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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the only way forward now for school staff is to strike in Jan

595 replies

OverTheRainbow88 · 17/12/2020 07:19

Sadly, I believe, the only way forward now for school staff in to strike in Jan.

Schools are unsafe, understaffed and not ‘covid secure’. This will get much worse in Jan when people are allowed to meet inside in a 3 household bubble and travel freely around ( in England at least).

OP posts:
Meercatmama · 17/12/2020 21:27

@quietish
As a teacher I can see both sides of the argument. Some teachers did do nothing but that us the fault of their senior leadership team and headteacher and their expectations. Shame on those schools you know what you should have done. But most teachers I know and definitely in my school had to provide work for children everyday , marked it and return that work with comments. We also had to continue with our normal duties of subject leadership, cover key worker childcare , phone parents to make sure everything was ok etc. This I feel is as it should be and does not warrant well done it was our job, However having been back a whole term the mental stress of working with out PPE when face to face with a class, dealing with parents who think the rules do not apply to them( ie mingling at gates across bubbles, having birthday parties, etc ) , sending children to school when they are obviously unwell and then refusing to get tested, teaching a whole class and then sending work online home to children in various stages of isolation or being unwell is draining but not as draining as working for the NHS frontline. I do consider myself lucky to have a steady job but also harbour resentment at times for the fact that I cant see my grandchild as I can't expose her or her pregnant mother to the risks or not being able to see my mum for long periods of time but realise that lots of others are in the same boat. I have been frightened especially when I had covid and was very ill in March and gave it to my extremely vulnerable husband which resulted in a hospital visit and I worry daily about the risks I run in the classroom. I worked through the spring and summer despite having long covid and against the advice of my doctor, As I approach Christmas I having to face the reality like many others due to a colleague having exposure to a case and the subsequent possibility of having passed it to other staff due to staff shortages that my Christmas is not going to happen. No we are not all lazy or work shy, some of us have the same health problems you have but are facing the hazard daily but most of us are just trying to do the job in the best way we can. So sit on your soap box and tar us all with the same brush and rant as much as you like but at the end of the day we like others are still working and trying to do the best we can. We cant help the shambles of a government who changes regulations daily, springs on us with 24 hours notice closures or different ways of operating. Take it up with Gavin who seems to think we can solve all problems with little notice (ie all children with no computers will get one. Reality we needed 17 and applied for them and finally last week got 3) Solve that problem when you have no money We are not miracle workers just normal people trying to do the best we can

quietish · 17/12/2020 21:28

@bornatXmastobequiet I know quite a lot of teachers and TAs. I'm basing it on what they've said. Some of them quite literally described it as an extended holiday, and some of them really, really complained about the prospect of having to go back into school. Lots of others didn't say anything at all - they're the ones who were too busy working!

AndcalloffChristmas · 17/12/2020 21:29

Sorry I think this is completely ridiculous. Children need to be in school. That must be a high priority. Yes the government have been shit, but wishing for schools to close is not the answer.

Nc135 · 17/12/2020 21:30

That would disadvantage state school kids and advantage private school kids.

bornatXmastobequiet · 17/12/2020 21:30

Quite a lot

OK then. That’s pretty definitive.

MistletoeandGin · 17/12/2020 21:30

My stepmother is a TA and she worked 2 days over lockdown. That’s not her fault though, that was literally all she was asked to do! She wasn’t given any other work. She’d happily have done whatever was required of her.

AndcalloffChristmas · 17/12/2020 21:30

An extra week on the Christmas holiday might make sense but anything more just means more disruption to children’s education.

year5teacher · 17/12/2020 21:31

I’d love to know how many people on this thread work from home and/or have been furloughed.

I would absolutely hate to work from home so my heart really does go out to people who are but it seems shitty to rant at people who have actually been going to work outside of the safety of our homes every day.

MistletoeandGin · 17/12/2020 21:31

MIL on the other hand is a teacher and she delivered a full timetable over lockdown (private school).

year5teacher · 17/12/2020 21:32

@quietish I think you might have to accept that the school staff you know are somehow not representative of the profession as a whole.

quietish · 17/12/2020 21:33

@bornatXmastobequiet

Quite a lot

OK then. That’s pretty definitive.

What do you want me to do? 😂

How many do you know? How would you even begin to count? I used to work in a school; I have a lot of teachers in my family; I have friends who are teachers and TAs; I have many more acquaintances through shared interests etc who are teachers. Stop nitpicking. You're being silly expecting me to quantify how many teachers I know.

saraclara · 17/12/2020 21:38

Sigh

I really wish you hadn't posted this, @OverTheRainbow88. We now have posters all over the place assuming that teachers want to strike and the unions are suggesting it. We've had more than enough teacher bashing threads without you actively encouraging another with a suggestion that isn't on anyone's mind at the moment, never mind the unions asking for it.

What were you thinking? These 'teachers have it easy/have been doing nothing' attacks have been going on for nine or ten months now. What made you think that posting this on AIBU was a good idea?

SantaAssociationRepresentitve · 17/12/2020 21:41

@noelgiraffe excellent clip
www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/eb893fa5-7468-48b9-96ad-ec08ff14f21c

Really good to see the DfE being called to account

Rosebel · 17/12/2020 21:42

If schools shut for an extra week or did online learning would that reassure school staff? Interested because I wonder if that's part of the reason why my children's school is doing this.
Just as a note nursery staff work over Christmas every year usually get 3 days off (unless they are lucky and work for a nursery that shuts for a week) so saying they don't work over Christmas is ridiculous.

MarshaBradyo · 17/12/2020 21:43

@saraclara

Sigh

I really wish you hadn't posted this, @OverTheRainbow88. We now have posters all over the place assuming that teachers want to strike and the unions are suggesting it. We've had more than enough teacher bashing threads without you actively encouraging another with a suggestion that isn't on anyone's mind at the moment, never mind the unions asking for it.

What were you thinking? These 'teachers have it easy/have been doing nothing' attacks have been going on for nine or ten months now. What made you think that posting this on AIBU was a good idea?

EIS and Unison?

Mentioned below as balloting. Great to hear if they’re not

Vivana · 17/12/2020 21:46

GetOffYourHighHorse

We didn't have ppe at the beginning and the ppe we got now is useless. The masks are ones you can buy in a supermarket and the pinnys are just like plastic bags. We deal with covid infected residents in this crap ppe. Working 12 hours plus shifts.
Minimum wage. Getting tested every week to protect the residents and now we have to train in lateral Flow testing to. Never enough carers to cover the residents. We never get a break either.

quietish · 17/12/2020 21:48

@Meercatmama that's a good point, the leadership at our school was poor at times and is at the root of a lot of the poor experience I had.

However, one of my friends works at a school with very good leadership and I was quite surprised at how obstructive she was about getting back into the classroom. I decided not to discuss school with her, she had an excuse for everything and plenty to complain about, but I've started to realise that's not just a Covid thing with her. She's started bitching quite indiscreetly about some of the kids, thankfully I do not think she is very representative of the profession. It's making me want to put some distance between us, I really don't like the way it's going Sad

bornatXmastobequiet · 17/12/2020 21:48

You're being silly expecting me to quantify how many teachers I know.

If you base a statement about certain professionals on those that you know, it’s reasonable to ask how many you know. It seems you know lots, and are related to many more. Fair enough, let’s leave it there.

PaTCh64355 · 17/12/2020 21:53

Nursery staff do work over the Christmas break.......

I appreciate working in a school at the moment must be extremely difficult, but genuine question why do you not see posts by nursery staff saying how tough it is. There is no social distancing with toddlers. Something to do with secure public sector jobs versus the private sector perhaps??

mrshoho · 17/12/2020 22:00

@PaTCh64355

Nursery staff do work over the Christmas break.......

I appreciate working in a school at the moment must be extremely difficult, but genuine question why do you not see posts by nursery staff saying how tough it is. There is no social distancing with toddlers. Something to do with secure public sector jobs versus the private sector perhaps??

I think more to do with the numbers of contacts. Nurserys tend to have a lot less children on their roll.
tilder · 17/12/2020 22:00

Am not sure I understand all of the questions here. Thanks for the link @MarshaBradyo. Good to see no statistical difference. Am surprised they could do an analysis with such a low number. Just 3 positive in one row.

Of course teachers deserve the best protection available from Covid. Nobody disputes that. Well, other than certain MPs. Apparently.

I really hope testing more will help. It has been a game changer for dh at work. He has been tested twice a week for the last 3 weeks, as are his colleagues. It has reduced some of my anxiety, although it's more aimed at identifying asymptomatic casesGrin

saraclara · 17/12/2020 22:01

EIS and Unison?

Mentioned below as balloting. Great to hear if they’re not

@MarshaBradyo EIS is the Scottish University lecturers union. Unison is not a teachers' union. It's for non-teaching staff in schools (among other public service workers)

MarshaBradyo · 17/12/2020 22:02

@saraclara

EIS and Unison?

Mentioned below as balloting. Great to hear if they’re not

@MarshaBradyo EIS is the Scottish University lecturers union. Unison is not a teachers' union. It's for non-teaching staff in schools (among other public service workers)

Ok thanks SaraClara that’s v helpful
NaughtipussMaximus · 17/12/2020 22:07

@noelgiraffe

Waken up to yourselves, teaching unions, and have a look around you to see what’s happening in the rest of the world

Er, if you see what’s happening in the rest of the world they are following WHO guidelines for safe schools which we are most definitely not, and a lot of countries are closing high schools for an extended period over Christmas. Some places have yet to re-open schools.

Are you sure you’re wanting to make comparisons to the rest of the world? The U.K. comes off particularly unfavourably.

So... you think the countries that have yet to re-open are doing better than the UK? Is that what you’re saying? Because it sounds like that’s what you’re saying...

Awaits massive backtracking and bleats of “We don’t want them to close, we just want them to be saaaaaaaafe!”

noelgiraffe · 17/12/2020 22:12

So... you think the countries that have yet to re-open are doing better than the UK?

No, I’m saying that other countries are actually acknowledging that schools aren’t safe and taking various measures to mitigate against this.

The U.K. aren’t even following the WHO guidelines while at the same time claiming that schools are safe. Other countries think the U.K. are mad.