Schools update

[enterparentone]

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2022/03/30/living-with-covid-the-end-of-routine-testing-in-schools-colleges-and-childcare-settings/

Don't test for Covid, and do go to school, but if you do test for Covid and you do indeed have Covid, don't go to school. Except if you feel well then you can go to school, but don't go to school if you have a high temperature. If you tested your temperature. Classic!

@Lilaclavenders

Far cheaper to buy tests than for the knock on costs of a whole class to be shut down for days

You might be in the fortunate position to go out and buy these tests for your family. Unfortunately many people are really struggling to pay for their gas and food bills!

Also, these LTF tests don't actually detect covid until a couple of days later, by which time you've already been infectious...

Yes, this. My colleague passed Covid onto me and another colleague, despite doing daily LFT, as she didn't show positive until 5 days after exposure.

@mrshoho I think a number of parents may be disappointed that school disruption is not going away once all testing goes away

Paying taxes is detrimental to me but I make the chose not to dodge them because I am part of society, and I know they help others who need that help, as well as myself.

Anyway - those of you who think that there is some sort of magic force field around your child's school - keep sending them in with covid. I'm sure that staff will be fine, and there will be no need to shut the school. You all just need to hope that the kid who sits next to or infornot of your child does not have a parent with a similar mindset.

Good luck. And sincerely, good luck to my former colleagues who have worked so hard over the past two year and now have to face the consequences of this me and mine first thinking.

@itrytomakemyway

Paying taxes is detrimental to me but I make the chose not to dodge them because I am part of society, and I know they help others who need that help, as well as myself.

Anyway - those of you who think that there is some sort of magic force field around your child's school - keep sending them in with covid. I'm sure that staff will be fine, and there will be no need to shut the school. You all just need to hope that the kid who sits next to or infornot of your child does not have a parent with a similar mindset.

Good luck. And sincerely, good luck to my former colleagues who have worked so hard over the past two year and now have to face the consequences of this me and mine first thinking.

Paying taxes isn't detrimental to you though, is it? Your taxes pay for things that benefit you. If you didn’t pay taxes, you would have to educate your children yourself, pay for your own healthcare, pay someone to collect your rubbish, pay a fee for the fire service/police, pay someone to fix the potholes in the road etc. Without paying taxes, we wouldn’t have had 2 years of ‘free’ covid tests, that’s for sure. Very few people are net contributors, most get more out of the system than they pay in. So an entirely false equivalence. And doesn’t change the fact that many people can’t afford to pay for tests.

If you read my post I did in fact say that taxes benefit me as well as other people. I have paid taxes for over 30 years - I am pretty sure I have paid more into the system than I have ever received back from it. I know my own circumstances. It is detrimental to me as I could have kept the money and spent it on myself. But I choose not to tax dodge, because morally the right thing to do is to do what is expected of me to support the society I live in.

I could get on a plane next week with covid symptoms. I choose not to do that because it would potentially cause others on the plane to become very ill with covid.

If I had children in school I could choose to send them into school with covid symptoms. I would choose not to.

I would hope that others would do the same. Clearly some on this thread would not. And as a result schools will close and classes will be left working from home.

@itrytomakemyway

Paying taxes is detrimental to me but I make the chose not to dodge them because I am part of society, and I know they help others who need that help, as well as myself.

Anyway - those of you who think that there is some sort of magic force field around your child's school - keep sending them in with covid. I'm sure that staff will be fine, and there will be no need to shut the school. You all just need to hope that the kid who sits next to or infornot of your child does not have a parent with a similar mindset.

Good luck. And sincerely, good luck to my former colleagues who have worked so hard over the past two year and now have to face the consequences of this me and mine first thinking.

Paying taxes doesn't put me at risk of losing my job/losing wages, the way Covid does if I'm off every other month with it or I'm home looking after DS with it.

School seems to have managed fine so far. DS's class hasn't closed at any point during the pandemic. So again, I'll worry about hypothetical situations if and when they occur.

Good luck. I hope your school beats the odds. Good luck to the staff in the school too.

the three days thing seems very weird

I imagine it's because they think some parents might suck up three days and actually keep their kids home for that period of time rather than them sending kids in with Covid because they won't want them to be off for 5-10 days. Three days a sence may reduce the transmission risk a little.

In reality, most parents just won't test. I've had kids come into my primary class clearly unwell all week. None of their parents will test them. One girl came in with a fever and streaming eyed today because it was the last day of term and she didn't want to miss out on getting an Easter Egg. Hopefully it wasn't Covid and the rest of us won't have to be sick during the holidays.

Our school has just said please send them in with covid or cold unless a temperature! They also have staff off... !!

@OutlookStalking

Our school has just said please send them in with covid or cold unless a temperature! They also have staff off... !!

Absolutely outrageous!

They also pointed out that we shouldn't be testing kids anymore. I have no idea what their angle is or if that's what they've been advised as a school!?

This is either an April fools thread or there are a hell of a lot of thickos on Mumsnet who think sending unwell children into a school won't affect their education if staff are too sick to be there

It's not just about the kids getting ill though. In fact, most children seem to be quite perky with it! It's the adults at school who unfortunately can get very poorly. We've had some staff members incredibly ill with covid and that has left us seriously understaffed. At times I'm sure it's bordered on dangerous and we've just had a week of hell trying to cover classes and ensure that SEN children's needs are met.

I am an extremely conscientious person and have followed all of the guidelines to the letter. I also take huge care not to pass Covid on to my vulnerable friends and relatives - I've stopped seeing my elderly parents until we can isolate for 5-8 days beforehand (5 seems reasonable now as Omicron has a shorter infection gap) and I do LFTs too.

BUT I will simply have to follow these guidelines and send my child in to school when they are feeling up to it, EVEN if I know in my heart that they are likely to be infectious.

I feel awful about it in advance, but as a single working parent there will simply be no slack cut for me if I try to take more time off work than is outlined in the guidance. I cannot keep sacrificing myself at the expense of my family, if the government have an ounce of common sense they would never be putting ordinary working people in this position.

Also please note that absences beyond that timeframe are highly likely to be unauthorised and fines issued for non-attendance at school!

This is a systemic problem. Personal responsibility is not enough to solve the societal lack of caring here.

Such a massive relief to get the email from school tonight that I have been waiting so long for. Kids can cough again. Thank goodness for that.

@OutlookStalking

Our school has just said please send them in with covid or cold unless a temperature! They also have staff off... !!

The schools have no choice in this. We know it's bonkers. If only we had unions. Oh wait...

@Notdoingthis

Such a massive relief to get the email from school tonight that I have been waiting so long for. Kids can cough again. Thank goodness for that.

Really? How was the email worded?

The same as the school I teach in, copied and pasted from the dfs advice. Children now only stay home if they are too unwell to go in or have a temperature.

What happens When this current batch of vaccines wear off though?
We'll probably all get through the next few months it's autumn with no vaccines I'm worried about!

I assume if the school feel that the child is too ill to be in school they can ask parents to take them home, as they do with other illnesses

@Dovesofpeace

What happens When this current batch of vaccines wear off though? We'll probably all get through the next few months it's autumn with no vaccines I'm worried about!

I am worried about this too. Doesn't look like heard immunity is achievable really.

@Dovesofpeace

What happens When this current batch of vaccines wear off though? We'll probably all get through the next few months it's autumn with no vaccines I'm worried about!

There will probably be boosters in the autumn and that will become a yearly thing.

Paying taxes doesn't put me at risk of losing my job/losing wages, the way Covid does if I'm off every other month with it or I'm home looking after DS with it.

@Waxonwaxoff0

Funnily enough, if people weren't willingly sending their kids into school knowing they have a contagious illness, you and your DS would likely not be catching it every other month 🙄

It's almost as if covid were not a well publicized, highly contagious illness....

The more parents who send their children in ill, the more likely you are to have your school shut. The fact that some schools have escaped this so far is pure luck. I can't understand why people don't understand this. There are more people with covid at the present time than ever. People sending positive covid children into school are contributing to the lottery. Schools will close.

Except for the schools with magic forcefields of protection around them of course. They will be ok. You are fine to send in your covid positive child. Just hope no one else does the same.

I've never tested my children ever. If they've been well enough to go to school I've sent them in. Even when we had covid in the house.

No school closures here as a result of my actions! I'm glad common sense has prevailed.