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.

@chinook

You can have the vaccine 28 days after a positive covid test, not 3 months.

My DD had hers in November about 35 days after testing positive.

She shouldn't of be guven it then. It's 12 weeks my ds was turned away in December after having covid in Sept had to wait another week b4 they would give it.

We're not all working from home. I've been back in the office for months, this time with pretty much no mitigations.

Unless there is a WFH mandate, I will be back in the office again on Tuesday next week.

@blameitonthecaffeine

Idk, I think people should make their own decisions. I just think that, after family, work is pretty much the priority for most people so most people will want to take precautions. I certainly don't think there should be any rules about it - just think it will be a natural tendency.

Catching Covid in school isn't a given. I've worked in London throughout and didn't catch it at school. I caught it at the theatre. I'm much more careful in public now so I don't have to be careful at school. It's not putting my life on hold. I do most things. Just not massive, crowded events a week before term starts.

Me too but its a different ball game now.

And by mandate I mean an explicit "Do not go to work" type thing rather than "WFH if you can."

@cantkeepawayforever

CovidforCrimbo,

In primary, it isn't generally possible to put groups together (we operate in separate groups inside as much as possible anyway to try to cut down rampant transmission) and we have almost no spaces big enough to do so. As we essentially work on a 1 teacher per class model, with nobody 'spare', an absent teacher can't be covered by a teacher, and we rapidly move through the few class TAs to the (illegal) use of 1:1 TAs and then totally unqualified staff. I think parents would be horrified if they really thought about it, but few seem to be aware or question what is going on.

In Scotland, we don't have TA's. It's management or other teaching staff/supply that have to cover. That's it. January will be very interesting. I don't like online teaching but this whole situation will be a nightmare when we go back with infection rates so high. On top of that we will have x of and then y off and s back in. What kind of teaching can go on in this environment. It will be piecemeal at best.

@Whitefire

And by mandate I mean an explicit "Do not go to work" type thing rather than "WFH if you can."

Unless they are willing to furlough, then its unlikely that it will be a mandate. I doubt the Tories are willing to put any more money into that now.

@Whitefire

We're not all working from home. I've been back in the office for months, this time with pretty much no mitigations.

Unless there is a WFH mandate, I will be back in the office again on Tuesday next week.

Do you work with 30-150 unvaccinated co-workers in very close proximity, with no masks and restricted ventilation?

The comparison is not schools vs wfh, it is comparing the different conditions in different workplaces. Do you have a screen around your workspace? Can you touch the 4 people who work around you with your elbows without moving yourself or your seat? How many people share your working area, and how many people do you come into close personal contact with each day, for how long? What is the ventilation? What is the cleaning schedule? How many are vaccinated? Do you wear masks at some points in the day? How many people sit facing and breathing towards you? How many people share e.g. toilet facilities? Do you have easy access to running water and soap? What are the personal hygiene habits of your co-workers like? Do many of them touch you frequently each day?

It is the aggregation of all of these factors that make schools quite such 'interesting' places to work in in pandemic times!

Well said @cantkeepawayforever
In a nutshell.

I had one boy come into school last term. Both his parents had it and he had symptoms. He'd had a PCR and came into school while waiting for the results, coughing and spluttering. I asked him why he was in. Apparently his parents were too ill to look after him. He had a positive PCR. Schools are also relying upon parents getting their kids to test twice a week and then actually following the guidelines if they have it.

^January will be very interesting.
I don't like online teaching but this whole situation will be a nightmare when we go back with infection rates so high. On top of that we will have x of and then y off and s back in. What kind of teaching can go on in this environment. It will be piecemeal at best^

I’m dreading January. I loathe on line teaching. Can’t see how we are going to avoid it.
The people I know who’ve caught Omicron are all triple vaxed and they are sick. Not desperately but they can’t go into work. It’s going to rip through schools, teachers can’t teach when sick.

We also have young staff that dont give a shit about mitigations and wander around as if everything is normal.

@CovidforCrimbo

I had one boy come into school last term. Both his parents had it and he had symptoms. He'd had a PCR and came into school while waiting for the results, coughing and spluttering. I asked him why he was in. Apparently his parents were too ill to look after him. He had a positive PCR. Schools are also relying upon parents getting their kids to test twice a week and then actually following the guidelines if they have it.

That's not allowed in Scotland thankfully. They would immediately be sent home.

Cleaning staff off with it so teachers were doubling up on that too.

I genuinely hope it stays stable in January. I hated online teaching. I want to be in the classroom with kids, but at what cost? I don't it to be a shit show but it may well be.

He was but only once I flagged up his continuous cough. Mum wasn't too happy apparently.

What an absolute cheek them doing that @CovidforCrimbo
Talk about babysitting services.
Absolutely shocking.

@CovidforCrimbo

He was but only once I flagged up his continuous cough. Mum wasn't too happy apparently.

Referring back to neveradull post.

Definitely shocking neveradull. Nothing surprises me now. Passed it on to the kid next to him too. I worry too that parents will just see it as a cold and either not bother testing and/or send them in anyway. I get that it might not be as dangerous etc etc but if people are worried about schools closing, don't send kids in ill, which will then impact the workforce.

I was trying to explain to a friend earlier. She said she'll be really angry if schools close. I do t think it'll be a government blanket decision but just localised, if the schools do not have the staff. What my friend couldn't grasp was that schools do not have a bottomless pit of teachers or supply staff or money to fund supply staff. She seemed to think it was easy to just teach online and off sick with it. So in theory I'm off ill with Covid and live teaching from home to the classroom. But you still need an adult in the room to referee the kids! Plus if I'm ill, then I should be recovering.

We pretty much have no mitigations, even the day the water went off in the building everyone just shrugged their shoulders and we carried on.

My co-workers are largely vaccinated, but I come into contact with CV individuals and I have personally always chosen to wear a mask (when seeing them), but there was no expectation that I should.

Working in a school is probably fairly shit, but it isn't some covid free utopia outside of schools either. Tbh I am fairly nonchalant about the whole thing.

And we have a zero tolerance sickness policy pretty much, so I was in for weeks with a [non covid] cough, which I probably caught there in the first place.

Mine will be going in.

The mental health impact of not going in AGAIN versus most likely two weeks of illness is just not worth it. Plus you know we are parents with other things to do than worry about nor actually being able to homeschool our children.

Hopefully most teachers will be boosted by early January.

I would like junior schools to suggest pupils wear masks though!

@FelizNavidads

I would like junior schools to suggest pupils wear masks though!

I work in one. I am forbidden to wear a mask in the classroom, and the children are not allowed to either.

"Mine will be going in."

No, they won't. Not if there is not enough staff to open safely.

I'm starting to dread it. All the options are utterly shit. I hated online learning, I don't want to do that. If schools 'close' I'll volunteer to go in. I assume schools will be open, which means staffing levels will probably be dangerous for large chunks of term 3 with rolling absences.

'Supply' isn't an answer. There aren't enough supply teachers for a start, irrespective of what the government said they are doing. Also, supply doesn't just come in at 8.30 and provide perfect lessons with learning for all in that classroom. It requires someone else to set it up and resource it. That means other teachers having to do double the planning and setting up.

So you know, it's going to be shit. We've streamlined our curriculum in preparation for this. A lot of things aren't going to get taught, but also a lot of things won't be missed by various kids who are off ill.

Doesn't matter that this version is 'mild' when we know it evades vaccination easily and can be caught again and again. I had Delta in November, then was boosted in December, I only partly hope that it's enough to get me through - being in school while having to deal with loads of other absences fills me with dread.

Masks are compulsory where I am for staff and pupils (secondary schools) - I don't know why that isn't the case all over the UK. That being said, transmission rates are still extremely high, so not sure it actually helps much! Windows always open here too. Unfortunately I don't think anyone can hide from this virus!