To sod SD as when I return to teaching in Sept it isn’t possible?

[motherrunner]

I’m a secondary school teacher. Despite all the ‘guidance’ my desk will be less than 1m from the classes I teach (Yr 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13). I will not be wearing protection as the guidance tells me my workplace in ‘Covid secure’. Come Sept I will have one 20 minute break a day as I am required to do a pre-school duty, a morning break duty, a lunch duty and an after school duty it’s every day. I can wash my hands once a day in those times. 5 times a day a class of 30 will be breathing at me.

Up until now I have followed the ‘rules’ religiously. I haven’t seen my mum (who is in a nursing home) since early March. I have turned down play dates for my children.

AIBU to think sod the SD and enjoy myself for the rest of the summer break? I was hoping for a sliver of hope from the dfe today with the promised revised guidance that hasn’t materialised. Come Sept I’ll be faced with over 200+ over 11s in close, unventilated spaces in 3 week so shall I just sod it?

[Fizzysours]

Your school will not keep its good staff if it treats them like that. Idiotic.

[m0therofdragons]

I really hate the incorrect information I see on these threads:

The facemasks used by the majority of staff working with covid+ve patients are the same flimsy surgical ones seen being worn by the public. They are doing next to nothing for the nurse/HCP wearing it.

In truth we use surgical face masks mostly with ffp3 masks for aerosol generating procedures. The surgical face masks feel thin but after effective and are exactly what we use when we have a flu outbreak to protect staff. If they didn’t work then more staff would have caught Covid. Many staff who caught it did so through touch or they were on a non Covid ward so weren’t wearing masks - just because someone is admitted with a broken collar bone or heart attack doesn’t mean they don’t have covid. This is why masks are now worn in all wards and since then staff affected has reduced.

Stop telling lies about stuff you know nothing about!

Re the op - I’d have hand sanitiser on my desk and I’d get every dc to use a wipe on their desk at the start of the lesson. It’s completely crap but I think we have to test it in September and see what happens.

[itsgettingweird]

Yanbu.

I don't think people have seen beyond the propaganda of "all schools open it's our moral duty" and "unions are trying to block opening"

They haven't actually fulfilled any moral duty though have they?

No funding for hygiene measures required.
No PPe allowed.
Bubbles are whole year groups.
No space for SD even if it was necessary.

I'm not a teacher and I really feel right now education as a system is actually being thrown under the bus.

The worse thing is the guidance under the "what to do after a Covid death in children's services"

I'd be petrified as a teacher that any death could result in an hse investigation and liability being placed on school. I know the guidance says it'll likely mean advice on safety measures as a first - but schools have been campaigning for safety measures and government have said unions are being difficult demanding them.

[maudesid]

Sadly this is the state of things. I work in early years and have done throughout lock down since March nothing has changed I am in very close physical contact all day (think children and babies touching my face, coughing onto me whilst being held, nose wiping, cuddling, carrying) every day we have been told no PPE necessary and to be honest its probably pointless anyway. All the while not being allowed to see family and hold nieces/nephews/grandchildren.

[ElizabethMainwaring]

I don't think that secondaries are going to open as planned.

[BelleSausage]

@Stripesgalore

PGCE applications are up massively this year as there are so few jobs available for graduates.

This means nothing. Up to 50% of NQTs don’t make it to their third year of teaching. That was before Covid.

It is nice that more people are having a go but that doesn’t necessarily translate to deffo more teachers available.

Also, it’s going to leave teaching with a skills deficit as more experienced staff leave and are replaced with inexperienced NQTs.

Anecdotally, there are already quite a few schools that run on a constant churn of NQTs with only a few experienced staff to steady the course. It makes for an inconsistent and stressful working environment. It’s why I left my last school.

[BelleSausage]

@maudesid

I have been thinking of all our nursery and ore-school colleagues. You are are in the shit position of being in private companies without a union.

It shouldn’t be the case that you cannot wear masks or have PPE. That is shocking. I called our nursery as soon as they received-opened to make sure they were doing the right thing by staff before I sent DD back.

Everyone should have PPE. Everyone.

The government has done quite a good job on divide and conquer when it comes to this. If we all advocated for each other the. We’d get further.

[Clavinova]

I’m going to have to fight to use a toilet (5 for all our female staff, 1 is of those is unisex and 1 is disabled so actually just 3).

How many disabled colleagues do you have? Some flexibility is required.

[Liverbird77]

I am so glad to be out of teaching right now. I might have to go back eventually, but I really hope not.

[Clavinova]

I have been holding it (almost together) teaching live to timetable whilst my children has been at home (& have ignored them). Particular low points was when my son had a sensory melt down and when I had to do live parents evenings and shouted to my children from the next room ‘you can now eat your tea’ that I packed them from a lunch box.

What age are your children? DS2's form tutor (also teaching live lessons) used the key-worker provision for her primary aged dc. What childcare arrangements do you normally use for parents evenings? You mentioned your dh earlier in the thread.

[BelleSausage]

@Clavinova

You think one extra toilet to share amongst 200 staff is going to make a great difference?

We have four staff cubicles for 250 staff. And they are at the furthest end of the school from my teaching rooms (a good fifteen minute round trip).

This is a good maths question, find the the fifteen minute toilet slot in this timetable. Remember to leave time for photocopying and eating.

7.30- drop DD at nanny
7.45- in school
8.20- morning duty
8.45- registration
9.00- P1
10.00- P2 (rolling break time and break duty)
11.25-P3
12.25-P4 (rolling lunchtime and lunch duty)
2pm- afternoon registration
2.30- P5
3.30- bus duty/ after school catchup for Yr11/staff meeting/school club
5pm- pick up DD from nanny’s house

Then come home, cook dinner, tidy, talk to my child, put her to bed and start work again because I didn’t have a moment to mark, plan etc at work.

Luckily, I get EITHER a break duty or a lunch duty every day. So I get one break. Otherwise I am teaching or in a meeting. Some days I might get a PPA during one of the lesson times.

[motherrunner]

@Clavinova I couldn’t access key worker provision as their school did not offer wraparound. As I was teaching live to my timetable I couldn’t physically take or collect them to school, I wouldn’t have been able to teach my P1 or P5 lesson.

Parents evenings are scheduled for 4 -7pm. My children would have been in wraparound until 6 and then DH would collect them so I had to shut them away for 2 hours.

[motherrunner]

@Clavinova I actually am the disabled member of staff but the disabled toilet is nearest reception so visitors can use it and as the main teaching block is furthest away from the toilet, I don’t tend to use it.

[monkeysox]

Many people don't realise having a working day where you don't have time to eat , drink or wee is a very regular occurrence in school even before covid.
Detentions at lunch time. Meetings. Duty.
Op yanbu. I will have to enter different year groups bubbles to teach in sept.
Madness.

[Clavinova]

BelleSausage
You think one extra toilet to share amongst 200 staff is going to make a great difference?

I think it's nonsensical for one person to exclusively use the disabled toilet when the other 199 members of staff have to share - just when extra hand washing facilities are required.

find the the fifteen minute toilet slot in this timetable

DCs' school adapted the lesson timetable to make it easier for teachers to deliver live lessons (I won't give specific details) - I expect they will make sensible arrangements in September as well.

Why do you need 200 teachers for break duty/bus duty etc.- are some of your colleagues not pulling their weight?

[BelleSausage]

Why do you need 200 teachers for break duty/bus duty etc.- are some of your colleagues not pulling their weight?

You’ve misunderstood. Every afternoon I have one of these things. We all do. On a rota. There are 1700 kids. That requires at least 25 staff on duty at one time to cover the whole school. Every Weds we have department or year team meetings until 4.30. Every Monday we have a staff training or while staff meeting. On a Tuesday and Thursday I do bus duty and then catch up for Yr10 into 11 for English. We all do it.

[SaltyAndFresh]

Agree on social distancing. Every week I will be collecting, marking and returning approx 150 pieces of written work. Brilliant, I look forward to covid by November.

Me too, and if I get it I'll be staying off until I feel strong enough to go back. It truly is in everyone's interest to insist that schools reopen safely because if they don't they will soon close every time staffing becomes critically low. If they stay open it will be with collapsed classes and reliance on supply teachers.

@m0therofdragons thank you for setting the previous poster straight re quality of masks in hospitals. You're also right about sanitiser and wipes but I don't think the school can afford not and I won't fund 180 wipes a day from my own pocket.

[BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou]

Why do you need 200 teachers for break duty/bus duty etc.- are some of your colleagues not pulling their weight?

I know in our school EVERY teacher is covering all breaks because of the “bubbles”. Each class is its own bubble so their teacher stays with them all the time. In my school we have all been working IN SCHOOL right through lockdown including Easter, May half term and the bank holidays. My contract is 39 weeks per year. In the last school year in worked 42 weeks - there is no extra pay for this. Next school year is going to be tough. The budget is so tight that we have made some teachers, TAs and midday staff redundant and some other staff have had hours reduced.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my job and so do my colleagues but the next few months are going to be very tough. We will do the absolute best we can though because we care about the children.

[MarshaBradyo]

Every week I will be collecting, marking and returning approx 150 pieces of written work. Brilliant, I look forward to covid by November

Evidence is patchy for paper but many studies say a few hours so instead of taking it from them get them to put it in a tray until end of the day (if you can not sure of set up).

[Clavinova]

BelleSausage
You’ve misunderstood. Every afternoon I have one of these things. We all do. On a rota.

I didn't misunderstand. You posted;

"This is a good maths question, find the fifteen minute toilet slot in this timetable."

You have several 15 minute toilet slots during the day.

[Clavinova]

BelleSausage
Every Weds we have department or year team meetings until 4.30.

You should put me in charge - I would shorten the 1 hour meeting by 10 minutes to allow staff to nip to the loo beforehand.

[motherrunner]

@Clavinova

BelleSausage
Every Weds we have department or year team meetings until 4.30.

You should put me in charge - I would shorten the 1 hour meeting by 10 minutes to allow staff to nip to the loo beforehand.

That would be great! My Head has their PA sign us off in a register as we enter the hall for meetings, also writing down what time we enter.

[BelleSausage]

@Clavinova

Point them out. Show your working!

[TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince]

I’d like to think they will change what’s happening about secondaries, but l don’t think they will.

How is it morally correct to open a school with a totally immoral approach to Heath and Safety?

[itsgettingweird]

Mother Covid aside you sound like you have a real slt issue in your school.

I'm all for attending meetings on time etc and speaking to consistent late comers and problem solving but being too scared to have a wee in case you're marked down as late to a meeting is beyond autocratic and not putting well being of staff anywhere in the equation.

As a high proportion of teachers are woman how do they expect woman to work when they have their period etc? Is there no give or take anywhere to allow for - well being human!