The Return to School

[jumble]

Oh for the love of all things sane. Will someone please go around and tell him to get a chuffing grip!

If you look at the comments you will see loads of people calling him a snowflake.

 

[Bantamzen]

Exactly. To be honest most pupils are not scared or remotely bothered by the virus and no-one needs to pretend otherwise. Comments like his are just political nonsense.

I only got as far down that article as the robot that kills the virus DNA before I started banging my head on the desk! There is nothing more depressing when talking about kids going back to school than a hack getting upper school biology completely wrong!

 

[greyman42]

Indeed the SLT have to placate the Labour Unions

Why do they?

 

[takno]

Why do they?

Not sure the unions have all that much sway. The SLT have to placate the governors, who have legal liability if things don't go well and have to deal with lots of annoying parents letters if there's the slightest hint of risk. The consequences for them of imposing a lot of pointless restrictions are minimal - they won't get sued, and the sort of people who get angry about it come on here to complain rather than writing to the school.

If anybody is angry and wants any chance of making a difference they should be writing to governors, headteachers, academy groups and MPs. While it's unlikely that anything will happen directly, the only snapshot of local feeling a lot of these people have is their postbox, so it might just convince them that public opinion isn't quite as Covid-obsessed as they currently assumr

 

[Bikeman78]

Exactly. To be honest most pupils are not scared or remotely bothered by the virus and no-one needs to pretend otherwise. Comments like his are just political nonsense.

My daughter calls it "the stupid virus." I wonder where she got that from...

 

[trebor79]

6 year old son went back to school today. As before the summer, they wash hands and have lunch boxes sanitised before going in. They are now allowed to take their book bags in, but they are quarantined for 2 days. Similarly, they are allowed to bring books home and they get quarantined for 3 days upon return.
Unlike before summer, with everyone back there is a "system" to help people keep apart. Moans today that it took too long to wash everyone's hands, so from tomorrow we have to drop them off at the gate rather than the playing field. This will just cause a massive bottleneck as the gate is a narrow pedestrian affair with a 30m long narrow path to get to it. Probably a bit academic as it's outside, but it will create more moans I'm sure.
Son reports it was freezing cold as all the doors and windows are open. How that's going to work on winter I don't know.
The Trust had advised the staff to wear visors where they can't distance, so apparently they all trooped out in visors at home time. Wonder how long that will last.
Tomorrow is PE day, so he has to go in his PE kit.

There are sinks in all the classrooms so I don't understand why they don't wash hands there. Bowls of water in the playground aren't adequate - before summer his hands started getting all chapped as if you aren't one of the first few to wash the water is too soapy to rinse properly. The sanitising lunch boxes is also daft if you ask me - if the child or someone at home is infected it's going to be all over them, and their clothes. Perhaps it just lives on lunchboxes?

All in all a bit of a farce. I don't blame the school as they're just doing what they are told and am just happy he has actually gone back to school.

 

[Scrotnig]

Here in Leicester it seems like every other school has already had a mini-outbreak and has sent pupils home. It's not a promising start to be honest.

 

[trebor79]

Here in Leicester it seems like every other school has already had a mini-outbreak and has sent pupils home. It's not a promising start to be honest.

The high school in the village didn't open today because one staff member tested positive over the weekend. School apparently now being deep cleaned, whatever that means.

 

[gingerheid]

However, i'm livid right now with the message she has just relayed from the school. Each year group has lunch separately and is only given 30 minutes to get to the dining hall, queue and have lunch. The school anticipates this might not be enough time so has asked all children to bring back up snacks just in case they cannot be fed! So not only hundreds of kids are going to be fiddling with masks, they are encouraging them to bring all manner of snacks to mess about with as well.

I must have dreamt the whole Marcus Rashford movement before the summer holidays when meals were the most important thing in the world for children, now we have a school saying they might not give my child one.

It's so typical of a school to be so lost in priorities that they think anything they do is more important than eating I suppose however the shoes have to be perfect, because if the stitching is the wrong colour than that trumps everything?

 

[Bikeman78]

The high school in the village didn't open today because one staff member tested positive over the weekend. School apparently now being deep cleaned, whatever that means.

If they are going to do that for every case reported, schools will be shut more than open.

 

[Jamiescott1]

There is a procedure in the guidelines somewhere for cleaning an area that a suspected covid case has passed through, but that's for immediate reoccupation of the area.

I've always thought deep cleaning is a bit pointless because:
Covid apparently dies after 72 hours on a surface (so just leave the area unoccupied for 72 hours)
An area is only clean until someone goes into that area

 

[trebor79]

I'm hardening in my view that all of the covid measures are a bit pointless.

 

[Andy Pacer]

I'm hardening in my view that all of the covid measures are a bit pointless.

Particularly when they can travel to/from school like sardines if it is a "closed school bus" but then have to socially distance in school.

 

[brad465]

Two weeks into the new academic year and my best friend from Uni, who is a teacher in Wales, has revealed her school has 3 year groups all sent home with positive tests somewhere in each one, along with 4 teachers (to be fair they are in a local lockdown area now). If the currently rapid rise in cases continues for a while, along with this policy of handling cases in school, one wonders if a majority of schools will temporarily close by default?

 

[Huntergreed]

Two weeks into the new academic year and my best friend from Uni, who is a teacher in Wales, has revealed her school has 3 year groups all sent home with positive tests somewhere in each one, along with 4 teachers (to be fair they are in a local lockdown area now). If the currently rapid rise in cases continues for a while, along with this policy of handling cases in school, one wonders if a majority of schools will temporarily close by default?

It’s certainly possible, which is arguably worse than all schools being closed because it means that children at different schools will be receiving different qualities/amounts of education (to prepare for the same qualifications), it’s really not sustainable doing this

 

[Bletchleyite]

It’s certainly possible, which is arguably worse than all schools being closed because it means that children at different schools will be receiving different qualities/amounts of education (to prepare for the same qualifications), it’s really not sustainable doing this

TBH my view was towards going for blended learning (and repurposing other school areas for classroom space e.g. the hall) to allow 3 days a week in and 2 out (with extensive homework set) with 1m distancing instead of "bubbles".

 

[trebor79]

TBH my view was towards going for blended learning (and repurposing other school areas for classroom space e.g. the hall) to allow 3 days a week in and 2 out (with extensive homework set) with 1m distancing instead of "bubbles".

Well, as we found earlier in the year, kids don't learn much (academically) at home. And lots of parents will be back to work now.
Why don't we do what other countries are doing, who seem to be managing without sending lots of children home for 2 weeks at a time?

 

[AdamWW]

TBH my view was towards going for blended learning (and repurposing other school areas for classroom space e.g. the hall) to allow 3 days a week in and 2 out (with extensive homework set) with 1m distancing instead of "bubbles".

I don't know how the "bubble" idea works elsewhere in the UK, but in Wales the approach seems to be that in high schools only contacts of a positive case get sent home (i.e. everyone who sat within a certain distance in lessons, and presumably also at breaks etc.) not everyone in a bubble.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't know how the "bubble" idea works elsewhere in the UK, but in Wales the approach seems to be that in high schools only contacts of a positive case get sent home (i.e. everyone who sat within a certain distance in lessons, and presumably also at breaks etc.) not everyone in a bubble.

England appears to be sending home whole bubbles and requiring self isolation.

 

[AdamWW]

England appears to be sending home whole bubbles and requiring self isolation.

If that applies to the whole year in a large high school, that's going to include an awful lot of children who were nowhere near the infectee, and it could perhaps be argued that this is a little over the top.

 

[Bantamzen]

England appears to be sending home whole bubbles and requiring self isolation.

And that is the wrong strategy, it will only cause more problems than it solves. I know at my office in Leeds there have been some confirmed cases, yet they manage deep cleaning & next day opening without an issue. So we have whole "bubbles" (how I hate that phrase) being sent home until they can get a test and show negative. Its literally unsustainable, it will need parents to stay home, and is going to become another furlough scheme, albeit unpaid.

I'm afraid we are creating more problems than we are going to solve.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If that applies to the whole year in a large high school

Indeed it does and that has indeed happened in MK - one of the high schools (Stantonbury I think) presently has both year 7 and 8 and a chunk of teachers self isolating.

 

[Steveoh]

England appears to be sending home whole bubbles and requiring self isolation.

The schools take Public Health England advice and follow that. Whether or not that advice is consistent or not is a different matter. Locally we've had PHE advising the whole school to close, year groups to stay at home and only close contacts to isolate.

 

[Bikeman78]

If that applies to the whole year in a large high school, that's going to include an awful lot of children who were nowhere near the infectee, and it could perhaps be argued that this is a little over the top.

A school in Newport sent a whole year group home for 14 days within a week of opening for one case. I posted a link in another thread but I can't recall which one. So if they come back and another pupil tests posistive, I suppose that will be another two weeks off. They'll be lucky if they get two weeks in school before Christmas.

 

[AdamWW]

A school in Newport sent a whole year group home for 14 days within a week of opening for one case. I posted a link in another thread but I can't recall which one. So if they come back and another pupil tests posistive, I suppose that will be another two weeks off. They'll be lucky if they get two weeks in school before Christmas.

Interesting. Public Health Wales guidance says:

6. What happens if the school has a positive case for COVID-
19?

When a confirmed case of COVID-19 is identified as attending an
educational or childcare setting (staff or pupil) contact will be made with
the case (or parent) to assess whether they attended the school during
their infectious period and whether further tracing of contacts in the
school is needed. If any staff member or child within the school is a
contact of the case, they will be required to self-isolate for 14 days and
contacted by your local Test, Trace, Protect (TTP) team or Education
Department. If a staff member or child from the school is not a contact of
the case, they will not be required to self-isolate.

No talk of bubbles, contact groups or year groups.

Though I received this today so it may be new.

 

[trebor79]

And that is the wrong strategy, it will only cause more problems than it solves. I know at my office in Leeds there have been some confirmed cases, yet they manage deep cleaning & next day opening without an issue. So we have whole "bubbles" (how I hate that phrase) being sent home until they can get a test and show negative. Its literally unsustainable, it will need parents to stay home, and is going to become another furlough scheme, albeit unpaid.

I'm afraid we are creating more problems than we are going to solve.

Not forgetting of course that children are at almost zero risk. The whole thing is lunacy on a massive scale.
Yes I know their parents etc but if they are vulnerable somehow then perhaps it would be more sensible for those children to stay at home. This is what blended learning should mean, not whole year groups having a couple of days a week off.

 

[thejuggler]

Not forgetting of course that children are at almost zero risk. The whole thing is lunacy on a massive scale.
Yes I know their parents etc but if they are vulnerable somehow then perhaps it would be more sensible for those children to stay at home. This is what blended learning should mean, not whole year groups having a couple of days a week off.

The concern isn't pupils, its all the adults in school. Once teachers, support staff get it there isn't much choice but to close years down.

Daughter's school has had partial close down of one year and full closedown of another for the rest of this week due to positive cases.

I was with a couple of teachers last night from different schools and they have received instructions to get all their homelearning resources up to date in preparation for a complete lockdown before October half term.

 

[Huntergreed]

The concern isn't pupils, its all the adults in school. Once teachers, support staff get it there isn't much choice but to close years down.

Daughter's school has had partial close down of one year and full closedown of another for the rest of this week due to positive cases.

I was with a couple of teachers last night from different schools and they have received instructions to get all their homelearning resources up to date in preparation for a complete lockdown before October half term.

Whilst I completely disagree with the idea, and think it should never happen, I know of 2 local authorities in Scotland that have told all schools to get all necessary assessments done and prepare for a full lockdown before the October holidays, and that they do not anticipate returning after this until 2021.

I truly, truly hope it doesn’t come to that.

 

[AdamWW]

The concern isn't pupils, its all the adults in school. Once teachers, support staff get it there isn't much choice but to close years down.

Daughter's school has had partial close down of one year and full closedown of another for the rest of this week due to positive cases.

I was with a couple of teachers last night from different schools and they have received instructions to get all their homelearning resources up to date in preparation for a complete lockdown before October half term.

Certainly the schools I'm aware of have already plans for a complete shutdown...in the hope that they won't have to use them...

Not forgetting of course that children are at almost zero risk. The whole thing is lunacy on a massive scale.
Yes I know their parents etc but if they are vulnerable somehow then perhaps it would be more sensible for those children to stay at home.

Because I don't think that's what all the measures to reduce transmission are about.

If a child brings it home and infects their parents it's not likely to stop there. They infect more people, and they infect more, and....

 

[trebor79]

Because I don't think that's what all the measures to reduce transmission are about.

If a child brings it home and infects their parents it's not likely to stop there. They infect more people, and they infect more, and....

But the response should be more proportionate than sending entire year groups home for two weeks. If a child tests positive, then yes they stay at home. Deep clean school if necessary and carry on, same as workplaces.
If pupils are suspected to be infected then stay home until either the 14 day period ends or they manage to get tested negative.

All this talk about another national lockdown. I see Boris saying it's not going to happen, which more than likely means it is on the cards. If that happens, we've completely and utterly lost the plot and I will be thinking very seriously if this is actually where I want to bring my kids up.