Cheeky f Gavin blames parents for covid!

[3asAbird]

We should all as parents be responsible to save school from covid oursbreaks and protect school from closing

The man's a clueless idiot.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/covid-wave-schools-reopen-mass-testing-gavin-williamson-b1911202.html

www.msn.com/en-gb/health/familyhealth/england-will-suffer-a-worse-covid-outbreak-than-scotland-experts-say/ar-AANTGy5?ocid=sf

We don't even have any mitigating measures Scotland have.

Surly not isolating close contacts under 18 or very least same household will lead to massive spread in schools.

Why are the governors so anti mask.
Why are we one if the few countries not vaccinating teens or investing in better ventilation.

The WHO has advised that no schools in Europe should be closing this autumn and winter, yet that has been the UK government's only plan in the past. Close schools and cancel everything that can be cancelled.
By refusing to allow secondary school children access to a vaccine approved for them in June, the UK government is once again setting up the schools for closure.
If they had started the secondary school children vaccination in June or July, the majority of those pupils would be vaccinated now (barring those with medical exemptions, those who choose not to have it and those with idiotic parents).

So any cases in secondary schools now are firmly in the UK government's (and JCVI's) court due to denying them the vaccine approved as safe and effective for their use, and available to all over 12s in every other developed western nation.

Gavin really can't blame the parents when his government have refused to vaccinate secondary school pupils!

"No, your child cannot have the vaccine approved for them as safe and effective. Oh now your child has Covid - that is your fault then"

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

I think saying parents need to be responsible as well isn’t a bad thing. Everyone needs to play their part so testing, not sending in ill children etc.

I'd agree. And I'm no fan of his. You only have to read the utter idiocy on here (presumably from parents by and large given the demographic) to reach the conclusion some parents really are a menace to civilised society

Very soon there will be many families where one person in the household tests positive and the rest will HAVE to go to school/work to mix with hundreds of others every day, because that’s what the government want to happen. Gavin says that parents have to be responsible, yet the government have employed additional attendance officers to focus on fining parents who don’t send their children to school!

Responsible?!

Schools must NOT make the rising covid spread any worse, says the BBC.

What special powers have schools got to help, I wonder, as all mitigations have been removed? Guidance says they can open windows more IF there is an outbreak (10%?) as long as thermal comfort isn’t compromised!

The BBC reports 'How are schools keeping pupils safe?'

"Some schools are already back and more are due to start term this week. In Scotland, which returned first, schools may be linked to a rapid rise in Covid cases.

So how are they supposed to keep pupils safe and prevent the spread of coronavirus?

In England, all secondary-school pupils will be invited to take two lateral-flow swab tests at school - three to five days apart - to see if they are carrying the virus.

In Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, pupils and staff will be encouraged to take home or community-based tests before term starts.

Across all the nations, twice-weekly voluntary lateral-flow testing for pupils at home will be encouraged.

Pupils who test positive will have to isolate for 10 days at home. Their close contacts will be given a PCR test, but they will only have to isolate if their own test comes back positive.

For schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, social-distancing measures and rules around "bubble" or "contact" groups, where pupils stay in a fixed group, have been relaxed but many schools are setting their own rules.

In Scotland, more restrictions are being maintained until the end of September."

That's a lot of words to say 'testing is all they've got', funny they've not mentioned that home testing is being reviewed at the end of September in England so maybe not even that.

I think the man is woefully out of his depth, can’t understand why he’s in post.
That said, far too many people send unwell children into school, they always have. That does need to change.

I thought that @noblegiraffe when I read the article. Also the use of ‘invited’ to disguise that testing isn’t compulsory so basically ‘schools have no measures to keep your child safe but we can’t actually come out and say it’.

Granted that LFTs have their limitations, but do parents not think it a good idea to do their best not to send children who have Covid into school?

Obviously ventillation and distancing etc have a part to play as well, but isn't it better to have as many measures in place as possible?

My 14 year old told me that the less well educated you are the more likely you are to vote Tory, therefore it benefits the Tories to cut education budgets.

Obviously ventillation and distancing etc have a part to play as well

We don't have ventilation or distancing?

We're allowed to open a window, but only if it doesn't make the kids cold, and that's only if 10% of them have covid.

@Kendodd

My 14 year old told me that the less well educated you are the more likely you are to vote Tory, therefore it benefits the Tories to cut education budgets.

That rather suggests that people who went to private schools are less well educated!

@noblegiraffe

Obviously ventillation and distancing etc have a part to play as well

We don't have ventilation or distancing?

We're allowed to open a window, but only if it doesn't make the kids cold, and that's only if 10% of them have covid.

So, despite the absence of mandatory ventilation or distancing, you don't think children should be tested and kept off school if they have Covid?

When did teachers stop being allowed to open windows? When my DC were at school the teachers couldn't bear the smell of sweaty youngsters and opened every available window the moment they stepped into the classroom. Also in the distant past when I was young and if we mentioned the word cold we were told to wear a vest, or two vests!

How is it blaming the public to expect parents of secondary age children to do LFTs?

I’m no fan of this government or the way they have handled covid, especially in schools, but I genuinely can’t see what’s wrong with wanting parents to take some responsibility for testing their children. It’s for everyone’s benefit, it’s not doing the government a favour.

@NailsNeedDoing

How is it blaming the public to expect parents of secondary age children to do LFTs?

I’m no fan of this government or the way they have handled covid, especially in schools, but I genuinely can’t see what’s wrong with wanting parents to take some responsibility for testing their children. It’s for everyone’s benefit, it’s not doing the government a favour.

No it isn't doing the government a favour at all. What will happen is millions of assymptomatic pupils will test twice in early September leading to a huge 'spike' in cases that teachers can then use as leverage to impose restrictions on the pupils (rather than advocating for their vaccination). This 'spike' won't actually be any real increase in actual cases, just an increase in the recording of positive cases that are currently present in the population but not being tested for or recorded (school holidays).

So, despite the absence of mandatory ventilation or distancing, you don't think children should be tested and kept off school if they have Covid?

Who are you suggesting thinks that?!

@Howshouldibehave

So, despite the absence of mandatory ventilation or distancing, you don't think children should be tested and kept off school if they have Covid?

Who are you suggesting thinks that?!

Isn't what this whole thread is about? OP and PPs suggesting that Gavin is being a 'cheeky f' for asking that parents ensure children are tested and keep them off school if they have Covid?

To me, it seems quite a good idea, in addition to other measures such as ventilation and distancing, but a PP said that they weren't possible. Then, as it seems to me that testing and keeping infected children away from school are even more useful if those measures aren't possible, I asked if the PP thought that we shouldn't do the things that are possible, because her post read to me as if she was intimating that if we couldn't do everything it wasn't helpful to do the things we could.

My reading of that post could have been influenced by that PP's response to the OP: "Because the government don’t give a shit about kids or education, going back long before covid." Which gives me the impression that that particular poster isn't impressed with the idea of the government asking parents to test their DC and keep them off school if they have Covid.

But may be I'm wrong and she thinks it's an excellent idea, whether or not other measures can be used.

My post about the government not giving a shit about education or kids was a direct answer to the question at the end of the OP "Why are we one if the few countries not vaccinating teens or investing in better ventilation?"

It is fucking outrageous of Gav to suggest that parents have a responsibility to keep covid out of schools while himself completely ignoring his responsibility to keep schools safe.

Obviously I'm hoping that parents do their bit by not sending in kids with covid, but the government isn't doing theirs.

How can he have the gall to pretend to care about covid in schools and lecture parents about responsibility?

I thought the issue was that schools are going back without bubbles, masks, improved ventilation or vaccination for children 12-15 etc.

But if cases rise in schools it will automatically be the parents' fault and not the Government's fault for inept planning.

I thought the issue was that Gav is poised to shift blame?

I agree that testing is a good idea even if LFTs aren't the most accurate and we will be doing that

x post x

@Kendodd

My 14 year old told me that the less well educated you are the more likely you are to vote Tory, therefore it benefits the Tories to cut education budgets.

That's a new one on "my husband said".

It's true though - not having a degree is now a better predictor of whether you'll vote Conservative than social class.

@noblegiraffe

It's true though - not having a degree is now a better predictor of whether you'll vote Conservative than social class.

So, if not having a degree was previously associated with being working class, therefore voting Labour, would that have led to the sneering conclusion that Labour voters were less educated? Of course not. What it would have been interpreted as meaning was that Labour were, at the time, the party resonating with those with less access to higher education.

Perhaps Labour should make more effort with the perfectly clever but less formally educated working classes they seem now to despise.

I’m no fan of this government or the way they have handled covid, especially in schools, but I genuinely can’t see what’s wrong with wanting parents to take some responsibility for testing their children. It’s for everyone’s benefit, it’s not doing the government a favour

If you are a single parent or couple who can’t work from home and don’t get paid to isolate with your child, and your child is well and asymptotic- why would you test to the detriment of your own family?

No of the government offered full pay whilst having to isolate then maybe things would be different. They are asking ‘by law’ known positive cases isolate. But not backing it financially.