Imposing restrictions in school again? PHE letter to Local Authority

[kessiebird]

We live in one Local Authority (A). My DD attends school over the border in neighbouring LA (B) , my DS attends a specialist secondary school in yet another LA (C). All within 20 mins drive or 30 mins on the bus, it's not as bad as it sounds!

Yesterday neighboring LA (B) , on the basis of PHE advice, wrote out to both my DDs primary and her feeder secondary, to ask them to reimpose some restrictions. Secondary school tour after half term is cancelled and no nativity at primary. Letter on secondary school website tightening up all measures in that school. Nothing from my DS's school in LA (C).

Is this just one LA, or did anyone else get school letters starting to reimpose restrictions?

Did a face to face tour of a secondary in LA (A) last week but the secondary feeder school in LA(B) is DD's first choice. I really wanted to go and visit. Wondering if I'm BU and this is happening country wide? Or if its worth writing to LA (B)?

Yesterday the school letters felt familiarly depressing 😵

Restrictions have been re-imposed at DD secondary school. Masks are back, games kit being worn in again and pretty much all extracurricular activities are off.

There is a co-ordinated approach between all local authorities ion the souyth West, who all issued a statement to schools yesterday.

This said to all schools across the entire region "Given the evidence of spread of infection in pupils and the impact on staffing across South West educational settings since term began, we are advising all settings to review their contingency plans within the national contingency framework to implement where possible and appropriate those protective measures listed where threshold levels have been reached. This will help to minimise the spread of infection and maintain good quality face to face education."

The letter came from the Directors of Public Health from all of the South West local authorities - I don't know whether they are employed by Public Health England or the Local Authorities, but that is their job title.

If 74% young people have already had covid (which someone posted on another thread yesterday) and if kids are still together all day in the classroom, what does banning extra curricular or wearing masks in the corridor achieve, other than just making everyone feel a bit miserable? Genuine question, because I don't understand the logic.

Could you point to the data for 74% having had Covid, for all school age groups? I don't think it's possible to answer your question unless we know that the assertion is reliable.

Our whole county has gone back into masks in communal areas, no non-essential visits to site etc. My class has had 50% of kids out at some point for COVID-related absences, we had to close a phase for a few days due to staff absence. However, I’m the only teacher who has caught it so far, so I think there may be a fair amount of disruption yet to come.

I'd be interested in the source for the 74% too. I hardly know any children that have had it, certainly none of my dc's or their friends.

How will writing help?

In our area secondaries have masks all day and have stricter isolation rules than national guidance. The latter is being dropped after half term as case numbers are at acceptable levels now and will hopefully stay that way

Yeah the source is here:

www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk/now-casting/nowcasting-and-forecasting-20th-october-2021/

Someone started a thread about it yesterday. It's some research from Cambridge Uni and its actually 76%. I have no idea if it's accurate.

Looking at the graphs in that report, the high percentage infected seems to rely extremely heavily on an extreme spike at the very start of the epidemic - exactly the bit we know least about due to lack of testing.

Do I believe that over 8x as many 5-14 year olds had Covid at the very start of the epidemic as have Covid now, for example?

Do I believe, given the relatively low re-infection rate that there is 'meant' to be vs the observable infection rate within e.g. school classes, that that huge spike at the start has given us 76% of children who have meaningful immunity to current infection?

I would say not, so if the 76% is relying on infections 18 months ago, then I would say it isn't meaningful in 'herd immunity' terms.

I know kids who probably had it March 2020, about 50% of our primary were off with covid symptoms at least.
Some of the same ones have been off this term. So potentially some are second time round. Though all have been milder this time.

@cantkeepawayforever @thedrsdocmartens you may be right of course although if lots of young people have reinfections are you saying that measures should be used to prevent young people who have already had covid from getting it again?

Anyway regardless of that - my question is - banning extra-curricular activities and introducing masks in corridors - scientifically what does that achieve? It won't do enough surely to stop the children who haven't had covid from getting it and a very large proportion of kids - we can argue how many - have recently had it anyway. Bubbles have gone and there is year to year group contact on transport and via siblings so you can't 'contain' an outbreak. They just seem like unhelpful, theatrical measures to me. I would like someone to explain why they are not.

@Brickskithouse

If 74% young people have already had covid (which someone posted on another thread yesterday) and if kids are still together all day in the classroom, what does banning extra curricular or wearing masks in the corridor achieve, other than just making everyone feel a bit miserable? Genuine question, because I don't understand the logic.

Well, it might help prevent the teachers getting sick! We are still sitting in rooms full of unvaccinated people, none of whom are wearing masks, many of whom are Covid-positive and refusing to test (according to some of you on here). We got up to 22 members of staff off sick, some of whom have been absent for most of the term. That also impacts on Y11, unfortunately.

I hope teachers under 50 are prioritised for boosters as soon as the six months post second vaccine is up.

Where I am in wales they have reintroduced masks in class after half term in Secondary and some primary schools are considering cancelling breakfast club.

Our primary school has had a huge number off this week in one class. They took the decision to isolate the class from the rest of the school on Friday but aren't allowed (so they said in newsletter) to send home even though over half were off isolating. Feel so sorry for the teachers in their class

We got a letter on Friday to say that after half term masks will be reinstated in communal areas and when moving around school. Won’t be able to get scholars bus without a mask.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones I am a teacher

[quote Brickskithouse]@BustopherPonsonbyJones I am a teacher[/quote]
You’d think you might have realised the reason then

Well, it takes all sorts, I guess and there are are A LOT of teachers with lots of different views. Those who have ambitions to be martyrs can still teach phonics or PE!

Are you very young without any vulnerabilities? Do you live with or provide support for people in your family who are vulnerable? Do you believe the government’s spiel about schools being safe? I won’t ask what region you are in in case it’s outing, but if Covid hasn’t had an impact on your classroom yet, you may not have had to teach classes full of children who have Covid. But you may just enjoy living life on the edge. I don’t - I want to be well enough to earn enough money to pay my mortgage, see my friends, travel and I don’t want to be stuck in a hospital bed or struggling to leave my house. No one wants schools to close so masks, boosters and better ventilation seem to be the way forward.

My dc say no kid wears masks unless contsntky monitored too in corridors and wear them around the neck etc.
It's all so wishy washy isn't it and there isn't much teachers can do with "guidance".

I am mid 40s, double vaxxed. And on this thread I was specifically asking why masking in corridors and closing extra curricular clubs were being brought in as measures. I don't see either of these effectively addressing your concerns @BustopherPonsonbyJones? Banning extra curricular is just a po-faced measure that makes school less fun, not significantly safer.

And of course I don't believe any crap about schools being safe I was actually making the opposite point- stats show majority of kids have already been infected.

I am West Mids it's true we don't have too much covid at the moment. That's because most kids and teachers already had it last autumn or in the summer.

Reducing unnecessary contact reduces risk of transmission. Extra curricular clubs and corridors increase the number of people you are exposed to, so wearing masks/cancelling clubs helps. Personally, I think it’s also a reminder that things aren’t ‘normal’ and that ‘living with covid’ doesn’t mean ‘crack on and pretend it never happened’ which seems to be the prevailing view.

@CarrieBlue

Reducing unnecessary contact reduces risk of transmission. Extra curricular clubs and corridors increase the number of people you are exposed to, so wearing masks/cancelling clubs helps. Personally, I think it’s also a reminder that things aren’t ‘normal’ and that ‘living with covid’ doesn’t mean ‘crack on and pretend it never happened’ which seems to be the prevailing view.

Masks fair enough but cancelling extra curriculars for kids is shit in my opinion. They're important for the well being of many kids.

@CarrieBlue don't you think kids should be allowed to feel that life is normal though? At least in school?

Also I would love to know how many kids who caught covid in school got it from someone they brushed past in the corridor. I would suspect not many.