Masks all day in school

[ihearttc]

Furious just about sums up how I feel at the moment. Just had an email from DS1’s school (he is going into Y11) saying they will be required to wear masks all day long in school from the minute they get inside the school gates to when they leave. They are allowed to take them off to eat lunch but will need to be put back on immediately. Before I fire off an email to the school, just wondered how I stand legally with refusing to give permission for him to wear one all day long? It’s completely against the DofE guidance which states corridors and transitions only.
We live rurally and are in a very very low Covid area for what’s its worth, no where near areas on local lockdown.

Mistressiggi sure. The students have their own ziplock bag and mask goes in here for meal times and PE. Most kids wear a washable mask and keep spare reusable masks in their bags. The school nurse keeps spares for disasters.
As a teacher I wear a face shield to teach and the kids stay in masks. Between lessons and going round school I have to wear a mask.
Honestly, these are primary kids and it really isnt a big drama. They just wear them, some of the youngest need reminding not to pull them down in class. It can be a little difficult to hear kids at the back of the room but it's a small price to pay for safety during a global pandemic. I really cant see how secondary age children are going to find this such a big deal.

Thanks Plougingthrough that's really useful

My youngest gets back on the 7th. His last a day at school was 20th March. He has not been able to access any input from school, since then due to severe SEN.

It really is nigh on 6 months for him. Will probably take until October half term to get him back into the swing of things, particularly since it won't be back to normal and he will have new routines to learn.

Just to update, I had a phone call from the HT this morning to explain their reasoning behind the mask wearing in class and it makes complete sense. It’s an oddly arranged school with very small classrooms but they can basically walk outside to every lesson. They will wear them in class then take them off when moving around the school as they are doing all the transitions outside. She completely understood my concerns over listening/concentrating in class and said that is also the thing all the teachers are most concerned about. They are going to start with all wearing masks and revaluate as necessary. I feel so much better for contacting them. I also apologised for bothering them, and she said she realised as soon as she read my email that I made valid points and wasn’t just annoyed at mask wearing.

I would be agreeing with you and I’m not anti mask at all.
All day is too much, the dampness accumulated would surely make the mask effectiveness questionable anyway.
That’s before you get into partially deaf people like me who lip read.

@ihearttc that does make sense, as I think some teachers have mentioned sometimes it is the classrooms that are worse than the corridors

@noblegiraffe

Maybe you should wait and see if it’s a problem before firing off ‘angry emails’ to heads who have enough shit to deal with right now.

As you said, there’s no reason for your kid not to wear one and other countries seem to manage.

Maybe you’ll be smug as your kid’s school stays open as others close or maybe the rules on masks will be relaxed as problems arise.

Give it some time.

I agree. I think the headteacher is applying what s/he deems necessary to ensure safety.

Thanks for the update OP
It's funny old times. Wishing your son all the very best for Year 11

@justaweeone

Have to say I was very, very impressed, both with the fact she took the time to phone me and her explanation of why (it’s mainly to do with BP). I wasn’t expecting that and I’m really glad I emailed now.

Thank you and for your DS too! Wouldn’t it be funny if they somehow knew each other

Madness