Schools still a covid shitshow

[noblegiraffe]

"Schools have been forced to send year groups home this week because of "rapidly rising" Covid rates among staff and an inability to find supply teachers, it has emerged.

The removal of the need for Covid testing among staff and pupils was making the situation worse, with some schools now experiencing their worst absence levels of the pandemic, a headteachers' leader told Tes.

Heads warn that some schools are having to send year groups home on a rota or combine class groups in an attempt to protect exam year groups from more disruption."

www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/covid-schools-absence-send-year-groups-home-cases-spike

Some will claim that getting rid of testing would improve the situation, but clearly a situation where lots of teachers are getting ill and requiring a few days off school to recover, regardless of isolation rules, is not 'getting back to normal'.

The teachers that I know who have had covid recently would have required a few days off school despite it being 'mild' even without isolation guidance, even though teachers are well-known for dosing on Lemsip and turning up to school regardless of illness because setting cover work is worse.

Still, the covid catch-up effort has basically fizzled out, and it's looking like zero effort will be made by the government to support children in recovering their education from the impact of absences and lack of teachers.

Exams start in a couple of months for kids who are having an extremely disruptive time. The government has fixed the exam grades so that they will come out with better results than the 2019 cohort, this will basically cover up the impact on educational standards. How this will play out down the line at uni/college/sixth form is anyone's guess.

A local school was forced to close three year groups last week because of staff absence. We've had huge amounts of staff absence affecting teaching and support staff, and lots of pupils off sick. It's grim.

It is. Many teachers are off and those who are in can’t get LFT’s to test.

We are seeing increasing numbers of staff and students absence now. It might only be a week at a time, but it is very disruptive.

We’ve had letters this week from the school warning us that loads of teachers are ill and they may need to start sending whole years home as they are finding it hard to source supply teachers. My DD is getting loads of supply teachers. It worries me. My DD has GCSEs which are starting in a couple of months and it’s a poor run up to them, disrupted and patchy education being provided, I’m not criticising the school, which has been and is great, I’m simply stating a fact.

@MrsHamlet

A local school was forced to close three year groups last week because of staff absence. We've had huge amounts of staff absence affecting teaching and support staff, and lots of pupils off sick. It's grim.

Are you in South Wales? This happened to my sons school.

In my year group, 4 out of the 7 staff members (teachers/TAs) are out. All of the wider staff who have had Covid in the last couple of months (since isolation rules changed) have still been feeling too unwell to work until at least Day 7.
We've have JUST managed to staff classes, but there have been some hiccups with "normal service," generating complaints from some parents who don't know how lucky they are.

DD has covid again. Along with most of her form. They were down to just 5 kids left in her form on Thursday (up to 10 again by Friday as some came back from being ill). That is year 7, in Cumbria.
They had to close to year 8 on Friday as they didn't have enough staff to cover all yeargroup, and year 8 was the year with the highest number of kids already off with covid. Other yeargroups had merged classes to be taught together. They're really in the shit. They've got masks back in classrooms now to try and control this huge outbreak.

My school, only 20 minutes away, has only 2 teachers and 20ish kids off with covid currently, but who knows when we'll have an outbreak. I fully expect to catch it again this year, despite having had it in September and being really rather poorly with it. I don't want it again, but am sort of resigned to it

@Northernsoullover nope. Up north.

We too will have to prioritise if staffing is an issue: we have to get y11/13 to the exams.

DS's sixth form is closed this week. A couple of months until A'levels start. It's shit.

We’ve sent home years 7&8 this week, they won’t even be getting online learning.

It is tough, especially because there are other bugs around too (include D&V). I don't know what the solution is in the short term, but yes it is very hard on exam classes. They just haven't had a good run at it.

I have it this week, and feel awful (day 4.)
We have other cases in school too - children and staff. This is the worst it has been for us and we are 1 staff member away from closing a class (2 year groups.)
Those in school are getting sub standard lessons and those at home very limited home learning.

@TheYearOfSmallThings

It is tough, especially because there are other bugs around too (include D&V). I don't know what the solution is in the short term, but yes it is very hard on exam classes. They just haven't had a good run at it.

I'm not sure of the solution either, but the previous claims that 'loads of asymptomatic teachers were at home when they could be teaching' doesn't seem to be boosting teacher supply now that regular testing isn't required because there are an awful lot of symptomatic teachers at home unable to teach.

And the suggestion that once it had run through a school everything would be fine isn't holding up either as many who were screwed before Christmas with delta are now being screwed again only a few months later with omicron.

I don't think the army of retired teachers who were supposed to sign up as supply and save schools made any impact.

It needs discussion.

But Noble, as we know, people will stick their fingers in their ears, singing "lalalalala" until it affects their child.
And then ask why nothing has been done about it.

I'm a preschool but we had to shut for three days a couple of weeks ago as we had 5 children and 3 staff positive. We only have 4 staff so there was no way we could open. I didn't test negative until day 9, another member not until day 8 and the last one managed to do days 5&6.

We have dodged it for two years but it went through us like a dose of salts.

We now have chicken pox 😱

Local schools are in the worst position they have ever been in since the pandemic has started

My sons school have another big outbreak. Praying we don't get it again as I was so so ill with it last time. I really don't want it again.

DH (TA) and his class teacher had covid at the same time. Those kids who could be sent home were sent home. The others were managed on site by another TA. DH was less ill than the class teacher so he taught from home for the mornings then slept for the rest of the day. I don't think he's unusual. Teaching staff, like NHS staff are trying their best and are exhausted.

I get that we have to live with this now, but if it really is every 8-12 weeks for the next couple of years while we build immunity, notwithstanding new variants, how are we really going to get back to normal in schools?

My child's school had Ofsted this week. They already deferred once before half term due to staff absence. No 'excuse' allowed this time, but a third of the staff her off. So that's a whole school being judged, careers affected, by pandemic judgement.

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

Yes this was us last week!

Anyway. My school is currently doing OK, but we have had staff off on second go around of infection. That's where the issue will be - staff off repeatedly, and ill. Not many adults in schools are being asymptomatic, even if everyone on MN apparently seems to be. Not many are testing negative even by day 8 - 10 either. Viral load maybe?

Out of five classes, only one last week had a teacher in charge, the rest had TAs covering and SLT moving between them.There are no supply teachers available so we are doing the best we can, I had two classes at the same time to cover!

My ds is also having patchy GCSE prep done. No idea what can realistically be done though.

Our primary had a horrendous half term last half term. There were more than 25% of kids off with covid at the peak and it was a constant battle to staff classes, with some closed. My DD was 'lucky' to have covid when her teacher did, so we had her home anyway. I naively thought it couldn't be as bad this half term as it had ripped through the school last half term. But they've had enough kids off to collapse 2 classes into one, which they've had to do as they don't have enough staff for all of the classes.