Does anyone know if this is mandatory. Just had a email from the school asking if we give consent for them to test or if we will be doing it at home. Makes no mention of if we even want to test at all. School now shut so I can't phone for clarity until tomorrow and searching seems to bring up a jumble of guidance too.
Think some academies have it as mandatory. My kid started big school today and was supposed to attend yesterday for a test and I had to make about a million calls to get the message across that’s she’s just had the Rona so couldn’t take the test.
No it’s not compulsory but just a semi sensible idea. The new rules mean we’ll no longer have the chaos of extra pupils having to self isolate just the positive ones. It’s only a lateral flow so if it’s positive you’ll then need to get a PCR. It gives a little bit of protection for schools. If your child was at secondary last year they should have been doing regular lateral flow tests unless you opted out.
It is voluntary. Think if they don't consent then they will need to do the full.isolation if a classmate tests positive though. New test is just a nasal one
I think my grandson said he has to attend one day next week for testing prior to starting back the week after. Can't test at home. Sounds like common sense.
Thanks all. He's just moved up so wasn't sure of the secondary school requirements. There is absolutely no way he would be able to tolerate the test so pleased to hear it likely won't be mandatory. I'll give them a call tomorrow just didn't want to go into the call without any idea what the rules were.
Phoned the school today completely optional. They wouldn't say why that was made clear in the communication but hey ho still got the answer I was hoping for.
I'm getting a bit worried about INSET day on Monday. I guess it's only natural after spending the last 18 months social distancing etc. but I've been seeing photos of other school's INSETs on Twitter and they almost all have not a single staff member wearing a mask and all sat together at tables. Our INSETs always have an initial meeting in the hall on lecture theatre type seating where your arms are touching people either side of you. There will be 200-300 people in the hall with no empty spaces and the meeting is down to last two and a half hours. Nothing has been said about masks at all (I'm presuming they are optional but it hasn't been specified that you can wear one if you wish). The only communication about restrictions at all was an email to everyone from the CEO that said if you are worried about restrictions ending then speak to your line manager or refer yourself to HR for support (yeah, right).
I've spent the last 18 months not social distancing at work so I imagine it does seem odd from the other side. For me life feels back to normal the only reminder of Covid is some people are still wearing masks in shops. I understand that everyone will have a different take on it.
