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Covid

Do any teachers out there think schools should stay open?

170 replies

YouAreMySunshine123 · 01/11/2020 10:16

Just wondering if you ALL think they should be closed again?

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SaltyAndFresh · 01/11/2020 10:18

Teachers have not said schools should close. That is a simplistic reading of countless threads, dismissed by posters who think we simply fancy 'another' holiday, in which we've actually argued for the safer operation of schools (which IMO would have avoided the need for this lockdown).

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MarcelineMissouri · 01/11/2020 10:20

I’m not a teacher but am a TA. I don’t know anyone who wants schools to be closed again.

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motherrunner · 01/11/2020 10:21

My school maybe open but it’s not really. Last half term - baring in mind it was 8 weeks long - Yr 10 have been out for 4 weeks on two periods of isolation and Yr 12 and 13 out for 6 weeks for 3 periods of isolation.

I don’t want schools to close but the current ‘safety measures’ are farcical.

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worldweary45 · 01/11/2020 10:21

I don't know any teachers that want schools to close -no one in my school does

We would like them to be made safer though

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OpheliasCrayon · 01/11/2020 10:21

I think they should stay open.

All teachers I know in real life think they should stay open......

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ohthegoats · 01/11/2020 10:21

Teachers don't want schools closed, they just want a safer working environment and the funding for that to happen.

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mrshoho · 01/11/2020 10:24

Remain open but in the safest way possible.

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HonestTeacher · 01/11/2020 10:24

I want schools to stay open. So do all the teachers I know. We can't teach properly online. My class are so far behind from the last lockdown. We have it all planned out how they can catch up but that can't happen if they are at home again ☹

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MrsHerculePoirot · 01/11/2020 10:25

If you actually read the posts from teachers it’s very clear that we want schools to be open BUT we’d like this done safely.

Looking at all the graphs/data many teachers are suggesting temporarily switching to remote learning then reopening in a safer fashion.

So at secondary for example remote learning then reopen with blended/rota learning. The idea being that we can then provide a consistent more stable learning experience for ALL students whilst at the same time slowing transmission and keeping school workers and their communities safer.

At the moment I have no idea who will be in our out and cannot keep on top of providing learning and feedback on this way despite beat efforts. Government have given no support to schools at all. As it stands many children are missing out because no-one will let us plan properly in the current situation.

As has been stated on EVERY previous thread there are in between options not just CLOSED or OPEN WITH NO MITIGATIONS.

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sd249 · 01/11/2020 10:25

Schools open? Yes.
Secondaries open in their current state? No.

I mean I absolutely LOVE teaching, love my job, think it's the best job in the world. But currently it's one of the most unsafe places I think I could be as someone who is clinically vulnerable.

I think that wearing masks in corridors needs to be compulsory, that if students break covid rules they shouldn't be allowed to be in school (I have to be in corridors to tell students not to push each other, not to play-fight, not to be all over each other).

It's tough because unless you are in a school you really don't see how things are, and they aren't safe at all.

We are in a school built for 500 pupils 50+ years ago. We have numbers around 1800 now, it was too small before COVID but now it's just horrific.

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Barbie222 · 01/11/2020 10:29

@ohthegoats

Teachers don't want schools closed, they just want a safer working environment and the funding for that to happen.

This. What I don't want is to be still in lockdown in February, like Gove hinted this morning, because Johnson hasn't got the balls to take tough decisions that will make a difference, when they need to be taken. One thing we all know now is that it really is down to Johnson and his personality, rather than anything else.

In 4 weeks we will be here scratching our heads, wondering why the virus levels haven't dropped.

I'm a teacher and a parent, and I teach lower primary - the group that get the least out of online provision. I would not want to see my class at home, but I'd rather see them every other week than not see them at all for 3 months like before. It's the lesser of two evils, and because tough decisions weren't made when they could have been, we're all in a horrible situation.
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walksen · 01/11/2020 10:29

I don't think hi k anyone who works in a school thinks they should be closed.

But there is very clear evidence that the guidance is not sufficient ( surprising no one) and it is alarming that the response by phe to increasing outbreaks is to relax measures, not do extra testing, not advise schools to switch to only if the teachers start dropping like flies. It makes you feel that you are expendable and your health does not matter.

There should be clear procedures and trigger levels for proactive testing, temporary closures, additional testing etc. Data should be collected to refine these and improve safety over time and reduce the infections that schools are causing within the school and community

Instead we get vague promises of moonshot saliva tests which I doubt will be available in the foreseeable future and told that everything is fine/ schools are safe which they are clearly not if you are vulnerable in any way and not a child.

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ReceptionTA · 01/11/2020 10:29

I wanted a full lockdown for two weeks over half term. I don't want schools to close again. I think it might be necessary, though. I'd rather see smaller bubbles with DC in half the time before they close though.

I would like more PPE, especially for secondary teachers. I feel very lucky that I can spend most of my working day outside. I'd hate to be stuck in the classroom all day at the moment. I think there is much more chance of catching COVID-19 in a classroom with no mask than in a non-essential shop with a mask, or even in a train or in a museum with a mask.

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ChristmasinJune · 01/11/2020 10:31

I really, really want schools to stay open and most staff at our school feel the same. Mainly because our children are vulnerable,many are SEND and they just need to be in school not just for their education but for their safety and well-being.

Also, from my own perspective, keeping the school open is the easier option in terms of work load. If schools close we can and we will offer a full time table including daily virtual lessons. However, throw into the mix the planning and preparing of easily accessible resources, daily phone calls to all parents, persuading and problem solving for parents who are struggling with remote learning, preparing, delivering and collecting paper packs for those who don't have the technology. Marking and feedback for all work submitted plus educating my own child. Then you're looking at a long and complicated "school day" so closing schools is by no means the "easy option".

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Inchargeofcupsandice · 01/11/2020 10:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

davekim · 01/11/2020 10:34

I want school to stay open and haven't met anyone in RL who thinks otherwise

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GravityFalls · 01/11/2020 10:39

I want schools to stay open but I think we have to move away from the slavish devotion to all classes in school at all times, especially when it comes to older students. For a time-limited period it would be simple and wise to move students aged 16+, or better still 14+ on to a blended timetable. At least one lesson a week per subject in school/college and the rest set as tasks to do at home. Vulnerable students or those with specific learning needs could still be accommodated full time in school or college on an individual basis. This would be really easy to do, students would still get the f2f contact and social side of education, teachers would still see them to keep an eye out and we wouldn't have to stream live lessons either. We'd be running - for a short period of time - more of university model where you have lectures and then individual study.

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Khara · 01/11/2020 10:40

I'm a TA. I don't want schools to close again - I have a daughter taking GCSEs next year and I don't want her exams f*cked up like my sons A levels were this year.
I would have preferred a two week half-term to coincide with lockdown so that levels in schools could have dropped a bit before going back because I don't think things are at all safe in schools as things stand.
I work in primary which is allegedly safer but even so two TAs in the next bubble caught COVID before the holiday. They tested positive within a day of each other and don't really go anywhere except work and a weekly shop (we've been tier 3 for a while, no household mixing) so all things point to them being infected in the classroom, probably by an asymptomatic child. This despite the fact that our school has been rigorously following the risk-assessment. We've previously had another bubble closed a few weeks previous to that. (Funnily enough my daughters secondary school has not had any cases that I know of. Certainly no bubbles have been sent home.)
So, no I don't want schools closed. However I would like measures taken to make them safer. The current system of bubbles only works if cases in the community are low, which isn't the situation at the moment.

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TheRuleofStix · 01/11/2020 10:41

Primary teacher and yes I want the schools to remain open.

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ohthegoats · 01/11/2020 10:42

if students break covid rules they shouldn't be allowed to be in school

I also want that. Unfortunately that means many children who need to be in school for other reasons, wouldn't be able to be. So it won't happen.

Cough in someone's face in the street, you're in trouble. Cough in someone's face in school, nothing.

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ChristmasinJune · 01/11/2020 10:43

@GravityFalls

I want schools to stay open but I think we have to move away from the slavish devotion to all classes in school at all times, especially when it comes to older students. For a time-limited period it would be simple and wise to move students aged 16+, or better still 14+ on to a blended timetable. At least one lesson a week per subject in school/college and the rest set as tasks to do at home. Vulnerable students or those with specific learning needs could still be accommodated full time in school or college on an individual basis. This would be really easy to do, students would still get the f2f contact and social side of education, teachers would still see them to keep an eye out and we wouldn't have to stream live lessons either. We'd be running - for a short period of time - more of university model where you have lectures and then individual study.

Yes I think there's an argument to be made for moving some older pupil's work online to take the pressure off a bit. We'd have to make sure everybody had access to the right technology though for that to work.
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ILoveMyMonkey · 01/11/2020 10:43

Year 2 primary teacher. Absolutely want schools to stay open.

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Cornettoninja · 01/11/2020 10:45

@YouAreMySunshine123

Just wondering if you ALL think they should be closed again?

To be fair it’s not just the MN pool of teachers people look to. I’ve seen headlines reporting teaching unions are pushing for school closures...
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echt · 01/11/2020 10:51

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

YouAreMySunshine123 · 01/11/2020 10:54

I'm not a troll. I have name changed as this is clearly a divisive topic. @echt MN can check that out if they want to

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