New rule that 3-18 year olds can return to school after only 3 days isolation

[Mistieee]

I can’t see any other posts on this but please feel free to link to if there are.

Will anyone do this, as it seems like a very short period of time, especially when for over 18s it’s 5 days? My secondary aged DC tested positive and feels uncomfortable about the idea and because it only came in on the 1st April, with Easter holidays in between we can’t really judge what other people are doing. My other DC goes to a diffferent type of school where it’s 10 days, which makes 3 days seem even worse.

Someone will probably come along to call you selfish and parade their inability to understand your situation soon enough, though.

Schools are back to worrying about attendance figures so why should I risk a fine I cannot afford to pay

If he is ill he is off if he is OK he is in but colds are considered OK as is hay-fever both of these cause him to have "covid symptoms"

I should mention as well that I got the letters mentioned above despite one of the absences being covid, and the other 2 I was phoned to pick her up as she unwell 🤷🏻‍♀️. I then kept her home until she was better. So not really sure what else I could have done.

Teacher DS is resigned to it, not so much his vulnerable colleagues.
The children's education does still suffer because of high staff absences, not because they are isolating but because they are actually I'll with covid.

I am vulnerable as is DH so DS tests before he visits us. I wish he didn't have to but it's a reasonable precaution.

My first thought was this is crazy, but almost every child I know has had Covid and those that had it twice were only positive for a couple of days second time around so maybe there us something to it. Our school is expecting them in after day 3 unless too unwell.

What are his school’s policy on pupil absences? If people are going to get fined for keeping children at home, they’re not going to do it. The messaging to keep them home needs to come from the LEA and the school, with a reassurance that the children/parents won’t be penalised for absences.

Advice is still to isolate if you are positive or clear symptoms. Many schools are still pushing that advice out.

But obviously many, if not most, parents simply aren't testing anymore.

I teach and have had covid twice now. I'm classed as vulnerable and have had my 4th vaccine already. Covid has been much worse for me than any cold or flu I've had previously. It's left me with ongoing health issues that will be life long, as well as lifelong daily medication.

I wfh during the lockdowns but I knew as soon as I returned that covid was a possibility. Close contact and no real mitigation in school, especially as infants so no distancing, masks or anything. And we are now back to normal regarding mixing and parent contact, as the school guidance says.

I test regularly as I can access antiviral medication but need to take it fairly soon and prior to becoming ill- had it on day 5 with my last bout of covid and it did appear to help a lot. I can access free LFTs so I test weekly and Dh tests if he is ill or has symptoms. I test if I'm in known contact for any prolonged time.

I am resigned to catching it on and off, mainly through my daily school contacts, and just have to hope that I won't become too ill with it in any subsequent bouts.

I do what I can but we know that at school we could be in close contact with covid all the time.

I guess if I continued to catch it and become ill each time I'd need to consider whether I have to leave teaching and school based employment. But hope it won't come to that.

Selfishly, I also hope I won't catch it just before having to test to fly for holidays as really don't want any more missed breaks and really don't want to be ill on holidays!

We don't fine for sickness absence in general. Obviously if a child had a lot of absence then this would be followed up by the learning mentor in the same way a lot of periods of absence would have been pre covid.

My school has been very good re absences for covid and have encouraged children not to be if positive or with symptoms. I was classed as vulnerable due to health conditions and medication. We also have two other members of staff who are now classed as very vulnerable due to medical issues they are going through. My headteacher has done what they can to protect their staff under the guidance.

We also don't fine for unauthorised absence until day 5, but that is for term time holidays more than anything else. That's an lea policy.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/when-to-self-isolate-and-what-to-do/

This is the nhs link about self isolating

the ever increasing death rate

rate = x over time

Over time, C19 deaths are not ever increasing, arguably the death rate is net flat for last 3 months in UK. Most Europe is declining, NZ is flatlined, heck, even HK has declined.

I agree. Because if you actually quoted my whole post and not just a sentence out of context it says after this that the attendance letters also need to be looked at.

But I'm not talking about a cold.

We have kids who are throwing up and parents just say "we can't collect them" and then send them back the next day saying "they're fine and haven't been sick all night".

And there's nothing we can do about it

Oh sorry appears I should also have read on to the next post before replying to you

Unfortunately Teachersabd the rest of the school community will continue to get sick. It hasn't gone away.
I am just glad my year 13 has pretty much completed her course. I just need to hope that if she gets COVID it isn't during exam period.

No is taking covid around here
not family
not friends
not work
not school

Reading these threads is like being transported back to 2020

Talking

Presumably you hope she doesn’t get ill
full stop

if she did get covid, and you had an lft to hand that confirmed, would you stop her from going in to take her exams? If she was absolutely fine

This is what our head said at the end of last term:

 In general, pupil attendance has deteriorated during the last two years. Whilst we understand that the pandemic has had a significant effect on this, and that Covid is still present in our community, we hope to see the attendance of many of our pupils improving during the next term

if we keep testing and keeping the kids off until they get 2 negatives I doubt they’ll get their wish!

I got one of those attendance not good enough letters last term, my DC having both had covid when isolation was still legally required plus I think a couple of other days for D and V. So they were about 94% and the threshold is 96. It's a standard and I know schools are being told to send them, so I don't blame them for that, but it's clear that this is only going to encourage parents to send DC in when ill and/or covid positive.

How will people even know if it's covid or not though? If they don't have any lft's and can't afford to buy them. Many cases will not be detected as they will just go unnoticed, especially if symptoms are very mild as they were with my dc. I probably wouldn't have thought my kids symptoms were covid if I wasn't regularly testing them due to being close contacts and they tested positive (few months ago!).

To me, if they are too unwell for school, keep them off and once they are better send them back like ore covid times, could be 3, 5 or 7 days as each child is different. My son was only poorly for one day with covid and isolated for 9 more days perfectly well.

the problem lies with cold symptoms too. If we don't have easy access to tests how are we meant to know if our child's cold symptoms are a normal cold or covid?! Do we keep them off every time they have a sniffly nose but otherwise fine?

@tomatoandherbs I she had symptoms and was positive than no she wouldn't sit exam as she would be ill and contagious.

If she was well and had no symptoms than she would sit exam as we wouldn't know if she had COVID.
@tomatoandherbs