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.

One thing that is obvious is that this is an ideological battlefield in lots of countries , which is strangely reassuring.

Comment I really hope my ds NEVER has the misfortune of you being his teacher. Teachers with shit attitudes and over inflated egos like you destroyed him.

Luckily for me we have excellent teachers like noble and a few others who spent 6 months constantly replying to my threads with compassion and advice and where I needed to hear it suggestions I didn't do or say what my heart wanted.

Thanks to decent compassionate teachers like them who actually do care about children's education my ds managed 3.5 happy years at secondary school.

There is no evidence that suggests kids transmit the virus to adults. Pre-puberty covid has different symptoms where it is a gastric illness rather than a respiratory one. However this is obviously based upon research from non UK countries as our schools have been closed.

The main issue will be that in autumn there will be more ilnesses that have similar symptoms to covid 19, such as colds and flu. This will stretch testing capacity and mean bubbles may close as pupils are symptomatic of Covid-19 without having it but whilst awaiting testing.

Although I understand teachers' concerns, like many other ilnesses, children do not transmit to adults as the disease is different pre puberty.

There is no evidence that suggests kids transmit the virus to adults

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

However this is obviously based upon research from non UK countries as our schools have been closed.

No, it is based on research from a range of countries, all with closed schools and 'children' stop at aged 10.

You do realise that older children attend school than those in pre puberty? Maybe have a look at the front page of The Times today.

like many other ilnesses,

actually , this would make it unlike almost every other respiratory illness.

I can guarantee that pretty much every secondary student, together with a good proportion of primary, are post puberty!

I am also school staff and worry more about being made to wear a mask. Think it’s the unions kicking up a fuss about schools returning than the actual staff. I have always been happy to go to work In school. It’s safer now than it ever was in March before lockdown. I wasn’t worried then so am most definitely not worried now. Can’t wait actually.
Well said @cassgate
Maybe we should start a separate school staff forum for people like us who are the majority among people I know in RL but seem to be ina minority on here.
OP, so kind of you to think of us, but don't worry, all your concerns are identical, strangely, to the unions' loud and constant ranting, so you can go back to your uniform sorting and be reassured by that...

@Ponoka7
They know this because Covid has different strains of DNA. It hasn't gone through refugee camps and other settings that we were concerned about.
This is really important to keep reminding people as it gets lost on the usual parroting noise andf 'but it stands to reason that pupils infect teachers...' or 'Obviously children pass it on..' rather than evidence-based stats.

Logically it makes no sense
Here is someone relying on 'logic' which is vague and unsubstantiated, rather than evidence.

No evidence........ pretty hard to get evidence I'd say. I've had negatives for my children several times and definitely didn't get it up their nose long enough for it to be accurate. Also people won't want to put their children through testing for minor symptoms if they can avoid it. Children transmit other illnesses from school and no-one denies it. If people/government admit they transmit coronavirus then money/solutions need to be applied to school. There's a lot of wishful thinking going on I feel. I think children should be back but it's disgusting that previously shielding staff are not being offered an alternative to being in school (not even allowed to break contract early?!?).

Always one and I guess it's me. I would rather teach children than bleat about my own safety. I always thought teaching was putting children first - I guess everyone goes into it for different reasons. You must do what is right for you and I shall do what is right for me.

You say you care about your students and want to put them first - are you not worried that the current proposals put them at risk? What stops one of your students catching it in school? What if that student is extremely vulnerable or takes it home and infects a relative? Does your concern not extend to these students?

Are you not worried that their education will be even more disrupted if schools have to manage continuous episodes of staff isolation?

Seems very strange to claim to be putting students first but then not wanting measures in place that actually protect them.

Also- my son was diagnosed with croup nearly 2 weeks ago after waking with breathing problems out of the blue and cough from next day. They said test wasn't necessary as symptoms in line with croup- fine. (Could have been caused by virus/ allergies)1 week on I had the exact same cough, tested unclear then too late for retest so isolated anyway. Could be cold/bronchitis/coronavirus but we won't know now. I think they've said isolate with symptoms regardless of results as it's difficult to get accurate test for children. Gp friend said even hospital staff can't swab chn accurately and wouldn't trust results so.......

I suspect teachers/school staff in different areas and environments will have different concerns.

For example it maybe possible that if you teach in a private school with small classes in an area which has seen few infections you are more blasé than say those teaching larger classes in larger schools in areas where they have been previously higher rates of infection.

I'm also thinking that as school walls obviously exert some kind of magical force field, akin to Hogwarts, that prevents transmission of an airborne disease then maybe we should consider moving care homes to schools? Obviously residents of care homes would be much safer inside the magical walls of schools

[quote lifeafter50]@Ponoka7
They know this because Covid has different strains of DNA. It hasn't gone through refugee camps and other settings that we were concerned about.
This is really important to keep reminding people as it gets lost on the usual parroting noise andf 'but it stands to reason that pupils infect teachers...' or 'Obviously children pass it on..' rather than evidence-based stats. [/quote]
Considering Covid has RNA I wouldn't rely too much on this evidence!

I work in Early Years. We don’t wear masks. We’re obviously hands on with the kids. I’m not worried about going to work. We do have pretty strict guidelines in place but with 0-4 year olds they’re not always quite followed precisely. So far so good.

@lifeafter50 if you are not concerned about your health are you concerned about the health of your colleagues and pupils who were shielding for months, do you think the Government’s guidelines for schools protect them?

And are you concerned at all about how often schools may have to close down certain year groups over the next few months or do you think the measures put in place are robust enough to stop this? Can you guarantee that the Government have put enough measures in place, including a plan B if the rates rise in school, to ensure my Y11 DS has no more disruption to his schooling and can sit his GCSEs happily next year having had all the school hours he needs to achieve his potential.

life what a good idea! Off you pop!

Take a copy of the front page of The Times with you for reading material.

@egg no I'm not worried (primary) and neither are my son's nursery however the returning shielded staff are!!!! And I am for them tbh. Ditto for vulnerable parents/grandparents. Personally I am not going to be visiting vulnerable people during term /without a mask on at all times.

It seeks plausible/likely to me that children and young people returning from italy in February would have been behind asymptomatic spread. Schools should open but vulnerable people should be protected/ or schools should do blended learning to protect everyone.

I think they are going to be more poorly with stress than covid
Loads of posters on threes advising others to 'just go off sick with stress' and the malingerers need no urging!

I’m worried about my ds’s teachers (secondary), many of whom are 50+
Interesting , because if you believe TES, teachers over 50 are hounded out of schools on 'capability! as 'too expensive' have been replaced by 22year old NQTs at half the price

Maybe they all just LOOK over 59 because of the 'steeds'.

What are your class sizes life ?

stress not steeds!!