What was your school's response to staff/teachers with covid?

[Peacelillyhippy]

I'd like to compare how it was dealt with when a member of staff or student tested positive for covid.

Were you told if a student tested positive? If they were in your tutor class (senior)? If you taught them (subject/junior teachers)? In the whole school?

Were you told if staff members tested positive? Staff who you worked closely with (same office/department)? Others?

Were you told the identity of the student/staff? Was this information given to you depending on your relationship?

Was there any isolation of other students/staff if someone had tested positive?

Did the school change over to digital meetings? Any other forms of contact minimization?

Thanks for any answers. Here is my experience and i am pretty angry but want to see if my reaction is proportionate.

I live in a mainland European country. Covid apparently is rife throughout the school. Over the past few weeks there has been a rough constant of about 6-10 staff members sick with covid (at least one hospitalised) out of 42 teachers and about 10 support staff. We are not informed. I got it and told my office, but no-one from management spoke to them at all. (Any knowledge is passed on or gossip.)

Kids disappear for days to weeks. We are not told the reason. On ringing parents to find out why they have been absent we are told by bemused parents that they have informed the school that the student has covid or isolating because family has it (and why don't you know? Not a good look.). I was very pissed off to find out that two of my tutor class have it. I was accidentally included in an email thread.

Our weekly whole school meetings are digital. Occasionally we are told we can go home to work. All department meetings are still face to face and non-pupil days require full attendance. They experimented with forms of home learning during the height of infections (national recommendations), but nearly all year groups have been brought back because of the effect on student mental health.

I am angry becausd it is being treated like nothing is happening. If you ignore it, it will disappear. Hardly any precautions have been taken for staff safety. In fact bringing staff in during non-pupil days and encouraging of mixing (lunches, staff room treats), although "nice", just show how little the management understand about the nature of covid.

Comparison: my friend in Australia - two kids got covid. The whole year and any teachers who taught them had to self-isolate for two weeks. Other than not naming the kids, there was complete transparency and respect for teacher health. All meetings became digital and work from home where possible.

Sorry this post is long, but i'd really like to hear how schools in the uk handled it. Thanks.

All classes still in bubbles so no interaction between them, separate playtimes, lunchtimes and toilet times, clean down in between ( primary). The only staff that move between are PPA cover who have to wear PPE when they do so. All staff are informed of any child who is isolating because they are symptomatic and DEFINITELY if positive. All staff informed if any staff are isolating or positive. All staff meetings are still remote, visitors are now allowed in school( eg speech and language therapists etc but have to wear PPE and maintain social distancing. We taught remotely during lockdown except for Keyworker/vulnerable children and still do for those isolating.

Thank you spanieleyes for your reply :) It sounds as if your school has got a good balance between student education and staff safety.

I'm in Europe as well, but apparently not the same place as you are. Our secondary pupils have been on distance learning for ages and have only just come back. Our primary section was in half classes for weeks but everyone is back now as well. Nursery was "if parents are able to keep kids home, please do so", but they are also back to normal operating procedures now. We still wear masks in class, groups are kept separate, we try to keep our distance in class (although I'm teaching 6-year-olds, so that ones tricky), staggered lunch and playtimes as well as staggered dismissal. We also have compulsory self tests for all staff and pupils twice a week. If there is a positive test in school, the pupil is isolated immediately and has to be picked up to get a PCR test done. If that is positive, they have to stay home for quarantine. We get told if a student or member of staff has tested positive, as do the parents, but not who it is. (If you teach that class or have a kid in that class you'd figure it out anyway but otherwise, I don't think it should matter to anyone.)
We've had very few cases at school. Our nursery was hit hardest with 4 members of staff testing positive last October. Primary has had one. Secondary none. Think we've had 2 kids positive all year so far.
Most of our staff have had their second vaccination by now as well. My school was very proactive in getting as many of us vaccinated as possible.

Fuzzyspringroll Thanks for that...although it has depressed me. The replies have confirmed what i knew. It possible to do a lot more. We are working in an unsafe environment, where the management don't know or want to act effectively.

The parent i spoke to told me that she was sick with covid (and she has a history of cancer), the father is in hospital and the child has been horribly sick. There is no way to know that the family got it through the school but the school certainly has not done anywhere near its best to protect staff or children.

Were you told if a student tested positive? If they were in your tutor class (senior)? If you taught them (subject/junior teachers)? In the whole school?
We were told 'a case'..

Were you told if staff members tested positive? Staff who you worked closely with (same office/department)? Others?
As above.

Were you told the identity of the student/staff? Was this information given to you depending on your relationship?
No. But we all knew who it was.

Was there any isolation of other students/staff if someone had tested positive?
Bubble went home. Immediately.

Did the school change over to digital meetings? Any other forms of contact minimization?
We were digital from March 2020 - last week.

Were you told if a student tested positive? If they were in your tutor class (senior)? If you taught them (subject/junior teachers)? In the whole school?
If we teach them we are told who it is - the register does this anyway - as we need to teach them remotely. Otherwise we are told “a case in year 10”, say.

Were you told if staff members tested positive? Staff who you worked closely with (same office/department)? Others?
No. When close colleagues got it, there was no test and trace, just a “whoops, sorry everyone” on the department WhatsApp.
Were you told the identity of the student/staff? Was this information given to you depending on your relationship?
Students: we are told if we teach them. Staff: no, see above.

Was there any isolation of other students/staff if someone had tested positive?
Students: “close contacts” (ha!) only. Staff: no, staff are assumed to stay more than 2m away from everyone so have no close contacts.

Did the school change over to digital meetings? Any other forms of contact minimization?
Students, in the main, are kept within year-group zones. At first they had online assemblies but now have whole year in-person assemblies. Staff have continued throughout to meet in person and have been very lax about distancing/mask wearing.

Staff are named and shamed in whole school staff meeting. Poorly managed in my opinion.

Same as hiptight essentially

Only difference is we are told about student cases and contacts in lower years . Sixth form we are not usually told and discover who is SI literally when we open our register for the lesson, sometimes not even then if registers not updated.

Allegedly keep year groups apart but don't really.

We are in year group bubbles (3 form entry) and the children and staff can mix within their bubble (children mix mostly outside but staff also inside.) We are told about staff cases as info is needed to determine close contacts. We are told about pupil cases within our class as the class would need to isolate (not the whole year group bubble though as they socialise outside.)

Staff are meeting occasionally as a whole school face to face (large hall, chairs spread out) but most big meetings are still on zoom. We meet regularly in year group and department teams face to face (approx 10 adults in a classroom.) The school does not enforce ventilating classrooms and were told to shut the windows if children said they were cold in winter as no coats in classrooms.

Overall I think the school’s covid measures have been poor as we have never been allowed masks or visors even in face to face meetings during lockdown and there is only the normal amount of cleaning with a bit of anti bac for the children at break and lunch. Children eat at their desks but these are not cleaned until after school. Everything else within the classroom is the same as pre covid. I think we have been lucky not to have lots of cases to be honest. Some schools a bit closer to the city centre we’re badly hit with Covid.

The handling of cases and close contacts does not sound good at your school. How do your colleagues feel about it?

@Cookiecrisps I'm amazed you haven't been allowed to wear masks. We've been wearing them in school since about June 2020 (when we slowly reopened schools after the first lockdown). What was the idea behind that? Our numbers have only just dropped significantly enough for SLT to say we don't have to wear them outside anymore. Both staff and children still wear them inside the building. A visor hasn't been acceptable since last summer, I think.

We are also supposed to open the windows every 20 minutes for 5 minutes (a message comes up on the computer as a reminder) and have done so throughout the winter. Even my little people have coped. They brought coats, blankets, etc. It's quite hot at the moment, so my windows and door are open most of the time now anyway.

I think the decision reflects the head and deputy’s personal opinions about masks. The DfE guidance for primary schools cautions against mask wearing in the classroom so the head can get away with this stance. It has not been a good year for staff morale to say the least!

@cookiecrisps I think you must work at my school!!