Schools contingency framework released

[noblegiraffe]

The contingency framework guidelines for childcare settings, schools, colleges and universities has been released.

Not much to see except that schools should seek public health advice if:

For most education and childcare settings, whichever of these thresholds is reached first:
• 5 children, pupils, students or staff, who are likely to have mixed closely, test positive for COVID-19 within a 10-day period; or
• 10% of children, pupils, students or staff who are likely to have mixed closely test positive for COVID-19 within a 10-day period

Additional measures might be onsite testing or reintroducing masks but is much more likely to be simply:

At the point of reaching a threshold, education and childcare settings should review and reinforce the testing, hygiene and ventilation measures they already have in place. Settings should also consider:
• whether any activities could take place outdoors, including exercise, assemblies, or classes
• ways to improve ventilation indoors, where this would not significantly impact thermal comfort
• one-off enhanced cleaning focussing on touch points and any shared equipment

Interestingly, 'mixing closely' includes students who have shared a classroom, not just those who sat within 2m of a positive case.

No reassurance for CEV pupils.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1011704/20210817_Contingency_Framework_FINAL.pdf

Doing the LFT in school also means knowing how many untested kids you have - obviously parents can refuse to give consent but you know what proportion of the student body that is whereas done at home you really have no idea.

The idea is to try to minimise covid coming into the school at the start of the year - as we saw last year once it's in it seems to just keep rolling through. We didn't have our first case till just before half term last year and by mid November had so many that 2 whole year groups were out plus bunches of students in other year groups isolating or off with positive tests.

We're prioritising years 7 and 13 - first day of term for kids is Friday 3rd and those two year groups will come in and have first test and stay in school. Other year groups are having first test during inset days on 1st and 2nd then going home, the next week those year groups are staggered to come in for second test and stay in school.

I've had to write notes all over my diary and planner to try and work out whose in when and when my own son is and isn't in. By Wednesday the 8th I think everyone is in.

I think I'll get complaints about hand washing.
I've had a few all the way through moaning about their little ones hands, but I'm going to keep that up!
I have one small window, high up so no real air flow and got told I shouldn't open the door last term ( as it's a fire door.)

It also says we should send home anyone with symptoms - but really, what's the point of any of it?

What a balls up- My family and I have escaped Covid thus far. ( I am double jabbed now, but that doesn't appear to stop you getting it.)

I have 2 at high school, 1 at a different primary to me. It feels inevitable. Oh and a dh who is self employed and won't get paid if he misses work. Fun times 😬🙄

I thought testing was initially in school so that

a) there was some assurance it had happened at all
b) pupils could learn the technique (I was never convinced that this was remotely true in terms of having good swabbing technique, which is pretty key to reliability of results, but it did tech them how to perform the test)

I think it's a good idea to test extensively at the start of each term. Pupils are returning from the holidays having been in all sorts of different locations and been with different people. It's a grand form of mixing across the whole country in a short fairly specific period, and finding/isolating even a proportion of the positives is a string benefit in these circs

Disappointing that it's still only lip service to ventilation - if changes involve building work then I can see what they might not be able to happen quickly. But it really should be more central in messaging.

It's a good precaution in all indoors environments, and important that future buildings have good ventilation as standard

At my school it isn’t so much the bubble closures that have caused grief with parents but the sending home with coughs/colds to be tested and having to wait for results to come back. Does the guidance say anything about that?

@MamaTutu2

At my school it isn’t so much the bubble closures that have caused grief with parents but the sending home with coughs/colds to be tested and having to wait for results to come back. Does the guidance say anything about that?

Yes! It says we still should.

We did that very assiduously at first. By June and July , kids were in with streaming noses and obviously ill and we just put up with it. Still wedded to the 3 non Delta symptoms...

I don't understand why it is so hard for people to (re)phrase these kind of things in one of 2 ways>

1. If= ....; Then=.... statements. Clear, concise. Add in proper tabulation to the structure and it is even clearer.
2. use UML diagrams. Even if you don't know the term you have seen it millions of times: it's the flow chart which depicts events, decision points, etc. unified and the basics can be learnt in about 5 seconds. It was the predecessor of the inforgraphs :)

In every school there are ICT and biology teachers, yet many don't seem to understand basic virology and basic information structure.

@Piggywaspushed

We did that very assiduously at first. By June and July , kids were in with streaming noses and obviously ill and we just put up with it. Still wedded to the 3 non Delta symptoms...

Very true.

School in every country are mainly run as state services funded either centrally or locally through councils. But regardless they get money from the common pot (aka our taxes).
In a pandemic situation I would say the least is that air purifier sourcing should be a centralized exercise and should be provided from an emergency covid fund. And should have been done in jan by the latest. I mean jan of 2020.
If for nothing else then purely from economic perspective (since they seem to underpin everything with this reasoning): more kids getting sick= more parents not working + more stress on the NHS.
Or it could even be rephrased for gov to understand: save more and than you can steal more.

The DfE are running a 'trial' of air purifiers in 30 schools in Bradford. Because after 18 months of pandemic they aren't sure whether they will improve ventilation

More likely it's so they can say that something is being done even if that something is basically nothing.

One of the cabinet's mates owns an air purifying business I expect. They always give lucrative contracts to their rah rah chums.

I don't think 30 schools in Bradford is lucrative...

I think they are so loathe to spend money on schools that even if Carrie owned an air purifying business, they still wouldn't buy them.

I think there's a bit of a, 'we're looking after your brats for free what more do you fucking want?' attitude.

I think if you scratched the surface of many a tory minister you'd find they don't really believe that people should reproduce unless they can afford private school and a nanny or a stay at home wife and anyone who does is feckless and bloody ungrateful for the fact that they even provide free education. Aside from that they see schools as detention centres to keep the proles kids off the street and as cheaper than social services or cahms or the criminal justice system having to step in.

I suppose expecting them to invest anything in state schools is very naive really.

Ah, this is where all the same people are hiding. All the other threads are full of people berating anyone not comfortable sitting next to someone all day who has a household member at home with covid. There are going to be a lot of fascinating studies and PhD theses in a few years about the collective insanity.

*sane people

At least they will not be shutting whole year groups down for nothing

You are right Honey. But I think it is the same with the NHS. As things get worse, more people (who can afford to) go private. Isn't that what they want, less people to pay for? What is their incentive to fund an excellent service?

@Remmy123

At least they will not be shutting whole year groups down for nothing

For nothing? They've never shut them for nothing.

They never did, Remmy

Why could this not have been released in July? Why not keep separate entrances, even if staggered start times end?

@borntobequiet

I think they could have done with rewriting it to make it make sense!

An idea that would be anathema to them and probably bring them out in hives.

Anyone up for giving them some literacy lessons? At an appropriate "pay your chums Megabucks" type fee of course!

The only time we closed year groups down was when we had say 15 cases spread across the year group and it had clearly gone beyond bubbles and was out of control. That and our 6th form had 2 days out when we did a deep clean of the block because it was likewise spreading all over. Oh and when we were at critical staffing levels and couldn't maintain safety.

@newnortherner111

Why could this not have been released in July? Why not keep separate entrances, even if staggered start times end?

Because the extent of forward planning is counted in days rather than weeks or months.

Also worrying that family members don’t have to isolate if there’s someone in their family with covid.

So kid may be at school whilst both parents have covid at home.

full of people berating anyone not comfortable sitting next to someone all day who has a household member at home with covid

I suspect the people who are not comfortable with this are in a majority but not quite as vocal. Not much trust in Johnson at the moment (ever?).