I'm really scared. Not allowed to wear a mask at work

[LavenderLilacTree]

It's just to vent really as I know there is no way round it.

I am really scared. I am a TA and when all the pupils are back in school we aren't allowed to wear face masks or any PPE. Social distancing is not going to happen.

The government have said only go back to work if it's safe and you can ensure social distancing, well it's not going to be safe for me. Government say to wear face coverings in enclosed spaces but teachers and TAs are not allowed to.

I am scared. I am in my 40s and have 3 children in Yr 8, Yr 7 and Yr 5 . I know it's a 3% chance of dying but to me that's not an insignificant risk. I would never take part in any activity that had a 3% chance of dying.

I just feel like the government doesn't value my life. This is a deadly virus that KILLS, i want to wear a mask. My life matters to me, my husband and my children.

It's scary at work at the moment but we only have 4- 7 kids in. When we have a full school it's going to be impossible to stay 2 meters apart so therefore you feel I should at least be able to wear a mask.

I love my job and the children at school but I don't want to give my life for it. I just think I should be able to have some form of protection. It's like my life doesn't matter.

@Peppafrig which is why any worker, in a school, care home or any other setting where they come into contact with bodily fluids, should have adequate PPE. I'm not having a go at you personally, but it irritates me immensely when teaching and support staff are told to just get on with it and stop being hysterical. It irritates me even more when people use the emotional blackmail approach, oh but they are children, they will be scared, they need comforting. Teachers and support staff care deeply about the children in their care, they wouldn't do the job otherwise, but that does not trump their right to work in a safe environment.
I have zero regrets about leaving the profession. I have utmost sympathy and respect for those still carrying on.

Givenupno

So what about the builders who have been in your school reconfiguring classrooms.

Hasn't happened

The plumbers fitting extra toilets so kids ca socially distance.

Hasn't happened

Millions of people in the uk have been at work while school staff have been off. Many of them at much higher risk of contracting something which isn’t really a risk to 99.9% of us anyway.

and they have been offered PPE, plastic barriers etc.

Why the school staff drama?

Because we are not being offered the same protection.

I genuinely don’t get it

Then engage your brain.

Daffodil101

You missed the working form home aspect.
But with your posting record its not surprising.

Aren't parents grateful that teachers are fighting to keep their children safe? Teachers will have a lot of power at the moment, the govt want people back to work so they need children back to school. If that is what they want they have to make it safe for the children and the teachers.

Think about care homes, if they had locked their doors and refused to take back residents with covid it would probably have prevented hundreds if not thousands of deaths. I'm not blaming them but they did what the govt said and some of them are dead and many of their clients are dead.

Fight on teachers, keep yourselves and the children safe.

1forsorrow* We can't put primary schools on a par with the risks care home residents were/are exposed to.

There need to be safe measures in place. As it stands, schools are planning to operate with greatly reduced numbers of children.
There needs to be some perspective. If school staff are vastly overestimating their own personal risk like the op and returning to work full of fear than that's counter productive.

Making a decision to wear a mask should be made after sensibly risk assessing a situation rather than basing that decision on scaremongering social media and concluding that TAs will definitely catch it and are definitely probably going to die.

The school staff that continued teaching the children of keyworkers have not had statistically higher cases of CV or death amongst their demographic. Even though children of key workers are potentially more exposed to the virus than other children.

@Givenupno

The builders? The plumbers?

Christ, which school do you know of that has funding for this sort of thing. Please say so I can apply to work there!

They may be wearing ppe for most of the day in care homes, they certainly are not in residential childrens care homes, or residential units that look after learning disabled people.
Some of the people in them are just as likely to bite, pick their nose, and make a mess with bodily fluids as children in schools.
The idea that teachers are more in danger than anyone else is just not true.

@SmileyClare We can't put primary schools on a par with the risks care home residents were/are exposed to. Yes we can, the same govt giving out the advice on both, I wouldn't trust them with a decision on if it's CocaCola of Pepsi let alone a child's life. People need to question and demand answers, all we get from them is waffle if we're lucky and lies if we aren't.

The children in schools to date have been few and two metres apart. 15 children in a classroom will not be able to be 2 metres apart. So they will be close together. So they MAY be more at risk. I'm 50 years old. I'm not too worried about myself tbh (though my own children may be rather upset). I just feel for these children - it's like an experiment on babies. Working parents and desperate parents will send in their children and these little ones have no voice.

• The builders? The plumbers?

Christ, which school do you know of that has funding for this sort of thing. Please say so I can apply to work there!”

You might have to relocate, but email from my sons school this week said they were reconfiguring classrooms, repurposing the sports hall/library etc, and arranging for more toilets to be installed.

Isle of Man

@Givenupno

Christ, my school can't even afford enough exercise books so children have to write on scrap paper. I'm very jealous.