Coronavirus: General discussion (see opening post for rules)

[Primus]

Of course you would.

But what about the asymptomatic cases where they don't have a cough, but are shedding the virus and passing it between people?

I assume you'll be testing all of the children that are coming in on a regular basis still? With that test which is as accurate as a toin coss...

 

He very very very much has a point, yes this is stressful and difficult but any school having all of their staff in has massively missed the point of lockdown. Add into that lots of staff will have children of their own who are now off school. I'm in touch in one way or another with loads of schools locally and not a single one is going down the route of having all staff in.

 

The students that are in require the smallest staff team possible to operate, everyone else needs to....... stay home, protect the NHS, save lives.

[6Foot2]

There’s another Boris-Briefing at 5pm today * sigh *

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by 6Foot2
Swap LBC YouTube feed for 10 Downing Street feed.

[elsiegee40]

We have created a new thread, but we are going to have to ask you to keep things relevant as regards to what is discussed.

 

So, please keep away from political criticisms. There is a lot going on and the govt(s) – depending on what country you are in - will follow the best advice they are given and this will differ depending on a lot of local issues such as healthcare availability, current infection levels, national characteristics (do they like to gather socially a lot for example) and other factors.

 

Let’s keep this focussed on the areas we need to pay most attention to such as news updates (without making it political) and things you can do for your schools to help in the event of closure etc.

 

Given the seriousness of the current situation, let’s not distract from that and continue to help each other through this uncertain period.

 

Any post which strays into the political will be removed.

 

For the practicalities of coping with this in schools, please use this thread:

Coping with Coronavirus in education : links, resources, tips and IT concerns

 

Employment issues should, of course, be posted in the Employment Issues and Advice Forum

 

 

The above is @Dos_Box’s opening post in this thread. The ground rules for discussion.

 

I will add to it and say ... please stay away from criticisms not just political ones.

 

We accept that some of you are angry that school staff are going into school.

 

However every school is different and the decisions made by the Governors/Trustees regarding staff going into school will have been made on what they believe is best for their school.

 

The rights and wrongs of those decisions may not be discussed any further on EduGeek and posts will be removed.

[elsiegee40]

“Teachers Could Get Covid Vaccine From Mid-February, MPs Told”

 

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/coronavirus-vaccine-teachers-schools-lockdown_uk_5ff47a2dc5b6fd331111480b

 

Teachers and other frontline key workers could begin receiving coronavirus vaccinations once the most vulnerable groups have had jabs, MPs have been told.

 

Boris Johnson on Monday set out plans to vaccinate 13m people in the four top priority groups for the jab by mid-February, including all elderly care home residents and their carers, over 70s, frontline health workers and the clinically extremely vulnerable.

 

In a briefing with MPs on Tuesday, England’s deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries suggested teachers and other frontline key workers could be included in the next stage of vaccinations, which will cover the next five priority groups including over-50s and those with risky underlying health conditions.

 

Any decision to inoculate teachers and key workers that early in the vaccination programme would mark a significant acceleration.

 

The decision rests with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which has already published the nine priority groups for the first phase of the vaccine rollout.

 

Last month, JCVI chair Wei Shin Lim suggested key workers would need to wait until all nine of those groups have been vaccinated until they receive their jabs in the second phase.

 

But according to one MP on the call, Harries said: “When the first four groups are completed, then frontline key workers would be vaccinated and this would include consideration of teachers.”

[elsiegee40]

 

[mikeprice]

On the point about Science techs (and IT Techs) looking after kids - does anyone know about the legal implications

 

after all teacher and TAs have specific training in looking after kids

 

Naturally we have to do a safety training thingy - but last time I got a job in a school it was via an agency and I just had to do a thing online

Personally I did what it said - but I could have just scrolled to the end and clicked on a tick box

 

 

what happens if an accusation is made and they is no teacher or TA in charge???

 

 

sorry if this is obvious - as I am officially a trained teacher maybe I get a pass on stuff - but I don't recall anything other IT Techs have done

and I do recall training sessions about asthma, allergies and stuff that were 'classroom staff only'

[elsiegee40]

i just took this from Twitter. I know nothing about xbox and playstation but is using one in place of a laptop practical?

 

[Primus]

i just took this from Twitter. I know nothing about xbox and playstation but is using one in place of a laptop practical?

 

[ATTACH]60349[/ATTACH]

 

Only if you had a keyboard and mouse.

[3s-gtech]

Yes, heard of a few of our students using it. Not sure what browser engines they use for Teams compatibility, with with a keyboard and mouse much of Office 365/G Suite is accessible to them.

[elsiegee40]

Yes, heard of a few of our students using it. Not sure what browser engines they use for Teams compatibility, with with a keyboard and mouse much of Office 365/G Suite is accessible to them.

 

Do you think parents are aware that using the games console is an option?

[mikeprice]

 

need a version in wine as well for Mrs mikeprice

Edited January 5, 2021 by mikeprice

[3s-gtech]

Do you think parents are aware that using the games console is an option?

 

We put it into our student and parent guides for Teams.

 

The PS4 browser is Webkit based so should support Teams video (but only incoming). No mouse support, but trackpad on the controller helps. PS5 doesn’t have an easily accessible browser yet.

 

XBox One uses EdgeHTML with keyboard only support (incoming video) XBOSX should get Edge Chromium, not sure if that’s happened yet.

 

Other consoles like the Switch - no idea. Doubt it’d work!

 

Haven’t got much info on other parts of the suite or Google’s offerings. Would be interesting if someone tested!

[mikeprice]

Honest Mum - I NEED a new PS5 to do my school work

 

really I do - I just need a keyboard and mouse - Oh and the It tech says a joystick and foot pedals would really help as well

 

probably

[aicrd]

We put it into our student and parent guides for Teams.

 

The PS4 browser is Webkit based so should support Teams video (but only incoming). No mouse support, but trackpad on the controller helps. PS5 doesn’t have an easily accessible browser yet.

 

XBox One uses EdgeHTML with keyboard only support (incoming video) XBOSX should get Edge Chromium, not sure if that’s happened yet.

 

Other consoles like the Switch - no idea. Doubt it’d work!

 

Haven’t got much info on other parts of the suite or Google’s offerings. Would be interesting if someone tested!

 

Nintendo didn't add a browser on the switch because its apparently a "Gaming first" platform, which makes sense. You can however access a hidden browser if you have a captive portal set up on your network

[caffrey]

I'm confused by the guidance in regards to coming in school to work, checking the .gov website it states

 

You may only leave your home for work if you cannot reasonably work from home.

 

Where people cannot work from home - including, but not limited to, people who work in critical national infrastructure, construction, or manufacturing - they should continue to travel to their workplace. This is essential to keeping the country operating and supporting sectors and employers.

 

Public sector employees working in essential services, including childcare or education, should continue to go into work.

 

So it's telling us that all education employees should be going to work ?

[jmak]

BBC radio programme: Hard Talk, Neil Ferguson "Professor Lockdown"

 

Stephen Sackur speaks to British epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson, whose early modelling of Covid-19 made him an influential advocate of the lockdown strategy. The UK is back in lockdown and infections are surging - what has gone wrong and why have other countries done better?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3cszc7j

 

Highly recommended listen if you get 20 minutes (would have been better if I wasn't listening at 3.30am this morning instead of sleeping). Lots of good non-political information - it's about the science and his strong contention is that once the scientists have informed us of what the facts are and the impact of the options, it's up to the rest of us and our politicians to decide how to respond.

[LeMarchand]

Anyone

 

a) Getting sick of people making a big thing of "being stuck at home"? I wish I could get "stuck at home".

b) Finding "Lockdown" 3 has many more students on site and MUCH more being expected from IT?

 

So far one site has 4 (half capacity) classes with 3 or 4 staff/class (around 25% of pupils in) and the one I'm in today has an almost full car park and a lot of kids about - kids not particularly distanced and adults still way too close to each other for my liking (at least they're wearing masks now). Third site actually had the sense to prepare for more remote learning in advance and has fewer kids who are entitled to be in (or are better off in) and fewer "I ain't stayin' in to look after my kids" parents claiming to be key workers.

[robyholmes]

Yep this lockdown doesn't seem to have been taken in the same way as the first by people. More students and staff onsite. Protection steps are much better mind.

 

Even the drive to and from work seem busier.

[LeMarchand]

Third site actually had the sense to prepare for more remote learning in advance and has fewer kids who are entitled to be in (or are better off in) and fewer "I ain't stayin' in to look after my kids" parents claiming to be key workers.

 

Or so I thought - they're not "fully" open yet, but are expecting almost 30% when they do.

 

IIRC numbers dropped after a week or two at all locations last time.

[jthompson]

I guess there are some critical differences between lockdowns 1 and 3 in that testing is available to the general public, the idea of COVID-secure environments is more established and PPE is less of a bottleneck.

 

It does still feel to me as though a portion of the population will never 'get' some of the core mechanics of what's going on: asymptomatic transmissions leading to people they might never know falling ill; the idea of rationing for social contact such that extended family don't get to see children in order to allow schooling to continue, for instance. I've come across so much simplistic whataboutism during all this. "I can't to X but yet we're allowed to do Y!?".

[Ditto]

I'm confused by the guidance in regards to coming in school to work, checking the .gov website it states

 

 

 

So it's telling us that all education employees should be going to work ?

It does say that and it's a real surprise. If a role can still support the public service of education from home, why would you not support that? This sort of document is of course guidance - I'm fascinated to understand if this part can be linked back to the regulations (law). I've had a brief look at legislation.gov.uk, but due to the many amendments, it's not an easy task.

 

*** EDIT - couple more thoughts ***

The guidance refers to Public sector employees, so presumably it doesn't apply to independent school employees. This point is perhaps to close to 'whataboutism' mentioned in the last post! In the same section as this guidance it also says

Employers and employees should discuss their working arrangements, and employers should take every possible step to facilitate their employees working from home, including providing suitable IT and equipment to enable remote working.[/Quote] I guess we all have to rely on how reasonable your leaders are with the employees, which as we know from Edugeek posts varies considerably.

Edited January 6, 2021 by Ditto

[caffrey]

I've no issue coming in to school, I've had a few jobs to do today which I couldn't do from home. They are rolling out the lateral flow testing here, I'd much prefer if they just rolled out the vaccine instead

[SpaceInvader83]

Feels a very different lockdown this time round, barely feels like a lockdown , primary schools at 50-70 percent capacity , secondary schools at much less capacity. I've also been asked to be involved with the testing regime as some kind of Testing Team Leader. Frustrating times , my workload has just been ever increasing during all this.

 

I have serious concerns about what lies ahead for us as a nation, I can only hope this vaccine rollout is super slick.

[smurfomatic]

We probably have less pupils in this time around than over the summer. We had all of Year 6 (about 40 pupils) and no-one else last time. Today had less than 30 children in total, mostly in EYFS, but somehow this time around "I need to be in for any technical problems" whereas in Lockdown 1 I could work from home...

[Ditto]

Feels a very different lockdown this time round, barely feels like a lockdown , primary schools at 50-70 percent capacity , secondary schools at much less capacity. I've also been asked to be involved with the testing regime as some kind of Testing Team Leader. Frustrating times , my workload has just been ever increasing during all this.

 

I have serious concerns about what lies ahead for us as a nation, I can only hope this vaccine rollout is super slick.

I've heard several accounts with schools being much busier than before. I thought there was a requirement to show your child is a key worker child. My sister was asked to re-show her keyworker letter yesterday to allow her son in. I know it was announced today that children without laptops in too, but I don't understand the change? The laptop scenario is going to be open to abuse too.