concerning. She said none of the teachers wore them at any point (but Im assuming thats their choice, not guidance as the school said if anyone wanted to wear them they could). Going to be another change for them to deal with but lets hope its a change for the better.

• Why arent the kids in marquees then? Why are they still being taught indoors?

I picked my daughter up early from school today - the 4 office staff behind reception werent wearing masks. How is that ok but children (children) *

1. Because it’s not possible to teach nearly 2000 pupils at the same time on a field.

1. But your school aren’t wearing masks so that’s why the staff weren’t. Tomorrow at my school all staff and pupils will so there wouldn’t be reception staff without a mask.

@palacegirl77And you are the one being inconsistent if you are now saying we should close schools!

Opening carefully is a reasonable course of action, and masks are very sensible right now in the context of that.

Common sense during a pandemic would surely mean no kids should be in school at all? Would you be happy if your school decided that common sense suggests they should all learn from home?

Well, if case numbers were to rise exponentially, then yes, I accept that it would be common sense to close the schools again. Not at the moment, though. It's all about balancing the risk, isn't it? Personally, I think it's better for the kids if schools are able to stay open, and so I welcome sensible measures being put in place in schools in order to reduce transmission and therefore minimise the risk of further closures. That is the essence of common sense to me.

Nor marquees because there's no government funding.

I'd be anxious if I hadn't had a vaccine. Having seen colleagues with long covid I really don't want that.

There is no way I could teach effectively in a marquee! Those open classrooms are bad enough.

It’s really weird - the government expect us to simultaneously believe that the Indian variant is a big worry and that it’s the right time to ditch the face masks. Both can’t be true. Pick a lane, Boris!

It's the inconsistency that gets me. Either it's ok to get rid of masks now - in which case why do I need to wear one to see my doctor, there's only two of us in the room and we're both fully vaccinated. Or it's not ok, in which case 35 unvaccinated people in an unventilated room for 6 hours should really be wearing masks. Does covid spread, or not?

Common sense during a pandemic would surely mean no kids should be in school at all? Would you be happy if your school decided that common sense suggests they should all learn from home?

Yes.

If they’d followed this common sense before Christmas, we wouldn’t have been in such a terrible mess for so long, and far fewer lives would have been lost.

My school has said that they don’t need to wear them but 90% still did as I think slot of teens like them as they’re more ‘hidden’.

Can you see the contradictions being played out?

I think the schools on this thread are right to be cautious, until such time as social distancing requirements are removed indoors

But those restrictions have been removed indoors to an extent from today - you can sit indoors in a restaurant/pub along with countless other groups of 6 people or 2 households of any size without masks on so not at all dis-similar to being in a classroom.

Why is it more acceptable to do away with the mask for a couple of hours at a time under the guise of eating/drinking (and ultimately animated chatter) but its considered stupidity in a school setting?

Personally, I don't think it's particularly sensible to be sitting inside a cafe or a restaurant right now either. I shall be opting to sit outside for the time being.

We don't have to do stuff just because the government has said that we can. We are allowed to use our common sense.

But those restrictions have been removed indoors to an extent from today - you can sit indoors in a restaurant/pub along with countless other groups of 6 people or 2 households of any size without masks on so not at all dis-similar to being in a classroom.

That's because the groups in the pub are distanced. There is no social distancing in a classroom. The parallels really aren't there.

You must be seeing different pubs than me Barbie. There’s no social distancing in pubs I’ve seen. 6 people sat around a table with no masks.

What is non sensical to me is that secondary school children have had to wear masks when cases have been at their lowest in 15 months.

@OurSiteMap

You must be seeing different pubs than me Barbie. There’s no social distancing in pubs I’ve seen. 6 people sat around a table with no masks.

What is non sensical to me is that secondary school children have had to wear masks when cases have been at their lowest in 15 months.

That's a really good point. When the windows are open and teacher is 2m for students, how near actually are those children (for more than 15 mins before someone mentions corridors) to more than 5 other children at less than 2m? All 30 kids aren't in close contact with each other all the time are they? That's why schools have seating plans and only close contacts are asked to isolate in the event of a case? So maybe they are actually comparable to pubs or restaurants?

There’s more than 6 people in a classroom.

Only close contacts isolating was bobbins. Didn’t stop covid spreading.

Singapore have closed their schools and colleges and all teaching now online due to the Indian varient having a worse effect in kids. I'd make them keep those masks on.

www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3133695/coronavirus-singapore-close-schools-wednesday-amid

Ive said it before here. Teachers are being sold down the fucking river. Its a total disgrace. They should have all been vaccinated by now.

DS's school have opted to continue with mask wearing for now. It's also annoying that having almost a full half term of no cases today is the first day with an active Covid case.

Personally I don't think they can be too cautious with the Indian varient around

Both my children's schools are continuing with masks in the classroom for now and they were both fine with this.

All 30 kids aren't in close contact with each other all the time are they?

They are close enough for an airborne virus to spread, yes.

@pennylane83 eating/drinking (and ultimately animated chatter)
You don’t thin’ there’s animated chatter in classrooms?

With the news that the Indian variant is likely to become the dominant strain within days, and Boris now "set to pause" the June date on the roadmap - together with the numbers of teens infected in hotspots - it's definitely a time to be cautious.

Been in and out of different classes all day and in and out of very small withdrawal group rooms (we're talking cupboard in a former life size) - and I've not even thought about it to be honest - even working with kids who struggle with personal space at the best of times. I've just been bloody loving being able to be back and working without feeling like a complete pariah for not being able to wear one.