To be really angry on behalf of teachers

[Jessicabrassica]

I know mumsnet loves a bit of teacher bashing.
I'm really angry that once again the Department for Education has put out guidance for schools in a Friday night before a long weekend with some schools having already started and others back next week.
I cannot imagine how many iterations of risk assessments have already been completed to make schools as safe as possible given the constraints of staff numbers, building size and requirements to get every child back in school.
They are getting enough PPE to tick the box that it's been issued to all schools but not enough to be useful.
Teachers mostly haven't stopped working since the pandemic began. They have continued to teach, to support vulnerable learners, provided meals and good parcels out of school funds in lieu of FSM, they remained open through school holidays for key worker provision.
I really feel that they have been well and truly fucked over, left massively vulnerable and will be left to carry the can for community outbreaks.

I'm a parent and work for the NHS if it's if any consequence.

@D4rwin

Sorry? I won't be complaining at all. I've withdrawn my children. Various conversations since lockdown have shown that teachers are seriously under resourced and not supported. But why the fuck shouldn't parents keep a close eye on the quality of education their child receieves? Should they just shrug and crack on when they as adults can provide something better?

Blame this shit-show on the DfE. Dial 666 and Gavin may answer

Or just quietly get on with educating my children? How strange.

@Jimtimjimtim

‘It's a shame you didn't feel supported but with half a million teachers in the UK you can't say we were all sitting around and paddle boarding’

I didn’t. I said ours were. Literally.
And I’m now concerned that my kids are going to miss more school because our teAchers will close the school again at the drop of a hat.

Please contact the DfE about the guidance that they issue that we have to follow. If you call 666 Gavin might answer

Teachers will just have to crack on with it like the rest of us. Thank goodness nurses and doctors carries on without the same fuss.

Still can’t go to our GP practice unless pretty much dead! Many clinics still not operating.

Are you keeping up jupp ?

D4rwin

But why the fuck shouldn't parents keep a close eye on the quality of education their child receieves?

We have had several parents ring the school and complain that no work was set for their children.
It turns out that their children were not telling them the truth.

The amount of parents responding to emails saying that their children haven't handed in the/any work with "But X says he has" has been immense.

Not to mention those children whose parents just don't answer emails.

So if we take your view neither side of parents vs teachers comes out of this smelling of roses

Have teachers been on full pay this whole time?

Piggy there's just so much quality comment, I'm worried I won't do it justice!

@Isthisadaggerisee - yes of course nurses and doctors have got on with it, they are after all health care professionals. The rest of us have got on with it too, but few face the pressure, the scrutiny & the constant criticism that teachers do. Schools haven't closed and all the teachers I I know have worked flat out. They gave far more responsibility than most of us.

I hope not Isthisadaggerisee! They should have had their pay stopped the day the lockdown started, and done their jobs for free.

Work-shy freeloaders.

@Isthisadaggerisee. Yes of course they've been on full pay. They've been working.

'Openly having hobbies and not having the decency to feel ashamed' (I'm paraphrasing), 'teachers need to play their part in society' Moaning', 'crack on', 'snowflakes', 'whining', 'get a grip', 'paid with our money', 'don't live in the real world', 'teachers just love to sodding moan', ‘Thank goodness nurses and doctors carries on without the same fuss.’, ‘our teAchers will close the school again at the drop of a hat.’

Also lots around the theme of ‘I’ve been treated really badly at work, so why shouldn’t teachers be?

Isthisadaggerisee
Thank goodness nurses and doctors carries on without the same fuss.

Yup wasn't as if they complained about lack of PPE, or staff numbers, or had to have extra hospitals built.
Or had a national campaign to support them.
Or had schools donate PPE.
Or had schools and hobbyists make visors, scrubs etc. for them.

But lets just ignore all that shall we.

MilesJuppIsMyBitch

Its almost biblical

In the beginning there was no PPE, and Boris said "all those that can should make PPE, and support our front line workers"

And it was done.

Care workers have been exposed to much more risk over the last months. Teachers have been fucked over, but so has everyone else in some way. The sector I work in is not functioning, we can't work. Our entire careers may be lost and it is still not clear how or when we can return to work.

A close relative of mine is a teacher, they have been working part time (paid for full time) throughout, mostly from home with one day in school a week. Full childcare provision from the start, summer holidays as usual. For them nothing has really changed except working fewer hours and being home more. They've loved it and I'm really pleased for them. They are well rested for the challenging time ahead of them and I can't believe they are the only one.

@FrippEnos - the same safety precautions as everyone else in society? not everyone else has the same precautions because that’s not appropriate. There has been no particular spreading of COVID in schools and no reason to be concerned that the existing precautions are not enough. Time to get on with it I think.

‘Yes of course they've been on full pay. They've been working.’

Ours have been working part-time with little support for homeschooling, so that was a genuine question.

@Isthisadaggerisee my school's DT dept made 400 bits of PPE. Any chance we can have the cost of materials refunded to our school budget? I am sure the DT staff thought they were doing the right thing but clearly not. I apologise on their behalf. Just goes to show that a good deed never goes unpunished

Our teachers have been on a day and a half a week once a week rota Since school shut. They come into supervise a handful of key workers kids ( no teaching) and to add to the weekly PDF home working sheets that are emailed out for each year.

I wish someone had informed my foster kids teachers they were meant to be working.

I am not interested in sides or generalisations. MY children mainly received boring, non challenging activities looking to be grabbed from dull uninspiring materials online. They completed those tasks and returned them where teachers did not mark them, lost them, could not get the technology to work to view them. In the meantime we also provided materials more suited to their levels of ability, more interesting where we as adults could learn information alongside them and all get involved. Since there has been an attempt by schools to get ready for a new start I have been completely stonewalled by teachers when asking about the plans for the coming year. The teachers have continually talked about 'playing catchup' but my children don't need that. The schools cannot provide an adequate education.

@CayrolBaaaskin

Do think that schools being closed, reduced pupil numbers and SD etc. could have something to do with that.

Plus numbers in Scotland are rising in schools, but you can continue to ignore that if you like.

If only teachers put as much energy into re-opening schools as they seem to complaining about how unfair it all is on them.

^This.