no exit strategy /good news for schools!

[3asAbird]

Locally we seem to have massive school outbreaks.
Monday a bubble burst at my child's primary and today his bubble has burst so 60 kids plus staff off.

Another local senior school 31 confirmed cases and entire school shut.
Few local primaries taken option to shut.

Feeder primaries feel like sitting duck's as very little testing.
Not that many are still testing at eldest senior school.

If we not doing any mitigating measures
Smaller classes
Better ventilation

Masks
Offering parents least choice of vaccinating their child.

How is next academic year going to be any different and less disruption than this year.
Eldest has gcses next year and worried already.
We limping towards end of term Another 4 weeks left to spread delta further.

Why is no one pushing the government on school.
The unions seem to have given up.
Phe data is being suppressed on schools.
Feels like before Christmas all over again.
Its been very much postcode lottery what each child has received this year.

Even if they don't get ill sheer disruption for schools and working parents taking unpaid leave whilst their child self isolates.

The school already had a high uptake of testing. Yesterday in one class alone 15 were off. It's ripped through the school repeatedly from the very beginning.

It doesn't matter how many staff and eventually students have the vaccine as you can still get the virus albeit minor which requires time off. Time off maybe needed for some to deal with the side effects. And there is still the potential to pass it on. And like many other illnesses recovery time varies.

As others have already said, isolation for close contacts needs to stop. An option to test daily or choose to take the isolation would be better. Thankfully, my DCs' school hasn't had any cases since the initial testing in March, but in all cases this and last year the incidences were isolated and did not spread to those identified as close contacts. Many kids have had so much disruption to their schooling for nothing due to the requirement to isolate.

Yes I think it's unrealistic long-term to continue with all the isolations/whole bubbles being off. I reckon it will stop once all the adults are double-jabbed (by the time kids go back in Sept hopefully!)

LFTs are widely available and I think eventually it will get to the point that just those who are ill/showing symptoms that will be off - just like with flu and other viruses that go round every winter, where we don't send the entire class home.

I reckon it will stop once all the adults are double-jabbed
...and hopefully the medically vulnerable children in schools too.

They shouldnt stop the isolating until all kids have been offered a vax.h

Because otherwise they could be sat in a room with 15 coughing or asymptomatically spreading.

Lft don t really work except as an extra.

The q is what % of fully vaxxed are now getting long covid.

it's not surprising isolating at school doesnt stop transmision secondarys are only doing 2m rather than the whole room

I think most staff in schools are now vaccinated, or have been offered the vaccine

I know most staff in my school haven’t. Most older staff have had one vaccine, a couple have had two, plenty haven’t had any and even the youngest staff if they have dose one today won’t be fully protected for two months. Apart from a couple of CEV 16 year olds, none of the children are vaccinated. So I think you are wrong.

@HSHorror

They shouldnt stop the isolating until all kids have been offered a vax.h

Because otherwise they could be sat in a room with 15 coughing or asymptomatically spreading.

Lft don t really work except as an extra.

The q is what % of fully vaxxed are now getting long covid.

it's not surprising isolating at school doesnt stop transmision secondarys are only doing 2m rather than the whole room

Children aren't being vaccinated. Definitely not primary age anyway and even 12-18s hasn't been agreed.

Children don't get seriously ill. As you said, many could be a asymptomatic.
Flu and other winter viruses are much more of a risk to younger children (my DD was hospitalised in winter 2019 before Covid)
As long as all adults and vulnerable children are vaxed then why isolate whole classes? This virus isn't going away. We have to get used to living with it.

@CarrieBlue

I think most staff in schools are now vaccinated, or have been offered the vaccine

I know most staff in my school haven’t. Most older staff have had one vaccine, a couple have had two, plenty haven’t had any and even the youngest staff if they have dose one today won’t be fully protected for two months. Apart from a couple of CEV 16 year olds, none of the children are vaccinated. So I think you are wrong.

I would agree with this. I wonder also if others would have a different view if they were teachers. I am not sure if teachers would be happy with knowingly having the potential infection in the class even with the vaccine with virtually NO mitigations. There is still the risk of catching it and some teachers may also be vunerable and kids too. How ethical is it to have a very contagious virus run wild in a school? Don't forget their is long covid and some children may get multi inflammatory syndrome. There has been no mitigations put into place in schools. Its a disgrace. There are also potentially more serious mutations...

there not their

Where are you in the country?

Feels really regional at the moment, but I might be totally wrong on that.

I agree that next year is already looking crap. I assume they will scrap even current 'mitigation measures' and just go for LFTs when in contact with a positive case. Even in primary. Apparently no one who actually spends time in a school really matters to this government.

Every member of staff in my school - including lunchtime, kitchen, cleaners, irrespective of age or ethnicity, the lot - have been double vaccinated.

We are extremely unusual.

@HazeyJaneII

If the plan is to have spread through schools creating herd immunity, I hope they factor in children like ds who shielded for a whole year due to being medically vulnerable, and his sister's who would also like to try and keep their brother as safe as possible. Of course they won't, because if children have been failed through this pandemic, disabled and medically vulnerable children have been utterly shat upon.

Totally agree @HazeyJaneII - and no one ever seems to consider them, even on this thread your comments have been completely ignored. I honestly think it has been widely accepted that vulnerable children are just collateral damage in all of this.

Thankyou for acknowledging my post, @pinkpip100
I get that children like ds are a small voice...but it does feel like there is no plan for children like him.

Chris whitty said we need to brace for winter. I'm dreading it and part of that dread is the leaden slow response rate of our useless government.

It will switch when we open up I would have thought

1 case shut half our school this week. It’s not sustainable. The impact on dc is too great.

They shouldnt stop the isolating until all kids have been offered a vax

When do you imagine this will be? There aren’t any plans for it? Definitely not primary so far.

A negative PCR test doesn’t even curtail isolation. It’s ridiculous.

@MarshaBradyo

A negative PCR test doesn’t even curtail isolation. It’s ridiculous.

Well, as it typically takes 5-6 days for an infected person to start showing symptoms (range 2-14) it shouid be pretty bloody obvious why a negative test before that is useless

Well, as it typically takes 5-6 days for an infected person to start showing symptoms (range 2-14) it shouid be pretty bloody obvious why a negative test before that is useless

Whatever

Just a shitty post that adds nothing. PCR enable travellers to get out. I wish many isolations upon you.

People terrified of cases, ready to keep putting children in isolation. Ridiculous again.

It's not great but soon all adults in schools should be fully vaccinated.

Unfortunately the above comment isn't true. Loads have one vaccine and lots of young teachers with none.

Working in school for the past 18 months has continued to be absolutely shit.

However currently is the worst ever.

When everyone was locked down it was bearable.

Staff feel like the underclass. Constant isolation and threat of isolation is truly shit and stressful beyond belief knowing that a case could cause a 100 families to isolate.

We've been truly screwed by the government.

And that's not to mention the horrific stress caused by being crammed in classrooms with no mitigation.

Or the effect on the children and their health and education.

The government know full well that infection levels in schools are driving the pandemic.

Restrictions have been extended until the school holidays because they know this.

Yet they do nothing. (Nothing effective)

Learning to live with it for me involves being given the choice to vax my primary age dc.
We may have already had it. Both dc went through a period of nose bleeds and dc1 still getting them. Her friend has ongoing gut issues and has missed more school than pre covid.
Reasons
Repeated isolations lasting 2d-10d+ as it works through the family
Cv adult.
Cev /cv grandparents and 80+ ggp.
Asthma in the family
Dc has a heart murmur
My dc havent been in during lockdowns and i am against more homeschooling that could now be prevented by vaccination.
If each dc had it in a class even without herd immunity that is say with pfizer up to 90% chance they wouldnt show symtoms. So only 3 symptomatic x the 4 classes they are exposed to.12.
Rather than 120....
Well obviously the 10%. Which could makea big difference to catching or being affected by isolations.

If they dont let primary wear masks either. They are basically enforcing that we have to let them be infected.
When we arent sure naturalimnunity would last. Kids could be off 6monthly with covid. Others could be just as infected but they only get headaches/d&v.

It's not like you get more pathetic amount of catchup funding if your dc isolated constantly.

There doesn't seem to be an effective plan for schools.