COVID-19 Schools reopening on 8th March

Claire W

Claire W

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How does everyone feeling about this? My husband is a teacher and the selfishness in me has enjoyed having him work from home :( but with him working at the school, it’s also how we both caught Covid in November. I think that teachers should be given priority at having the Covid vaccine
 
I think its great for the kids to go back but a worry for teachers and support staff who havent been offered the vaccine, luckily piggy daddy has been vaccinated because he has a second job doing care work with elderly and disabled people so he was near the top of the list for the vaccine, but his school colleagues who havent been vaccinated are quite concerned...
 
I absolutely agree teachers should have the vaccine as a priority. They have been at risk looking after the children of essential workers as it is, once all the children are back in school the danger will be greater. As a mother of teachers I am worried.
 
Our teachers were told in Indiana that they would be in the first groups that received the vaccine; now we don't know when they will receive the vaccine. Our state has been focusing on getting the age groups that are the greatest risk vaccinated first. We have almost finished those at risk ages and we would

Our school system has been in not closed down since we started in school in the beginning of August. The youngest children in elementary schools have them attending everyday. The middle and high school students are on a hybrid system of in person every other day. Masks have to be worn, assigned seats everywhere, social distancing, and contract tracing. Our infection numbers have been really low; I think as long as your schools are hyper vigilant, schools will be successful in person.
 
I am worried.... I think the teaching staff should be given the vaccine before the kids go back to be honest.. I think my kids will be happier being amongst friends etc and I hope they settle back in ok (year 9 and 11).. and the school have said they will be testing the kids but this is a massive job to undertake.. more for the teaching staff to do!
 
I work in a special school and we got the vaccine very early on because a) we work with vulnerable children and b) we had to stay open. I don't see how schools can open without vaccinating staff. If not more people will get ill and schools will be shut anyway due to outbreaks and staff shortages
 
As a preschool employee and mother of two, I’m torn - looking forward to being able to go back to work and my children (well, my youngest anyway!) are looking forward to being back in school and seeing their friends but it is concerning to think we can suddenly go from being at home, just the four of us for months to suddenly being mixing with multiple others
 
Don't think it's fair to put parents in position where they're told they have to send their kids to school otherwise there will be fines and their child will miss out OR to send them to school and unknowingly infect their teachers with potentially deadly virus which we now have vaccine for, but don't think teachers are important enough to receive it :eek:

If you want to open schools, ensure all staff had their first jab...
 
Hath said:
Don't think it's fair to put parents in position where they're told they have to send their kids to school otherwise there will be fines and their child will miss out OR to send them to school and unknowingly infect their teachers with potentially deadly virus which we now have vaccine for, but don't think teachers are important enough to receive it :eek:

If you want to open schools, ensure all staff had their first jab...
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I agree parents shouldn't be in a position where if they keep their children home to protect a vulnerable family member they'll face fines for doing so.
 
I work primary school as a TA, I have been working all the way through this lockdown as we had a lot more children this time round. I am doing a lateral flow test twice a week. I work with early years, distancing is so hard and trying to teach phonics sounds etc wearing a mask is difficult. I am conflicted, the children need to be in school, they need the structure and the social aspects of being in school, my own children are at secondary, yrs 7&9, my son is in school as he is on the Send register for dyslexia and just needs to be in school to work but I've kept my daughter home as she is working quite well, as a key worker I could send them both but I've chosen not to limiting or risk where I can, if they test at secondary school then I will get them tested but I worry that we've spent so long avoiding people what happens when we start mixing again?
 
DD is in year 9 and very very unhappy at the thought of going back and mixing with lots of people. She really really doesn't want to be tested regularly. I think we'd all feel a lot happier if more people, especially teachers, had been vaccinated and/or they were doing a staggered return.

Waiting for school to send out their site-specific plans. In general they've worked incredibly hard to use the facilities they have in the most COVID-secure (ha!) way possible - but they still had to shut to onsite students in the Autumn due to rapidly rising case numbers. To be fair to the school, as soon as they had a +ve case PHE took charge of who was deemed a "close contact" and decreed that the only students who needed to isolate were those who had been sitting immediately adjacent to +ve. The concept of bubbles in secondary (at least around here) is a complete farce.

In after his statement to the House of Commons Johnson said that both Whitty and Valance were supportive of sending all year groups in on March 8th even though the press have been fairly clear that Whitty in particular has reservations. I'll be interested to see if there any questions after the press briefing this evening and, if so, how they're answered.
 
I'm sick of people on the news that have never worked a day in a classroom in their life saying that schools need to be doing more. We are not mixing with other classes, disinfecting all toys after each child has played with them, washing our hands and kids hands every 30minuites, windows open at all times, disinfecting all surfaces and touch points after every session, wearing full PPE for supporting children in the bathroom or when handling food, separate staff rooms for each class, wearing a mask at all times and twice weekly lateral flow tests for all staff and now we have to try and stay 2 meters away from other staff in our class unless it is necessary for moving and handling etc. There is nothing more we can do, we are all so exhausted and fed up with it all, it's getting so hard to just do our job. Sorry bit of a rant.
 
I’m torn. I want children to go back for their sake - education and social aspect of building and maintaining relationships. Some have suffered through lockdown. At my school (trainee) there have been those who haven’t done any work. It’s a worry because they have fallen behind and now we have to try and get them up to speed. This is pretty much impossible.

I’ve been going in once a week for the past few weeks. I’ve had to do a lateral flow test the day before. The selfish side of me wants to be in school so I can deliver my lessons to actual children. Yes I’ve been doing it for maybe 11 but it’s not the same as a full class. Our training has already had to be changed. No second placement, no visiting KS3. We had to look at progression by way of research.

The other side of me worries about the teachers catching it and being unwell. It’s a tough one. I also want my parents to get the second vaccine before I’m considered. But I squared it with myself that it will be a long while before I’m eligible, so that’s kind of...

I just don’t want cases rising ridiculously as in December and ending up with another lockdown (like last March)! I am generally okay about things but I miss my family (siblings and parents) terribly 😟
 
Sweet Potato said:
I'm sick of people on the news that have never worked a day in a classroom in their life saying that schools need to be doing more. We are not mixing with other classes, disinfecting all toys after each child has played with them, washing our hands and kids hands every 30minuites, windows open at all times, disinfecting all surfaces and touch points after every session, wearing full PPE for supporting children in the bathroom or when handling food, separate staff rooms for each class, wearing a mask at all times and twice weekly lateral flow tests for all staff and now we have to try and stay 2 meters away from other staff in our class unless it is necessary for moving and handling etc. There is nothing more we can do, we are all so exhausted and fed up with it all, it's getting so hard to just do our job. Sorry bit of a rant.
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You guys deserve medal. It shows county cannot run without you and how they throw you under the bus is sickening! The job was already too much, and now this is added...
I've sent my daughter's school 2,4kg box of Celebrations and thank you email. I know it's not much, but I hope it offers some morale boost.
 
Hath said:
You guys deserve medal. It shows county cannot run without you and how they throw you under the bus is sickening! The job was already too much, and now this is added...
I've sent my daughter's school 2,4kg box of Celebrations and thank you email. I know it's not much, but I hope it offers some morale boost.
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Trust me I'm sure it means a lot I think our whole school's powered by chocolate now
 
As devils advocate... the biggest risk to an individual is age. So in terms of becoming hospitalised etc then those at greatest risk will be getting vaccinated by age rather than occupation. So whilst potential exposure and becoming unwell is a worry of course, (and I’m not sure what the picture is re vaccines and reduction of long covid) then those most at risk (over 60 who make up the very vast majority of admissions, in the realm of over 90 odd percent) should be vaccinated already.

Easy for me to say though as I am vaccinated due to occupation (healthcare where I do have to care for covid patients)
 
I think part of the issue is that every school is different and the set up, infrastructure and risk will vary greatly according to this - there simply isn't a 'one size fits all' solution.

Personally I feel very strongly that all school staff should have the vaccination before they return to full time school.
I think we deeply underestimate just how much risk the people who educate and care for our children are being forced to take.

But I can also see that my youngest daughter desperately needs to be back in a busy, interactive school environment.
When I told her schools were going back she actually burst into tears (of happiness). She has already put a chart on her wall to count down the days.
I truly hope the staff at her school will be able to have the vaccine before they restart, but as hers is a boarding school, once they get the kids in it is actually pretty safe environment I think. I guess now we just wait and see what happens.
 
Oh it's a tough one isn't it. I feel for the kids who have been missing out. The ones who are struggling at home, who aren't getting enough to eat, whose parents are struggling financially and don't have the time to homeschool them. My friend is currently working 8pm- midnight every night as she cannot homeschool two children in different years and do the work she needs to for her full time job. I feel for the mental well-being of children being kept away from their friends and being kept at home when tensions are starting to run high.

The vaccine is a difficult one as it would be great to get teachers to have it but the government are prioritising those that are more likely to get seriously ill from it as the vaccine doesn't stop you catching covid but it greatly decreases your chance of being hospitalised from it. So, bearing in mind we can only do so many vaccines a week, should teachers be prioritised or should we continue focussing on those that have health conditions that can put them at risk but not enough risk for them to fall in to the extremely vulnerable category?

Unfortunately this is very much a lose lose situation for the government. If they prioritise teachers then surely they should prioritise supermarket staff. This then means some people with underlying health problems won't be offered the vaccine til much later. This is likely to increase the number of deaths. On the other hand if you don't prioritise these workers then they are much more likely to be ill from Covid. Some of those that get ill may be unlucky enough to be hospitalised which could have been prevented by the vaccine. I suppose the risk is greater for the first category which is why that decision has been made.
 
I am lucky that we are a small school, as a school none of our children have had covid, a couple of our families have had positive tests but one family we know had not followed the rules and the other works as a nurse. Whilst I see the point about teaching staff having the vaccine to keep us safe as whilst the children are less likely to be ill but can transmit therefore keeping our families safe and the wider community, I would rather more vunerable people had my vaccine, like all care homes and staff, those that would struggle to overcome covid etc, if we continue following the rules, washing hands, keeping a distance, wearing masks etc I can wait a bit longer.
 
Wonder how much guidance did schools receive. Considering they're meant to be back to 'normal' in less than 2wks there isn't much in terms of info for parents.
So far, it seems my daughter will have to wear face mask whilst in a class (unless it's PE) and be tested 3x in 2 wks. That's all we have for now.

Anyone else heard more?
 
Hath said:
Wonder how much guidance did schools receive. Considering they're meant to be back to 'normal' in less than 2wks there isn't much in terms of info for parents.
So far, it seems my daughter will have to wear face mask whilst in a class (unless it's PE) and be tested 3x in 2 wks. That's all we have for now.

Anyone else heard more?
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I know from the preschool I work in and my childrens schools that it’s quite a big document.
As a parent, I know that my primary child is just going straight back in and back to their previous arrangements (class bubbles, staggered timings of start and end of day to allow for only one year group of parents at the gates at any one time).
For my secondary child, so far they’ve only been able to give us a very brief letter explaining the minimum of information - masks needed in class, that they will be starting on staggered days (one year group at a time) but we dont yet know which day each year group is starting and that the testing procedure is being put in place for them to have a test in school and then we have to do the others home each week. The school have said they are working through the guidance and will tell us more when theyve digested it all. I’m hoping we will hear something by mid week next week as my boss also wants to know when I can return to work and as yet i can’t tell her anything!
 
I believe it's a very large document, at our primary school we are going back to our previous bubbles, seating as before, hand washing etc. Parents are asked to wear face covering at drop off and collection, but it can't be enforced. My Children's secondary are planning a staggered start, but which years when we don't know, I believe it will be exam years first but beyond that we wait to hear, they too will have 3 tests in school 3-5 days apart then testing at home but I'm a little concerned about that, not for us as a family as I'm testing twice a week but how honest people will be, maybe I'm just too sceptical/mistrusting, I worry people are possibly struggling financially etc will they be honest if it means isolating again, lots of thoughts like that, I'd hope not but realistically? Who knows?
 
Piggies&buns said:
I know from the preschool I work in and my childrens schools that it’s quite a big document.
As a parent, I know that my primary child is just going straight back in and back to their previous arrangements (class bubbles, staggered timings of start and end of day to allow for only one year group of parents at the gates at any one time).
For my secondary child, so far they’ve only been able to give us a very brief letter explaining the minimum of information - masks needed in class, that they will be starting on staggered days (one year group at a time) but we dont yet know which day each year group is starting and that the testing procedure is being put in place for them to have a test in school and then we have to do the others home each week. The school have said they are working through the guidance and will tell us more when theyve digested it all. I’m hoping we will hear something by mid week next week as my boss also wants to know when I can return to work and as yet i can’t tell her anything!
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Sounds like that's all there is atm for secondary school then. Apart from the testing at hone, that's new.

Spaghetti & Noodles said:
I believe it's a very large document, at our primary school we are going back to our previous bubbles, seating as before, hand washing etc. Parents are asked to wear face covering at drop off and collection, but it can't be enforced. My Children's secondary are planning a staggered start, but which years when we don't know, I believe it will be exam years first but beyond that we wait to hear, they too will have 3 tests in school 3-5 days apart then testing at home but I'm a little concerned about that, not for us as a family as I'm testing twice a week but how honest people will be, maybe I'm just too sceptical/mistrusting, I worry people are possibly struggling financially etc will they be honest if it means isolating again, lots of thoughts like that, I'd hope not but realistically? Who knows?
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I was thinking that, too! How many people will do the test on their own kids knowing how unpleasant it is and how many will isolate if needed. The financial support for working parents is non existant. We're not eligible for the pay out and will miss out on 4wks of pay between us! We'll do what's needed. But would be less worried knowing we would get financial help...
 
The eldest’s school update (secondary), the headteacher gave a brief outline of the return. Their year will be in for testing mid week then in properly from the following day.

The ones in primary will be doing the staggered arrival and collection as before. The only change is that we now have to wear masks. I’m glad they’ve brought this in. I wanted to do it but didn’t want to be the odd one out 🙄 and I also tried to avoid standing around chatting or too near people. Difficult though given the space we have to wait in.

As for my placement school, there’s a meeting next week. I guess we’ll hear then but I’m assuming it’s bubbles as before.
 
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