What are your predictions for this school year?

[Sheepsheepmoresheep]

Be interesting to look back. I didn’t think they’d close the schools again this time last year, but I was wrong!

I don’t think they’ll close the schools again … but we’ll see!

Surely though not having huge assemblies is quite an easy thing for a school to decide and most should in part because it is easier and quicker anyway

Disruption won’t halpen

Most people do not get ill now

Parents won’t test their kids as much

Isolation has stopped more importantly- the number of kids isolating by covid was much less and only fraction compare to contacts who no longer have to

Isolation of children...for 10 days, over and over again, is in my opinion unethical

That isn't what I am asking for. I am asking for children to be tested if they are symptomatic (last term showed that many parents just give their children Calpol or keep then off for 'a sore tummy' for a couple of days then send them back in) and isolated if positive.

In other words I am asking for the current legal requirement to be carried out - by schools being able to ask for test results as a condition of children coming back into school after any period of illness, and for all children who test positive to be kept home for 10 days. That's all.

@Quartz2208

Surely though not having huge assemblies is quite an easy thing for a school to decide and most should in part because it is easier and quicker anyway

It's quite difficult. Heads are nervous of doing more in terms of safety measures than they absolutely have to, being scarred from a year or more of some parents' (and in some cases the government's) vociferous and bitter campaigns against any safety measures at all (e.g. mask wearing being taken to court, schools threatened with legal action for closing early before Christmas in the face of spikes in infection).

The current guidance says assemblies should be back to normal, and so many schools will do this because they are, quite simply, too tired and too worn down to bother with the backlash if they don't.

@noblegiraffe

At least people have stopped pretending that covid doesn’t spread in schools.

Absolutely. It's a relief not to have to argue that.

Here in Scotland, we’re still in masks. We have a few cases after 2 weeks back- staff and pupils. No big assemblies. Still in year group bubbles. All good in my school. 🙏

@mumsneedwine

I give up. Teachers tried to tell everyone last year what was going to happen if no mitigation was made. And it happened as we predicted. Don't listen to us, my kids not at school anymore so not their education that will suffer. Sad though that we are walking into the same situation again.

Yes I agree. It's happening all over again. It's pretty clear what is likely to happen now. Get prepared for a continuous round of absences of staff and pupils. At best it will be the inconvenience for most but unfortunately there will be some very unwell and longer term health problems. Who becomes very unwell appears to be a lottery. Health scientists are admitting that very elderly and CEV who were vaccinated last January are now experiencing waning immunity. Boosters have not yet started so it's hard to feel positive about this coming Autumn/Winter. It's no surprise as we were told all along that the vaccine protection would reduce over time.

Teachers aren’t one lump though. I’m a teacher. I really don’t want the masks back.

@Sheepsheepmoresheep

Teachers aren’t one lump though. I’m a teacher. I really don’t want the masks back.

They’ve never gone in Scotland!

Disruption will happen. We will be missing 7 members of staff on the first day of term because they have covid.

Hopefully there will be a lot less disruption than last year, but it’s incredibly naive to assume that there will be none. Some schools might be really lucky and have no disruption at all, but some schools will have disruption. Large secondaries are probably going to have more issues than small primaries but luck will play a huge role.

@Watapalava, can you link to the hospital admission figures, I looked and I couldn’t find them. The figures i did find for deaths etc also only went up to mid August so previous week missing for some reason

coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare

You can see here that dispute 900/day being admitted the number in hospital is low and as such most must be in and out as it’s been stable for a while

You can see here that dispute 900/day being admitted the number in hospital is low and as such most must be in and out as it’s been stable for a while

I agree it’s low but it is increasing, as are deaths. I assume at some point there is a potential tipping point where the NHS ends up overwhelmed - this could be a mix of cases/hospitalisation/other illness (flu)/NHS staff off sick. It hopefully won’t happen but it something that may well creep up on us quickly, possibly in a localised way. It is madness to just have everyone pretending it’s gone and everything is normal with no mitigations left anywhere. I am very concerned about the potential for problems on this way. Hopefully I have it all out of proportion.

Thanks for that, interesting to see what is happening as a whole. I agree admissions do seem to be equally discharges. There does seem to be a higher percentage on mechanical ventilation than there was at the peak though. I hope the curve continues as is!

I haven't heard any rumblings, but with the public sector pay cap and 0% payrise for teachers, after the two years they've had, I'm wondering if industrial action is the next thing to hit schools.

No, there is no appetite for striking at all. Teachers are handing in their notice instead.

Will be a bit of a mess I think, theres very little chance of an uninterrupted school year. My 7yo DD went back to school yesterday, today we got an email letting us know that someone in her class has tested positive and asking us to do a PCR test on her but no need to isolate while waiting for a result and no actual requirement to do the test.

I anticipate by Tuesday next week we'll be getting a message to say that more than 5 people have tested positive and public health have advised to close the class for 10 days.

@Sheepsheepmoresheep

It’s interesting because either the vaccination does work, in which case most adults will be fine, or it doesn’t, in which case it’s stupid wanting kids to get it.

Or it could be that vaccinations work, in that they increase resistance and reduce transmission, but that they are not 100% effective so do not eliminate all risk.

It isn't an all or nothing scenario.

@Watapalava

Mums

Are you not double vaccinated? Why on earth do kids need masks if you are double vaccinated

You’ll have a cold at most

If that is so, how do you account for the people in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s who are admitted to hospital every week at the moment?

How do you account for the people in their 20s, 30s,40s and 50s who die of covid every week at the moment?

@noblegiraffe

No, there is no appetite for striking at all. Teachers are handing in their notice instead.

Funny how the job market is so dire then.

It really worries me how blasé and accepting lots of posters seem to be about the inevitability of school staff getting poorly and being off work for undetermined periods of time.

@noblegiraffe

No, there is no appetite for striking at all. Teachers are handing in their notice instead.

Are they or are they saying they are? Very few teaching vacancies advertised here last term, compared to usual at this time of year. We didn't have a single resignation or retirement for September in a staff if 120. Unheard of in my 10 years at the school.

Teachers want school shut, parents want it open overall it will depend where business goes on the debate! I think they will come down on the side of open to help parents work and ensure a future workforce. That will swing the balance but business may support the shutting of schools to keep other businesses open (basics what the USA have done) it’s going to be a big debate certainly!

@Dghgcotcitc do you mean your school in particular, or are you talking about schools in general?

@Dghgcotcitc

Teachers want school shut, parents want it open overall it will depend where business goes on the debate! I think they will come down on the side of open to help parents work and ensure a future workforce. That will swing the balance but business may support the shutting of schools to keep other businesses open (basics what the USA have done) it’s going to be a big debate certainly!

None of the teachers I know IRL want schools shut. Not one.