Denied Education for wearing a face mask

[Sumh]

I’m on the NHS extremely vulnerable shielding category. My 12 year old daughter is attending state secondary school. She is being denied to enter her classroom because she chooses to wear a plain cloth face mask. She has been left outside the class on her own with little provided worksheets to work on her own but no directed teaching.

The DfE ‘guidance’ on face coverings in education August 26 to schools highlights it’s just a ‘guidance’ and not mandatory, that it is not necessary/recommended/ to wear face mask because it may hinder communication by wearing face masks in education,

“ On the basis of current evidence, in light of the mitigating measures education settings are taking, and the negative impact on communication, face coverings will not generally be necessary in the classroom even where social distancing is not possible. There is greater use of the system of controls for minimising risk, including through keeping in small and consistent groups or bubbles, and greater scope for physical distancing by staff within classrooms. Face coverings can have a negative impact on learning and teaching and so their use in the classroom should be avoided.”

but then fines of not wearing face masks in other settings are doubling, retail business staff now have to wear face masks, a legislation is in place enforcing wearing of face mask above the age of 11 in certain settings and plus the booth were cabinet ministers stand and give press briefing has 3 pictures, one is a face mask. All of this is an implied message to the public of how important it is to wear a face mask.

With all this message including WHOs recommendation that all 12 years plus should wear face mask, is it right that a U.K. state school should be denying a child from her right to education on a not mandatory guidance for simply taking extra precaution?

Both myself and my daughter do not go out without wearing a face mask which we have been doing so since March 2020 and she herself strongly agrees to wear one in school at all times for my safety. Having spoken to the senior managers and informing them of my NHS letter of previously shielding the school are still refusing, replying to me “it could open a floodgate!” but are they not digging a hole for them by denying a child education!

This guidance states for example when if it is mandatory to wear a face mask in school like corridors and communal areas but a child refuses to wear a face mask, then no one should be excluded from education for not wearing a face mask.

My child wants to wear one for hers and my safety without affecting anyone else’s liberty and yet she is being excluded from education.

Your thoughts will be appreciated.

A niqab can only be worn for religious reasons.

@Sumh

Hi, my whole family and relatives view is since it is effective at capturing and spreading from virus going out then it should work from going in.

Then your whole family is wrong.

My son wears a mask at school. He knows that it benefits others rather than him.

Our school says masks in halls and communal spaces are mandatory and optional in the classroom. Teachers not being able to control a class wearing masks is not what I see and hear. My mother and siblings are teachers and my kids are in education so admittedly a small sample but perhaps those teachers had problems with behaviour management before Corona?

I think it's bizarre that your dd is punished for wearing a mask when people who won't wear masks correctly (not people who can't) wander around carefree. If

You need a medical grade mask to stop inhaling the virus (N95 or similar) A cloth mask reduces amount spread by her but won't stop it completely

Please continue with your thoughts. Just to clear few things:

1. We do not expect that anyone is forced to wear a mask to receive education.

2. It’s not a Cowboy Hat for no current purpose in a classroom of 30 separate households mixing in a room. It’s a personal safety choice given half the world is wearing for this pandemic and it’s temporary/and cheap to the economy.

Our school gives out face shields daily for kids like your daughter. They collect them at the end of the day, sanitise and then give fresh ones in the morning.
With the amount of SEN and EAL children and hard of hearing staff in state secondary schools, I don't think it's the behaviour that's the problem, it's that too many people rely on lip reading to communicate and it's quite difficult to hear what someone is saying wearing a mask from the other end of a classroom.

Have you looked into getting those masks that have a plastic front where you can see the mouth?

If you look at somewhere like Japan where they wear masks willingly without all the fuss that seems to be going on in the u.k you could suggest that masks do in fact make a difference.

They have a larger population than ours and in Tokyo for instance it's densely populated their rates are lower than ours. Day on day although their cases are rising as well they are looking at 500/600 cases per day instead of 5k/6k

She isn't being excluded from education. And her wearing a mask won't protect you. You seem to want to fight with the school.

Your school is shite. What difference would a child in a mask make? I'm happy to see pupils in masks, I wish more would wear them.
This is not a rule everywhere.

@Nousernameforme sorry but this kind of comparison really irritates me. In comparison to Japan and a lot of Asian countries we have a hugely overweight, unhealthy and disobedient society. You just cannot compare it to the UK.

I don't know your schools reasons for this but of course masks help. I don't think they help as much as you think but with all policies you have to weigh up the pros and cons and how they'll effect the people that they're enforced upon.
If you have a high EAL or SEN population in a school, it is very very difficult to teach a class full of masked children.
Get her a face shield

I think she should be allowed to wear a mask. This seems bonkers? Unless the school believe that they are helping keep her safer by keeping her distanced?

I understand the worry and science does support that some masks give some protection to the wearer (see reviews/studies from Ohio; Oxford among others). They are more useful in preventing spread from the wearer to others, but they are not all utterly useless in preventing reducing exposure of the wearer to higher levels of viral load etc. OP is extremely vulnerable, so bound to be anxious and her child wearing a mask is a reasonable adjustment for a school. My son's primary school is happy to facilitate mask wearing for a child in his class with a vulnerable parent on the shielding list. A mask is not able to fully protect the wearer, neither can it be highly effective in intimate situations (such as ITU care) without eye protection etc. However, it can add a level of protection depending on the mask and situation.

Not being able to control talking in class/because others would want to wear one arguments are stupid imo. A teacher can control a class in masks or not, what would they do if they are made mandatory? Sorry, but the 'you can't do it because it's different to others' is irrelevant in this day and age. Different children and families have different needs. Those arguments just lead to schools avoiding doctors letters because a requirement breaks 'uniform policy' or 'other children would want to do it' (yes, this was an actual experience), which is unacceptable. All that's needed is a quick explanation. I have a lot of respect for teachers and how many are handling the crisis, but not making reasonable adjustments is something I'd be taking up with the school (unless as mentioned initially, they believe they're keeping her distanced and therefore safe).

The reason masks work in Japan is because everyone wears one. They protect other people, not the wearer.
As I said earlier, OP's dd should wear a mask at home and socially distance from OP. She should change clothes and shower immediately on arriving home and all hard surfaces including door handles, light switches, fridge and cupboard doors, bannisters should be cleaned with detergent at least daily if someone in the household is shielding.
Dd wearing a mask at school or not is really not significant.

Appreciate that masks may make teaching a class with high EAL/SEN population harder, but the school could say if that is their reason. There's nothing to stop them suggesting a face shield if that's the issue, they see the OPs child 5 days a week and could suggest it in person.

@Slightlybrwnbanana

Your school is shite. What difference would a child in a mask make? I'm happy to see pupils in masks, I wish more would wear them. This is not a rule everywhere.

I agree with this, stupid school approach.

Where has this idea come from that masks don't protect the wearer, but only protect others?
If the wearer is exhaling virus, the mask helps to reduce its spread to others.
If others are exhaling virus, their mask helps to reduce its spread to you.
I don't understand why people don't see the logic in this. Unless I'm missing something obvious.
Of course your daughter should be allowed to wear a mask if she wishes.

@Ohalrightthen

Two things...

A) your daughter wearing a mask in school does jack shit to protect you

B) if they let her wear a mask (especially because there's no science backing it up) they'd have to let all the other kids wear masks, which would make teaching and controlling a class practically impossible.

Your point B is utter nonsense.

I am in Ireland and all secondary school students (unless they have a medical exemption) are required to wear a mask at all times within the school building. Teachers are managing to teach and control classes just fine.

@NicholasTopliss As said upthread there is emerging evidence that they do protect the user from a larger viral load.

The Japan comparison was on purpose because they are largely obedient regarding things like masks and handwashing which seems to have made a difference.

We had misinformation from health officials for quite a long time about the wearing of masks and people are still parroting that now. The advice has changed and we have to legally wear them in certain situations but I think we should be wearing masks when we cannot socially distance.

Only if people wear and handle them correctly, which is rare.

@Malmontar

Our school gives out face shields daily for kids like your daughter. They collect them at the end of the day, sanitise and then give fresh ones in the morning. With the amount of SEN and EAL children and hard of hearing staff in state secondary schools, I don't think it's the behaviour that's the problem, it's that too many people rely on lip reading to communicate and it's quite difficult to hear what someone is saying wearing a mask from the other end of a classroom.

Have you looked into getting those masks that have a plastic front where you can see the mouth?

The shields are no use unless worn with a mask. I haven't seen a mask with a plastic front but they sound like a really good idea - provided they have some way of letting you breathe .

@Zany15

Where has this idea come from that masks don't protect the wearer, but only protect others? If the wearer is exhaling virus, the mask helps to reduce its spread to others. If others are exhaling virus, their mask helps to reduce its spread to you. I don't understand why people don't see the logic in this. Unless I'm missing something obvious. Of course your daughter should be allowed to wear a mask if she wishes.

If the user is using a N95 mask, that will filter out particles from the air. Cloth face masks, especially ones that aren't particularly well fitting, don't do that. So they can't be considered protective. At best, they reduce viral load.

My intention was NOT to discuss the science behind face masks but to discuss whether it is justifiable a U.K. state school is denying education over a temporary safety precaution when all of the wording in the DfE guidance is ‘may, not necessary, etc‘ and not saying it’s mandatory to not allow face masks in classrooms.

I highlighted an example in the guidance not to exclude if a child refuses to wear a face mask, but doesn’t that go the other way too?

It’s a personal safety choice

But it's not, as has already been explained to you.

It's you that is disrupting your child's education.

I highlighted an example in the guidance not to exclude if a child refuses to wear a face mask, but doesn’t that go the other way too?

That's not how guidance generally works.

@ChaChaCha2012

It’s a personal safety choice

But it's not, as has already been explained to you.

It's you that is disrupting your child's education.

Can't understand why they are not wearing them anyway.

Stupid, backwards Britain ignoring global best practice.

We need distancing and masks. Parents and teachers will pay with their lives and their health.

@SamBee1

Get her to wear a niqab into school. They'll struggle to keep out of classes then.

This ^^