Bubbles?

I think you were wise. Unfortunately, it's because of sloppiness like that, that the virus is continuing to spread.

At my DGCs school although they are in class bubbles, they tell me that at playtime the whole school play together?!Also, when I had to take a forgotten item up to the school for my DGD, I assumed I would have to leave it outside the door or pass through the hatch window, but I was invited into the reception area, where there were several people already chatting. I declined , saying I didn't have my mask on me, to be given a funny look, as if I was being OTT.

Thanks all it appears that there are more questions than answers.

At Uni, my son's "In person" lectures means that all the students are in the same room, socially distanced, and the lecturer is in another room teaching by video link!

Growstuff I agree. There is no other way but it is not ideal.
Being in a warm stuffy classroom will help the virus circulate but being cold won't help concentration and could lead to a drop in immunity.
I wish there was a better way.

AGAA4

I know children who have complained about being very cold in classrooms with doors and windows open. I thought being cold can lower immunity so may be counter productive and lay them open to all the winter bugs going around?

But it's the only way to achieve reasonable ventilation and what the government has advised.

I know children who have complained about being very cold in classrooms with doors and windows open. I thought being cold can lower immunity so may be counter productive and lay them open to all the winter bugs going around?

Jillybird I read something similar about two months ago, although I can't remember which study it was. That's one of the reasons I've always been cautious about re-opening schools fully. I was extremely cynical about the government's claims, especially as it had no evidence that full schools could be safe. The proviso always was that an efficient Test, Trace and Isolate system would be in place and we all know that it isn't.

I think that's to allow for a three or four day incubation period before symptoms show. I agree with you Mollygo. It's always seemed nutty to me.

The NHS person just now said it was 14 days from when the person became ill or had a positive test. She said that since there had been no contact already for 7 days, another 7 days (14 days in total) would be sufficient unless symptoms developed. The teacher, on the other hand if she feels well and no longer has symptoms except loss of taste or smell, can go back to work 10 days after the test!

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mollygo The 14 days starts with the day the test was taken.

Headteachers have already been ordered by the Department of Education to have quality home-learning plans in place as a contingency. The government itself has been investing in online teaching materials, but not providing the laptops and guaranteed internet connections it promised.

I'm afraid parents who have been relying on schools for childcare are likely to find that their children are sent home at some point and need to be prepared for that.

It’s true about the open windows and it’s getting colder. One DGS’s school has made School Hoodies part of the uniform for the winter rather than blazers to combat the cold with the open windows.
Seriously, I don’t see any realistic alternative to reopening schools. Some of my family and others I know, not well off to start with, would have been jobless, homeless and eventually destitute if children hadn’t been able to go back to school so that parents could work. Lockdown has already been incredibly difficult for them and extending school closure till next year would have have been disastrous.
Even different parts of the UK and different government groups haven’t suggested a viable option or chosen not send children back.
If you can afford to stay home/work from home and home school, chances are that you can afford the technology for homeschooling your children. We already know how difficult that is for some parents.

We don’t wear masks in my primary unless moving about the corridors. (I teach reception) I’m very uncomfortable, bordering on fearful and believe it’s a matter of when, not if I contract the virus!

It was nuts sending kids back to school. They should have waited until the new year. I have been banging on about this so much I am boring myself. But COVID will continue to spread as long as kids are in school. Every school child lives with adults.

Just had a phone call from my DD to say that my DGD’s class teacher who has been off all week with what she thought was a tummy bug, decided on Wednesday to get a test and has received a positive test result. The children in that class must now isolate for 14 days. I would have thought it would only be 7/8 as they have not had contact with the teacher since last Friday. It worries me that they have been in school all week and we have been doing child care.

It is being mentioned polnan. Ask any pupils and they'll tell you they're freezing. Schools are keeping windows and doors open, wherever possible.

polnan

I know nothing, but what little I have read/heard, doesn`t good ventilation help?
if someone comes to my house, and it is not so warm now, I put the heating on, and have door(s) open....

why isn`t ventilation being mentioned by the Government, when making these rules? and the schools?

Again I can only describe what my goddaughter is doing in her English primary school. There, windows are always open, as is the door and the pupils have been told to wear extra layers if they feel cold. I can't imagine how they will cope when it really gets cold!

FannyCornforth

varian - teachers are not allowed to wear masks in England.
The government has decreed that they are unnecessary.

In many schools, teachers are allowed to wear masks if they wish to, it's not compulsory though. My goddaughter wears a mask in her Primary Scool classes.

This is an interesting topic. My nephew and his wife are homeschooling their children aged 7 and 9, as they say schools are unsafe and they don't want the children to catch the virus.

I know nothing, but what little I have read/heard, doesn`t good ventilation help?
if someone comes to my house, and it is not so warm now, I put the heating on, and have door(s) open....

why isn`t ventilation being mentioned by the Government, when making these rules? and the schools?

I’m really grateful that the schools near me and where my GC attend don’t resemble those described by some folk on here.
One Primary school where I am a governor has over 400 children and still manages ‘bubbled’ staggered playtimes, lunchtimes and drop off pick up times. Staff wear visors when teaching from the front of the class and add masks when in closer contact e.g. leaning over to check work or offer help. No idea where the ‘not allowed masks’ came from.
Children are in rows and in set places. Tables are wiped down at the end of each day and at midday. Sanitising and hand washing has become the normal way of life. Even the EYFS staff have managed a work around system-and that is difficult.

The children are amazing-unlike adults, they don’t come up with infinite reasons why they shouldn't have to obey the rules.
Re the NHS App. I have no idea how many staff have the app in their phones but I rang the head this morning to ask if they were allowed to keep it on and he said, “Of course, otherwise what’s the point?”
My older GC describe similar scenes at their schools -strictly separated movement along corridors and between classes and in one case, a mixture of school and Google Classroom teaching-though that’s still a problem for those without the technology.

BTW Please don't patronise me by claiming I'm an "armchair expert" on school buildings!! It was my job for two years to organise logistics and staffing within a large secondary school, which was never designed for the number of pupils it had. I've appreciated the problems right from the start.

And I don't think that governors and headteachers haven't put a lot of effort and spent money on making their schools as secure as possible. Unfortunately, the fact is that many schools just cannot be "Covid secure" - the virus doesn't make any excuses about people being in a old building or needing close supervision when it infects people.