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.

@theemperorhasnoclothes

Agree there is a huge disparity between state and private home learning but I simply don't believe the reason the government decided to cancel exams was because it was unfair to poorer kids. If anything, their deeds not words suggest that the opposite is more likely to be true.

I have friends in a US state, their son got a computer to take home for home learning from his state run school. It's a well off state of course but every kid in his class got one - he wasn't special - the state funded extra resources. This government could have invested in state schools and they haven't. They haven't even invested in ventilation.

I think the decision to cancel exams was purely political, to look good and give the appearance of fairness, I suspect if anything it benefited private schools who could claim that all their kids would get As because they could massage the figures from the past. .

It'd be interesting to find out if the proportion of state vs private students who entered the top universities went up or down last year based on teacher assessed grades.

www.oxfordstudent.com/2021/08/10/2021-a-level-results-68-from-state-schools/

[Oxford] University [as of August 2021] has also reported an increased number of places going to students from UK state schools despite record breaking increases in teacher assessed grades awarded to independent schools and those outside the state school sector, where 39.5% gained the top A* grade, compared with 27.4% in 2020 and 16% in 2019. They have also confirmed that 68% of the UK undergraduate intake will be from state schools and 20% from the least advantaged backgrounds.

@marshabradyo
There is a whole relm of difference between sending children into a high case no mitigation enviroment and staying inside thinking you can avoid it forever.

My aim is to reduce our risk as much as possible. Yes we could still contract it but we will try and avoid. If we catch it i would prefer cases to be lower to increase our chance of getting medical support should anyone need it.
The longer we can avoid it the more the medicla staff and the scientists will know and the better the treatments.
It is likely that vunerable 5 to 11 yr olds will soon be vaccinated too so avoiding if possible until then seems logical to me.

If we take precautions and we still catch it we will know we did what we could. Assuming viral load makes a difference catch off one person is surely better than being in a classroom with several cases for hrs

@MumToBe1980 Won't you lose your school place?

[quote Covidworries]@marshabradyo
There is a whole relm of difference between sending children into a high case no mitigation enviroment and staying inside thinking you can avoid it forever.

My aim is to reduce our risk as much as possible. Yes we could still contract it but we will try and avoid. If we catch it i would prefer cases to be lower to increase our chance of getting medical support should anyone need it.
The longer we can avoid it the more the medicla staff and the scientists will know and the better the treatments.
It is likely that vunerable 5 to 11 yr olds will soon be vaccinated too so avoiding if possible until then seems logical to me.

If we take precautions and we still catch it we will know we did what we could. Assuming viral load makes a difference catch off one person is surely better than being in a classroom with several cases for hrs[/quote]
I meant have you been advised that they are higher risk?

Going by comment on vaccination for 5 to 11 I’m guessing that is the case.

I can see you might take different approach.

@marshabradyo

One child is high risk. But hand on heart i cant say how i would feel if this wasnt the case but as the child high risk condition was only identifiedlater in childhood, I am more aware that children and adults can have underlying risk factors that make them very at risk from covid but be walking around unaware of this

We've had thousands of kids hospitalised since the summer. There are studies showing all kinds of nasty organ damage, showing aging of the immune system too,

Please could you share the source of these claims?!

No, we have spoken with the school and they are allowing authorised absences.

@MumToBe1980

Completely agree with this! We do not know the long term impact of this virus on health, particularly on children's developing organs. Based on this I am seriously considering keeping my children home until case numbers reduce to a risk level I am comfortable with.

Will you move to home Ed then?

I fully support anyone that is vulnerable or with dc that are vulnerable, that choose to keep dc out of school, at the moment. But I honestly think our school would think I was mad if I did this. Absolutely no one seems to be fretting about covid around here, people are just carrying on as normal. And Boris coming out with shite like he welcomes Scottish people over here to party for new year don't help!

My daughter had covid in October and you need to count 84 days (NHS website advice) from the first day of symtpoms or positive test. Surprisingly the website doesn't stop you booking earlier but I wouldn't especially since as a boy he is more at risk of heart inflammation on the second jab. And they do ask you when you come in if you have waited the 84 days.

Getting a sense of deja vu here; we were all promised a bloodbath among children when Delta appeared. Didn't happen

No one is promising a blood bath. Just pointing out that there is a very transmissible virus out there. If you are triple vaxed you can still catch it, but you shouldn’t need to visit the hospital.

The issue is services can’t run if staff are sick, this could lead to closures of schools (and other establishments).

@herecomesthsun that's interesting though "also reported an increased number of places going to students from UK state schools despite record breaking increases in teacher assessed grades awarded to independent schools and those outside the state school sector, where 39.5% gained the top A* grade, compared with 27.4% in 2020 and 16% in 2019"

It implies that the state school intake is higher DESPITE the higher overall grades in the independent sector as a result of teacher assessed marks. And if the independent sector are getting much, much better grades now than when there were exams that suggests teacher assessed grades aren't exactly a benefit to state school students.

I know Oxford has several programmes aiming to increase state school student admissions (and have had for many years).

The issue is services can’t run if staff are sick, this could lead to closures of schools (and other establishments).

Sure. My post was in response to the "OMG, loads of kids are being hospitalized" posts. Even the NYT has admitted that omicron appears to be overwhelmingly a mild virus for kids.

@TheVolturi

I fully support anyone that is vulnerable or with dc that are vulnerable, that choose to keep dc out of school, at the moment. But I honestly think our school would think I was mad if I did this. Absolutely no one seems to be fretting about covid around here, people are just carrying on as normal. And Boris coming out with shite like he welcomes Scottish people over here to party for new year don't help!

Trouble is that the government don't allow vulnerable households to keep children home. Any absence on those grounds is unauthorised and parents can be fined or prosecuted. And the child's school place removed.

@PastMyBestBeforeDate - the lack of consideration for vulnerable households and children has been one of the things I've really struggled with accepting. Both my kids schools have 'kindness' as one of their core values and yet, at the same time, threaten those households with fines if they don't send their kids in to be exposed to often provably high levels of covid (particularly in the secondary, it's been rife).

The cognitive dissonance we parents are expected to cope with is extreme. We're supposed to instil the school values in our kids, but even a kid of 5 (my littlest) can see it's really not that kind to do nothing to protect those most vulnerable.

[quote theemperorhasnoclothes]@PastMyBestBeforeDate - the lack of consideration for vulnerable households and children has been one of the things I've really struggled with accepting. Both my kids schools have 'kindness' as one of their core values and yet, at the same time, threaten those households with fines if they don't send their kids in to be exposed to often provably high levels of covid (particularly in the secondary, it's been rife).

The cognitive dissonance we parents are expected to cope with is extreme. We're supposed to instil the school values in our kids, but even a kid of 5 (my littlest) can see it's really not that kind to do nothing to protect those most vulnerable.[/quote]
That is nothing to do with the culture and values of the school.

In many situations, schools have no choice over the course of action they take; it is often directed by the government with no possibility of change.

I understand that, but try explaining that to a 5 year old. It doesn't work.

Kids see things in black and white - they're telling them to be kind and not acting in a kind way themselves. It's that simple.

Someone else 'told them to' is not a good reason to be unkind in the playground, nor should it be for adults.

@theemperorhasnoclothes

I understand that, but try explaining that to a 5 year old. It doesn't work.

Kids see things in black and white - they're telling them to be kind and not acting in a kind way themselves. It's that simple.

Someone else 'told them to' is not a good reason to be unkind in the playground, nor should it be for adults.

It's not the school. It's the government.

Explain to your child that the school has no choice, just like you don't.

I'm not even in England, but I still know the schools won't have a choice about reporting absences.

Why on earth is anyone discussing absence codes/reporting with their 5 year old?

We've had thousands of kids hospitalised since the summer. There are studies showing all kinds of nasty organ damage, showing aging of the immune system too,

I would love to see the source of these claims please.

news.sky.com/story/covid-more-than-500-children-admitted-to-hospital-with-coronavirus-in-england-in-week-to-boxing-day-12505306

One week. Yikes.

"Over 2,000 6-17 year olds have been admitted to hospital with covid-19 since 1 September and 10 5-14 year olds have died with covid as contributing cause, compared to 720 and two respectively over the same period in 2020. Children are reporting rising cases of long covid too—a trend only likely to get worse as data come in from the last few months of the year."

www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n3149

Trouble is that the government don't allow vulnerable households to keep children home. Any absence on those grounds is unauthorised and parents can be fined or prosecuted. And the child's school place removed

There has been a shift in this recently if it is the child who is vulnerable - there was a document but I can’t seem to find it. It was worded a,inf the lines of allowing vulnerable children to stay home, at the school’s discretion.

@blameitonthecaffeine

Not saying it's fair that people working from home can be less cautious or that people working out of the home shouldn't be allowed to socialise. Everyone is free to do as they please. I just think the reality is that it will be a consideration for most people. I am not going anywhere crowded between now and the start of term because I need to be at work on the 4th. I assume most people will follow the same thought process - ie, what is my job, when do I need to be at it and how difficult will it be if i can't? Just common sense, surely?

What really will annoy me is if restrictions are put on what we can do in schools while nightclubs are still open - ie if I'm told I can't run proper rehearsals or that the children can't sing without distancing or masks but adults can crowd together on a club. If adults get to continue as normal then so should schools.

I am a teacher and I have been away for a few days visiting my son and then down to London. My life is not being put on hold because I have to be back in work next week. If it is legal for me to do it, I will. I have had ny 3 jabs but not had Covid (that I know of). I always wear a mask, also when teaching; I also socially distanced where possible and hand sanitise. If we have to teach from home then I will but I bloody hate it and want to be in school, teaching face to face next week. However, I will enjoy myself within the guidelines and regulations of the government.