To jack in teaching in Covid times?

[Firefin]

Yes, it's a secure job, relativey speaking, and maybe I should be grateful.

But less than a month in and we have been told that we will, effectively, lose all of our lunches and break times as we are now required to escort students to lunches and breaks, supervise lunches in bad weather, collect students at the end.

My line manager also thinks all the normal stuff (displays, regular phone calls home, book work in five colours) should still go ahead, while my timetable does not even allow for my own responsibilities to take place. In addition, we are being forced to wear face masks everywhere, have to change rooms all the time (sometimes on no notice), have to set up before the kids get in, even though we are the ones moving and collecting them from social areas.

In my worst week I do not get lunch breaks some days and most days struggle to even go to the toilet.

We have meeting after meeting, request for remote learning on top of a normal teaching load, request for detention duties, over-and-above duties, interventions etc. as well as a strict covid-friendly behaviour system, all without the support needed.

Less than a month in and I'm burnt out, have no time for my family and my complicated home life. My mental health is back to a point I want to, effectively, not be here (I have all the numbers, no need to point them out).

I am good at my job, but this is not a job I know. I want to quit, but can't afford to. I am trapped, but my mental health is suffering, so I may just get in debt. This is not primary school, either.

It’s not negativity towards teachers

You haven't been on MN this past 6 months then.

Op I quit on 31st of August for the reasons above plus no longer being able to rely on childcare. I’m retraining I also thought about topping up by doing supply when needed.
My mental health and family life is 100% better. I loved teaching and once the love was enough to balance out the other stuff. Then I began to drown in the other stuff.

It sucks. I fear we will lose good teachers and I'm angry that schools haven't been supported financially or with additional staff like in Italy.

Nobody would blame you. I think tutoring is a good alternative. I'm a parent with two year 10s, one in self isolation, and we may look to tutors soon.

Your mental health and family come first. This Govt does not care about education or about your wellbeing, so do what's best for you.

Of course I’ve seen it , or rather heard of it
But I haven’t engaged . And nor would I

But pragmatism and acknowledging what’s so in the current market doesn’t equal negativity towards a certain profession

Yesterday did an early
Morning supermarket run

Some guy , no mask on was shockingly verbally abusive to the staff

We didn’t get involved as frankly he was scary as fuck , but everyone consoled the staff when he left

It’s nasty right now - period

But I haven’t engaged . And nor would I

You told an obviously struggling and burnt out OP to 'Suck it up , no one is having a great time'.

Yes you backtracked and apologised, but that sort of shit (and much worse) has been thrown at teachers for months now. Not just here but in the media too.

You should still be getting breaks that is the law and your school should be working this into routine
Most jobs are very difficult and harder at moment people in care homes etc are having to be extra careful and have residents who haven't been allowed to see family for months etc
Supermarket workers i know were getting abused daily especially during stricter rules
My dh volunteers running a team sport and know has more paperwork to fill in and do and loads of stopping and cleaning if equipment and with his work now taking up more time as trying to catch up from lockdown so working 50 + hrs a week he may have to give this up
If you can afford to give up and that's what you want them def so that ,or is going part time an option , or if you really feel that bad now go to gp and get signed off
Your mental health is important and you must do what is right for you

Also it is a fact that lots of jobs are crap right now and also impossible to find , iv'e been out of work for 4 months now as not a lot about other than care work
That doesn't mean you shouldn't leave a job if your unhappy though
But no one can say there job is worse than others without having done other jobs in current times ,as even on this post some teachers are happy with their schools others not
some work places are thinking of staff mh as well and other places just don't seem to care and this makes a huge difference to how people are finding there jobs
An understanding boss etc
Currently my dh working 50 + hrs a week and now has threat his job may be going or less positions so all working extra to try to be the one that keeps their jobs

Op is it possible to also look elsewhere for a school that is maybe a little more understanding to it's staff ? But i can't stress enough to out your mh first i left a job last year that i had beeb at for 10 years as was affecting my mh
I had to take a huge wage cut and now am out if work but my mh is better and thats more important
Like others have said tutoring may also be an option to help money wise etc and can be done online etc
Good luck op in whatever you decide and as a parent i do fully appreciate teachers and even more at the moment

noblegiraffe

I did , and I apologised

And that’s not teacher bashing ! She could be a Coop worker, a banker or a bus driver and I’d have said the same thing

Workers are workers , it’s tough out there
That’s not teacher bashing - so please don’t infer that it is

I really feel for you OP. Those working conditions are totally unsustainable. Do whatever you can do to look after yourself. It’s just not worth running yourself into the ground.

Teaching is full on in normal times never mind these times. I think a lot of people just don’t get it or appreciate it fully unless they teach / have taught / have a close relationship with someone who does. (Before anyone jumps in I’m not saying teaching is the hardest job. I’m saying that it requires 100% physical and mental energy every minute you are in front of the students before you even get to all the other parts of the job.)

I agree with the PP who said school is like an alternate reality where everything within the classroom / expectations are just like normal and you become so busy you haven’t got time to consider the risks until you leave school and remember to put on your mask to go shopping. This is so wrong and I wish people could see into some typical primary and secondary schools at the moment to counteract a lot of the rubbish I’ve seen in the media with 10 students in an airy classroom, staff in PPE, temperature checks, taped lines on the floor to teach behind etc.None of this describes my experience at all.

OP there are many people who support you on here. Take care of yourself 💐

Look

I feel for you, OP- it's shit!
My TA laughed in my face last week when I foolishly fetched my lunch from my bag as the kids were finishing off washing their hands. It was then explained to me that it was now my job to retrieve, deliver, collect in and dispose of 30 two course dinners and cutlery! That was my lunch time shafted.

But everyone is having a shitty time in their own ways, so for that reason, I've voted YABU. But I hope you're ok and have a supportive staff - school is a weird old place right now. Take care of yourself

And that’s not teacher bashing!

You clicked on a thread where the title specifically mentioned teaching and posted a shitty comment indistinguishable from the 5 million other posts doing the same thing in the last few months.

The only difference is that you apologised. Your post still stands though.

Hear, hear @noblegiraffe.

It’s bloody miserable and we’re watching staff and children drop like flies while being told schools are magically safe. Not sure any other profession has been lied to and gaslighted quite so much. It’s also tough teaching full time with its workload + parents demanding proper lessons sent home (I’ve been told to specially record lessons for one child by his parent) and threatened with legal action if ‘it isn’t good enough’.

I’ve been told to specially record lessons for one child by his parent) and threatened with legal action if ‘it isn’t good enough’.

Let them try.

Yeah if you’re very unhappy, and you can quit, then quit.

But do be aware that very few jobs are a picnic at the moment, even though they might look like it from the outside.

@IHateCoronavirus I loved teaching and once the love was enough to balance out the other stuff. Then I began to drown in the other stuff.

This in spades. Also agree with you about work-life balance and happiness also 100% better for quitting!

I hope I don't come across patronising, but you sound like me 6 months ago in the beginning of Covid, as a front line NHS worker.

Now I genuinely feel for teachers as I feel you're in the same boat as then. I know teachers have worked throughout face to face, but this is on a new level. With more students, more contact and the autumn/winter season.

Every single week, guidance changed on PPE and safe working practice. I imagine as time goes on the same will happen in teaching, with the result everyone wearing PPE in order to keep schools open and infection down.

I have left the NHS though in the end, so do what makes you safe and happier.

Do you need your job to survive financially? If so don't resign without a plan because the job market is a disaster at the moment in a lot of places, except care roles which have a lot of similar issues plus less pay/pension etc.

Furlough is about to end too, adding to the downwards pressure on wages and even more competition for all jobs.

Teachers can teach safely though if they teach on line!
Nice and safely from their homes.

If the older years in primary can mostly be taught from home, it will create more space for the littlest ones to stay in education, ie nursery, reception, year 1 and 2.
All teachers would have to do is get themselves a cosy chair, lap top, cup of tea and away they go! Teach the normal lesson from the comfort of your own home.
Give the same lessons, the same breaks.
Or shorten lessons but do something so they can see their teacher everyday and actually do some live learning.

OP it is your school.
Do you have to wear a mask to teach? In ours the students wear them inside corridors but in lessons is optional. For teachers it is all optional.
In my school if you are on lunch duty it is voluntary and paid, with a free lunch.
Do you have a union rep?
I'd advise changing schools but I know it's not that easy.
It's not about being safe at work for some of us, it's about workload. Wearing a mask to teach in is grim and doesn't help morale.

I think the difference is, @Larsingsong, that the public was 100% being the NHS. We were all up in arms about the lack of PPE and raised funds to try our damndest to get it in place. I was fully supportive of strike action to demand safer working conditions.

Teachers have none of that. We have been and still are endlessly criticised. We are seen as lazy, whining shirkers who just don't want to 'go back to' work that we never stopped doing. There has been half a year to sort out PPE and testing but this hasn't happened.

It's negligent in every level and I've had e-fucking-nough. I'm already wiped out with a virus and Covid on top of this could be very dangerous.

@deflationexasperation teaching online requires all lessons to be taught in a very different way e.g. science. It would be nice to cost up in a chair with a cuppa to teach it though. There are safeguarding issues with live lessons relying on video contact and many children still haven’t been given the laptops promised by the government in April to access these lessons. Many teachers aren’t even given a laptop or the necessary tech from their school to teach online. The government needs to put its money where its mouth is and invest in the tech to make this a feasible option for many schools.

Lunch, toilet breaks. 10 years of nursing I'm used to going without now.

Cookie, certain subjects would need to be adapted but other schools do it with ease.
I'm afraid when so many places got on line it seems petulant or archaic that others didn't.

The excuses don't wash with me at all.
I am in a setting myself with a fabulous health and safety team, we are also doing split days in and out.
However I still feel vulnerable due to students already demanding shut windows, staff demanding doors and or windows shut, and that was before the temp drop!

Students simply do not understand the virus, they think being in a bubble protects them. They cough and sneeze with abandon.
The reality is, one is still exposed to students all-day in one room.