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

[OverTheRainbow88]

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).

In the middle of a global pandemic the last thing we need is any key workers refusing to do their jobs. Teachers, like the rest of us, need to accept there is a risk, minimise it as far as humanly possible, and get on with it.

DS's school wouldn't do this. The head decided against doing the inset day this week, she wouldn't support a strike. Thank goodness.

@inquietant

So basically you are saying the uk population is stupid .and the government is responsible for that ?

Everyone I know is thinking about their own family circumstances and doing what they have asked . Minimising contact . We are only seeing one person and no part of the family that are CEV .

If they had been stricter with the rules you would have had 50 % of the population up in arms .

Reference schools I am not sure what the answer is because the country will ground to a halt again if schools shut completely ?

Go back to key worker children only being in school for a period of time ?!

I also don’t quite understand why in secondary schools some bright spark has not come up with some sort of screening for teachers with a microphone system so teachers could be in some sort of bubble ?

But then if pupils spread it then they are taking it home to vunerable parents as well ?

I am not sure there is an answer . Except perhaps move teachers up the list for vaccinations. Perhaps that is what the unions should be pushing for ?

The problem is that schools have been the problem. Once infection is established in schools, it can spread very easily in the community, not least because young people’s experience in school (no social distancing, limited use of face coverings) doesn’t train them to be careful when out of it. (Just stand outside a school/college at going home time.)
We know from the numbers that infections are now rising almost everywhere (you can see it council by council here)

www.covidmessenger.com/

• any form of Christmas relaxation of the rules will only make it worse.

I suspect we will be in some form of lockdown with schools closed to all but keyworker children during January, with schools putting in place plans for online provision they have so far been forbidden from implementing. This will also give the Government - if it’s got any sense - the opportunity to step back from their impractical and dangerous schools’ “mass testing” plans (that actually aren’t mass testing) and put something sensible in place.

@Waxonwaxoff0

DS's school wouldn't do this. The head decided against doing the inset day this week, she wouldn't support a strike. Thank goodness.

No inset day here either

Our school would not support this, we are still dealing with the mental health fallout from the last lockdown.

OP so how do you want schools to be more secure if you don’t want to swab?

We’ve had no cases in one of our schools, 2 in another. DS’s senior school of 11-18 yo has only had cases in year 13,11 and non-teaching support staff.

The state provision was abysmal during lockdown. Schools have to stay open. I’m an optometrist, I get within 2 metres of every patient I see and have done all the way through, even without PPE.

Not every school is on its knees.

Primary near us has had a handful of cases. Following good practice of classes sticking to no movement of classrooms, teachers and TAs sticking only with their allocated pupils, strict handwashing policy, masks optional for both staff and students, parents must adhere to social distancing as much as possible and mask wearing for drop offs and pick ups, lunchtimes staggered, school kept well ventilated etc

Sons secondary has allocated each year group a 'block of corridors', year groups are split into 'bubbles', minimal classroom movement, seating plans in case of COVID positive so they know who has spent a period of time next to that pupil, school bus is split into year group seating with empty rows between and again allocated seating.

When isolating lessons are accessed whilst they take place in classroom too and pupils email work to the tutor following this. All being very well thought out here thankfully.

DS has isolated once to date which is much better then anticipated by me.

Schools need to stay open. Everything else needs to shut.

It makes me smile to see people saying their children's school have no cases so there isn't a problem- are you saying your school is doing something amazing that other schools aren't?
We had no cases last week, now there are loads - and none had any of the official symptoms, many with no symptoms at all. Ok for them but not so ok for the people that get it badly

Covid isnt going anywhere and the vaccine isnt hitting the under 50s anytime soon.

These isolating periods could go on for years???????

Come on.... strikes have never worked and all they do is cause disruption for everyone, including the children. The government will not give in to blackmail. Why aren’t schools taking responsibility for putting their own processes in place? You don’t have to be sat there wringing your hands - the heads should be formulating their own processes to make the school environment safer.

OP so how do you want schools to be more secure if you don’t want to swab?

The swabbing plans will make schools less secure not more. It will put more covid infected children in classrooms for longer as they will no longer be sending home close contacts of positive cases.

Teachers can’t strike though, the public never support it. The Daily Mail and the government do a good job of whipping the public up against us.

I think a legal route might be better. The DfE were happy to leap to the courts to make schools less safe.

Why aren’t schools taking responsibility for putting their own processes in place?

Schools that did this were threatened with legal action.

I am not sure there is an answer . Except perhaps move teachers up the list for vaccinations. Perhaps that is what the unions should be pushing for?

I'd be pleased to see teachers bumped up the priority list for vaccinations. I think that's the least we can do.

@tiredteacher100

It makes me smile to see people saying their children's school have no cases so there isn't a problem- are you saying your school is doing something amazing that other schools aren't? We had no cases last week, now there are loads - and none had any of the official symptoms, many with no symptoms at all. Ok for them but not so ok for the people that get it badly

Exactly. If your school has zero or very few cases then i'm glad, but please don't think it's because they've done something differently to those who are struggling with numerous cases.

NO workplaces are covid-secure.

@Livelovebehappy

Come on.... strikes have never worked and all they do is cause disruption for everyone, including the children. The government will not give in to blackmail. Why aren’t schools taking responsibility for putting their own processes in place? You don’t have to be sat there wringing your hands - the heads should be formulating their own processes to make the school environment safer.

I'm bc sorry but you have no idea how schools work. Schools fo not have individual autonomy to introduce their own plans. We do what Gavin tells us and that's that. We know the guidance is useless against air born viruses, the government know that and are willing to let in run rampant in school. It's just a shame people believe the lies they are being fed

I agree with you OP.

With schools remaining open the government are sticking two fingers up at all the industries that they’re crippling, with full knowledge it will make no damn difference to the infection rates.

I’m fed up of seeing school kids mixing with each other freely every day, no care whatsoever. It’s mad.

rolling but the teachers can't minimise the risk. They have indoor classes of 30, secondary pupils don't need masks in class, older primary pupils don't wear masks at all, no occasional home working for secondary, terms are the same length. They're stuck dealing with all the crap thrown at them.

I did email my Tory MP at the start of Nov but she toed the party line and thought schools should stay open as usual.

Senior pupils in Scotland in Tier 3 wear masks in class.

OP genuine question, if you don't feel safe at work and don't want to work in January, why not quit?

That is age 15 up - so year 11 and up equivalent I think.

@Oeliilio puts it well. It’s not just about you, I’m afraid. Supermarket staff, healthcare workers, food production industries, you really think their work environments are all Covid safe? I think the vast majority of the population will see teachers as phenomenally selfish and self absorbed if they went on strike. Yes, the current conditions are not ideal but the impact on families including those in key industries will be appalling should schools close again - nhs back to cancelling cancer scans; food supply chain issues; people losing jobs because their boss doesn’t care about their childcare issues. I think teachers need to get over themselves a bit and take all precautions they can while getting on with it. Our current society is so self centred, their is so little concept of service any more.

As a parent I don’t think teachers should have to swab children during the first lockdown a lot of parents struggled with home school and a lot teachers worked to look after key worker kids but when the whole school returned in September all as a parent I’ve heard from staff teachers in school is how much more alive school has been (yes they have remote plans to teach in event of Covid bursting bubbles) obviously it’s distributive to everyone but overall all I’ve heard is teachers want schools to be open as normal as possible