Going back to school .

[Sallydimebar]

Feeling really uneasy on DS 12 returning to school , Just feel this omicron is going to rip through and although I’m told it’s mild 2 people currently with covid are vomiting, stomach pain and feeling dreadful , barely moving out of bed. I’m thinking it’s probably omicron they’ve got .
I feel with out the vaccine I’m sending him in with no protection. Not feeling 100% on the jab but don’t want the risk of long covid and he really seems to suffer quite badly with illness . He had it in October was quite poorly with it , can’t get jab till end of jan . Was poorly 2 weeks ago with headache and temp for four days then cough lft negative . Just don’t want another 8/10 days of omicron . It’s being described as highly contagious so very likely to be in school again in jan .

Are parents going to lft kids twice a week (if test-kit available as I can’t get hold of any at moment) ? Not heard about masks yet , but they were only needed in corridors not in class .

Was hoping if you had delta maybe that would protect you for a bit, if he had antibodies but I’ve read delta gives you no protection from omicron.

Really don’t want schools shut again and so vital for his mental health to be with his peers as well as education.

Why are we doing this ? 3,000 more people in hospital in last 3 days. It's nuts.
But hey, let's just go on as if nothing is happening.

Blubells is it really a million times better to have an English teacher covering Geography etc than a period of online learning with their own class teacher?

I shall make a decision next week , don’t know what decision yet but will go with what I think best for DS , just seen on board another 9 year old very poorly with it .
Will see how hospital cases go as always a lag between infection and admissions, that’s another problem wouldn’t mind / worry so much if you unfortunately needed help from hospital setting and it was available 7/10 hour wait to see doctor. Despite what said on here I have read hospital cases with kids have risen .
At the moment I’ve no faith in hospital care or education and not comfortable sending him in to high omicron risk setting with no protection. Which is what it will be in January unfortunately. Just not enough evidence for me anyway yet , when you look at measures other countries are taking . All we’ve had is Boris saying enjoy new Year but get that booster and be careful, Ds not had 1 jab yet never mind booster . I’m not running scared of covid but letting cases run this high at one time I’m not sure is the best plan .

@Mistressiggi

Blubells is it really a million times better to have an English teacher covering Geography etc than a period of online learning with their own class teacher?

Well it depends - my sister is a maths teacher but she can teach geography up to GCSE level I think it is as she did that at A level. She admits she wouldn't be great (it was a long time ago) but probably better than some other options - difficulty would be how would she fit this in around her normal timetable?

@CovidforCrimbo

I don't think exams should be cancelled. Despite my concerns about how schools an their staff will limp on, I think we just have to grit our teeth and crack on.

My eldest is in yr 11, tbh it is an absolute shit show. It's a bit Hobson's choice.

Seen a post elsewhere that said the last normal school year for Ds who is in Yr 7 was yr 4 and it really did upset me . How time has moved along so fast as you loose track a bit , but yet here we are . I’m just hoping omicron is mild and push’s delta away and by March we’re a bit better and near normal.

But whitefire that isn't what would happen, anyone with extra space in their timetable would be the one to get the class, then a different teacher the next day.

Looking at graphs of infection & hospitalisation, I can’t see things (schools, businesses etc) running anywhere near normal from next week. Includes shortages of food and petrol too.
The wave has already gained speed. It’s out of control. I guess they have been waiting for this to happen because they didn’t want to impose any restrictions without showing evidence to people.

Record child covid admissions are a bit worrying.

@Blubells

“in secondary, equally, those subjects where a teacher is absent, a warm body - from another subject, or support staff - sits in front of the class and the class does busywork.”

Similar in our 6th form college. Teachers did their very best to set relevant work if absent and most lessons were covered really well. Just being in school and having access to computers is really helpful.

A million times better for their education and mental health than being stuck at home alone!

Seriously? Busy work is better than online learning with their actual teacher. FFS. I cannot believe that is in any way better.

@IWannaWishYouANutNutsChristmas

Record child covid admissions are a bit worrying.

This does not include Omicron as far as I can see.Omicron happened in December.

@neveradullmoment99 data is for 27th December. 105 child admissions.

[quote mumsneedwine]@neveradullmoment99 data is for 27th December. 105 child admissions.
[/quote]
Not good at all. Oh dear.

@IWannaWishYouANutNutsChristmas

Record child covid admissions are a bit worrying.

Surely this is just following the pattern of total case numbers. So of course more kids will be admitted. It doesn’t mean it’s become more dangerous for that age group.

We’ve all had it over Christmas, I assume omicron. One child had a high temperature for half a day, one had a cough for 3 days and one entirely asymptomatic. They’ll be back in school next week.

If it was, children going to hospital with a disease we know how to prevent would still be bad in my opinion.

But it's my understanding that the proportion of child cases resulting in hospital admission has increased too.

If it was, children going to hospital with a disease we know how to prevent would still be bad in my opinion

How do we prevent it?

@LittleBabyCheeses

If it was, children going to hospital with a disease we know how to prevent would still be bad in my opinion

How do we prevent it?

Seriously?

news.sky.com/story/covid-more-than-500-children-admitted-to-hospital-with-coronavirus-in-england-in-week-to-boxing-day-12505306?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

@LittleBabyCheeses open vaccination for children, and more mitigations at schools, getting everyone to upgrade their masks to FFP2… the list goes on

[quote IWannaWishYouANutNutsChristmas]news.sky.com/story/covid-more-than-500-children-admitted-to-hospital-with-coronavirus-in-england-in-week-to-boxing-day-12505306?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter[/quote]
"It is unclear whether the cases were incidental"

Did you not get to that line, Nutnuts??

[quote VaccineSticker]@LittleBabyCheeses open vaccination for children, and more mitigations at schools, getting everyone to upgrade their masks to FFP2… the list goes on[/quote]
Yep, vaccination, ventilation in schools, air filtration, ffp2 masks.

Although I do think the medics should get ffp2 first, we're going to be reaping the unhappy rewards of not providing that very basic protection with medics off work and ill - and given the millions upon millions spent on PPE it's an absolute scandal and probably criminal that they haven't provided them to medics.

So much they could do to make schools safer. It's been shown it's effective too. Many other countries have prioritised keeping kids safe - you can go online and see the ventilation status of your kid's classroom. You can vaccinate your 5-12 year old. Here, nothing.

If I were a young-ish teacher I'd be hoping to go out, have a great night, and catch omicron. Far better to get it now and not have to go back to work next week. The viral load will likely be lower than at school in a poorly ventilated classroom with a population of entirely unvaccinated and snotty kids. As we all know by now viral load is directly correlated with severity of disease. It's almost the sensible thing to do.

@siestalady

It's the source for the graph I posted.

@neveradullmoment99

I have to laugh at people saying that their children will be going in. Goodluck when all the teaching staff are off with it. Oh thats right, they have the retired to come in and be the supply teachers. Its going to be a complete shit show.

Guess the schools will have to juggle and cope pretty much the best way they can. A bit like I have to do on my job as a midwife. Normally 7 on a shift down to two. Doubtful that all the teachers in the whole School will get it at the same time! Mind you least it would be over in 10 days

You can't leave a class unattended though. And we can't just bung them all in a hall without the right ratio of staff (and could you imagine how easily Covid could spread through a hall?)