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.

Sorry to hear that @Shulersistet. I wonder how many schools are closed? I know a couple of weeks ago 140 schools were recorded as being badly hit, but cases have been rising very quickly since then

@Jourdain11

Choice 3. Keep the school's open without masks, do as much outside/with windows open as possibl and accept that some people will catch Covid.

Just like we've accepted that some people will catch flu, chickenpox, noro...

Exactly!

@Jourdain11

Choice 3. Keep the school's open without masks, do as much outside/with windows open as possibl and accept that some people will catch Covid.

Just like we've accepted that some people will catch flu, chickenpox, noro...

This is wishful thinking. Schools will close in this situation schools are closing. Hundreds. Because of high staff sickness levels it because of the number of children in quarantine.

I’ve looked at my area, on the council website, not one school closed out of 150 schools, how different it is in different boroughs.

@Baileysforchristmas

I’ve looked at my area, on the council website, not one school closed out of 150 schools, how different it is in different boroughs.

We've never had a school close in our council outside of the lockdowns (mine still went in), but that doesn't fit this particular OP's agenda. True, nonetheless.

@Jourdain11

Choice 3. Keep the school's open without masks, do as much outside/with windows open as possibl and accept that some people will catch Covid.

Just like we've accepted that some people will catch flu, chickenpox, noro...

Absolutely agree with this. We have just finished self isolating as DS1 had a positive test. He was not ill, just has a slightly runny nose. None of the rest of our household tested positive even though we have had close contact. The disruption of being off work and DS2 being off school is very frustrating.

Several of our friends are in the same scenario, and none of the children involved are anything more than mildly ill.

Now that the vulnerable and older people are vaccinated we really need to get back to normal living.

It's not sustainable to keep quarantining entire classes or year groups full of children because one kid has a runny nose and a sore throat. Plus, in the past, if you'd kept your kid off school for 10 days with a runny nose and sore throat, you'd have been THAT parent and eyes would have rolled...

Exactly! It's utterly absurd.

I don’t have an agenda, beyond raising awareness of what is happening in the country, and why

Choice 3. Keep the school's open without masks, do as much outside/with windows open as possibl and accept that some people will catch Covid.

Unfortunately most secondary schools don't have places they can work outside.

In fact many don't have opening windows. I think this needs to be addressed.

I still wear mask for pickup/dropin， and reasonably cautious about risks. It is me and my family who will live with any consequence, rather than the people who complain about rules.

Btw, I trust you OP.

The delta is very sneaky and transmissible. People only want to hear what they like

Schools closing/ being badly effected verses schools staying open/ having very few cases and isolations is patchy.

We had it bad in the Autumn term. School had to close. As did a local primary. The last two terms have been fairly reasonable as far as I know.

I suspect that Covid went through some schools very fast in March2020, through others in the Autumn term and some will be badly effected now. It is a shame more in depth studies didn't happen. We would know more about immunity, measures that need to be taken and what conditions need to be achieved to get back to nearer normal than now.

Schools are closed but trying to stop Gavin Williamson finding out? I'm sorry OP but I think you are spouting a load of rubbish on here and I'm not sure why. In my area of London I don't know of anyone who has tested positive recently and I haven't heard of any school closures.

It would be interesting to see how many schools are closed in your area, you can check on the council website, we have 150 in my area, all open.

Some schools are part of a trial meaning no isolation but daily tests for contacts. Ours is doing this Think they need to do something else rather than closing / sending classes home.

Definite positive cases at our local school. Isolations starting to happen and its a low case area. I'm hoping they have caught it in time. School is still open.

Our area has had no bubble closures this year. 🤷 My school has had one case throughout, back in October time but no closures needed.

No staff have had it thus far.

@Baileysforchristmas

It would be interesting to see how many schools are closed in your area, you can check on the council website, we have 150 in my area, all open.

I can't find anything like that on my council's website - is it something all councils do?

Chris whitty said winter is going to be awful, he said brace.
What can we do to demand the government has a proper strategy to support schools this winter? My stress comes from cases building, hospitals full and the idiots are flopping around saying its all fine.
Taking no action.
What can we do to scream, get a fucking plan now)

@ICanSmellSummerComing

Chris whitty said winter is going to be awful, he said brace. What can we do to demand the government has a proper strategy to support schools this winter? My stress comes from cases building, hospitals full and the idiots are flopping around saying its all fine. Taking no action. What can we do to scream, get a fucking plan now)

When did he say that?

Hmm found it from today, he also says that would be "very surprising" if this winter was as bad as last. And that the vaccinations may not be enough to stop further restrictions. But

My child’s primary school bubble as with several local primary and secondary schools have already been asked to self isolate with remote home online schooling. My child tests negative daily using home anti gen self screening lateral flow tests but on school instructions tested positive with the official full strength diagnostic Covid PCR laboratory test! Too many within local community are blasé, Covid fatigued, don’t mask and don’t social distance but hopefully single or double jabbed and importantly don’t test at all. Even with the widely pushed quick and easy but low medical threshold quality free home lateral flow tests that tests for any anti bodies for asymptomatic colds, other general respiratory viruses etc including possibly Covid but requires a confirmation follow up more accurate PCR test. No one seemingly cares whether it is Indian, Cornwall, NW England, Leicester South Asian or any other potential Euro 2020/1 variants of possible vaccines escape. It’s 2019 already in central London jabbed or not! Can’t see it being wholly long term sustainable even if vaccination helps!