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!

@GiveMeNovocain

I don't know any working age adults who've been off work for a month and I know a lot of people who've caught Covid. Absolute nonsense to expect any significant number of children to get it worse.

It depends what you call a significant number

1000 children a month going to hospital with covid is pretty significant in my opinion.

*Bryonyshcmyony

What about lft testing in schools?

What about it?

Everyone at Tramlines and Boardmasters had to do one.

Thousands caught covid.*

It wasn't that long ago people were crying out for testing in schools, scorned on those who opted out of testing, but are happy to dismiss the testing as near useless when it suits

@Bryonyshcmyony

I find this doublespeak on Mumsnet utterly disengenous and infuriating.

Oh, we don't want to close schools! We never said we want to close schools! Where have we said we want to close schools?!

To keep schools open we just want a whole list of mitigations that aren't going to happen! See how reasonable we are!

I wasn’t going to bother coming back to this but must admit I agree with this.

It wasn't that long ago people were crying out for testing in schools, scorned on those who opted out of testing, but are happy to dismiss the testing as near useless when it suits

Yep. I think the Official Mumsnet line at the time was that it would be impossible for teachers to have the skills to test kids. Now we've established thst it's so easy teens can do it themselves, suddenly the issue is that they are unreliable

It wasn't that long ago people were crying out for testing in schools, scorned on those who opted out of testing, but are happy to dismiss the testing as near useless when it suits

Using lateral flow tests instead of any mitigations in school is a bit like using pregnancy tests instead of contraception.

I would like mitigations in schools (as mentioned above) and I think the LFD should continue beyond September.

How can anyone truly believe that having a window open and a teen wearing a filthy cotton mask is going to be more effective overall than LFT testing. Absolutely beggars belief.

Yep. I think the Official Mumsnet line at the time was that it would be impossible for teachers to have the skills to test kids. Now we've established thst it's so easy teens can do it themselves, suddenly the issue is that they are unreliable confused

No. They always were unreliable, and it wasn’t teacher skill that was the issue, it was teacher time.

I think what we can conclude is there's no perfect solution where schools stay open without disruption and no pupil or teacher ever contracts covid or any other virus for that matter

@Howshouldibehave

Yep. I think the Official Mumsnet line at the time was that it would be impossible for teachers to have the skills to test kids. Now we've established thst it's so easy teens can do it themselves, suddenly the issue is that they are unreliable confused

No. They always were unreliable, and it wasn’t teacher skill that was the issue, it was teacher time.

Well now teachers don't have to spend time doing it do they?

I am feeling very optimistic and positive 're the next school year.
No more "Okey Cokey" ( in out, in out)
I think we need to be very mindful of our attitudes, and allow the next year to unfold without the constant fear and paranoia.

@AICM

Strange place MN.

A few weeks a poster started a thread saying that the numbers were going up and it was worrying.

She was utterly torn to spreads.

Now people are saying they are concerned about the numbers.

Yep. Definitely, it seems people have short memories i remember a post about how long schools would be shut for during the first lockdown a poster was ripped to shreads for suggesting it might be after the February half term in 2021,well schools did go back in September, but we had a very disrupted autumn term, with multiple isolation, s and they did close again after xmas.

suddenly the issue is that they are unreliable

That's not a 'sudden' view.

It's something that has been known all along - see threads from late last year (when LFTs in schools were first mooted)

@Siameasy

They’ll only close schools if they run out of teachers Presumably most teachers will be double jabbed so fewer will catch it?

Given how many double jabbed people I know who’ve been ill I imagine the teachers will all catch it. But hopefully only once.

I think children are going to be dropping like flies. Clearly this is what the government wants, for the under 12s anyway, to get us that tiny bit closer to herd immunity. However what covid running riot does to overall hospitalisations and deaths could become deeply worrying

Yes they are unreliable
But surely overall far more effective in stopping spread than a window open and a fabric mask?

Actually that's not even a question

Why is it framed windows open OR testing?

The question framed - not the window!

@Wellbythebloodyhell

*Bryonyshcmyony

What about lft testing in schools?

What about it?

Everyone at Tramlines and Boardmasters had to do one.

Thousands caught covid.*

It wasn't that long ago people were crying out for testing in schools, scorned on those who opted out of testing, but are happy to dismiss the testing as near useless when it suits

I haven't seen any posts where LFDs are dismissed as "near useless".

But the government's event pilots and recent festivals have exposed the limitations of unsupervised LFDs used instead of rather than in conjunction with proven mitigations.

@Notonthestairs

Why is it framed windows open OR testing?

No idea.

Of course the most effective plan is to have all effective NPIs and mitigations in place.

Given that covid is an airborne pathogen masks and open windows are two of the most effective.

Yes that is the issue isn’t it with unsupervised.

We were in a train with someone going to the Leicester Man City Match at Wembley who realised because he only had one Pfizer he needed a lateral flow test. He got his friend to do one send the photo through and log it as his. The system is flawed here

But I guess that is why the first two are at school and hopefully less people trying to play the system

There was a model presented on the BBC a while back - about holes in cheese - to explain why, with Covid mitigations, the most effective approach is ‘and’, not ‘or’.

Vaccines AND testing AND ventilation AND masks AND isolating the infected is more effective than any one of those individually.

Equally, it isn’t ‘education OR Covid mitigation’. The two are so intrinsically connected - pupils and teachers who are ill do not receive ir deliver an effective education - that it should be ‘and’ not ‘or’.

It’s very easy to equate ‘schools are physically open’ with ‘a good education is being delivered’. There were many weeks last term where my school was fully open but education of some or all was badly compromised by staff absence. When 1:1 TAs are the only adults left to stand in front of classes, with qualified teachers supervising their class own plus one or two others, it affects the education of both the children with SEN who have no support, and the classes as a whole.

In normal times, teachers might have a day or two off, maybe once a year or less. As the vaccinated DO catch Covid and MUST isolate for 10 days, the 5x longer absences, concentrated over the winter, will be an issue that will affect the education delivered to children even if they are physically within the school building.

@Bryonyshcmyony

I find this doublespeak on Mumsnet utterly disengenous and infuriating.

Oh, we don't want to close schools! We never said we want to close schools! Where have we said we want to close schools?!

To keep schools open we just want a whole list of mitigations that aren't going to happen! See how reasonable we are!

Why can’t mitigation happen? I find this ‘can’t do’ attitude so wearing and we have to start somewhere even if it’s not all done at once!

Masks. Windows which open. Artificial ventilation when classrooms don’t have windows or can’t open enough. The same isolation periods/social distancing rules as any other workplace (so not having different guidelines for schools if things change elsewhere). Booster vaccines for school staff at the point when they are needed, regardless of age. It really isn’t asking a lot. I’d add vaccines for the over 11s but that’s your call as parents as your children’s health is your battle - we can only advise you of the difficulties we can see ahead based on our professional knowledge. To put in bluntly, I’m focusing on my health which SHOULD make you happy as you need teachers to be well so they can teach your children.

I’m really not certain why a modest list of mitigation measures is seen as a secret desire to close schools. There seem to be signs of paranoia creeping in for some people. Perhaps speak to a medical professional if your mental health is deteriorating?

I’m really not certain why a modest list of mitigation measures is seen as a secret desire to close schools.

Because it's the only way they can summon up any argument against them.

Let's not forget that not having those mitigation measures meant we ended up with closed schools due to rampant covid. Suggesting that people who wanted mitigation measures were the ones who wanted schools to close rather than remain open for longer, particularly in light of what happened in January, is a mind-boggling stupid argument.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones totally agree. Mitigations will mean schools stay open. How many times do we have to say it argh!?

I think that it will depend on whether the vaccines remain effective and the booster availability. Most of our staff had at least one vaccinae by the start of august but if it drops to 50% after 6 months, we will start to see the more vulnerable staff with less protection by october/november time.

The government seems to be making a huge fuss about saying masks, ventilate and test. Class room sized air filters arent actually that expensive for those classrooms that cant open windows.

Well given my school seems to think the pandemic is over and is reinstating whole school assemblies, face to face whole staff meetings and is not recommending mask wearing, I'm not at all optimistic about our chances of staying open throughout the next two terms. We don't have enough staff as it is, so it only takes 2 or 3 absent staff to throw us into chaos.

My dd is due to sit her GCSEs next summer. She's already pretty much resigned herself to doing badly as she's missed so much already. She won't be alone in feeling this way. She's comparing herself to her cousin who was awarded 9s for every subject this year.