Annoyed that schools weren’t mentioned once in the press conference

[OnceuponaRainbow18]

So masks back in shops and on public transport, where most people are double jabbed and can distance, yet not in secondary schools where majority unvaccinated and unable to distance at all. But don’t fear we can open a window.

Cross post @NeverDropYourMooncup

@toomuchlaundry

Schools don't have proper ventilation because that would cost the Government money>

I am sure the Government guidance for schools will be quietly posted at midnight one Sunday expecting schools to implement it on Monday, if previous guidance is anything to go by.

Only to be changed again by midday on the Tuesday. 😅

"God here we go again; it was shown that teachers were at much lower risk than many other workers."

Your information is out of date. Since September, teachers have been one of the highest risk of catching covid. The risk of hospitalisation is lower on average because the teacher profession is skewed towards younger individuals and the majority are female.

The risk here is that omicron continues to requires 10 day isolation for close contacts etc We'll have classes off again schools and eventually year groups due to lack of staff.

It's perfectly clear to everyone by now surely that schools contribute significantly to infection levels. No mitigation in them whether that be be air filters etc doesn't make a huge amount of sense. Guess that's why boosters to 40 year olds need accelerating. Cases in schools drive infections in that age group.

@NeverDropYourMooncup

Give them a chance.

They've got to wait until 11.59pm Sunday night at the very earliest before instructing head teachers to introduce new procedures by 7.30am.

Ah yes, you're so right. Silly of me to forget this normal operating procedure.

I'm honestly surprised at this point that there are any teachers still teaching given the way they've been treated. I value them immensely but they're being treated like shit.

But their parents or grandparents or the people next to them on the bus or any oap in the shop is more likely to end up in intensive care with Covid than with a cold.
This is a perfect example of really selfish thinking

They hang around outside school without masks.

God forbid people go maskless outside! Seriously get a grip. This is where it starts to get ridiculous

Thankfully. I don't want my children's education to be affected anymore by restrictions

We’re fully masked in school and ventilation is monitored and adjusted. Hasn’t affected my daughter’s education at all. Neither have we had an outbreak in the school.

They're more likely to be harmed by the cold than covid.

Bullshit.

Well we can open a window - but the kids will close it. Or whinge that it’s cold.

Then you have a behaviour management issue.

'As well they might. They're more likely to be harmed by the cold than covid.'
Wow. 'Source' please if that's true.

I am expect things to change about nativities and Christmas events which I am gutted about as our children have really worked hard on ours.

I am a clinically extremely vulnerable teacher who has worked throughout, double vaccinated and now boosted never had Covid and will continue to work with my classroom outside door and my windows open and turning my CO2 monitor back on as it turns itself off every hour!!

I will continue to work and just hope I can see my family once our current cases have gone and if we don't get more. I worry about impacting my family as some of them are very ill with other health issues and I couldn't stand the guilt of feeling I have put them in danger so I don't see them. I know this is the case for many people in many jobs.

I will still be going to work and just hoping for the best!

@Tabbydancer

- Schools being stricter about kids wearing masks. Zero secondary school kids near me wear masks. They hang around outside school without masks. They get in buses without masks. They always have done. I used to complain to the school during the first lockdown. Never received a reply even. My nephew goes there and mask wearing mead never enforced in school even when mandatory. Such selfish little t@@@

You say that as though you don't get that being outside without a mask is entirely reasonable. The school were correct to ignore you.

[quote OnceuponaRainbow18]@Comedycook

Eduction is Less likely to be impacted if masks are brought back in[/quote]
I agree education is less likely to be adversely affected if the kids wear masks - at the very least they should be wearing them in corridors etc.

masks muffle voices and block facial expressions --> masks make communication harder. Teaching is communication.

@OnceuponaRainbow18

So masks back in shops and on public transport, where most people are double jabbed and can distance, yet not in secondary schools where majority unvaccinated and unable to distance at all. But don’t fear we can open a window.

Why are the majority unvaccinated they have all been offered the jab?

I'd love to know how much education some dc are getting I have family who are supply and they are incredibly busy. They baby sit class's though and don't teach and just do crowd control

@Piggy42

I don’t want my dc’s to have to wear masks in lessons. They already do when moving around the school, I think that is sufficient.

Agreed it is completely pointless if as soon as a teacher is out of sight or when they leave school and congregate or go for sleepovers they are not wearing masks.

I will be very sad if school nativity plays will be cancelled, whilst adults can go to pubs and restaurants!

@lljkk

masks muffle voices and block facial expressions --> masks make communication harder. Teaching is communication.

Does anyone know how teachers get around this in countries where they and the children wear masks at school?

I've seen pieces like this:

www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.582191/full

www.bbc.com/future/article/20211025-how-face-masks-affect-young-children

But I was expecting to see some data collected over 20 years+ in the countries that have implemented this.

The window in my classroom only opens if I use something as a wedge. I haven’t seen any CO2 monitors. We strongly recommend mask-wearing in communal areas and all staff do so but it is only possible to enforce mask-wearing at secondary level if you have a supply of masks to give out because the kids (and parents) just don’t bother bringing them in. Schools are no longer receiving free supplies of masks and we can’t afford to pay for them.

If you wanted to slow down the seeding of Omicron in the U.K. wouldn't the logical first place you should put in protections and mitigations be the place that the age groups with the consistently highest cases are, indoors, from Monday to Friday?

Especially as most of them are unvaccinated.

And that's schools.

DS school have compulsory mask wearing on school transport and in communal areas. Classrooms are optional at present.

I think too many people are overreacting about masks. It's a minor inconvenience, frankly, and only needed in crowded indoor areas. Lots of people wear them during winter/cold seasons anyways in some countries because they don't want to spread bugs around.

@Naughtynovembertree

I'd love to know how much education some dc are getting I have family who are supply and they are incredibly busy. They baby sit class's though and don't teach and just do crowd control

This is a good point.

There are so many staff off with covid, everywhere. There are also the usual bad cold things going round, but now they involve 2 days off for a PCR test because we can't trust LFTs.

Supply is 'alright', but it's not really any good for consistency or continuity. I had covid, when I got back to work my class was in chaos. Different supply almost every day because there is such a shortage. In the last week I taught a different class until 9.30 (waiting for supply to turn up), a TA took mine, I didn't have my planning time because I covered another class, I had 4 year 6 children in my class for 2 days when we had to split up a class. They didn't do year 6 work, there was no one to set it. They did 'busy work'.

I'd say that the gaps in education this year will be just as wide as last year, and will be harder to deal with as teachers won't quite be sure what has and hasn't been covered/caught up/kept up with. I mean, I set work on subordinating conjunctions, so it's been 'taught'. Not one of them knows how to use a subordinating conjunction. This is OK in English writing, we can go over and over it... not the case for maths.

At least last year we knew what we'd covered in remote learning. I HATED remote learning and I don't want to do it again, but don't assume that just because your child has been in the school building, that quality education has been happening.

Last Monday a parent argued with us about sending her child in while she was waiting for a PCR result. By Friday the 7 children who sat near her on Monday were off with temperatures.

Very disappointing but I’m sure the schools guidance will come soon if this starts to show signs of being a major issue. At this point whether we like it or not, nothing is off the table.

Fergus Walsh (bbc) says on twitter that new regulations will be coming out later this week - so maybe there MIGHT be a bit more advice on schools

• lets see