Schools in meltdown. Put your kids in masks

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Long story short

First case May 10.
By May 17 th, half of all year groups at home. Many staff sick. Some departments have no staff at all. Some students sent home for lack of staff, rather than quarantine.
20th May. School closed. Half term brought forward one week
31 May. Reopen.
1 June several more cases identified
3rd June. All lower school sent home. Year 10 and 12 kept in only. Masks, which had been optional, are now made compulsory again. Too late
7th June. School closed again. I am now teaching online

So in the last few weeks, I have spent 3x longer on COVID related activities than on teaching. Including trying to get students home when classes close, and they can’t use public transport. Teaching doubled up classes, 30 online, and 30 in front of me, because there are hardly any staff in. Administering tests. Taking students to and from the testing site. Recording results. Cramming information in subjects I know nothing about, but have been told I am about to teach. Much of the time students have just been told to read in silence, while we get on with our main business, as a covid testing site.

So please put masks on your children. There is no reason for a secondary aged child not to have a mask on their face, and a spare in their bag, and a spare spare.

And please support what’s schools are trying to do to enforce masks.

I see so many posts of mothers up in arms about masks. We are desperately fighting to keep education going, and we need your support

I belong to a MAT composed of 3 large secondary schools. Within our 3 schools we have:

A 15 year old boy who developed type 1 diabetes when he caught Covid

An 18 year old girl who lost most of her hearing through covid

A 14 year old boy whose heart has been left so damaged by covid he might need a transplant.

It’s heartbreaking.

We've had not one single case since Easter in DC's age 3-18, London based school - amongst staff or pupils. So I'll follow our HT's guidance thanks, which is not to wear them. If he changes his guidance then of course we will comply.

You're making your school and pupils pretty identifiable with citing those cases
Not sure I'd be happy if that was my child

Why are you, as a school, still involved in testing? Isn't it all home testing and reporting now- that's what is happening in my DC school (for those who are still taking part)

Since schools have been back neither of their separate schools have been off as result of a student's positive test. The school have advised no masks in classrooms are now required (still in communal areas where mixing outside bubble) so that is what my DC will be doing.

It is crazy how some schools are so bad and others not touched at all, ds school has been fine throughout.

None in my DD's secondary (I acknowledge it's independent, so small class sizes), either, nor in my other DC's primary (state, tiny, with classes of 32).

At DD's school, the teachers were probably more keen to do away with the masks than the students as they found it affected teaching.

I'm sorry you're having such a tough time but it's not necessarily the same for others and the masks did impact my DD - hugely affected her focus.

You might have had no cases in your school. But it only takes one case of Delta variant in an uncontrolled environment to put your school less than 2 weeks from complete closure. There is no room for complacency.

That is desperately sad.

I am just very surprised at this. We haven’t had a single case since Easter either (primary and secondary schools). I haven’t spoken to a single parent who wasn’t vaccinated, many have had two jabs.

ON Tuesday it was reported that one post 16 student had tested positive. Dd's year group was sent home and told to get pcr tests. The next day there were several more cases and now the entire post 16 students and several teachers are isolating. Every student is veing tested at the school this week. Dd is double vaccinated as a carer so should be ok thankfully.

YABU YABU YABU YABU YABU.

@Hobnobswantshernameback

You're making your school and pupils pretty identifiable with citing those cases Not sure I'd be happy if that was my child

That's exactly why I thought.

If those 3 cases are in fact true (and tbh I would have thought that 3 incidences of that nature in a single school would be pretty unlikely and probably newsworthy) then you have identified yourself, your school and those children.

Are you fully (or partially) vaccinated OP, if the staff? And the parents? I am surprised at the spread you describe.

By my calculations around a quarter of the post 16 students are now positive (though there may be some I don't know about, these are just who dd knows about in a small school)

My son's school requested all children to continue wearing masks past May 17th and from what I hear almost every child is compliant. As it stands we're in a surge testing area as cases in 11-24 year olds especially are massively rising. There have been no cases at DS's school since they've been back. I'm definitely happy for him to continue wearing a mask.

That’s sounds very hard

We got through ok with minimal disruption -bar period when all closed

Wondering whereabouts you are but you may not want to say (I’m London)

Sorry, I have just reread that it's 3 schools, still with their ages and medical conditions published on this public thread, it's still pretty identifiable.

@WooTwo

I don't understand how anyone still thinks masks make a difference.

Same

I think it has been proved that masks make a significant difference.

I do think masks make a difference.

I'm a bit confused about some things - why are you testing? That's a parents job, not school. We test twice a week at home and any child with a positive test then has to have a proper one at a testing centre. Also, if any children are sent home to isolate they HAVE to be collected by a parent or guardian, school have always made this very clear.

As far as I'm aware regarding my dc school there's been little to no cases since Easter in a school of around 2000 pupils

We haven’t had a single case in our primary throughout the whole pandemic, and none in our (large) secondary since they reopened. In fact I know no one who has tested positive since re-opening, no children or adults with longer symptoms (other than the 2 I know who passed away), since the beginning, your school sounds extremely unlucky!

Also while cases go up, have actual illness/hospitalisation? Covid can wander around as much as it likes, we wouldn’t even know if not testing, we need to focus on illness, outcomes and the NHS not cases...

I'm not sure I understand what the great concern is now or who you are trying to protect. If my head in conjunction with the LEA have said no masks needed I won't require my child to wear one. There is a balance and mask wearing is harmful to social interaction and hinders teaching.
Staff will, largely, have been offered a vaccine so are protected from serious symptoms. A positive test is only a concern if it results in serious symptoms / hospitalisation. The delta variant is not causing an uptick in hospital cases only positive tests as a result of surge testing. Not all of those people even have symptoms.

We have not been informed of 1 case at D's special secondary school. He was told by school he does not need to wear s mask anymore. He did not mind wearing one at all. You must be in a hotspot OP.