Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Re-opening Schools?

According to the school newsletter they only have 3% of students off and the national average is 10%.
 
Unsurprisingly, ZOE app reporting rise in 5-18yos infected - at the moment there's a sufficient fall in everyone else for it not to cause an overall rise. I can imagine school-age numbers causing infection to plateau at a high level for a bit.

Having cancelled oldest's 2nd vax last week due to me and son being +, given teen and husband have remained COVID-free I think they'll go to a walk-in to get it tomorrow. School are offering 2nd round in just under a fortnight, but I think the sooner the better. If I hadn't moved my booster to just before Xmas, it would have been less than a fortnight afterwards that I caught COVID and it probably would not have been as mild as it has been.
 
Lots of staff and pupils out at school now, including the head, so they’re struggling a bit. I’m symptomatic this morning (sore throat, headache, snotty, chest a bit congested) but lft last night and today both negative. I opened up the school at 7, spent barely any time in the building then came home. Priority PCR test sent off.

I’m triple jabbed and had Delta in October but also on immunosuppressants, unfortunately I took my latest dose of them last night so could be a rough ride. Last time round because I knew I’d been exposed in a meeting I immediately stopped and by the time I was symptomatic I’d not done an injection for two weeks. If I’m positive I get given the antiviral stuff as a high risk person. Might just be a regular cold though.
 
Schools round here are in bad shape, especially the primary schools we have got extra funding for testing staff to be based there, at least for a few weeks. Likely straight PCR tests for all children and staff but massive complications 😢
 
Our primary school has just gone back to all the old measures - bubbles, lunch eaten in classrooms, clubs all cancelled, teachers in masks at drop off & pick up.
 
Possibly norovirus going round my school now, sickness and vomiting (though possible this is also corona symptom). Might actually be fortuitous that I’ve not been in other than opening/closing the building this week as just going in the foyer tonight I could see the stains on the carpet that other people have had to deal with :D
 
Just had a bit of a heartbreaking meeting this morning regards primary schools.

They are not supplied testing kits (even the staff mostly) for the kids but have been told to write to all parent's telling they need to test their kids and get the kits themselves. Also they advise the parents to ask the teachers if they are testing correctly :facepalm:

Given that locally most pharmacy staff are struggling to get kits for themselves this is just nonsense.

Two schools now have dedicated LFT and PCR testing teams permanently on site as there are so many staff off. One of these schools has nearly 40% of pupils at home due to positive tests.

FFS
 
It’s like their original plan of just infecting everybody is back in effect.
Government said primary schools are fine.
Primary are now fucked.
DfE quietly tells the schools kids needs to test.
No tests available.

Have been supplying (tests/staff) what I can to help but officially I am a bad man misallocting funds 🙄
 
Those numbers are conservative at best.

General covid infection situation is still bad everywhere, but especially there has been a more obvious rising trend in various parts of the South East and South West in the last few weeks, so recent conditions locally probably contribute to your sense of quite how bad things are right now.

I say that as a general point using general data, eg when looking at overall positive test numbers for all ages for each region of England, but I expect that bad trend continues if we zoom in more specifically.
 
Staff back to breaking point with the absence situation now. Nobody has a free minute when they're not covering for someone who's off sick or sorting out work for their classes etc. The whole sector is being kept afloat by short-term and agency staff, many of whom won't get sick pay if they catch covid. Oddly enough, a lot of long-term vacancies are going unfilled. Anyone who can get out of the accursed school system is doing so.

Many of the more troubled kids are going downhill as well. For many school will be the one moderately dependable thing in their lives, but for years now it's been anything but. And then Johnson gets rid of masks and self-isolation to buy himself another fortnight's favour with his idiot arsehole backbenchers. I think I'm too tired to even be angry about that tbh.
 
My school introduced new rules early in january (masks in all communal areas) and there were about 5 days were most years were only doing half days in school because of staff absence, but then rates went right down in the school and area and there is very little absence so it is back to voluntary masks as of last week.
 
Our school is out of LFTs now. None on the way from the government. About eight teachers off with covid, dozens of kids.

Bloke who was sat in a crowded staffroom with no mask at lunchtime yesterday coughing profusely tested positive last night :facepalm:
 
Last edited:
Rife in BB2's school, her bezza who was round on Thursday for a playdate now has it, the lad she went to his house Friday for a playdate, he has it, now at lunchtime today her form teacher went home with it!
 
Three more kids off with it (we only have about 20 on a good day), one staff and two other staff with childcare issues because of it. It seems rife around here and it's a miracle I haven't caught it. I'm careful but it's literally impossible with our kids to social distance all day. Yay for vaccines and masks I guess. Because it certainly isn't my immune system.

This children's wave seems to be persistent.
 
BB2’s bezza is on her second dose of plague, first one was October time, so not long between them. She has 2 siblings who haven’t had it and neither have her mum or dad.
 
Back
Top Bottom