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.

Fly, actually one dc has come on massively under lock down. And yet she's not been getting anywhere in school. I'm afraid my trust in the school has gone.
I have tutors now to support her and will continue that.
I'm also in education but in a setting that seemed to over come all the excuses my own dc schools fed us 🤷‍♂️.

How am I supposed to feel?

How am I supposed to feel?

Angry at the government for not setting minimum standards of education provision during lockdown so you have absolutely no one to complain to?

I think the problem is that our children are being let down. I can understand why teachers are worried but so are all people who have to work with the public and they get no support and no one sticking up for them.
Everyone wanted a plan b so they got one and everyone begins moaning. Time wise not brilliant but the plans I've heard are only if there's a high number of cases so schools don't need to do anything yet. Or is there something else that I haven't heard about?

@WaltzfortheMars

"Did they give up their 6wk holiday to give the kids a boost?"

It's not just up to teachers is it, who do have their own lives and children. We as parents have a choice to boost the children's education if we wanted to. I certainly did. How odd to expect someone else to do that for your children when you don't yourself.

Did they give up the 6wk unpaid holiday to give the kids a boost?

Fixed that for ya.

‘They are incapable of teaching themselves and burning with jealousy of those who can’

Is that a view shared by anyone else on the thread?

Thank you for your support @jessicabrassica. It is spot on and brave but will, of course, get royally bashed by some here.

but so are all people who have to work with the public and they get no support and no one sticking up for them.

Eh? Did you not clap for keyworkers or donate to Captain Tom or put pictures in your window?

@BellaBella84

YANBU. I don't know where to start before basically going off on one. But there are two main points I'd like people to consider. Firstly teachers didn't get a heads up. When Boris stood there and told the country that schools would be closing that was the first that head teachers were told about it. How many of you were at the school gates the following morning demanding to know what was going to be done about it? Secondly, I can only guess that those of you having a b**ch about teachers aren't desparate for your kids to be back at school by this point in the year! 😉

I forgot to add that I'm not a teacher I'm a teacher supporter. Because I don't want to give up my job to permanently home school my children up to A level standard when I am not qualified to do so. Presuming that you have the same expertise as someone with a minimum of either a degree in teaching or another degree with a PGCE, and a bucket full of experience to boot. That is at best arrogant and at worst dangerously deluded.

@FlySheMust

I'm sure the teacher haters on here will be withdrawing their children from school and home educating them.

How can they possibly trust these dreadful people to teach their children?

If I had so much contempt for a group of people I wouldn't let them near my DCs. But they won't. They are incapable of teaching themselves and burning with jealousy of those who can. But just enjoy trolling.

Agree. It’s the ultimate hypocrisy and ignorance. Go educate your kids yourself if you feel so threatened by professional teachers.

MrsSpenserGregson, the one I qupted was not my comment, as I put in quote, it was someone else's comment. Thanks anyway.

*Schools should speak to their school catering team or provider about the best arrangements for providing school meals.

We have published guidance for full opening to help schools prepare for pupils returning to school. This includes suggested approaches to help school leaders in their decision making around school meals.

This could mean:

working out arrangements for lunchtimes so that pupils do not mix with pupils from other groups
having several lunch sittings or serving lunch in more than one location including, if appropriate, in a classroom
asking caterers to look at other flexible ways of giving pupils access to lunch, for example, taking food to pupils in the areas they are in for the day
These meals must still comply with the School food standards.

Speak to your catering teams and food suppliers about the most effective ways to manage the ordering and delivery of food during this period.*

This one came in this morning's government update to my inbox. Now obviously schools have sorted this out ages ago - BH weekend isn't the best time to get hold of the catering co and start to plan, think about ordering food etc!! - but I put it out there as another way Williamson and team will say they've done their job and provided guidelines!!

This is the kind of nonsense the OP was talking about.

@Spiderseason

Fly, actually one dc has come on massively under lock down. And yet she's not been getting anywhere in school. I'm afraid my trust in the school has gone. I have tutors now to support her and will continue that. I'm also in education but in a setting that seemed to over come all the excuses my own dc schools fed us 🤷‍♂️.

How am I supposed to feel?

Maybe if class sizes were smaller your DD would have made better progress in school. My DS was off for months with illness and surged ahead of the rest of his class because he had 1 to 1 teaching. It's what would happen with most children. But teachers have large classes and not enough time for each pupil, sadly. Other countries with smaller classes manage much better.

Some parents have cause to be disappointed with the schools' response but I still say that the lack of leadership from the government is far more to blame than individual schools.

The same irrational people come out on these threads again and again, just to have a go at teachers and MN have let it go on too long.

Anyone who thinks this latest move from the government is reasonable in the time allowed is utterly bonkers.

Am sure many teachers have worked very hard. That said two thirds of dds primary staff vanished mid March never to be seen again. School secretary sent out work sheets prepared by another school. No work submitted or marked....we kept waiting for them to do something but they never did. So not blown away with admiration no.

This with bells on

TDGH1245ANON
I do hope instead of OFSTED inspections this year, they review the leadership only of schools in the provision that was given.

In order for OFSTED to inspect anything they would need to be given a set of standards. as those do not exist they wouldn't be able to do anything.

Although I wouldn't put it past them, the government, or DfE to put standards in retrospectively just so they can say how poor the schools did.

And of course it would give many on here to say 'I told you so' even in the face of evidence that says otherwise.

Transport worker here, married to a postal worker. We both got suspected Covid 19 in late March. Had a few days of not being able to breathe efficiently, got over it. Daughter, 13, felt crap for a day during this time but felt better the next day. Husband and I both went back to work.

I don't want to bash the teachers because they do a great job educating and encouraging my child, but honestly, if I see one more thread about teachers whinging about how their workplaces have or have not been efficiently been risk assessed for the new term I will scream. I blame the unions for leading this distrust, and they have their own political agendas for doing so. My union, the RMT, called out my employer on their tardy ways and worked with them to ensure my colleagues and I were at minimal risk (this was after my isolation). I am glad there was co-operation rather than this carrying on that the teaching unions are perpetuating.

Just stop it now.

Many, many key workers have been working throughout this pandemic often under dodgy safety provisions but through it we have learned, we have adapted, we can tell others what we know. We could be sharing our gained knowledge but still, some people just want to complain.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm fed up of precious snowflakes who think that they still have cause to moan when millions of others have been in close proximity to the public and those they work with throughout. Just Stop It Now.

@noblegiraffe

I don't see the unions putting forward any workable solutions as an alternative, or in fact any solutions at all. They have showed zero inclination to accept that this situation is going nowhere and that change and compromise is needed.

The guidance that was published (and then amended late last night) is the FUCKING PLAN B THAT THE UNIONS HAVE BEEN PROPOSING SINCE JUNE.

This is their proposed solution. Stop believing everything you read in the Daily Fucking Mail.

None of this should have been news to anybody. The Head of our Trust has been planning for this eventuality all along. She has also supported mask-wearing all along. So my dc's schools are actually in a good position with respect to following government guidelines. But she's anopinionated, independent character, and other HTs andGovernining bodies have been more pedantic about following inly the official guidelines. I know that some of the other schools in our town have not been as wide-ranging our forward-thinking with their contingency planning.

So not blown away with admiration no.

Given the subject of this thread, I’m not sure what you’re saying here. It seems to be: because your DD’s school didn’t set and mark work, all teachers deserve to be fucked over by the DfE. Is that right?

RobinlovesCormoran

Just the term snowflakes makes your post pointless.

In your own words

"Just stop it now."

YANBU. My children's school (which has been fantastic throughout) saw this coming. They put inset days on for the first two days of term in case of last minute guidance changes.

I work in healthcare. We had a fairly major change announced to the press before we were formally notified. We were literally in a meeting planning what we'd need to do if the guidance changed when patients started calling in.

Timely guidance helps changes be implemented safely. No one wants lockdown to do on forever. But giving the people responsible for implementing guidance 0 hours notice of major changes increases the chances of mistakes being made and a new lockdown happening.

Fly, she's had 1:1 but only a little bit. She's certainly not been supported to access the curriculum which is her right by law.

Noble, yes re gov setting minimum standards that all must comply too.

It's hard to blame the gov for this however when some heads and schools forged ahead and many didn't.
It's showed up the wheat from the chaff.

Whilst on line with our students, dc primary teacher called and got sniffy when I said, could you call back :'' Well I have 60 children to call, when? ''

Wow, 60 to call! The irony!!

I blame the unions for leading this distrust
Why? I have heard almost nothing from my union. My distrust comes from reading the government guidance, and watching their propaganda.

My union, the RMT, called out my employer on their tardy ways and worked with them to ensure my colleagues and I were at minimal risk
That’s great.

this carrying on that the teaching unions are perpetuating.
So the RMT were right to “call out” but the teaching unions are “carrying on”.

precious snowflakes
Thanks a bunch.

Eskarina,

In my view they should just take as many precautions as possible. Why such a massive deal to have masks in corridors.

Put as much barriers in, to begin with then remove as neccsary.
Err on the side of caution.

This should be DfE bashing.

Its not the first time they’ve put out an important statement late at night/at a weekend.

Once again they’ve shown they can’t organise a pissup in a brewery.

They’ve had months to do this and they announce it late on a Friday night before a bank holiday weekend.

My, teacher, daughter has had her training days. The school has got its plan B, stuff marked out etc etc. And now this.

My son is in school administration. He’s not really had a break since early March. This is just par for the course, late paniced decisions.

Whilst I’m on the subject....

Busses - how will children socially distance on them. There just aren't the number of spare busses around to permit this.

Siblings - if say a year group bubble has to stay at home what happens to siblings?

Clap for key workers included teachers. My husband is a key worker and clapping didn't help protect him or anyone else. Nor did the pictures my children drew for key workers (again including teachers). Everyone else has just got on with it. It's only teachers who seem to need extra protection.
And yes, I'm glad they're going back and I get that teachers work really hard (well most of them anyway) but they aren't the only ones.