To think we could just collate all the teacher/teaching related information here, and have done with it?

[SachaStark]

Just to save time, shall we just have a thread here, where our teaching colleagues can collate all the answers to the questions about teachers and schools, to save having to repeat the same stuff again and again?

1. Why aren’t the teachers working?

They are working.

1. What are the teachers doing all day?

A myriad of things. Including, but not limited to: gathering evidence to get qualification data for Year 11 and Year 13, planning lessons that can be taught remotely, creating resources, marking work, checking on vulnerable children, completing safeguarding referrals, writing school reports, in school minding key worker children, writing new schemes of work and policies for the COVID-19 world, delivering free school meals to students...

1. Why aren’t the teachers doing online video lessons?

Some are. Most (the correct decision, IMHO) are not doing this, following union guidance. This is due to unsafe platforms, such as Zoom, the inappropriateness of it for some ages/classes, and due to safeguarding reasons.

1. What safeguarding reasons could there possibly be for not doing online video lessons?

So, so many, sadly. Including, but not limited to: the vulnerability of teachers’ images or voices being used to create online memes (at best) or pornographic material (at worst) by downloading and manipulating the clips, protections of both staff and students who may be hiding from dangerous individuals known to them, the possibility that abuse may happen live online in front of other children, the possibility that some children may appear on camera either undressed or performing indecent acts...

1. Why aren’t the teachers in school actually teaching the key worker children?

We’ve been told not to teach key worker children in school, we are only child minders at present. This is due to the possibility of unfairness if we are teaching some children and not others, and also because it is impossible to plan for and execute when you are trying to maintain social distancing, and also have no idea what year groups you will have in each day.

1. What’s happening with the school curriculum?

It’s been suspended.

1. When are the schools going back?

Literally, NONE OF US KNOW. It doesn’t matter what your school has said or not said, or what your neighbour’s Aunt Gertrude has said. None of us know anything about when the schools are going back.

1. Why can’t they summer holidays be cancelled, and the kids go back to school then?

Because the teachers and students are technically working right now. The children will need their summer holidays, and the staff will need them, too.

1. But other industries have had their holidays cancelled, so why can’t teachers have theirs cancelled?

It’s more complicated than it is in other industries. Teachers aren’t paid for their holidays, and they also can’t take them as time off at a later date. The government would have to pay six weeks’ extra pay to all teachers, which I don’t reckon they’ve got the spare cash to do.

10. Why can’t teachers just work it unpaid?

Because we are not bloody saints, and we aren’t very well paid in the first place.

11. Why are the teachers still receiving a full salary?

Because they’re still working full-time, see above, points 1 and 2.

12. But why isn’t MY child’s teacher doing X, Y or Z?

We have absolutely no idea. Why don’t you contact the school in question? Maybe they are, and you haven’t seen it yet? Maybe they’re not, and they’ve actually absconded to Hawaii? Maybe they’re just drinking gin all day? Who can tell, I certainly can’t...

13. What are the daffodils on posts about teachers/teaching for?

It was decided in a thread on The Staffroom that it would be far more productive to give each other flowers on threads clearly guilty of teacher bashing, since many people’s mental health and well-being is at a real low at the moment, and many hard-working teachers are genuinely upset by these posts.

14. Is it really teacher bashing, though? I’m so bored of hearing this.

It is, because these threads generally rely on generalisations regarding an entire profession, and are simply an excuse to “have a go”, rather than doing the more productive thing and contacting their child’s school.

15. But don’t teachers think they have the hardest job in the world? They’re always moaning and being so defensive!

Literally none of us have ever said that we have the hardest job in the world. I don’t know who does. NHS staff at the moment, for sure. Other key workers still having to carry on in difficult conditions, absolutely. But we definitely are facing some very difficult tasks in our jobs right now, that we’ve had no time to prepare for, in an unprecedented situation. Exactly the same as most other lines of work are having to do. And we have to defend ourselves, because SOME posters on here do love a pile-on when it comes to teaching.

16. Would you like a glass of wine?

Fuck yes, most of the time, actually. Care to join me?

Lol 😂 you know they will see this thread as an invite to be obnoxious..

Miss Marks, can your staff socially distance? It seems they can so YABU.

Can nurses and police?? And no, not all can socially distance. But yet out of dozens of staff in care roles not one has complained, hence why I am really really upset.

Good try OP but you’re assuming these enquires are made by reasonable people who will accept a reasoned answer.

Questions about education on AIBU are usually posed with the direct intention of denigrating teachers and in the expectation that others will join in. MNHQ are happy to let that happen because it’s good for business.

MissMarks
Some teachers don't think they are special (and I'd love a quid for every time this is suggested).
They have genuine concerns about a school environment if the risk hasn't decreased.

For example

• 1500 in a school
• 5 or 6 toilet blocks for each sex that can only have 1 or 2 pupils in whilst socially distancing. How do we ensure all children can go to the toilet and that the toilets and sinks are cleaned enough?
• corridors that don't allow people to pass 2m apart
• limited canteen space on a normal day, how does this work for social distancing?
• how does one fit 33 children in a classroom built for 30 whilst maintaining social distancing?
• many schools have already been converting lunch rooms and libraries into classrooms to deal with increased numbers, so there's no spare classrooms for reduced class sizes
• how do door handles and bathrooms get cleaned enough throughout the school day?
• if a school has half a dozen to a dozen school busses, how do children get to school safely
• if it's all children in for half a week and staff teach the same lessons twice for the other half, what happens to key worker children who are there all week?

What's pissing me off at the moment are people refusing to consider that different jobs and different workplaces have different challenges so instead of stopping for 30 seconds to consider this, they engage in a rush to the bottom on employment standards and get arsey and pissed off at other people for daring to consider the issues in their workplace.

Brilliant 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Yes @missmarks that isn't right of your friend to say and you should definitely be upset with her BUT as with everything that is some and not ALL/MOST teachers. Majority of us want to be in the classroom and will gladly be there when it is safe to do so.
What is getting teachers backs up both during this lockdown and in normal life is that one person has a complaint about a school or a teacher and the general response is that ALL teachers are the same and are crap/lazy/want the salaries without the work. Which in my experiences is very few teachers.

And how about:
14. Have teachers for any idea about how worried parents are about the effect this may have on their childrens' future?
We're worried too, let alone how badly we feel for all of our students (especially those who were due to sit exams this year).
We also know what a hard slog we will have when schools return to try to get our students back on track.

As a teacher I agree wholeheartedly with every point you made OP!

They put plans in place the same way as other organisations do! like care homes, shops, hostels, community centres, children’s homes. Have different children in on different days might be a start. But this blanket ‘it’s not safe’ isn’t going to wash for much longer.
Child protection referrals are way down. Domestic violence is way up. Vulnerable families are really struggling. What exactly is educations plan to help??

Wonderful post, thank you SachaStark

Responding to lolasmiles by the way

Everyone knows that teachers are no longer expected to just teach. We are meant to be all in it together.

Oh look the melodramatic posters have arrived..

We as a staff have already had a discussion about what we will do when we are back but at the moment until the government tell us when and how they want us back we can't do much. Just as parents we too want to know what is going to happen, we teachers and schools aren't making these decisions the government are.
We will adapt and try and do as much as we can once the government tell us what their plans are we can make ours.

Great post.

Everyone knows that teachers are no longer expected to just teach.

What else are they supposed to do? They are qualified teachers, nobody is asking you to be a solicitor or doctor or any other job you aren’t trained for.

Chewbacca I am not being melodramatic- I find that really insulting actually. It is a fact that social services are extremely concerned about children being missed and it is also a fact that domestic violence has risen considerably. Children need to be back at school ASAP and I am very concerned that schools will resist opening again as long as possible. Even the post above about not planning anything as waiting to be told? why?? Doesn’t inspire much confidence that schools are busting to get back.

@MissMarks. 'Education' probably don't have any idea what the plans are for getting back to school yet because - we're not getting back to school!

We don't know whether social distancing is to continue.
We don't know whether key worker children need special treatment with regard to number of days they are in.
We don't know if we'll have access to extra cleaning stuff - which means we may be able to allow children to move around. If not, they'll stay in their seat, in their class because we can't afford to allow handles to be touched by 1000 children. For example, you said 'Have different children in on different days might be a start.' Good idea. So the NHS worker's child who's been having 5 days a week at a school hub now gets Monday, Wednesday and Friday along with all his classmates OR does he get a full week because his parent is a key worker? We don't know what schools have to offer yet!

I'm pretty sure our HT is working out rough what ifs but we don't know what they are yet because the government hasn't said what the structure will be like.

As for the 'what is education plans to help'. Well without the schools that are open many key workers wouldn't be able to be able to do their jobs at the moment. So they've done one part of the planning already. The rest will come when the government tell the schools what is needed.

I work closely with teachers- they know that their job expands way beyond just teaching- especially in disadvantaged areas.

Amazing post! Thank you

@missmarks how would you like us to plan when we have no idea if we will be having whole classes, half classes, children in half days, whole days, some weeks, full weeks. We have lots of ideas ready but can't do a thing until the government actually let us know what it is they expect.

It's very insulting to imply that a social worker concerned about children suffering alone in houses with domestic violence are being melodramatic. What an awful thing to say. Someone could equally say that it's melodramic to worry about safety in schools when children might not even transfer COVID (I'd disagree with either concern being melodramtic but you can't have it both ways).

What exactly is educations plan to help
"Education" doesn't have a plan. That's not our role. We have to implement what the government says needs to be done. So if they say only Year 10 in on the 1st of June, then we will plan how to do this safely. if they say all children to be in school for 2 sessions a week, then we will plan accordingly. But until we know what we are dealing with, we don't and can't have a "plan"!