When are we going back to school 2

[RaraRachael]

New thread as the last one was getting full. Feel free to discuss, moan, speculate on anything to do with Scottish schools and what may/not be happening.

I know most teachers drag themselves in when sick because we worry about our classes not being covered properly and the burden on our colleagues. My own immune system generally rewards me for plodding on with a face aching sinus infection just in time for New Year . I am the driver most years thanks to my antibiotics.

We will have no choice but to stay home if we show symptoms and that will involve a mindset shift. But I too have worries about where that cover will come from. Most of the regular general supply in my school comes from retired teachers and I cannot see them rushing in.

I know this form of presenteeism is common In lots of work places before I get jumped on.

It will also be really difficult for parents worried about jobs, just off furlough etc to have to make that decision to keep a symptomatic child at home and potentially be absent from work.

Before school closed I had a pupil who coughed for an entire period, I sent him out for water twice and to wash the hands he was repeatedly coughing into. SLT wouldn't send him home. He was in the same year as a confirmed case. I sincerely hope they have a different attitude in August.

At least people should only be off around 3 days to allow for Covid to be confirmed or not.
I got my results in 48 hours so shouldn't be any need to take a week off (unless you fail to read the instructions properly aka my husband!).
Still, coughs etc go round schools like wildfire so it's not outwith the realms of possibility to have 80 per cent of staff with symptoms.
Again, it boils down to strict quarantine of people coming into the country to keep Covid low in the community.

There needs to be something put in place to ensure we can tell the difference between a common cold or other illness which does not require time off and Covid. It is neither realistic or sustainable to be off for 14 days every couple of weeks as I would be, my kids get every cold going, I wouldn’t have a job to go back to. My kids have missed enough school as
Is.

Blended learning would only ever work if it was set up properly and People engaged with it. During this time there have been quite a few pupils in my eldests class where the teachers have been concerned that they hadn’t heard a single thing the whole time the school has been closed.

At the end of the day blended learning will never work for working parents and that is the stark reality of it

But there is something in place - a test! We all just to be prepared to lift the phone and get one for ourselves or our DC should they show symptoms. And as has already been said the results are through quickly.

I hope there is testing of teachers in the way that care home staff are screened.

I would be horrified I have dismissed symptoms went to work and infected colleagues and pupils.

Pretty sure the parents would not appreciate my efforts to stay at work.

@Lidlfix it needs to be agreed across the board then that if there are symptoms you get tested and once a negative result is back you can return. I know my kids don’t get any of the classic symptoms of Covid for a cold but even if they just have a runny nose they will be sent home by the looks of it. I can’t realistically be off for 14 days Every time they have a sniffle and neither can a lot of other people

Your children will miss more school and more learning if their teachers become ill.

Children (and staff) cannot come in if they have a new cough or a fever. It has to be that strict.

We also need to know what to do if your test is inconclusive or if it is negative but you still have symptoms.

If you want to convince staff it's safe to return, implying that parents are likely to ignore the self-isolation rules is not going to help.

I work right now with young people who are drug users, young offenders, disabled, care experienced, abuse victims etc. And you say I couldn't hack teaching? Hilarious.

The porn story is 100% true and was in the papers at the time. Easily google-able (as are other teacher porn stories so it does happen!)

Back on to the subject of Covid. Call centre outbreak shows how risky returning to work (any work) is.

I've also just seen a post from my teacher friend on Facebook asking if anyone is in HR or Law which is interesting, and some of her friends replied saying "good on you, I am going to get one too". so I wonder what's going on in our LA.

Yet most other workers who are tested and the test comes back negative return to work? Infact this has happened a lot at my work in community nursing, either their children or themselves have had suspected symptoms, were tested, negative result, back to work

Well obviously, if you turn out not to have the virus you don't have to continue to isolate.
But sending in with a "cold" that you have diagnosed as being such yourself?

Most other workers come back to work... so not all?

And they get to come back to work with social distancing in place.

@Mistressiggi where did I say that? If mine are sent home with sniffles (not a covid symptom but likely to be sent home anyway) I will get them tested no issue there but How then is it sustainable to keep them off even if it is negative??

@BananaTreeBirdie not in my job they don’t?

In England the whole ‘bubble’ is sent home after 3 (iirc) positive cases.

I quite clearly said if they had a negative test they wouldn't need to continue to isolate

I thought if you had s negative test you can return to work but onli if you do not have symptoms ( to allow for false negatives ) low viral load etc.

So negative test and runny nose = back to work

Negative test cough fever no smell etc continue to isolate.

Community nurses haven’t made one change to their practice in response to Covid then?

No wonder so many of your colleagues and their children have had to be tested so frequently.

We keep distance from each other when in the office but it is impossible to distance from patients or each other when working with patients. What do you want us to do exactly??

Wear PPE?

@Mistressiggi I can’t believe you’re even suggesting that. Of course we wear PPE but that doesn’t stop staffs children getting it or staff maybe getting it off their husbands or other family
Members?

I didn’t once indicate they had caught it at work either??

So PPE and the small amount of social distancing you are able to do, plus handwashing, hasn’t stopped your colleagues AND their children needing to be repeatedly tested

but you think this shouldn’t apply to teachers as we only get ‘sniffles’? Without PPE and with no social distancing?

@BananaTreeBirdie not sure why you are trying to derail what I was saying initially? All I said was if kids are tested and negative there should be no need to stay off for 7/14 days. I never said my colleagues were repeatedly tested I said at my work some of my colleagues or their family had symptoms were tested, negative test and back to work. We wear PPE, we distance as well as we can in our job. Not sure why you are tearing me to shreds here??

Because you also strongly implied that you would ignore any symptoms your children had and send them into school regardless.