If your child tests positive for covid are you going to send them to school still?

[Meltinthemiddle]

Just wondering really as friends kids have tested positive and she said they are gutted they don't have to stay off school. As a teacher I'm not looking forward to be surrounded by more germs 😭

I’m a teacher and just won’t be testing my own dc (or myself) anymore.

If we’re ill enough to be off school, we’ll be off. Otherwise we’ll be there - and based on our very low / non symptom experiences of covid so far, we would be in school with covid.

Pregnant teacher who is dreading it tbh. The effects of covid on third trimester are not to be sniffed at, but now all the protections are being removed.

I won’t be testing.

If they’re poorly they will be off school. Doesn’t matter if it’s covid, flu or tonsillitis.

We most definitely won't be testing now (not that we ever did much before, opted out of secondary school testing from the start). If the kids are clearly sick enough, they'll stay at home else they'll be at school with amy mild coughs or sniffles or whatever as they were in the before times

Even if schools had access to tests there would still be the problem of parents not having paid time off to look after them.

We're at home today as staff are off ill with it. For us there's no illness, no testing, no isolation, but DCs still missing out on education and I'm unable to go to work because of it .

Symptomatic kids are told to get a PCR and not allowed in although they are still asking you to test negative which will not work once LFT run out.

Asymptomatic kids will be in school as routine testing twice a week has stopped so they won’t know they are positive.

[quote OnceuponaRainbow18]@Dghgcotcitc

You might need to test as if they have a cough or temp at school they’ll be sent home until
Negative test[/quote]
Schools won’t be able to enforce this once free tests end in a few weeks. That would be incredible unfair to those who can’t afford tests and effectively ban low income families from accessing education whilst richer families can still attend. Unless schools provide tests free of charge to everyone, no one will have to test.

I thought the lft were going to be £6 from April? So no one's going to be testing regularly from then. Schools won't be able to insist that parents take 2/3/4/5 tests per child until they get two negatives in a row.

If my child is sick I will keep them home, as I have always done.

If they are well enough to be at school, they will go.

Simple.

The stay at hone guidance that still exists (tho not law) ends on 1st April so they are not expecting people let o stay home then

After that it says ‘exercise personal responsibility’

Won't even test

Won't be testing. If my child was ill, though, I would keep them off.

I'm not going to test so I won't know. If he's well enough to be at school he'll be in.

It's fairly obvious that a lot of parents have been sending their dc in with covid before the guidelines changed at my school!
Two massive clues have been the parents looking decidedly shifty/uncomfortable at the school gate and children either clearly unwell with covid symptoms or actually talking openly to me about the family having covid.
I predictably ended up catching it and was very unwell, as were my colleagues.

I havent got a clue what the guidelines are. We are still on half term though so might get an email about it soon.
If schools are still requiring isolation though I dont see how that's going to work especially when lft have to be brought x

I won't be testing them. If they show symptoms that might require them to be kept off I would do it just like with any other cough or cold.

We will still be testing twice a week but DS attends a special school Sixth Form so the rules are different,

We’ve just had a week of DS being off but completely well. No work provided by the school he’s just missed a week on top of all the missed work from the last two years. No more testing for us definitely. Obviously I’d keep him off for illness as usual.

The issue isn't going to arise as they won't be getting tested. I'll keep them off if too ill to go in, as usual.

testing is still free, so April costs are not relevant right now. It's not compulsory, that's the difference.

Our school are still asking for 5 days off with a positive test, and the guidelines for up to day 10 to be followed and I'd definitely keep them off. Friend in different part of the country - though not far away - has had an email from school saying, basically, send them in unless they're really unwell, even if they're positive.

Would be much better to have clear, well-communicated guidelines which apply across the whole country, rather than this (presumably deliberate) obfuscation.

In April, will we still test/send in? I don't honestly know. Will obviously keep off if unwell. Will see how things stand. I can't bear the idea of DD getting Covid for a third time, she was so unwell with it and it's left her pretty battered. She's due to be vaccinated as vulnerable but can't get it yet as she has to wait to mid-April when she'll be 12 weeks post-Covid. So that early April period is worrying.

Why would you bother testing them if you’re not going to take any action if the result is positive? What on earth would be the point?

I wonder what the impact on the NHS will be from this policy change. NHS workers still have to test twice weekly (or daily LFTs if a contact of COVID) so presumably are more likely to pick up infections on the tests because they are regularly testing and then have to isolate, impacting the staffing levels of the NHS. There will likely be more COVID around if the kids are all milling around school with it without testing, so could be a bit of an issue for the NHS (again).

We've just had an update from our school, they want us to have 5 days off for a positive result and then only return if 2 negative lfts. Slight issue there, I'm never testing my child again so won't know if they're positive.

I'm going back to pre 2020 times and if they're ill as in properly ill and not just a cold they're ill and won't be at school end of.

Our school is also asking for 5 days off following a positive test.

Reading between the lines of the rest of the message (please bring a mask to school and wear it if directed to by a teacher, who may ask this if in close proximity) they are worried about staff getting it and needing sick leave (adults being more likely to be quite unwell). That could cause disruption to everyone's education.

They are much better these days at keeping up DC who are home but not so unwell they cannot participate