If you are teacher, TA or school staff...

[MotherForker]

Thank you for all that you have done to keep children safe. Please follow your union advice and know that many, many parents support you (even if they don't necessarily post angrily on covid threads).

You are not to blame for any of this, the Government is. They are refusing to follow the science and whilst children are better off in school, that doesn't supercede your right to a safe workplace.

I speak as a parent who will struggle to work if schools close and who's autistic dd regressed significantly last lockdown. But I still support this closure.

Sorry that you get such a slating.

Thank you for your post

I am one of the teachers that thinks students should be in schools regardless and that they are the best places for them, however I do think the government is downplaying how much students spread Covid. We had 50 positive cases in the last 2 weeks of term (large secondary school).

Unfortunately some people seem to think that secondary schools being "closed" means we get more time off, which isn't the case. I'll still be in my school at 7:30am tomorrow until 5pm recording, creating resources, contacting students whilst still having the same weekly admin to do.

Please don't think we're taking the easy route by teaching remotely because it's not easier in the slightest. We want your children to be in school and we know that remote learning doesn't have a patch on in-person learning, but we are also much more prepared and educated on how to provide better quality remote learning this time round than we were last March

Thank you. I'm one of the invisible school staff that don't teach but deal with first aid, late comers, messages brought down by the children and brought to class by me, staff in and out of the office whether they're meant to or not. We might not teach the children but we have lots of contact with them, even when they're supposed to be in bubbles. I love my job even though I'm about to lose it and everyone in the school works damn hard to keep things as safe as they can. If schools are shut it won't be because of lack of effort from school staff I promise you.

All we want is the children in, but safely. Schools are nothing without the children.

I'm very much hoping that the 'new developments' the HT of my DS's primary school referred to in his letter were S44 letters from the staff rather than staff testing positive.

I'm in a similar position to the OP and I agree. Our eldest does better in school but right now I'm concerned about a safe school workplace for teaching and support staff.

Well thank you fir your endorsement. Are you a shit-hot employment lawyer with impeccable track record who will pro bono take tribunal action and pay my salary and pension contributions for the 18 months till the tribunal and then indemnify me if you lose? Thought not. So your encouragement for people yo break their contracts, and lose their jobs, is at best deluded.

Ignore the previous poster’s rudeness, OP. Even if they didn’t agree with you, they didn’t need to be so nasty about it.

Thank you for some very kind words, OP and other posters. It means a lot.

None of us have sent that letter to the headteacher. I think there were incredibly mixed feelings, many of us don’t feel safe but felt like we would be incurring the wrath of our head by sending it and defying her. She’s made no secret of her wish to open (as she sits in her office with her door shut every day).

And thank you for your kind message of support

Thank you OP.

My primary school is closed due to teaching staff following union guidance. I think we should still be there for the children because absolutely none of this is their fault & school is often the only constant in so many young lives. Learning is really suffering & many are falling far behind with little chance of catching up now.
Having said that, I do understand the fear because there is absolutely no social distancing or PPE. We're in year group bubbles but that's it. The classrooms featured on the BBC news are simply not what is happening in schools.

I would love to follow the Union’s advice but I work in Alternative Provision and all of our students are classed as vulnerable.

The Section 44 letter from the NEU makes reference to the fact that we would be available to come into school and teach key worker / vulnerable students. Our NEU rep states that there is nothing we can do except for to hope the Government mandates that all schools move to remote learning.

No provision or support has been made available for us. The NEU are ignoring us despite many tweets and Facebook posts sent their way. The rest of the county’s schools are all remote learning except for us and the SEND schools - we are in a Tier 4 area with 1200+ cases per 100k.

Although our classes are smaller than mainstream, we often have to break social distancing to manage behaviour in order to safeguard pupils. All without PPE.

I’m absolutely terrified.

@lineandsinker your rep and use the escalation app to raise concerns with regional office. You can also call or email the AdviceLine or your regional office. You shouldn't be in this position.

@EmmanuelleMakro actually section 44 forms part of everyone's contract, as it is a right available to all workers. Teachers are not refusing to work, they are willing to work from home on remote learning and for key worker and vulnerable children. They are refusing to work in unsafe environments. Same right as anyone else who works in England and Wales.

And actually I work in employment law 😉