Thora
Differently Ethical
You don't have to do anything at the moment. I did keep my youngest off for a couple of days when hers was streaming green snot as she's rubbish at wiping it herself, but you don't have to.
Re-opening Schools?
- Thread starter ska invita
- Start date
I don't get paid if my child is home ill.
Steel Icarus
ersatz maven
Give them junior paracetamol and keep their fluids up. Maybe some cake.
You're not supposed to use lateral flow tests if there are Covid symptoms but given they have just one and it's likely to be a cold then I wouldn't worry about it.
I have tested myself. I cannot test him, he goes mental.
Why are the restrictions lifting on 19th July? It’d be easier if it was a week later when the majority of schools would’ve closed. I feel that the last week of the summer term is just an opportunity for children to end up spend the beginning of their summer break having to isolate
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elbows
Well-Known Member
Well Im sure the delay was timed to coincide with lots of schools being shut by then. I know the picture varies per area in England and some are a week later, I think I even spotted a few that are two weeks later. And the likes of Leicestershire are pretty much on holiday already.
I didnt agree with step 3 of the roadmap, let alone step 4. So Im very much not justifying this choice of timing. But given that they expect more problems when schools go back, and are quite prepared to acknowledge in press conferences that they are relying on school holidays to help with the situation, I can see why they would go for a date that is in the middle of the range of end of term dates. Because if they delay a week or two longer then there are all sorts of regions where the amount of time that effects of reopening are somewhat counteracted by school holidays is reduced.
When I try to explain that rationale in this way, this is no attempt to hide the absurdities of the UK approach. The absurdities have always been a big part of my focus and indeed if Id been forced to predict at the start what the UK would be good at in the pandemic, vaccines and absurdities would have been easy picks.
I didnt agree with step 3 of the roadmap, let alone step 4. So Im very much not justifying this choice of timing. But given that they expect more problems when schools go back, and are quite prepared to acknowledge in press conferences that they are relying on school holidays to help with the situation, I can see why they would go for a date that is in the middle of the range of end of term dates. Because if they delay a week or two longer then there are all sorts of regions where the amount of time that effects of reopening are somewhat counteracted by school holidays is reduced.
When I try to explain that rationale in this way, this is no attempt to hide the absurdities of the UK approach. The absurdities have always been a big part of my focus and indeed if Id been forced to predict at the start what the UK would be good at in the pandemic, vaccines and absurdities would have been easy picks.
Thank you for that explanation. I couldn’t even fathom what the reason could be. Still not best pleased as it feels like I’ll be spending the next two weeks having to help out with the the seemingly endless phone calls regarding students isolating
Steel Icarus
ersatz maven
I just want my daughter to get through these next six schooldays.
baldrick
hmmmmm
I am unsure if we're going to get to the end of term without sending some year groups home. Consistently have 3 or 4 staff a day off at the minute, I'm off today. I usually feel tremendous guilt when I'm sick but cover has been causing me so much stress I felt anxious and on edge all day yesterday.
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Groups of students sent home on 3 consecutive school days. It’s getting stressful especially when staff also end up getting sent home.
It is stressful. Hope the day away helps
PursuedByBears
Go stick your head in a pig
6 members of staff now isolating at Mrs B's school, including her 
mr steev
magic thought wizard
That makes more sense. I never considered schools closing at different times in different areas. Schools round here mostly finish on 21st/22nd but it seems most have decided to use up inset days and are now finishing at the end of this week.
Wonder what next term will bring
I had a letter about my daughters school mini bus for next September this morning... Still a limited service only for years 7, 8 & 9, saying sanitisers and face masks still need to be used
Covid contacts: What schools need to know for next week
DfE tells schools it only expects a small number of contacts to be identified for each Covid case and they won’t normally be called
www.tes.com
elbows
Well-Known Member
Thats quite the demolition!
elbows
Well-Known Member
Lack of serious effort and funding for mitigation measures in schools makes this country look very bad. So I'm pleased that ventilation at least gets a mention in the news at the moment:
Urgent call for Covid-safe ventilation in schools
Education unions make an urgent call for school-ventilation measures to limit Covid and "long Covid".
www.bbc.co.uk
Buddy Bradley
Pantheistic solipsist
Wasn't sure which thread to put this in, but our two 17-year-olds went to a walk-in centre for their vaccinations this morning, where they were told that they would only be getting one, rather than the double jab that adults are receiving. 
Am I the only one that doesn't remember this little detail being mentioned AT ALL in any of the news coverage about extending the vaccine programme to 16-17 year olds? Surely there's not enough difference between a 17.5 year old and an 18-year-old to make it make medical sense to only give out a single vaccine?
Editing to link to the JCVI decision about it: JCVI statement on COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people aged 12 to 17 years: 4 August 2021
Am I the only one that doesn't remember this little detail being mentioned AT ALL in any of the news coverage about extending the vaccine programme to 16-17 year olds? Surely there's not enough difference between a 17.5 year old and an 18-year-old to make it make medical sense to only give out a single vaccine?
Editing to link to the JCVI decision about it: JCVI statement on COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people aged 12 to 17 years: 4 August 2021
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elbows
Well-Known Member
Wasn't sure which thread to put this in, but our two 17-year-olds went to a walk-in centre for their vaccinations this morning, where they were told that they would only be getting one, rather than the double jab that adults are receiving.
Am I the only one that doesn't remember this little detail being mentioned AT ALL in any of the news coverage about extending the vaccine programme to 16-17 year olds? Surely there's not enough difference between a 17.5 year old and an 18-year-old to make it make medical sense to only give out a single vaccine?
Editing to link to the JCVI decision about it: JCVI statement on COVID-19 vaccination of children and young people aged 12 to 17 years: 4 August 2021
It was clear enough to me at the time. I dont think the media kicked up a fuss because, as per that JCVI decision you linked to, the detail of their recommendation suggests they would still like to offer a second dose at some point:
Three reasons leap to mind as to why they went for this 'keep their options open' approach:
Data from other countries about Pfizer and Moderna side effect of heart inflammation seemed to suggest this was more common in younger people (and males if I remember correctly) and that it was more common with the second dose. Waiting longer for more data to come in on that seems sensible. Other intertesting vaccine data may also become clearer in regards what the actual upsides of vaccinating this age group are when faced with the Delta variant.
Changes to robust, easily measurable immune responses when different dosing schedules are used is an interesting thing. I didnt like it when the UK first increased the 2nd dose gap to 12 weeks because most of the vaccine efficacy data from elsewhere was based on a much shorter gap, and we didnt have any other evidence. And nobody told me at the time that there was actually an expectation that a longer gap could lead to better results, it was painted as a purely logistical issue at the time, to stretch out supply and prioritise vaccinating as many people as possible. But I believe recently I saw the USA, when starting to discuss their third shot as a booster plans, said they knew their initial short gap would make boosters necessary in the coming months, so maybe the scientific community did have expectations about this all along. Anyway in this case I can understand why the authorities in the UK have avoided setting the gap for the 16-17 year olds now, giving themselves more time to weigh up the best option.
Supply and logistical issues. Although JCVI is usually described as independent, these decisions arent made in a vacuum and the medical scientific community features plenty of people with multiple roles and all sorts of overlaps and influences. As such I do expect their decisions to factor in operational issues, government preferences and the general sense of what is and is not possible within certain timeframes.
elbows
Well-Known Member
A late pledge to actually spend some money on CO2 monitors to help alert school authorities to ventilation issues has finally been made. No good excuses for having left such things this late, but we wouldnt expect this government to be early and responsible when it comes to such basic measures.
Covid: CO2 monitors pledged to aid school ventilation
Schools in England are to be given CO2 monitors to as part of plans to limit the spread of Covid.
www.bbc.co.uk
A late pledge to actually spend some money on CO2 monitors to help alert school authorities to ventilation issues has finally been made. No good excuses for having left such things this late, but we wouldnt expect this government to be early and responsible when it comes to such basic measures.
Covid: CO2 monitors pledged to aid school ventilation
Schools in England are to be given CO2 monitors to as part of plans to limit the spread of Covid.www.bbc.co.uk
presumably have to wait for some Tory donors to buy up a stockpile of them ?
SpookyFrank
A cheap source of teeth for aquarium gravel
A late pledge to actually spend some money on CO2 monitors to help alert school authorities to ventilation issues has finally been made. No good excuses for having left such things this late, but we wouldnt expect this government to be early and responsible when it comes to such basic measures.
Covid: CO2 monitors pledged to aid school ventilation
Schools in England are to be given CO2 monitors to as part of plans to limit the spread of Covid.www.bbc.co.uk
The last school I worked at already had CO2 monitors in every classroom. They were installed pre-covid, as a way to quickly burn off an end-of-year budget surplus or because some deputy head of something read an article somewhere and decided that ventilation was their panacea for the school's woes and the hill they wanted to die on.
The monitors didn't work.
the science behind this is sound - cognitive ability is higher if c02 levels are closer to outdoor conditions.
the implementation above might be shit - but the idea was good.
“The Harvard group measured a 15 percent decline of cognitive ability scores at 950 ppm and 50 percent declines at 1,400 ppm.”
(450ppm is outdoor levels)
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