Secondary school testing must be on site?

[Donatella]

I've just read this on the BBC, does anyone have any more details? Have the government really made this announcement via Twitter, on a bank holiday, the day before term will be starting in a lot of schools?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59854920

I have a child in secondary. She is due back tomorrow morning at 8.30. The school have asked all kids to test at home today and send them the results. If this article is correct (a big if) then does that mean the school have to delay the start of term/conjure up a plan to test all kids before they go back tomorrow and inform parents about this before 8.30am tomorrow? On a bank holiday??

@Haggisfish3

Lft are encouraged even after covid infection. They stop being positive as soon as the persons viral load has reduced to a point they are not infectious. Hence you can stop isolating after seven days with negative lft.

Not so sure. I've been testing positive two weeks after the end of isolation.

Our school sent it out on the 9th December that it was guidance (and it was just guidance) for onsite testing and it is staggered so two days.

DD is back a day later than she would have been.

Still had the 90 day covid exemption and if you had a travel on from the 1st (which we missed as we took ours on the 31st!)

Same procedure as we had in March and in September so used to it by now

I was checking emails yesterday as hadn't heard anything from one of our schools. Just had an email asking them to test tonight/tomorrow morning before they go in. No on site testing mentioned at all.
DD's school has them all in at set times for 15 minutes over the next few days, then they can go to school the next day if negative. Really annoying, given we have tests at home and I'll be at work so DH will have to take her in his dodgy work van that isn't running well (no buses). There's no mention in the school details about it being optional, but they also don't seem to have asked for consent again (perhaps September consent applies?). I wonder what would happen if I didn't send her... Legally they are meant to be in school tomorrow, no mention of online learning for those who aren't being tested until later in the week either.

I've got one school overly cautious and one that seems to be very behind on the news!

This has been planned for a while. Mine were due back to school on Wednesday but now my youngest has to test on Thursday to go back Friday and my oldest has to test on Friday to go back on Monday - almost another week off when I start back to work tomorrow from home 🙄

Yes my dd continued testing positive after the ten day isolation period. We took that to mean she is potentially still infectious and kept her in, even though this isn’t official guidance.

At my school the kids are doing a test in registration time tomorrow morning and then it’s business as usual.

I dont know if it's different for the CSA pupils, but our school's sixth formers are being allowed to test at home (onsite available if anyone prefers).

And everyone pupil has to have a completed form (done by parents for yr 7-11 and either the parent or the pupil for 12&13) in which they can opt in or opt out. No form, no access to the school - I don't know why they're being so strict (and if they really can/will enforce that condition) but they do seem to be taking v seriously right now.