Anyone else worried about school staff?

[Sibsmum]

I am sorting uniforms and other school things for September start and I am just thinking that I have heard a lot about children's safety but very little if anything about the safety of school staff.
It looks like they have no ppe and in secondary will be teaching lots of kids from lots of bubbles. Then there are the catering staff, exposed to everyone, TA's and other admin and support staff, cleaners and site staff. How are they being kept safe? Or are they just expendable because were desperate to get our Dc back ?
I feel a bit guilty that I hadn't considered that at all.

@TheSultanofPingu Thank you from me too, we love our hardworking cleaners! They have repeated said they prefer working in our part of the school as we always talk to them as equals, because we understand as well you know, without you lovely hard workers it makes the rest of the place fall apart!

I also saw how much extra work you all had in March to keep our schools clean and safe!

I have a lot of friends who are teachers and they all want to get back to some sort of normality in schools as soon as possible. Most care deeply about the kids they teach and remote teaching hasn’t been as rewarding for them. I and they are concerned for elderly teachers and those with other risk factors, I hope a good head will factor that in. However, my main concern is for disadvantaged pupils and those with parents who cannot support education at home and all children who have been set back by being out of school. In terms of social mobility this is the worst thing that could happen to them and we cannot as a society afford to not let them back into schools. I do understand that “vulnerable” kids were meant to be in throughout but listening to my teacher friends this just didn’t translate. Finally, I assume teachers unions are kicking off because they want more funding primarily and in that regard, I agree that all schools should be given extra funding for cleaning, sanitiser and temporary staff to cover those who need to work remotely. If it is well organised I would hope some vulnerable staff can contribute in terms of lesson planning etc.

User1471 i would love to know this too. Why do they hate teachers so much? Are they just being goady on purpose or are they just very nasty people?

@marinintheuk

Did you worry about supermarket workers ?

Did you worry about warehouse workers ?

Did you worry about delivery people ?

Did you worry about I.T. people ?

Did you worry about gas, electric and water workers ?

All of the above worked every day since March - what makes teachers so special ?

This kind of thing really really makes me angry.

Not one of these professions requires a person to have close, EXTENDED contact with groups of 30+ people in small rooms with little ventilation. Up to 5/6 groups a day. We are not special, but our circumstances are unique.

Don’t buy into this Gov-led rhetoric which demonises teachers as lazy feckers who just want to stay at home. I am desperate to go back to work but there has been very little actual practical guidance as to how to stop the virus spreading in such an environment. I am no martyr and after months of being careful I refuse to sacrifice myself on the altar of ‘Will someone think of the children’. We are thinking of the children - it would be nice if someone actually thought about us.

My adult dc's worked during all this. They were given PPE just like any other ppe they needed for their jobs in none health.

Friends who are nurses wear masks when with patients in Gp's. Same with the Doctors. They unlike their colleagues in hospitals had to open the windows for ventilation.

Store workers, until recently limited customers in stores and SD. Plus of course ventilation. Never mind the screen and now masks.

Public transport workers, until their cabins or whatever they are called were covid secure, they were taped off from the public. Unless exempt, whatever their job, masks.

An airless room of 30+. people who cannot social distance, no masks, no easy access to wash hands regularly. Windows don't open, or when they do like hotels and hospitals, they don't fully open. However, these rooms don't have any ventilation system.

About a month back iirc NHS had a teaching day. If a group of adults working in the NHS couldn't stop what happened from happening, then seriously what chances do teachers have? Research is coming out more frequently contradicting the kids are fine, they don't get it, they don't die from it, they don't pass it on etc.

Under the current guidelines for schools, I am worried about staff and students. Hopefully, someone in government is paying attention to the concerns many have and implement something to help protect them.

Yes I want my child to get an education. But I want stability, and the current guidelines don't offer this. Under the current guidelines there is no saying his 300+. bubble will still be in place a week later.

One of the solutions would be to get tough on parents/carers who send in their children when ill. Fines for the feckless who dose up on calpol. Fines for the feckless who send them in even though they have had a temp. in the last 24 hours. Something harsher in place for the ones that cannot possibly arrange for their child to be collected asap and think it's acceptable to leave them in school for hours at a time.

Finally, I assume teachers unions are kicking off because they want more funding primarily and in that regard, I agree that all schools should be given extra funding for cleaning, sanitiser and temporary staff to cover those who need to work remotely. If it is well organised I would hope some vulnerable staff can contribute in terms of lesson planning etc.

Reading comments like this, I can see that people are expecting the government to have come up with reasonable plans such as extra funding for cleaning/staff, allowing vulnerable staff to provide lesson planning etc

But as I think we all now know-those things won’t be happening.

Vulnerable staff and pupils have to return to full classes. There is no extra money for cleaning, we are not allowed to wear masks, there is no money for additional staff which means classes will end up closing if the staff members are ill.

I don’t think the unions are ‘kicking off’ in any way. They are asking for those very reasonable measures to be put in place, that most people assumed were actually in the government plans already!

@marinintheuk

Absolute rot.

Many of those had no PPE for several weeks.

Many in I.T. and other industries also could not work from home and had to work in situations with no PPE or social distancing.

And because they chose not to ask for safe working practices then everyone else should also be at risk then? 🤦🏼‍♀️

Aah thanks Peri. I work in a lovely school where we all get along together. I do think this pandemic has made teaching staff more aware of the work we do though and have realised that tidier rooms are easier to keep clean, so I hope that continues long after the pandemic has gone

I'd just like to say that I have despaired over the teacher bashing threads on here over the last few months. I have seen the hard work and dedication that they have put in, keeping the school open and making it a happy, fun and safe place for the children who attended

If teachers want to wear Ppe then i think fine. Obvs the classrooms and schools need to be organised in the safest possible way but I believe that teachers are key workers in the same way that nurses are, doctors are, supermarket staff are. They need to be at work, no reason at all why not.

[quote SideEyeing]@itsgettingweird Thank you for posting this - this is why I feel uneasy.[/quote]
No worries.

I'm not a teacher.

But to say you cannot have the Covid safe working practices or money for hygiene and then say you could be liable for deaths because of Covid just sums up what teachers and schools are facing.

We all want our kids back in school. We all want them educated.

I fear parents are allowing that and the emotive stuff about vulnerable children blind them from the truth.

And that's more scary than the opening up plan.

If teachers want to wear Ppe then i think fine

But we’ve been told we can’t.

A lot of these comments are suggesting the things that many schools staff members want but can’t have.

@Budapestpest

If teachers want to wear Ppe then i think fine. Obvs the classrooms and schools need to be organised in the safest possible way but I believe that teachers are key workers in the same way that nurses are, doctors are, supermarket staff are. They need to be at work, no reason at all why not.

Thank you, Budapest.

But we need the teenagers in masks too. Yes a face covering will help minutely to keep US safe. But the kids need masks too.

I think a student is going to be questioning why they have to wear one on the bus and to go into a shop to grab something on way to school, but are suddenly safe to sit directly next to a peer for 1hr X5/6 a day.

I have no issue with teachers or students wearing masks, or indeed any other measures taken that will make it safer for teachers and students. I don’t know why teachers are being told they can’t wear masks. All workplaces where people are expected to attend in groups, should have all reasonable precautions taken to allow them to open safely

@Budapestpest
Your post sounds a Little contradictory sorry. Of course teachers need to be in work ( they want to be)of course they are key workers BUT why are they not afforded the same safety measures as all other key workers. And it's no use saying classrooms need to be organised safely when the government insists on all students returning at the same time, how can you organise a cramped space to make it safe?

Sorry cross posted

@Budapestpest

I have no issue with teachers or students wearing masks, or indeed any other measures taken that will make it safer for teachers and students. I don’t know why teachers are being told they can’t wear masks. All workplaces where people are expected to attend in groups, should have all reasonable precautions taken to allow them to open safely

Yep.

So, why are so many people saying teachers/unions are ‘kicking off’ and unreasonably wanting schools to stay closed forever (no teachers are saying anything of the sort) when all they want is the same measures in place that other people have?

I don’t know. I don’t think all teachers are kicking off, (Although I do know one who is!) I want teachers back but I’d give them whatever they want to
A. Keep them safe and
B get the kids back to school.

Itsgettingweird
Guidance seems to be that you have to wear one in every other public space due to airborne transmission whilst keeping 2m.

But school walls have magic powers and within them there's no need to SD or worry about airborne transmission.

Government obviously believes in the magic of the wet paper towel. Known as a cure all in primary school. Personally I’ll feel reassured when I see the commons full and with no social distancing.

I know it is not quite the same thing but DH will be teaching at a university come September. Lectures are online ( live with ability to ask lectures questions etc) .Seminars ( usually 20-25 students ) will be conducted face to face with half the number of students , with online seminars available for any students who want it . This increaes staff teaching workload by about 175%

They are being advised to wear masks ( as are students ). They have to buy their own but there is a massive amount being done to provide hand gel, wipes etc, washing facilities, more regular cleaning etc and organising of space to allow min 1m and where possible 2m SD. I still worry a bit as DH gets ill every September without fail from whatever ' Freshers flu' is doing the rounds that year.. But it is so much better than how teachers are being treated

bumblingbovine49

Just to add to your post about university, my friend has to book practicals in so that they can be socially distanced.

@canigooutyet I agree with you that parents need more accountability. We too have seen many kids that should be at home in bed and their parents drop them off. Reception said the number of children who would come in and say "I stopped being sick an hour ago so mum said I was well enough to come in". Strangely numbers of ill children went down in March at our school due to increased hygiene and parents keeping children at home when ill.

But the complacency about teaching staff combined with the complacency in other areas of life at the moment make me fear the next year.

marinintheuk.
Yes I did think about those people, but they're not necessarily in an environment with hundreds of other humans everyday.
I think a lot of people have worked hard all through this, but very few with literally hundred of others in confined spaces everyday.
Most offices I know of are still distancing workers and sometimes using those perspecx divider things.
Delivery drivers usually solo workers, or small teams, and for gas/water and electric.
Supermarket staff, yes definitely risky. Ours had ppe and screens where they interacted with customers.
It's not a competition, and I am not having a 'go'. I just think some school workers ( low tto salary) must be really worried, and I hadn't really thought of them before.

Interesting evidence based thread by an epidemiologist...
twitter.com/drzoehyde/status/1286985284102443008?s=21

[quote GingerandTilly]Interesting evidence based thread by an epidemiologist...
twitter.com/drzoehyde/status/1286985284102443008?s=21[/quote]
Oh yes-all of that makes perfect sense. Point 29 is interesting!

@sorryforswearing

Itsgettingweird Guidance seems to be that you have to wear one in every other public space due to airborne transmission whilst keeping 2m.

But school walls have magic powers and within them there's no need to SD or worry about airborne transmission.

Government obviously believes in the magic of the wet paper towel. Known as a cure all in primary school. Personally I’ll feel reassured when I see the commons full and with no social distancing.

Yep I keep saying the magic walls that Covid can't penetrate.

I keep picturing all the teachers standing there aka Prof McGonagal and colleagues and waving their wands to produce this protective shield.

It would be cool and a funny image if it wasn't so damn serious.