Why do secondary school teachers need to go within 2 metres of a student?

[whenthejoyreturns]

Such a fuss about teachers being collateral damage and in danger. The majority parents want their secondary school dc back asap and would be happy with no social distancing, why can't teachers just stand at the front of the class and at a distance acceptable to them and teach?

If all teachers are doing is stand at the front of the class and lecture/teach, then the students would probably be just as well served by being given links to a number of videos/resources to view on line.
...oh wait...

I think my school are planning bubbles for y10 and that we all stay 2m apart which I think will be fine from a safety point of view, but I'm not sure how educationally valuable it is. I can't help students with work I can't see, and as we will be with the same students all day that's fine when they are doing science (my subject) and I reckon I could have a good go at teaching maths and maybe some bits of geography or PE as there is some overlap with science, but I'm not going to be much help with English, french, history, etc.

I understand it’s about not spreading the virus

If you have the social distancing rule then it is only possible to have limited numbers of secondary students in at any one time.

Then they have to be placed in bubbles - so for instance the key worker children are with different teachers to limit virus spread. Then, you have the subject block, core lessons timetabling nightmare. Every 'bubble' of teenagers will have students with multiple subject choices.

In my school they are continuing with online lessons - just in the classroom and being supervised. This is because of the subject choice problem.

I’ve met plenty of 15 year olds...I have one. I can guarantee the ones who will mostly want to go back will be able to social distance as much as is necessary.

Hmmm. I've taught 15 year-olds for 25 years. You can't make any such guarantee. And in any case, many of them would be going back because their parents were making them, not because they want to.

You can try all the reasoned argument you like. Teachers have no intention of returning any time soon.

You do know that it's not teachers who are deciding this , right? I'd happily go back tomorrow on my own account, social distancing or no - I'm 95% sure I've had the virus anyway. The teachers I know who are doing live video lessons absolutely hate it and can't wait to get back to proper school. Teachers aren't saying 'we won't go back to work'. They are just pointing out why social distancing largely won't work in schools, and they are not wrong. If the government said 'Nope. Tough. Everyone is going back.', then teachers would go back.

@SmileEachDay sorry I didn’t see you’d commented. I will read it. Is it the same as the primary guidance?

I think I’m probably thinking of my sons school which is walkable for around 95% of pupils so transport wasn’t my first thought.
I’m not expecting a full curriculum but they should be able to provide at least some of the core subjects which should be feasible in bubbles. Ours are all streamed and if you are in top set for English you are usually top set for Maths and Science as well...it’s basically streamed for all core subjects. So you could have a bubble which stays the same and then the teacher moves which I know isn’t ideal but it’s similar to being on a rota in a primary school.
There is no ideal solution but there needs to be a better provision than this.

I went to a hospital once, I reckon I could do a nurses job now

😂 door

it the same as the primary guidance?

No - because of public transport/school buses and much more extensive social contacts outside of school. Teens have many more potential contacts than little ones, hence a slower introduction to school

@DoorKnobber not claiming for one minute I can do their job...for a start all high school students are taller than me so it would be a nightmare. I’m just trying to understand why it’s ok for primary staff to be in school taking “risks” so to speak yet some secondary schools are not prioritising getting their students back. And yes of course I understand it’s not the teachers making that decision.

I think one thing to consider op that there may be a viable amount of school staff who are either shielding or love with someone that's vulnerable.

I think you also miss the point of while we would all love to go back we have to make small steps. If we all went back back to normal tomorrow there's a chance the virus would come back full force. We're taking one step at a time to prevent this

@caringcarer, I should think about changing schools then; that does sound like a poor show. Or perhaps you'd consider these times so unprecedented that it might be worth hanging on for that 'outstanding' spot once things start to settle down. Please don't extrapolate your own experience to all schools though.

But ihearttc if all you're basically able to offer is maths and English, and all the other subjects are still having to be done as distance learning, what on earth is the point? And it makes the risk even less worthwhile. Your school might stream that way for maths/science/English, but others don't. The majority of my dc's school's pupils come in by bus/coach.

@SmileEachDay is the guidance on the gov.uk page?

Yep

I’ve met plenty of 15 year olds...I have one. I can guarantee the ones who will mostly want to go back will be able to social distance as much as is necessary.

The ones who have returned are not socially distancing already.

Teachers are not moving between bubbles to avoid spreading virus (decided form above). Even if they did then it would only work with maths and english.

If there is only Y10 in the school then something could be done to ensure they get some teaching at least in the core subjects.

Well yes @ihearttc, that's exactly what will begin to happen from 15th June

It's really not about it being fine to expose primary teachers to the virus but not secondary teachers. It's about the practical differences between the settings. Fwiw I work in secondary and primary schools, so I've got pretty good idea of the differences.

The other reason for the closed bubbles is that if anyone comes down with covid symptoms the whole group has to leave school, including the teacher.

It is damage limitation.

I teach students who cannot work out what to do what to write where, even in a gap fill activity unless someone sits by their side and helps them. TAs won't be able to do that and years of underfunding means many of them don't get TA support anyway. For some of these students if they are not being directed they just disrupt the lesson for everyone else too. I often sit next to a student to help them get started and work out what to do. Or even just stand next to them while I'm addressing the class to help the follow the text.

@lazylinguist no I do totally get your point. It just might give a load of teenagers who are basically losing the will to live some semblance of normality. It’s not so much the lessons themselves (although that would be useful) it’s more the fact that they have been effectively teaching themselves for 10 or more weeks now and even DS who is desperately trying so hard is getting to the point where he can’t cope anymore. At least a few hours a week of core subjects might be enough to give him some of his enthusiasm back. I’m just a desperate mum trying to find a way for him not to completely fuck up his GCSE’s. I don’t even care about bloody Covid anymore and I’d happily let him go back without social distancing just to get back to some semblance of “normal”

Not only do secondary students not observe social distancing they do stupid things like coughing deliberately in others' faces or going into a computer rooms at break and licking all the computer mice as a dare ( and he was a year 10 student whose mortified mum was a nurse!)

@MyHipsDontLieUnfortunately but in the majority of schools it isn’t. That maybe the guidelines but it’s not happening everywhere which is going to make the gaps even worse.

Or licking light switches and door handles.