The number of pupils absent from England’s state schools rose by two-thirds to 204,000 in the fortnight to Thursday, 30 September.
Department for Education figures show 2.5% of pupils were out of school for Covid-related reasons on this day. The figures are the second batch of fortnightly statistics to be published since schools returned with much reduced Covid safety mitigations. The government said it was trying to maximise time spent in the classroom.
Overall, one in 10 pupils were absent, for Covid-related and other reasons, but in secondary schools, one in seven or 13.7% of pupils were out of school. Absence rates in the autumn before the Covid pandemic were more like 4.5%.
Under the current rules, neither close contacts of confirmed Covid cases nor bubble groups have to go home and isolate - only those pupils who test positive.
Nonetheless, teachers have been warning anecdotally of further disruption to education as case numbers in schools continue to rise.
The DfE statistics showed:
102,000 pupils (1.3%) had a confirmed case of Coronavirus, up 72%, from 59,000 the last time the figures were released, on 16 September
84,000 pupils (1.0% of pupils) were absent with a suspected case of Covid
5,000 were absent because of restrictions to manage a Covid outbreak
2,000 were absent because of Covid-related school closures
11,000 were isolating for other reasons
Of course, for every child off sick, a “carer” has to take time off from what they would usually do, probably work.
Now that schools are back after the long summer break, it’s beyond doubt that unvaccinated children will spread the virus as swift as a wild fire fanned by wind. It only takes one infected child in a school to spread it to few others and then the knock-on effect will soon spread it right across the school. Also, to some extent, even vaccinated children have the potential to spread C-19 far and wide if they are a carrier. It’s how viruses spread and the C-19 one is no different.
It seems that the government are prepared to accept the consequences:
Face-to-face education
The DfE says its measures strike a balance between protecting health and allowing young people to experience normality.
A spokesperson said: "We are working with parents and school and college staff to maximise students’ time in the classroom - encouraging uptake of testing and the vaccine for 12-15-year-olds, and contracting specialist attendance advisers to work on strategies to improve attendance where problems are identified.
“If there are particularly high Covid case rates in a school or college, local directors of public health may advise they reintroduce additional temporary measures such as increased testing or face coverings - but face-to-face education should be prioritised.”
I don’t think enough measure have been put in place for schools. Considering the virus thrives indoors, and in crowded areas, lots more measure should have been put in place. For example, on the Scottish government website we have this:
Face coverings
"Face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors either in classrooms or in communal areas.
The government has removed the requirement to wear face coverings in law. Face coverings should be worn in crowded and enclosed spaces where you may come into contact with people you don’t normally meet. This includes public transport and dedicated transport to school or college"
No, C-19 is the must go-to for all the media to continue all of their scare mongering, just as they have been doing with the fuel deliveries AND they are still at it!
Well, 1,000,000 new recorded cases of COVID per month should be scary but it seems that, since 5,000,000 people remain unvaccinated, precautions are being thrown to the wind, like old masks, in order to achieve the legendary “herd immunity” …
I agree Swimmy…I think regular testing on all children should be paramount. They are in contact with so many people you would think testing would be done daily. If my two were of school age, I would test them morning and night before and after school, its not such a big deal and it doesn’t use up valuable school time & resources.
I heard somewhere the other day that some schoolchildren are putting Coca Cola in their Covid tester to give a Covid positive result. This is so they don’t have to go to school.
Anything with aspartame will skew the result. Anyone wanting to do the same and cheat an official testing site, simply has to poke artificial sweetener contaminated fingers up their nose, and hay-presto, a false positive. How do I know? I was told by a lab technician working for an official testing laboratory.
You just have to look around you to see the attitude out there, the best example is the Driving School car, its 20° outside, Instructor and Pupil both wearing masks and all the windows closed, they have been sharing the same air for the last hour, they would be better off ditching the masks and opening the windows, Its going to be 21° on Friday, what about taking the lessons outside.
