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.

The feeling of fear, of breathing in this unseen killer

What on earth has been said to a child to make them fearful of death by covid?? Seriously?? Covid is no more "a killer of children " than any other common virus out there. Being aware and cautious of germs spreading is one thing to be fearful of death from covid is on a whole other level

Anyway who wants to go through the school day waiting for the the 10 min breaks where they can take the hot, sweaty piece of cloth off their face. Children should be comfortable at school. It’s a basic requirement for effective learning and general well-being.

I thought masks stop you spreading, they don't stop you from catching it quite so well? I must say I had my first thought of this is a bit pointless isn't it as I put my supermarket mask on this morning (I'm double jabbed)

@megletthesecond all power to your children. They are welcome to continuing to wear their masks. Not everyone feels the same way.

If masks had any chance of doing anything at all then there would need to be bio hazard bins on every corner because otherwise why is potentially bio-hazardous personal protection equipment being discarded in a normal bin? It’s a load of bollocks and anyone who has bought into them and who advocates children wearing them in school all day is deluded and quite frankly cruel. I don’t care who that offends to be honest because people need to start getting a grip on reality and fighting against the fear campaign and I’m done saying things politely.
I moved to an EU country obsessed with masks 5 months into the ‘pandemic’ and only when I moved out of the U.K. and into mask worshipping land did I catch covid! And it’s been through the schools multiple times in all age groups and every poor child over the age of 6 has to wear the shitty things all day, even outside at playtime. SICK of it, STOP supporting this madness. PLEASE!!!

@Lostinacloud

If masks had any chance of doing anything at all then there would need to be bio hazard bins on every corner because otherwise why is potentially bio-hazardous personal protection equipment being discarded in a normal bin? It’s a load of bollocks and anyone who has bought into them and who advocates children wearing them in school all day is deluded and quite frankly cruel. I don’t care who that offends to be honest because people need to start getting a grip on reality and fighting against the fear campaign and I’m done saying things politely. I moved to an EU country obsessed with masks 5 months into the ‘pandemic’ and only when I moved out of the U.K. and into mask worshipping land did I catch covid! And it’s been through the schools multiple times in all age groups and every poor child over the age of 6 has to wear the shitty things all day, even outside at playtime. SICK of it, STOP supporting this madness. PLEASE!!!

Well said!

@Lostinacloud
Outside and from 6 years old - those poor children ☹️ ☹️
It's was demonstrated so long ago that outside transmission is minimal. What will it take for rule makers to release us from this madness??

Just put their masks on please if they can. Not everyone can cope with what’s going to happen now. Please. I have something really important I need to sort, can’t sort it with a lockdown. Just for another month PLEASE

Posts like this make me really wonder what people think masks can achieve. Without masks early last summer our cases dropped to almost nothing. After the edict on mask wearing was brought in, we have been through two more waves. Why do people think masks stop covid?

Fwiw loads of cases at my ds2s school. 100 sent home week before last. He's self isolated twice in the last few weeks. Self isolated one week, resumed school on the monday and 2 days later self isolating again . Tested negative so told to resume but luckily we did a test just to be on safe side and he was positive, both LFT and PCR. All over half term . 2nd time he's caught it, last time end of november, confirmed by PCR and symptoms.

@Wellbythebloodyhell

The feeling of fear, of breathing in this unseen killer

What on earth has been said to a child to make them fearful of death by covid?? Seriously?? Covid is no more "a killer of children " than any other common virus out there. Being aware and cautious of germs spreading is one thing to be fearful of death from covid is on a whole other level

Well they're not dumb. They have been absorbing the all pervasive hysteria being perpetuated by the media non stop for sixteen months.

@HesterShaw1

Just put their masks on please if they can. Not everyone can cope with what’s going to happen now. Please. I have something really important I need to sort, can’t sort it with a lockdown. Just for another month PLEASE

Posts like this make me really wonder what people think masks can achieve. Without masks early last summer our cases dropped to almost nothing. After the edict on mask wearing was brought in, we have been through two more waves. Why do people think masks stop covid?

It makes me seriously question their mental health and how they're going to handle the rest of their lives living with the reality that it's a terminal condition ultimately. But furthermore, it makes me feel very sorry for their children being given such terrible anxiety and dire risk assessment tools for the future.

@HesterShaw1 I haven't seen any hysterical media that has claimed covid is an unseen mass killer in children, that must of been instilled into them via other outlets like hysterical parents

DS’s has had the sum total of 4 cases since communal testing start last April. This is in a school of just under a thousand children who live in a very large area so many travel by bus or train to school.
I remember that in the first three months of 2020 that a virus spread around the school, horrendous cough with high temp that lasted a week or so, I know I caught it after spending a day in school volunteering for a careers conference. Nobody linked it to covid because it was too early. But many of the children would have travelled abroad at Christmas and half term, possibly bringing it back with them.
DS(16) has had his invite for vaccination along with many of his friends so hopefully as they start 6th form in September their education will not be further disrupted.
Despite being a frontline healthcare worker I have not tested positive for covid. I had a number of significant exposures to positive people ( 6 hours in a small car!) and no infection. So I do think some schools where there was early exposure due to travel have probably fared better than schools where foreign travel is not common during the winter months.
I am not an anti masker ( I wear one all day at work and have done for over 15yrs) but mask wearing has to be properly taught. Face coverings are basically fixed handkerchiefs for those who rarely use them. They don’t protect the wearer in any way but do slightly reduce the number of viruses being spread around. It didn’t surprise me that the infection rates started to climb when masks were introduced. People were far better at social distancing pre masks.

@ICanSmellSummerComing

Instead of being treated like dirty disease-ridden 2nd class citizens that should be seen and not heard and made to put up and shut up, like they are by many adults on these threads.

^^ many of the little darlings care about their big darlings who maybe ill. shielding, have other issues and do not want covid on top, they have been fearful of lax and loose wishy washy "guidance" and do not feel safe in school.

The feeling of fear, of breathing in this unseen killer has most effect on those poor kids than the ones who either cant be bothered, do not understand covid, or those who do not like to fall in.

Who? Surely they aren't vaccinated and their family who they live with are taking extra precautions? Sorry I know it's tough but it's really not other people's responsibility no matter how hard that sounds

*are vaccinated

The same selfish parents who can't abide masks will soon be the crowd bleating about their schools closing.

I'm not suggesting any theory hmm? Is everything so heavy with you? What TheKeating said. They can't enforce it and won't. Time to let it rip.

You were suggesting that restrictions are implemented by government unnecessarily for no reason. Therefore - not because of protecting hospitals and economy. That’s pretty heavy! I was wondering why you think restrictions are in place then.

I was suggesting, that if cases suddenly rise ‘exponentially’ like before, and like now in India (delta variant) then hospitals would quickly become overrun. Everybody on this thread (including you) would then support a full lockdown.

Op I honestly believe you are a fake poster just trying to stir s**t 🤯😂

that was @osbertthesyrianhamster

@WaverleyPirate

The same selfish parents who can't abide masks will soon be the crowd bleating about their schools closing.

They will blame the teachers and petition the government, oh, about something or other no doubt.

Actually @WaverleyPirate you know what my first thought was when my yr4 got sent home for a week after a covid case in his class last month? GOOD, he can have a week at home and have a good and welcome break from the fucking mask that gives him horrible bad breath and a headache every other day.

Yr4 don’t wear masks. Do u mean yr10

Yeah. Well my first thought is with the unvaccinated staff. And I'm not a teacher.

Where are year 4s wearing masks?

And secondary school children are well capable of wearing masks.