The Twenty-second Republic - the DfE have no idea, Gav MIA, bubbles in and out

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Checking in. Dcs 2 and 3 are hopefully well enough to go in today but dc1 seems to have come down with this rotten cold that's going round now . Still none of the 3 listed covid symptoms but they feel so rough when they have it .

That letter from that head .

No words to describe that headteacher. Although I’ve met a few like him!

Both DC have colds but well enough to go to school. I hope neither are sent home as they have no Covid symptoms.

sleep, that is awful. Contact your union!

@starrynight19

So the school closed and the head sent this

I wonder what the legalities of that letter are.

Surely it would come under bringing the school in to disrepute. (or something)

Jesus sleep! That's awful. I know schools must be under pressure to both keep covid cases down and attendance numbers up but sacrificing staff to achieve that is not the way forward. Definitely a case for the union there.

This morning we have added 'temperature check' to the getting ready for school routine - with 3 colds and a sore throat. no temperature or persistent cough in any of them but I'm doubting my parenting ability to detect illness at the moment. They're all tired and grumpy because they're having to get up earlier. Was early bed last night and will be earlier again tonight.

The letter is awful! I could see someone being frustrated, but he seems to be arse covering.

Anyway i guess with 6 now it means things would only be at school.

Dc1 came back negative!
Dc2 now coughing. Im not going to try for a test for her. The balance is surely that she got this from dc1? - though obviously she was at school in a different class.
Concerningly ive kept them apart since sunday (dc1 temp sat night but sore throat/runny nose sat daytime) and she still got it.
But anyway im not planning to send them back at the moment anyway.
Because
1 there is no functioning t&t so bubbles continue
2 schools cant stop kids getting ill
3 neither can i
4 did someone else send a kid in with symtoms? Obviously maybe their kid only had a runny nose or were asymptomatic.
5 dp and i will probably get this in a few days

I see the dm actually said about the 300 closures (underestimated) wondering if gov are allowing the info out now as either it's obvious it's being hidden or they may be going to do something?

It's 950+ schools affected, not 300!

Morning. I’m sending David back to school. Still snotty but well enough to beg to play out last night.

Doubt school would send him home as they’d have to cover my lessons

I just heard Nick Robinson say that if supermarkets and hospitals don't close with positive cases, why do schools? He also defined surprise that bubbles can be 90+ (try 250). This disingenuous shit stirring is what's making me the most angry. I shouted a very strong word at the radio!

@noblegiraffe

What is clear from the letter is that the person very much not to blame for the outbreak is the sainted Head.

This, it’s arse covering. And I’d be surprised if most of the parents receiving that letter didn’t already know he’s a bellend.

I think he’s wrong about them not breaking the rules. Given that and least 3 staff contracted it in school, I wonder how robust his procedures actually are.

I've just taken a protesting child to school and wondering if I did the right thing. I have no idea what we do at the moment about
things which seem to be colds that develop symptoms as they continue, children who commonly spike temperatures with everything, coughs which sound phlegmy but are plentiful, children who just feel a bit ill, etc etc. And all parents have slightly different approaches to these things.

We've all been set up to function with "Just get a test", not just to keep society, including education, functioning, but to give us all some kind of certainty and security.

That's currently been removed.

I’ve just sent ds off moaning August. Says he’s going to get looked at if he coughs. It is the occasional cough that you get at the tail end of a cold trying to clear the mucus.

Also to clarify with dc2 i realised that even if it were covid they would have been in the 48h for contact tracing at home anyway so it wouldnt shut the bubble. I doubt they would look at where dc got it from.
It does look like rhinoviruses are likely this time of year.

Have just realised, the standard letter which goes out to all parents if there's a case in school simply says there's a confirmed case "within a family". Although I imagine pretty quickly the news will get out that it's a child who's been in school.

Don't know what info goes on the letter asking certain children to isolate, presumably it must at least imply that the case was actually in school.

So is there any point in the wider letter seeking to obscure the fact??

Obviously there are confidentiality issues but there are also trust issues.

Our letter says something like 'your child has had close contact with a case' to those that need to isolate. All a bit of a nightmare - we are only isolating close contacts but it still takes out loads of students. Did make for a really nice lesson though with the small number remaining - also a really relevant lesson, we're studying viral diseases

I just heard Nick Robinson say that if supermarkets and hospitals don't close with positive cases, why do schools

Really

Ermmm....

That letter is amazing! And if three staff contracted it at school, how can the head say their in-school procedures are perfect?
I would be a bit at people doing to a house party that broke the rules tbh, but the head makes clear they did not break rules. Those poor fuckers.

www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/16/lack-of-covid-tests-puts-schools-in-impossible-situation-teachers-warn-pm

Round and round the corridors, up and down the stairwells, in and out the classroom doors ...
POP goes another bubble!

To the tune of pop goes the weasel - sorry losing the plot today

PM admits that CV is readily transmissible between children and adults.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4025351-It-is-alas-a-fact-of-the-disease-that-it-is-readily-transmissible-between-children-and-adults

Oh noble another thread? How is your extreme stress and mental illness? Seek help, leave teaching. We don't need your mathematical or teaching skills at all.

Just got back home. 2 more kids off in my class awaiting tests. Now ds has a sore throat and temperature.

Why oh why isn't the press taking this up?? Let's hope they do soon.

I have had to "snitch" on three people (two situations) who are ignoring the rules - in quite a big way - or otherwise acting inappropriately. Not fun.

And I have a cough, low level, not really continuous and definitely phlegmy, but am wondering how long I subject people at work to it before I start getting looks....( am pretty sure it's the same cold thing that caused us to get DS tested last week.)

I know, piggy two threads in two days is pretty excessive. I wanted that title in Active though.

It feels like fewer people are telling teachers to quit at the moment. Have U4T given up on MN? They're currently frothing on twitter about bubbles being sent home. They don't want anyone sent home.

That letter Confirmed case at my school. Pupil whose Dad was positive with the virus and the child still went to school This is what we are up against. I've filled out a complaint form for the BBC. Asked why they are not reporting what's happening in schools. Quoted their public service remit to them ( that's the media teacher in me )