...while I've been critical of the UK's failure to follow WHO advice on testing from early on, the same WHO incidentally whose chief scientist said just today that data on the question about transmission in schools is encouraging. Maybe posters in this little 6CM bubble know better than she and the medically qualified Cambridge University virology researcher who gave the advice I quoted above. Then again, maybe not.
I have no issues with the logic behind those statements & their conclusions.
However, they don't take into account the transmission to staff from children, between staff & any other visitors to the school required, & don't take into account the parents or care givers who have to drop off & collect the children.
On top of that, they don't look at the inherent risks to schoolchildren in this country specifically, caused by victorian age schools, the rooms, stairwells, toilets, & corridors of which are much narrower & smaller than their modern equivalents, nor the large amounts of schools that use 'temporary' mobile classrooms (& have been in many cases for decades despite them supposedly being only for a year or two).
As well as this, I've seen nothing that even tries to weigh the potential positives against the negatives in the situation that schools will be facing, of simply not having enough staff to adequately teach in that many classrooms, as one class of pupils will be in two or even three rooms (assuming those rooms are actually available, which they won't be if they want all kids back in by June).
As a school governor I expect you know more of some of these issues than I do, so if you are privy to any of the plans or ideas about how schools plan to negate the risks I'd be grateful to hear them.
Also, as I keep harking back to, for the sake of a few weeks I just don't think it's worth it. Using those weeks plus the summer holidays would not only let the risk drop even further, it would enable schools to make the necessary changes & training to deal with an incredibly hard situation easier for all concerned (as I laid out in my earlier post, which incidentally I'd like your opinion on, regards the adjustments & psychological issue, I'm in touch with our schools headteacher regularly & would like to discuss them with her, if any are outlandish you could give me a heads up to save wasting her time).
As a final point, different areas have different levels of risk, Liverpool & Merseyside are just hitting our peak by all accounts, unlike London which has passed it, so the national blanket rule just makes no sense whatsoever imo.
