AIBU or are the lives of school staff worthless?

[Witchcraftandhokum]

I fully appreciate that the education and mental well-being of children is important but why does it trump the physical and mental health of school staff? The facts are simple, people are being told to stay at home because it is unsafe to do otherwise, unless you work in education or the NHS who are provided with effective PPE.

On a daily basis I am expected to supervise the diner where 150 students eat lunch (obviously mask free) if I wish to eat I am also mask free. I have to supervise the same 150 children in narrow corridors. For this pupils are supposed to wear masks but there are a number who refuse (not the students who are exempt) and we cannot enforce it. We hand out hundreds of masks per week to students whose parents don't ensure they have one with them.

We are not allowed to wear masks in classrooms but are given visors which aren't as effective. The children are not allowed to wear masks in classrooms. None of this are rules imposed by the school but are in-line with the government guidance.

We have students who say they have developed a cough knowing we have to send them home, we cannot make the decision as to whether they are lying or not, but I've been verbally abused by parents calling me "fucking stupid" for not knowing when a child is lying.

Before half-term we had 25% of staff off sick as they had tested positive (including myself). There are many experts stating schools should be shut but Boris has done a fantastic job of insinuating that school staff are lazy and don't want to work, and the early response to the unions concerns shows that this is working. I've never suffered with stress or anxiety but the thought of a return to school tomorrow is making me feel sick.

Talking to colleagues who work in other schools it appears my experience is not unusual. So AIBU to think that this government doesn't give a shiny shit about school staff.

Whataboutism is what the government are relying on. For us to all tear each other down until there's no sympathy left. The answer to teachers (I am one btw) feeling unsafe isn't "oh well I'm in the same situation in an office, you need to get over it." The correct answer is that we should all be outraged to be working in unsafe conditions. We should all be united in saying that things aren't good enough. Don't let the bastards remove your sense of empathy.

@Councilworker

Oh ffs please post these dramatic pleas in the Covid section. Whichever side you're on of school opening or closing. Whether you wish to kill all the teachers or destroy a generation of children just keep it one section so that the less dramatic amongst us can avoid seeing it over and over again. ,

Who forced you to read the thread instead of scrolling on by?

OP , YANBU.

Teachers should 100% be allowed to wear masks! But they’re deluded if they think they’re the only group of people being asked to do a job they don’t want to do/don’t feel safe doing during this pandemic.

We’ve all got to play our part, however shit that part may be.

Judging by many of these responses, OP, yes, clearly our lives are worthless, and it's not just the government who doesn't care.

@ChittyChittyBoomBoom

Please, please tell me which other ‘essential’ staff aren’t being protected? Or which other staff face working conditions like school staff do with only a bottle of hand sanitiser for protection?

PLEASE tell me because I feel like I’m going crazy!

I honestly don’t know if some people are in complete and utter denial about the working conditions in schools or if they’re just utterly selfish. I’m a teacher and a parent and I 100% want schools to stay open and that is what I hear from teachers on here and from colleagues.

We just want a SAFER working environment. What’s hard to understand?

I'm totally with you on this.

There should be more funding for extra cleaning in schools and PPE should be provided, including masks.

And schools should be able to suspend pupils who fuck about and don't comply with Covid precautions.

No-one's health should be put at risk by their job because employers have failed to take reasonable steps to reduce risk.

My DS is a teacher and his union is calling for signatures to petition to close schools. He won't sign. The children he teaches are already desperate and they need to be in school, not least because they get fed.

The police have fuck all protection. Don't see them on here complaining.

@WhyNotMe40

Once more for those at the back teachers in England are NOT PERMITTED to wear masks in the classroom. No screens either. Or windows that open in a significant number of classrooms. It would be illegal in any other workplace under H&S.

And that is disgraceful and totally unacceptable imo.

I wouldn't blame teachers if every last one of them went on sick leave with Covid-related stress, tbh.

I support teacher’s rights to wear PPE, I imagine most reasonable people do.

However a major teachers union decided to take the focus off this discussion, to campaign for a 4 week closure, followed by part time teaching. Which they must know would never be supported by parents or government.

The unions need to be leading the charge in championing teacher safety with reasonable requirements. That’s their job. This needs to be taken up with the NEU.

NASUWT statement:

Responding to the announcement of a lockdown for England by the Prime Minister in which schools and colleges will remain open, Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, said:

“With levels of virus transmission increasing exponentially, the failure to deal with the threat of the virus has, once again, been fatally exposed.

“The second wave of this pandemic is putting even more lives at risk, and it has been clear for some weeks that coordinated and urgent national action would need to be taken to tackle a crisis that is now enveloping the entire country.

“Many will recognise that the Government’s failure to heed the warnings from leading scientists by reopening schools fully in September may have contributed to the increased spread of Covid-19 transmission and rising death rates over recent weeks.

“There is widespread evidence of rising Covid-19 transmissions within schools and that opening schools fully has acted as a vector for Coronavirus transmission in the wider community. It is vital that the Government recognises that schools and colleges must be part of a national strategy to tackle the continuing spread of the virus.

“The publication of advice by the Government has not been sufficient to prevent the spread of the virus in primary, secondary and special schools or in colleges.

“Determined and radical national action and additional measures are now needed across all schools and colleges.

“The Government’s view that it remains the case that schools should remain open fully will no doubt be viewed with concern by many parents and those working in schools, especially if the Government does not come forward in the coming days with additional Covid-safety measures for schools.

“In light of the mounting evidence, it is critical that, where there is an outbreak of Covid-19 transmission in a school, employers and public health bodies act swiftly and without hesitation to protect public health by sending pupils and staff home.

“Protecting the vulnerable also needs to be a priority. However, there remain serious concerns about the risks to teachers who are vulnerable to Covid-19 transmission, including teachers who are pregnant, or clinically extremely vulnerable, or who have underlying conditions or who are from higher risk groups such as BAME teachers.

“The Government will need to do more in the coming days to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected at this critical time. Ministers have said that people should work from home where possible and that those who have underlying health conditions or who are most at risk from the Coronavirus should stay at home. The same protections now need to be introduced urgently for those working in schools and colleges as apply to workers in other sectors.

“The Government has recklessly given up on the idea that social distancing can be maintained in schools, despite the evidence that this is the best protection against the spread of the Coronavirus. The Government needs to accept that ensuring smaller classes in schools must also be considered an essential element in the country’s strategy to get control of this worsening situation.

“The Government needs to be clear with the public about the evidence upon which it is relying to insist that keeping schools open fully will not impact adversely on children, their families, those working in schools or undermine the impact of the latest national lockdown measures in bringing down rates of Coronavirus transmission.

“In the event that more children or staff will need to be at home, the Government must also pull out all the stops to ensure that all children have effective access to remote education. So far, the Government has failed to deliver on its promises of laptops for children, which is seriously hampering the efforts that are being made by schools to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children during this crisis. An urgent national plan for remote education is needed which must be backed up by substantially additional resources for schools.

“Schools will also need urgent additional support if they are to get through to Christmas and remain safe to staff and pupils, including extra funding for cleaning, PPE and for additional supply staff to cover where other teachers are absent.”

I dont think its just nhs and school staff I think new rules say anyone who can't work at home should still go to work providing their workplace is open so builders, plumbers, supermarket staff, postman, firefighters etc etc.

@Redglitter

Yes we are essential workers, but we are the only essential workers who are not permitted to wear masks..

No youre not. We can't wear masks at work. Nor can we social distance. Nor do we have windows that open. Ive been working throughout the pandemic & we have just had to get on with it.

Do you mind saying what your occupation is, @Redglitter?

@saraclara

Imagine the volume of people supermarket workers serve. They have to scan and touch all the products that their customer has touched. Yeah there a screen but it’s the physical touching of the items that’s the problem.

Supermarket workers wear masks. Their customers are required to wear masks. They almost all hand sanitise before entering, and they will only have brief contact wiith staff.

School staff are almost all not allowed to wear masks. None of their 'customers' wear masks, their hand hygiene will be very patchy, and the staff are in close contact with 30 at a time for an hour at a time (or all day) in a much smaller space.

1- Not everyone wears masks when shopping at all.

2- The jury is out on whether masks actually work or not. Might feel protected but there’s evidence to suggest they’re useless.

3- Like mask wearying, not everyone will sanitise their hands upon entering (I whiteness this weekly)

4- In my DC school teachers are behind a glass perspex screen and kids aren’t allowed any where near!

6 - Just to add- it’s the volume of people they cone in to contact with weekly. Touching money which is filthy and god knows if that’s got covid on it!!

@LakieLady

"No youre not. We can't wear masks at work. Nor can we social distance. Nor do we have windows that open. Ive been working throughout the pandemic & we have just had to get on with it."

I'm a nursery worker. That applies to me.

In answer to your question, lawyers, judges, magistrates and others speaking in court in courtrooms across the country every single day right through lockdown, even when teachers were working from home.

Some were, just like some teachers were working from home. At my school most staff were in school every day as we had full bubbles from April. There were only 4 of us at home - vulnerable or lived with someone vulnerable.

DH is a solicitor and worked from home from March and is due to start working from home again this week. He is a key worker, due to his specialism, but will still be working from home. his office is very covid secure - I have seen the precautions they are working with first hand. Dh never has close contact with clients and if in the same room he has masks and can also take a screen too. Obviously we know a lot of lawyers through dh - all are working primarily from home, even now, and those who had gone back to the office are preparing to be at home by the end of the week, only going in if they really have too. When they are in work, office, meeting client or in court they have lots of guidelines to follow and are wearing masks most of the time.

Two friends are barristers, one is a judge. Both are working from home most of the time, only going in for bigger cases when they have no choice. Again they have a lot of guidelines being followed in their work places. They are surprised at how little I have in my school compared to what they go through. They also rarely have close contact with their clients or colleagues.

So actually not all of those people worked in the office with no protection in my experience.

I work in an emergency service control room no masks, no screens just desk wipes and hand sanitizer. 40-70 other people present and due to staffing numbers not always the same people. Less than 2 metres if you are lucky a metre between staff members. I do think you should have some protection even if that is a clear visor

My DS is a teacher and his union is calling for signatures to petition to close schools.

Which unions it?
The ones being used at my school by teaching staff haven't at this point?
The NASUWT's stance for example is for better protection for staff and pupils, o make schools more covid secure.

LakieLady I’m sure Redglitter won’t mind me answering this for her as she did answer earlier in the thread what her occupation is but she is a Controller in a police control room.

@Craiglang

I wonder what would happen if all the school staff told to stop moaning or resign followed through with that and handed in their notice. Many areas already struggle with recruitment and retaining staff. I'm sure all the people moaning about how lazy teachers are would be up in arms if their school no longer had enough staff to open safely.

I hadn't realised just how hated my profession was until this year. Constantly accused of being lazy, selfish, overpaid. It's made me look at all of the parents of the children I adore and work so hard for, and wonder why I bother. Why do I go above and beyond, why do I feed the hungry kids out of my own pocket, buy resources that the school can't afford, fundraise for equipment to make our school a better place and offer the kids experiences they'd never have otherwise. I'm no longer going to do all that, it's not appreciated and if Mumsnet is to be believed the majority of those kids parents think so low of me it won't make a difference.

Not everyone feels that way, @Craiglang.

I've got several friends who teach and it beats me how any of you stick it for more than a few years. Most teachers do an awesome job, imo, and often in challenging circumstances pre-Covid.

@ohthegoats

But you could use the same argument for supermarket, pharmacy, bank staff?

Those supermarket staff who are surrounded by customers wearing masks (by 'law'), sitting behind perspex in boxes, not touching their customers (or needing to touch customers), wearing masks when in the stockroom with colleagues? Those supermarket staff? The ones who could call the police on customers who cough in their face?

Those pharmacy staff who have one person in the shop at at time, are wearing masks and visors, are behind screens, have customers who are wearing masks by law? Those ones? The ones who come into no contact at all with members of the public without PPE, and then even only for a few moments?

The bank staff who have always been behind glass, have customers who are wearing masks, who never come into physical contact with customers, who are often working from their kitchen tables? Those ones?

Just checking.

Well leave then if you’re that concerned for yourself or someone else? No one is forcing them to stay.

As many have pointed out, there are many other people working and have right through.

Is it shit? Well yes, but as more than half the people on here have voted YABU, then that shows that the reactions is seen as OTT

Honestly, these posts. I live abroad and not one teacher has spouted this 'what about me' pining rubbish.

Ou are being ridiculous in thinking only NHS staff and teachers are going to work. What about transport workers, shop staff, security, call centres. factories, manufacturing, garages, take away restaurants, delivery drivers, post office staff etc etc etc

@Redglitter

I work in a Police Control Room. We can't wear masks because it affects our mics and the cops can't hear us

Ffs, surely there's some kind of mask that's compatible with microphone use? Or different microphones that are compatible with mask wearing?