"Let our teachers be heroes"

[Hitchyhero]

I've seen the front pages of the daily mail and now the telegraph are attacking teachers unions because they want to ensure that the place is safe.

The headline was 'Let our teachers be heroes'. Frabkly, if it was safe they wouldn't need to be heroes. That headline implies its unsafe to go back and they are taking a risk.

I'm also wondering, as I'm sure teachers are.... How they will implement social distancing in nurseries. My 2 yo toddler was due to start nusury just before the lockdown but that's been delayed. When he does eventually go back when I think it's safe, how will teachers implement social distancing. He needs help with potty training. Most children his age won't have the developmental capacity to social distance. My child touches and kicks everything.

Think it's a bit ridiculous that these papers are attacking unions when they just want to be safe like everyone else. Think they are asking the right questions.

Why is no one mentioning viral load? Lots of young, fit and healthy doctors and nurses have died because of being in contact with lots of infected patients, surely teachers will have the same problem?

The doctors and nurses are treating people who have Covid. Most of the kids won't. They will be kept away if they show any symptoms.

@CoronaLonaSad Snap. I'm also an NHS professional in a mental health role (based on a physical health ward, lots of our patients have had Covid-19). My husband also works for the NHS and feels equally as uncomfortable as I do with the hero labelling. A lot of my nursing colleagues have said being called heroes makes them feel pressured to be "strong" and keep going when actually they are feeling scared and not like heroes at all.

We've all said what you say- the clap is nice and all but we'd rather see the NHS properly funded and staff receiving fair wages as a thank you. I hope teachers don't end up with the same narrative.

Most of the kids won't. So how many will?

They will be kept away if they show any symptoms. Can you guarantee that? What about the ones who are infected but asymptomatic?

So relieved the supermarket staff have carried on They have perspex screens at the tills, they have security on the doors making sure the shops are never crowded, I would think the supermarket I use is letting a tenth of normal customer levels in at most, the customers are generally adults and are more likely to understand social distancing, they have hand sanitizer (at my DDs school they ran out of soap before lockdown never mind hand sanitizer which they never had.)

So yes let the schools open with small enough classes so children can keep appropriate distances, have security on the doors so that they don't all rush in at once, have perspex screens for teachers to sit behind. If you can't have that let's suggest that all the shops, NHS surgeries etc get rid of the screens and the masks and make it a level playing field.

The doctors and nurses are treating people who have Covid. Most of the kids won't. They will be kept away if they show any symptoms.

Exactly Oysterbabe, doctors and nurses have been treating people with Covid. So why do the ONS stats show more education staff have died from Covid than nurses have?

The doctors and nurses are treating people who have Covid. Most of the kids won't. They will be kept away if they show any symptoms.

Whilst I agree with you re Drs and nurses, sadly, many parents won't keep their children at home if they show symptoms - not until the child is too ill to actually attend school.

This is the issue we face generally and one of the reasons why schools become germ factories. Even when parents send them in and tell you that they're feeling ill with a "I've given them some Calpol, call me if there's a problem" they're sometimes uncontactable during the day and we are left with an ill child until the afternoon. Parents often don't want to take time off work.

Apply that to the current situation when people have been WFH and furloughed, or are self employed and have been without income, where they feel redundancies might occur and they don't want to lose their jobs and I think the risk of parents sending children in will be greater.

Pontypridd if you genuinely can't see the difference between your average Homebase store and a primary school classroom then there is really no point in people engaging with you anymore.

Oh and the hand sanitizer in school is only 40% alcohol when we were repeatedly told before lockdown that it should be above 60% to be effective.

Oh and the hand sanitizer in school is only 40% alcohol

When we were eventually provided with some back in March, it contained no alcohol and even those bottles were stolen by children in the classrooms and parents (One was taken from reception). Shocking isn’t it?

And even with posters everywhere in classrooms and corridors and toilets, the computer wallpapers messages changed and Form Tutors reminding, Secondary kids were still terrible at handwashing yet it didn’t stop parents complaining on Facebook groups who were angry we were not supervising their 15+ aged children handwashing, every minute of every day. The phrase ‘schools can’t win’ is so very true!

I honestly don’t think people realise what they will sending their children back to. Reception classes will have all the play areas out of bounds and put away, 4/5 year olds expected to stay at their desk for the majority or the day, not to touch their friends at all, outside play will be in small groups again no play equipment allowed, and back inside to sit at desks again. some schools won’t be able to provide hot meals so although the children get free lunches this will consist of a small sandwich, fruit and a small muffin again at their desk in a paper bag. Oh and some their little friends will probably be in different classroom down the corridor with a teach they hardly know as they can no more than 10 in one room. Sound fun doesn’t it? Poor children and poor staff.

headachehenry

Completely agree. I've removed all books and learning resources from my classroom. Nursery and Reception are putting their toys away.

When we were eventually provided with some back in March, it contained no alcohol

The first batch we got was the same.

I honestly don’t think people realise what they will sending their children back to.

I agree. The amount of people i've seen say "they want to get back to normal" "their kids are missing school". School is not going to be normal for a long time, and what your kids are missing isn't what they're going back to.

One of New Zealand’s biggest clusters is centred on a secondary school.

Lots of avoidable variables in that story though:

"Marist College is a Catholic secondary school for girls in Auckland. It is one of our largest clusters, with 93 cases to date. It’s important to remember that just because it is known as the Marist cluster, that doesn’t mean all the cases are in children from the school or that children were involved in transmitting the virus. Ashley Bloomfied has confirmed that it did not begin with a student. A large portion of those affected are teachers, parents, and their families and they could have become infected through social events or other contact. Remember, we also had a teenager at a Dunedin school test positive and that didn’t turn into a large cluster."

"the virus' rapid spread through the community is thought to have been linked to the school's fiafia night (cultural event) - held on March 14, as a number of people who attended later tested positive for Covid-19."

"Marist College's school calendar shows a fiafia night was held on Saturday March 14, and an extended whānau meeting on March 18."

Catholic mass celebrations were not halted in New Zealand until 20th March either.

Also; "The chair of the school's board of trustees, Stephen Dallow, speculated that the "very small" staffroom may have been the main point of transmission, rather than the larger classrooms."

Another article describes the teachers and students affected as 'close contacts.' The school is a private school - possible that some infected teachers passed the virus on to their own children - who also attend the school - very common for teachers to have their own dc attending the school they teach at with reduced school fees.

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12321388
www.smh.com.au/national/a-virus-cluster-at-an-auckland-school-has-australian-parents-worried-should-they-be-20200430-p54orw.html

Brilliant article Jenosaurus. It makes it crystal clear that the stats relating to teachers are no worse than the population at large and very much better than other categories of workers.

For those commenting their alcohol was only 40%. You do know that washing with soap and water is every bit as effective I assume; and that the 60%+ stuff is now readily available at little cost from the pharmacy. The little bottle I have in my handbag has lasted for weeks and weeks.

My cleaner was back this week and was delighted to be so. It is legal now for her to be back and despite paying her in full since 23rd March, I would not have paid her this week if she hadn't come.

Teachers are required to return to work in a well managed way from 1st June providing the data says it's safe to do so. If they refuse despite not having underlying health conditions or shielding another they will be in breach of contract.

The teachers unions have been full of complaints about the stresses wfh brings and now their memvers can return the compkaints have switched to the ridks of returning to the classroom - risks that statistically are no greater than arriving by car or crossing the road.

The same unions are jammed with the hard left and so is the BMA which is the Dr's union and it is inappropriate to conflate the marxist ideology of the hard left with a caring profession that ultimately is supposed to do no harm.

Take the twisted politics out and think about the data and the wellbeing of the DC.

in a well managed way and providing the data says it's safe to do so.

Isn’t this the whole issue, though, OhTheRoses?

Take the twisted politics out and think about the data and the wellbeing of the DC @Hiptight

It will not be in the DCs interests if the teachers who have taught them for the year are laid off sick as a result of this and supply teachers brought in to fill the gap.

The teaching unions are trying to think about the data and get scientific advice as to how to protect adults in a room with 15 potentially infectious children and no PPE. I'm not a teacher but am shamed of the Children's Commissioner who described attempts to get clarification on such scientific information as "squabbling" in today's headlines. Totally with the teachers who are being cautious about not rushing into the situation. Do we really want teachers who can't think for themselves?!

It makes sense that schools are not going to run well unless staff on the ground are protected. (And using Y1 and reception to start the ball rolling was clearly the idea of someone who had never been in a classroom! ) I despair.

For those commenting their alcohol was only 40%. You do know that washing with soap and water is every bit as effective I assume; and that the 60%+ stuff is now readily available at little cost from the pharmacy.

Yes and personally I prefer proper handwashing - too many people rely on sanitizer without washing

But it is another example of the government saying something is absolutely crucial and then it not happening.

It's this kind of thing that just means people have little faith in what they're being told in any direction!

And it doesn't matter how little the cost is of it in the shops, I can't afford to buy enough for an entire class to use it multiple times every day!

I was thinking the same @Whaddyathinkofthis. I see 75 kids a day. I cant afford to keep them all in hand sanitizer. And considering I have to supply ones because they cang remember to bring one, I don't think they are going to remember to bring their own.

@OhTheRoses teachers want to go back to work 'in a well managed way'. Unfortunately the government are saying well managed equals no social distancing, no PPE, and no supplying of hand sanitizer. Even supermarket workers, who you all seem obsessed with comparing us to, get those things. Nobody is about to supply me with a shield for my desk. More likely I will be pulling year 10 boys off each other because one decided to cough on the other and a punch up ensued .

Pens* not ones.

No but their parents can and I imagine the adage will be only to be used from their own labelled bottle: just like calpol and sun cream.

Why the issue with hot school lunches. Mine always had a cold lunch: sarnie, veg, fruit, etc. Excuses, excuses. Teachers can't teach 30 with two ta's; now they can't teach 15 woth two ta's. It's akin to Duracell complaining. No wonder we have an entitled snowflake generation. Learnt behaviour.

now they can't teach 15 woth two ta's

You really have no idea, have you?

No but their parents can

No, you really have no idea.

Wow. You think we still have TAs.

Let me guess. The last experience you had with education was your own about 40 years ago?

Also, parents dont supply anything these days. My kids come to school with no bag. Similarly, the hot meal they get in school is the only hot meal they have all day. However, that is logistics that can be sorted in comparison to the need for every kid to have hand sanitizer and every teacher to have basic protection against the virus.

You really are clueless.

Teachers can't teach 30 with two ta's; now they can't teach 15 woth two ta's.

A class of 30 with a teacher and 2 TAs is not the norm, pretending it is is just absurd.