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.

PPE and slating *

My time in teaching is coming to an end. I always knew people looked down their noses at teachers which stuck in my craw as an Oxford graduate but teaching felt like my vocation. But to be honest I have been so utterly bewildered by the absolute contempt shown to teachers that it's starting to erode me. I'm giving it another few weeks and if necessary I'll resign with immediate effect.

All over the country talented, dedicated teachers are being pushed to the brink of quitting. We don't want clapping, we just want common sense - masks, ventilation and social distancing. Instead we get told we are whiners for not wanting to spend our days with 180 teenagers sitting shoulder to shoulder in poorly ventilated rooms. No masks on pupils, no distancing between them, windows that open a sliver. No 'following the science'.

How fucking dare people say we are moaning? I agree that it is gaslighting teachers. WE are not the problem. We have moved heaven and earth to open schools when school budgets were already at fumes level. Teachers do not want schools closed - many of us are parents. Believe me, we understand the importance of education. We just want to do our jobs with some kind of protection.

@AllDoneIn so sad to read that. I’m an experienced teacher and also a specialist in a shortage subject area so I know I can’t be replaced that easily - but it does make me feel very worthless to read so many parents bashing teachers constantly. Yes I’m sure other people are working incredibly hard, so am I. I’m not looking for special treatment, just the same respect we have for every other key worker currently and that may mean allowing masks in schools, ensuring adequate testing or PPE. It starts with the public actually caring, otherwise the government never will.

My sister just notified her head that this would be her last year and then the Head told her that she is going too ! School will be advertising for a new Head in January.
That will be 4 in the cohort since September that are planning their exits.

‘My time in teaching is coming to an end. I always knew people looked down their noses at teachers which stuck in my craw as an Oxford graduate but teaching felt like my vocation.’

This is the crux of it. It is not that teachers are being treated worse than factory and retail workers, or taxis drivers and security guards, or prison officers or nurses.

It is that you believe that your education and professional status makes you think you should be exempt from the unnecessary risks that the government is subjecting people to.

Most of the risks could be reduced, which should be the focus rather than making up bizarre notions of what working class people do at work and endless making out that teachers are more intelligent/ irreplaceable/ Saint like than everyone else.

[quote Longwhiskers14]I've just seen this on another website. This hasn't been widely reported yet, but on the Friday night schools broke up for half term, the Department for Education told secondary schools within Tier 2 that they should switch to a rota system to limit those on site and for Tier 3 the advice is even stricter: Tier 3 requires secondary schools and FE colleges to limit on-site attendance to just vulnerable children and young people, the children of critical workers and selected year groups. So while the rest of you bitch and moan because teachers dare voice their fears that it's unsafe in the classroom, the actual Govt dept responsible for schools is stating here in black and white that it knows how risky it is.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-schools-can-plan-for-tier-2-local-restrictions/how-schools-can-plan-for-tier-2-local-restrictions[/quote]
I wonder if Johnson was aware of that when he made the announcement that the whole of England will be in "Tier 4" from next Thursday?

And will the new laws trump the previous DfE guidance, or can they co-exist?

As usual, it's clear as mud.

Strange, isn't it, that on the one hand schools and education (and by association, teachers) are so important that they MUST stay open, and yet on the other hand it's OK to annihilate the very people being relied upon to make it all happen. Teachers have feelings too, you know (and children of their own).
If my children were still of school age, I'd be sending in cakes and gin and thank you letters of appreciation every day for their teachers.

@AllDoneIn

My time in teaching is coming to an end. I always knew people looked down their noses at teachers which stuck in my craw as an Oxford graduate but teaching felt like my vocation. But to be honest I have been so utterly bewildered by the absolute contempt shown to teachers that it's starting to erode me. I'm giving it another few weeks and if necessary I'll resign with immediate effect.

All over the country talented, dedicated teachers are being pushed to the brink of quitting. We don't want clapping, we just want common sense - masks, ventilation and social distancing. Instead we get told we are whiners for not wanting to spend our days with 180 teenagers sitting shoulder to shoulder in poorly ventilated rooms. No masks on pupils, no distancing between them, windows that open a sliver. No 'following the science'.

How fucking dare people say we are moaning? I agree that it is gaslighting teachers. WE are not the problem. We have moved heaven and earth to open schools when school budgets were already at fumes level. Teachers do not want schools closed - many of us are parents. Believe me, we understand the importance of education. We just want to do our jobs with some kind of protection.

Hear hear.

@Wannakisstheteacher

DH is in the Army, he's dealt with far more than you can ever dream of, for less pay probably.

Tbf after the 'effort' DC's teacher put in over Lockdown 1 I now have a very low opinion of teachers and their desire to actually do the job our taxes are paying them to do.

It seems a bit unfair to judge a whole profession on the poor perfomance of one member, tbh.

Early years staff are in the same situation and get paid far less than teachers for the same risk.

Many teachers made a huge effort in lockdown and worked with the most vulnerable children in society.

I'm a teacher and I'm teaching in a mask. I'm clinically vulnerable and my SLT said anyone who wanted to wear a mask would be permitted to - there are several of us and numbers increasing slowly. I have found that only surgical type masks will do as cloth ones muffle my voice too much. I ask children to put up their hands if they haven't heard me and so far this seems to be working fine. I am not always teaching in class as I often teach small groups but I also cover for anyone off sick so teach in class then. I take my mask off briefly so the kids see what I look like (in case they don't know me). I would take my mask off, of course, if I was teaching a child with hearing difficulties. We all seem to have got used to it - it hasn't been as big a deal as it is made out to be. I do think there is a small loss of communication but I have two medical conditions putting me at risk with Covid and I am a lone parent to two autistic children so I am desperate to stay safe.

There are plenty of professions out there where the staff have to make the choice of taking a risk or keep going to work
Self employed childminders bringing families into their homes each day
Nursery assistants with kids running around without masks
Taxi drivers and driving instructors sitting in close proximity to hundreds of strangers every day... no mask is going to protect them that close
Also I’ve ranted before about lorry drivers. One of the most essential workers out there and yet not one fuck was given by anyone during the pandemic as to what they have to go through to get their job done. They still often have no access to toilets and hand washing when they are away from home for a WEEK. Never mind all the problems they had accessing basic nourishment in lockdown when all the services closed their food counters and shower facilities. Delivering to depots who won’t let them wash their hands before and after.Those crossing on the ferries several times a week have to endure being stuck on there for hours with others that refuse to wear masks

Even supermarket workers are no better protected than teachers now when you see the number of people up and down the aisles asking them questions and coughing into money. More than you’d ever have in your classroom

Perhaps teachers could have more support with masks or shields etc but they really shouldn’t believe that they are somehow the only group at risk

ilovesooty

NannyGythaOgg

"If you won't do the job you are being paid to do by the taxes we are paying for you to teach and care for children why are you still claiming your wages?"

'When I see comments like yours I'm glad I don't teach your children.'

I totally agree @ilovesooty!

Sorry the arseholes are out in force tonight OP.
I was saying earlier to my dh I couldnt think of any other similar job roles where employees dont have some form of measures with ppe and social distancing, screens in place etc...
Teachers definitely need to have some safety measures put in place its bonkers.

@Stripesnomore

Many teachers made a huge effort in lockdown and worked with the most vulnerable children in society.

Yes, and it's therefore rather galling to have to listen to lectures from Joe Public about how schools MUST STAY OPEN because "think of the vulnerable children." As if we teachers had no idea!

How many teachers have been diagnosed with COVID in my son's school. Um, NONE! How many pupils? In my son's 200 strong Sixth Form - 2 since the beginning of Term!!!!

Perhaps shopworkers and bus drivers should stop work too?

I'm all for sensible precautions.

But demands by teachers, especially the union, to stay home, is ridiculous and unrealistic. We are social beings and we have an obligation to others, including children, except in the direst circumstances, which I don't believe this is.

@Bambooble

Education is essential as many other jobs. why should school staff be especially protected when other essential staff aren't?

Keen to hear what these others jobs are that have the same conditions currently as teachers? I'll wait.

Try working in a prison, for the Police, on a Covid ward or in a carehome - Teachers should have adequate PPE and all kids should be temperature checked when going into lessons maybe - it is not time consuming - teachers are essential workers - I work in a carehome and have tested positive for Covid twice (April and just 3 weeks ago) - we all need to get on with our jobs unless we are clinically vulnerable - I think the expression is ‘man up’.

DH is in the Army, he's dealt with far more than you can ever dream of, for less pay probably.

So? What's the got to do with anything? Fucking hell there's a lot of reaching on this thread.

‘we all need to get on with our jobs unless we are clinically vulnerable’

The clinically vulnerable and shielding group are both currently in the work place. The vulnerable group were throughout the whole of the previous lockdown.

Well said Tuffington!

And unlike the police, care home workers, and others, teachers have just had 6 months off!!

YANBU I work in a College - not even in teaching but support - and still have to go in. It’s either safe to go to work or it isn’t.

I know we need to carry on education but it could be done online in the main and I don’t see how this lockdown will be effective if the schools remain open

@LaplandLuxury That’s just your school though. In mine, it’s more than 30 students across various classrooms and 20 members of staff, with two in hospital and one of those in intensive care. It gets worse every day, I’m really worried about where it’s heading.

Try working in a prison, for the Police, on a Covid ward or in a carehome - Teachers should have adequate PPE and all kids should be temperature checked when going into lessons maybe - it is not time consuming - teachers are essential workers - I work in a carehome and have tested positive for Covid twice (April and just 3 weeks ago) - we all need to get on with our jobs unless we are clinically vulnerable - I think the expression is ‘man up’.

My neighbour works in a prison, they have PPE. There are also several reports that there is less trouble in prisons now as there's less mixing, and guards are assigned to smaller groups each. Less than 30, so actually working conditions have somewhat improved for them, and there's less violence between inmates. The police have guidance and equipment to help them adhere to safety restrictions, of course that's not always possible, but there are at least attempts to keep them safe, and not all coppers are carrying out chases and arrests. Covid ward and carehomes now have PPE and things in place, unfortunately not perfect by any stretch, but seen as though there's zero way to do it remotely, there has been time and money invested into trying to make things better. Clinically vulnerable teachers are still expected in schools, any others?

@LaplandLuxury and just to be clear, I haven’t had time off. I’ve been teaching throughout and was online in March/ April plus in school to watch vulnerable students. You have no idea.