So exhausted

[FluffyPJs]

I've been teaching for many many years and have always stuck to the same hours/ routines etc as it worked for me - arrive at school at 7.45am, leave by 6pm, work at home as needed in evenings and weekends. I've never fallen asleep on the sofa unless ill, and even then it's only been a handful of times. When my son was a baby I never napped in the day.

During the lockdown I worked from home. I was in my kitchen by 8am each day, filming my lessons and working on my laptop til my husband came downstairs from his office at 6pm. I did gain my evenings and weekends back as I was able to do all my work during the day.

Since going back to school on June 1st I have been totally drained. I keep falling asleep on the sofa, and struggle to wake up each morning. This is so unlike me and I'm fed up of it! During lockdown I went for long walks every day/ evening, now I can barely manage a walk to the corner shop! In 21 years of teaching I've never been this tired. My workload is much less as I've recently stepped down from SLT so I'm not even working in the evenings at the moment.

Is anyone else feeling exhausted and drained? I was wondering if if could be a bit of stress from the worry of being with 15 lots of germs each day, and I do spend a good hour cleaning my classroom each day when they've gone home.

[PoloNeckKnickers]

Why are you cleaning your classroom for an hour a day?

[FluffyPJs]

We have to clean everything the children have touched. All the chairs, tables, door handles, sinks, toilet, bikes, toys, pencils, pens, anything and everything. The only thing we don't do is mop the floor and vacuum the carpets as the cleaners do that

[ohthegoats]

Weird - me too. Totally knackered this week.

[CallmeAngelina]

I do feel tired and drained, yes. And quite down, if I let myself.
But much of that comes from stupidly venturing onto some of the awful threads on here, bashing us and our profession, as if we concocted this virus ourselves, in a lab somewhere, just to piss parents off.

[PoloNeckKnickers]

@FluffyPJs

We have to clean everything the children have touched. All the chairs, tables, door handles, sinks, toilet, bikes, toys, pencils, pens, anything and everything. The only thing we don't do is mop the floor and vacuum the carpets as the cleaners do that

That's outrageous! I have a key worker bubble and the only cleanung I have to do is to wipe the tables before and after the children eat lunch. We've been told that all staff must be off the premises by 3.30 so that the cleaners can crack on! We're also closed on Fridays for a deeper clean.

[echt]

Agree not on, FluffyPJs I'm not in the UK, and shouldn't be in the building in my own country, but I know all desks are swabbed down by cleaners at lunch and at the end of the day.

Excellent username, PoloNeckKnickers.

[FluffyPJs]

We are a tiny village school so each teacher is responsible for cleaning their own classroom- we do have cleaners who come in each evening, but there is no money to pay for them to do extra work. It has to be done so we are doing it