Reception mask wearing

[Spudyoulikeit]

I’ve just found out that all the staff in my DCs school are wearing masks all day in the classroom. I’m a bit worried as he finds communication difficult sometimes (understanding non verbal cues etc). His hearing is ok.

Is anyone else’s school doing this? I thought it wasn’t recommended for teachers looking after children this young.

I don’t think staff wearing masks is good for learning for any child in any primary classroom, but the teachers are people and if this is what they want to do, it’s their own personal choice that has to be respected.

I think you’re probably right. Just seems such a key time for learning about communication and I know a few children have speech difficulties, which I imagine won’t be helped by mask wearing. It’s more that we weren’t told - I only found out as they sent a picture out with one of the TAs wearing a mask on it and my DC said oh they wear them all the time.

It isn’t recommended however in our Local Authority if you return after COVID after day 5 and 6 negative lateral flow tests you are expected to mask wear until day 10.

Reception staff member here. We are wearing them when close up with the children (which tbf is quite a lot with this age group, they're tactile little creatures with little concept of personal space!) but not when standing at the front of the class, or outside. If I'm demonstrating a new sound I will take mine off so they can see the shape my mouth makes. There are lots of thumbs up gestures and other ways to show reassurance, which we are all doing.
So it will basically look as though I wear mine "all day" but not when it really matters!

@MoonBat

Thanks, seems that it’s fairly common then. I’d rather the staff were well and the school was open but you can’t help but worry about learning being affected. It must be particularly hard for those with a hearing impairment.

Across the world, teachers have been wearing masks. Children get used to it. And you will have fewer closures because of less staff catching covid. I think teachers have been put in a very difficult place by the govt in this entire pandemic, with no masks while a lot of people were advised work from home.

You can work in an office without wearing a mask, go to a restaurant, a nightclub or the theatre, the list goes on. At primary level, teachers who can do all of the above should not be wearing masks in the classroom. Children need to see their faces, their smiles and more importantly all forms of communication at this crucial age for learning. If teachers have had their vaccines and the ventilation measures are in place (windows open, so everyone is cold, but it’s the best most schools can do in the short term) then really there’s no need for masks. I understand and respect the teachers right to choose though, but don’t agree it’s necessary working with this age group.

In our school we are doing it to prevent closure, and closure would be more detrimental to most.

@OnceUponAWhine

You can work in an office without wearing a mask, go to a restaurant, a nightclub or the theatre, the list goes on. At primary level, teachers who can do all of the above should not be wearing masks in the classroom. Children need to see their faces, their smiles and more importantly all forms of communication at this crucial age for learning. If teachers have had their vaccines and the ventilation measures are in place (windows open, so everyone is cold, but it’s the best most schools can do in the short term) then really there’s no need for masks. I understand and respect the teachers right to choose though, but don’t agree it’s necessary working with this age group.

Absolutely !!

I get mask wearing working with 11+ ,but reception?? Like care and NHS, they should be triple jabbed , working in well ventilated rooms.

We are literally creating a generation that will be seen as the cursed generation, shit teaching, the decades of impact from the economic fallout of Covid and of course the environmental fallout of the lack of direction by our so called politicians.

The adults in a restaurant, nightclub and theatre will all be vaccinated and tested before they go in, the children aren't. We have had more staff off this term, even the triple vaccinated, than at any other time during the pandemic, some staff are on their third bout of covid. If mask wearing keeps more staff in school, so be it.

If seems school staff in YR have forgotten why they are doing the job. It’s to educate children. Schools won’t close where cases are low. That is now many areas. It’s just piling on the misery for children. We have become so risk averse we are ruining the education for very young children who will really struggle to learn in the future.

We have a local school with 8 children in one class last week, the other 21 and the staff were off with COVID! Cases aren't low! We don't wear masks as a matter of course but if cases in the class are high then you can understand why some staff do.

Whilst its not ideal its freedom of choice - it works both ways, and therefore I think if teachers choose to wear masks that is up to them. We are in a really odd situation in this country where there have been mandates for mask wearing which some have ignored - I don't think we should get into a situation where we deny those who feel more at ease wearing them to be told they can't.

@spanieleyes

The adults in a restaurant, nightclub and theatre will all be vaccinated and tested before they go in, the children aren't. We have had more staff off this term, even the triple vaccinated, than at any other time during the pandemic, some staff are on their third bout of covid. If mask wearing keeps more staff in school, so be it.

All based on science ? How many of these staff got covid from the reception aged kids and not in restaurants, clubs and theatres with other adults??

This is complete bullshit.

www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n2060#:~:text=For%20any%20case%20of%20covid,to%2011.43)%2C%20and%20household%20members

I think it is what it is, a pandemic, and if teachers want to wear masks they should be able to, as should anyone else who wants to wear a mask. One hundred percent the teachers health should come first, I agree with the poster that said some in her area are on their third bout of it, and I also agree that for the most part restaurants ect have vaccinated people in them. I really do feel sorry for the teachers. A lot of them are doing a fantastic job given the difficult position they are in.

Oh for fucks sake, you want schools to stay open and teachers to be three times more at risk than any other profession AND not be allowed to wear anything to protect themselves or be guilt shamed about making children miserable now?

I’m so glad the parents at my school aren’t so selfish and idiotic. We’ve had a rolling 20% of staff and children off since Christmas and it’s been an absolute nightmare.

I teach in a mask with little ones. The covid rates are the highest they’ve ever been in my school and it’s the same at my own kids’ primary too. We are working in often poorly ventilated classrooms with 30 unvaccinated individuals. Mask wearing teachers helps to minimise disruption as opposed to teachers regularly falling ill and classes having to be covered by different people all the time. Things are so bad in my area that we can’t even get supply anymore. Staff and pupil absence is far more disruptive. Those saying schools are fine clearly have no experience of what the situation in schools is actually like. And for what it’s worth, I don’t go to nightclubs or restaurants.

In every class where we have had an outbreak, it has started with the children testing positive first and then the staff. Go figure!

I'm just looking forward to the day when mask debates are a thing of the past.

Covid rates are not universally high. There are numerous academic reports that show teachers were not at any greater risk of death or going into hospital than anyone else. They still are not. They are just scared. That’s different and children should be put first now. It’s time.

Balls.

Staff are not, thankfully, going into hospital but they are testing positive and so not in school and therefore not providing the education the children deserve. And I think you will find teachers generally do put children first!

The studies linked above and that you refer to have been superseded by the data. The study above was carried out while school closures were still in place, for example 🙄

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/school-staff-more-likely-catch-covid-other-workers%3famp

As spanieleyes says, thankfully cases are not causing as many deaths and hospitalisations but cases are ridiculously high. One in 8 primary children had Covid in the last reported figures. One in 8! The disruption is massive.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-60126783.amp