Schools in meltdown. Put your kids in masks

[0None0]

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.

[quote WuhanClanAintNothingToFuckWith]@osbertthesyrianhamster

How can u be so sure we won’t lockdown (even if none wants to) if these cases go through the roof?[/quote]
There won't be the support for it in government. And even so, plenty of people will do as they please personally wrt to seeing people and that dreaded mixing. Plenty don't bother with isolating as it is.

@WuhanClanAintNothingToFuckWith

Sibling links somewhere? For example I have 4DC across 4 school year groups. If one of them caught it and they all later tested positive, I’ve often thought it could cause quite some devastation across a single school and some may have been able to spread it a little bit to other children before we knew they had it

@Vargas
Not all over 50's are double vaccinated yet. DH will be done in a week and therefore will be protected by early July.

It depends on where you live.

Our school HT won't let them wear masks unless the Government say that they have to, so DD couldn't wear one if she wanted to.

What @Lostinacloud said. Some sense at last amongst the madness. (Mainly on here tbf)

Ok, wear masks at school then outside then out of the school gates they all go to each other's houses and socialise without masks... 👌🏼

Thing is that people saying "our school haven't had any cases" seem to forget is how quickly it can ramp up.

First half of the winter term: Large school with around 2k-half a dozen cases, and I think at least a couple were teachers. We thought they were doing pretty well.
Week after half term, 2 cases.... Next week it was multiple cases each day.

Again, no cases since December until this week when we've had 3 this week.

@0None0

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.

I agree

@osbertthesyrianhamster

But if numbers go through the roof, and then if it happens nationally, any government support for carrying on and living with it would just change if hospitals became over run, and then bam ... lockdown again. Just because it wasn’t enforced last time, doesn’t mean they wouldn’t enforce it this time (if they know something we don’t). If you’re promoting protests, then they’d just bring the army in?

I’m so confused with which theory you are suggesting Government wanting to stop the economy is?

I don't understand the continued need for this to be a really bad thing now. We have never done this for flu or colds or other respiratory viruses. It's like some people want to cling onto their worry about this. We know so much more than we did this time last year yet some people are wanting us to have more restrictions
It can badly affect the elderly and vulnerable. They have been vaccinated. It affects children less than flu.
I don't want to 'live' like this anymore it's not living life to the full. Those who want to live in fear and wear masks etc are welcome to do so but other people should not be forced to do so to help them cope with their fear.

Just because it wasn’t enforced last time, doesn’t mean they wouldn’t enforce it this time (if they know something we don’t). If you’re promoting protests, then they’d just bring the army in?

They can’t enforce it. Not in the UK. Not without serious political consequences. The government that bring in the army are finished and they know that.

(Our UK government that is)

[quote palacegirl77]@carryblue Did they have cases when they were wearing masks too? Our did. But none since.[/quote]
No, actually they didn’t. They had them before and after. Either way, anecdote isn’t evidence.

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

@Takingabreakagain

I don't understand the continued need for this to be a really bad thing now. We have never done this for flu or colds or other respiratory viruses. It's like some people want to cling onto their worry about this. We know so much more than we did this time last year yet some people are wanting us to have more restrictions It can badly affect the elderly and vulnerable. They have been vaccinated. It affects children less than flu. I don't want to 'live' like this anymore it's not living life to the full. Those who want to live in fear and wear masks etc are welcome to do so but other people should not be forced to do so to help them cope with their fear.

Completely agree

Just to say that the OP has a point. I am not a new poster but I am a teacher.

About 5 cases since December but now loads of our kids. Year 11s have left but have been contacted as about 15 tested positive over half term (due to symptoms) - so who knows how many of them. They left at half term.

Year 8 have about 12 cases reported in the last 24 hours so loads sent home today (half year bubbles here) and we've just had a message about year 10.

We've not had any year groups out since October. Ours have been in masks since half term due to a local spike.

I am worried for the 10s and 12s (not at our school) and their exams next year. I hope a decision is made soon.

Pieceofpurplesky is it ok if you say which area you are in e.g NW, SE?

Agree with OP. I work in a school. Very few cases all the way through the pandemic but so many in the last week. I feel more unsafe now than at any point in the last 15 months.

@Takingabreakagain

I don't understand the continued need for this to be a really bad thing now. We have never done this for flu or colds or other respiratory viruses. It's like some people want to cling onto their worry about this. We know so much more than we did this time last year yet some people are wanting us to have more restrictions It can badly affect the elderly and vulnerable. They have been vaccinated. It affects children less than flu. I don't want to 'live' like this anymore it's not living life to the full. Those who want to live in fear and wear masks etc are welcome to do so but other people should not be forced to do so to help them cope with their fear.

Absolutely this. Anyone vulnerable has been offered a vaccine now. That needs to be the end of it.

@Takingabreakagain yes, another one in total agreement.
If there wasn’t such a focus on covid, would most schools even query the odd week or two where it seems quite a number of children are off unwell? They might think there’s some kind of bug going round but wouldn’t be concerned with a few in each class at a time and I’d almost suggest that was in fact entirely usual.

@Lostinacloud
You're right and I imagine lots of them wouldn't even be off sick. A positive test doesn't always mean symptoms but many would be mild anyway.

We've just had 2 members of staff (primary school) test positive. One had there 2nd vaccine over a month ago, the other was due there 2nd vaccine next week. Both are feeling like they have the flu. It's shaken us all up a bit, because lots of us have the feeling 'we must have had it'.
No cases in the kids yet (though a few self isolating because of family cases) but our neighbouring school has a class with 7 positives (so far!) this week.

I am worried for the 10s and 12s (not at our school) and their exams next year. I hope a decision is made soon.

As a parent whose child did GCSEs last year, and is now doing A Levels, I'm with you on that one.

@NavigationCentral

Interesting first post.

In the middle of a teaching day.

This

My school has had literally 5 cases all pandemic - very low case area.

This week we have had four kids in the same class all test positive one after the other and one in another class.

So our cases have doubled just this week!

Low numbers but each day having to send home groups of kids is very disruptive to education.

Most teachers are not fully vaccinated - many are below thirty and might have had their first vaccine. Many older staff are still only single vaccinated