To say there are so many of us now that feel like this

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www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-teacher-schools-i-love-my-job-i-cant-keep-going?fbclid=IwAR2PdWYSIoIHed0m_ljs-DvncLM1Pf0min7NaJxPvcj8klTgzPj_3Gftp_Q

I know there will be loads of teacher bashing as a result but it’s how so many of us feel. I don’t know what can be done as I want schools open and functioning but the fear that it will be at the expense of my health and/or that of my family. And at the same time, the persistent disconnect with colleagues, the just getting by, the making do...it’s all too much some days.

Thoughts are with my colleagues around the country today.

Yes, Mumsnet really does dislike teachers. Particularly those who talk about how they are feeling.

There is no denying that very many people feel shit. There’s no denying that it IS shit. From my perspective, the OP is just trying to point out that she is at the end of her tether and to hope for some understanding of that. It isn’t a competition to decide who has a worse time then anyone else. Each school is different, so is each supermarket, shop, hospital, garden centre, whatever.

We were urged to ‘be kind’ in February. What about all those people who feel that the last few months have given them the chance to reconnect with spouses and children, to reflect and maybe live a different life.

We have all had enough now. But everyone wants to have a quality of life and that’s not unreasonable. I hope half term can give you some rest OP. Because if teachers walk away, all those complaining about schools will have a very different complaint to make. That applies to all kinds of jobs too.

Just acknowledge that, like all of us, someone is struggling. We e all been there, whatever our circumstances.

I have a question, if you are a parent and want to show appreciation can you still send in doughnuts etc... for the staffroom, or is there no staffroom as such now?
My son's teachers (in secondary) have been great. I'll send him in with a bottle for his form tutor, but there are others who have also been wonderful

Hoping that the 1-2 weeks off for half term can help the teachers who decide to stay re-charge for the 6-7 weeks of term before the 2 week Xmas break.
At least there's some regular time off scheduled for teachers, that has to help?

@HelloMissus

I don’t know if it’s the culture of reaching that feeds it, but there’s a tone deafness about the wider community that is often breathtaking.

I wonder about this too. Having been back for 5 weeks and about to have a week off yet unable to realise that things are pretty difficult for many/all at the moment. I can only speak of my local school that basically shut up shop for the majority of children from March unless you count a weekly email. Full pay throughout. It does mean that sympathy is wearing thin when yet another moaning thread, completely ignoring the struggles of people who have no jobs. If it really is that awful a career change would be a good decision, although I suspect it is easier to moan but do nothing. I am usually pretty upbeat but find some in secure jobs full pay whether actually working or shut a bit 🤔

OP this half term is always long and tiring even without covid. Everyone is exhausted and snappy, the kids are fractious and unsettled, bubbles are popping, the uncertainty is unnerving, the extra measures are a burden. On top of that we are in the weird situation of being bombarded with messages of hands, face, space, rule of six, people being shocked and appalled about large groups gathering breaking the rules etc and yet that is our day-to-day. On the one hand being told that is incredibly dangerous and on the other that it is perfectly safe and we shouldn't worry is a complete mindfuck.

Then we have the gaslighting of all the messaging that the situation in schools is fine when we can see with our own eyes that it isn't. And we have to manage the emotions of the kids around that (they aren't daft, they can see it too) on top of our own.

Most people are running on empty right now though so this thread will just give people the opportunity to let off steam by having a pop at you, and teachers in general.

Hope your half term gives you a bit of breathing space to recharge. Three days to go here and we're all crawling on hands and knees towards it.

If a job was badly affecting my health as you suggest OP, I'd be looking at an exit plan and/or thinking about retraining. Be warned though: pretty much all jobs are pretty shit right now. It's a dog-fight out there.

I really feel for school/college teachers at present as very few jobs would have you in close proximity to 30 potential Covid carriers all day. And that's without all the other stresses.

for OP.

I love teaching, too. What is happening in schools at the moment just isn’t right. No-one will listen. No-one listened to us before all this, either. It’s taken the pandemic to make me realise that a huge number of people loathe teachers. You can’t get them to understand anything about the pressures of the job because they choose not to. Those of us who are up to our necks in it know. I hear you, OP.

At least teachers got a pay rise and not just 'claps' . Think how undervalued and burnt out nursing staff and junior drs feel at the moment.

@teacherneedingaholiday

Why do teachers always think supermarket workers have it so easy?

Minimum wage or just above, anti social hours and hundreds and hundreds of people in and out. It’s really insulting. Stop it.

At what point has any teacher said supermarket staff have it easy? They have a very challenging job often for low pay.

I am very grateful for teachers and I completely understand the frustration. Unfortunately not all schools can go to learning online, during lockdown we had no classes, just some pieces of work I was expected to teach whilst holding on to a full time job myself, which at the time had 2 rounds of redundancy.
The schools should remain open for all children to have access to an education, not just those whose schools do online classes. I think both teachers and retail staff have it hard and I am very thankful for those individuals in these professions.

A reminder to everyone...

Be kind

I think the notional pay rise came out of the existing school budget (already overstretched) so didn't happen for many teachers. In fact, a lot of teachers have been buying hand sanitiser for their class out of their own money. Apparently.

@Scotmummy1216

At least teachers got a pay rise and not just 'claps' . Think how undervalued and burnt out nursing staff and junior drs feel at the moment.

Absolutely. Must be awful for them. However. It doesn't make any struggles any other profession are having invalid.

I am a single parent without support from the ex. I am also probably beyond the age of retraining, even assuming I could afford to.

But the issue is the sheer numbers who are leaving. Why do parents not care about that?

I'm a Police Officer. We go to work through Covid, get spat at, attacked, stabbed, police large crowds, deal with horrific offences, put up with lies about Officers in the press, have our leave and days off cancelled, get told by the government to enforce Covid rules when we don't have enough officers to cover the Grade 1 emergencies....and we still say 'At least we're not teachers!'.

Teachers have a very hard job, with long hours and don't seem to be treated very well by anybody. I couldn't put up with a lot of what they put up with, I would not have the patience. Lots of people have hard jobs but the OP is a teacher so this thread is about them.

OP - I think you have to look at the situation and consider if it will change for the better any time soon and whether you can cope if it doesn't.

PS I'm not a teacher, I am sort of semi retired NHS. Big up for the teachers AND all the NHS staff AND everyone else, supermarkets/ postal staff/ support staff keeping us all going

Why are you worried about teachers leaving because they can't work or they'd prefer not to?

Kids need teachers who will teach them in the classroom. That's the main job requirement. There are plenty of willing, educated people who will be prepared to replace them and provide children with the education they need.

The upcoming economic collapse is going to make the essential job market very competitive!

@SarahBellam

But lots of jobs are like this. If you work in a supermarket or shop or warehouse or wherever, you’ll have been doing it since March. Yes, it’s tough. It’s tough for many people whether it’s fear of getting COVID (my 78 year old dad has diabetes and nobody has been inside his house since March), loneliness, job loss, businesses ruined, losing loved ones, young people who can’t go to uni as normal...the list goes on and on. Lots of us from all walks of life feel that we can’t go on, but go on we will. What’s the other option?

I think you're confused. Teachers are all people with degrees. Increasingly we're relying on new recruits into teaching to fill roles because staff retention is too low. These are people with degrees who have other options (and more so if you want to recruit people with really good degrees).

I am someone who thought about teaching but decided against it because the conditions are rubbish and the level of respect from management and the general public is so poor. Saying well 'it's rubbish working in a warehouse' isn't going to change my mind because I'm not choosing between teaching and warehouse work. I'm chosing between a job in finance, green energy, data science, risk or teaching. The salary in teaching was always going to be awful but I might put up with that if I felt respected and supported in the role. It became obvious I wouldn't be so sorry I'm not going to become a teacher and it will remain the case that for my subject there is a huge lack of qualified staff.

There are plenty of willing, educated people who will be prepared to replace them and provide children with the education they need.

There are serious concerns that there won't be enough experienced teachers available to train them.

WokesFromHome

Of course Covid-19 had been tough for supermarket workers as well but it can’t really be compared to teaching can it?

Supermarket workers don’t take work home with them and work till late at night as well as the weekend. As far as I’m aware they’re allowed time off for funerals?

FFS one of my best friends died, I was with her the day she died. I was lucky enough to only work three days a week at the time so was able to swap days to attend her funeral. If I hadn’t been able to do this, I would have had to lie which other colleagues had been forced to do. I know things do vary depending on schools but teachers not being able to attend the funerals of loved ones is fucking horrific.

Only those who have done both can truly compare.

I think this IS a serious issue. When things go wrong in schools, particularly around the mental health of teachers, our children do suffer as they are in the firing line. A good friend suffered PTSD for 20 years after working in a city senior school. My teen DD is one of the quiet, well behaved ones (according to the teachers) but the way she tells me teachers speak to the children in temper is horrible, swearing, screaming personal insults etc. This is in a good, reputable school too. We want our children to get a good education and this is why the mental health of teachers is so important, it filters down to our children. We often wonder why some people teach when they seem to hate children so much, but our local primary school had just two applicants for a teaching post. Maybe because some of the good are leaving the profession and the bad stay because they cant get jobs elsewhere? Yes people will roll their eyes, this is partly because the public sector is seen as cushy and protected, and we all know that none of our jobs are easy or particularly safe, but if teachers tell us they are struggling we need to listen.

The article is very difficult reading and I have a huge amount of sympathy for teachers at the moment.

Yes, everyone is suffering at the moment and I have cried many a time in front of my laptop. However, I’m not in front of a class of children for every hour of my working day. I can afford 5 minutes of indulgence to get myself together before my next meeting, Yes, I have to perform but I’m not expected to be emotionally strong for hundreds of pupils a day.

Teachers need more support or they will all collapse soon. They can’t sustain all the extra work that has come alongside teaching in the presence of COVID.

@ReneeRol

Why are you worried about teachers leaving because they can't work or they'd prefer not to?

Kids need teachers who will teach them in the classroom. That's the main job requirement. There are plenty of willing, educated people who will be prepared to replace them and provide children with the education they need.

The upcoming economic collapse is going to make the essential job market very competitive!

Maybe OP has a little common sense and is thinking long term. In three years time if we've lost a significant proportion of our experienced teachers it's going to be pretty rubbish for our kids.

RenneeRol. I don’t think that there are plenty of people who would replace teachers if they left. There will be lots of educated people, but that doesn’t mean that they can, or want to teach. How many times do you hear people say that they couldn’t do that job. Look at the number of those going into training and leaving before finishing, or shortly afterwards.