Asking too much of teachers?

[DomDoesWotHeWants]

It's looking like masks are going to be a requirement in shops and possibly other indoor venues.

Yet teachers are expected to teach - for hours at a time - in confined, poorly ventilated spaces, with no social distancing. They have been told they do not need PPE. If I was still teaching there is no way I'd go into a room crowded with teenagers and not wear a mask at the moment.

Teachers should be allowed as much protection as possible not thrown under a corona bus because Johnson wants them for child care so their parents can go back to work.

I really can't understand why it's going to be compulsory in shops where meetings are fleeting but not in schools which are crowded and have people crammed in for hours.

Does the right of children to go back to school over rule the rights of of school staff (teaching and ancillary) to be as protected as possible?

This means they should be allowed to wear PPE, if they choose, and secondary children should be wearing masks as happens in some other countries. In some countries younger children also have to wear masks in school.

The safety of teachers has been ignored by Johnson and his chums in their urge to get people back to work and the cry of "back to normal" is taken up by those ignorant of the facts about the virus.

Teachers have been made out to be the bad guys almost from the beginning - as can be seen from many bile infested threads on here. They deserve better.

If you can’t get the teachers to become cleaners, get the kids to do it.

I’m sure no parent will have an issue with that.

@pooiepooie25 please search for any of my other posts on this thread I can't reply to this anymore!

[quote Whitestick]@pooiepooie25 please search for any of my other posts on this thread I can't reply to this anymore![/quote]
Thanks Whitestick - I saw your replies after you posted. Totally agree with you that this would be the right thing to do- but I imagine that tons of us will just do cleaning as extra on top of everything else because we want the place to be safe. It's not right.

I’d like children to wear masks. I’m at risk from them, and I’ll wear one to protect them from me. Hearing impaired children - if I have any to teach I’ll wear a visor but masks as a general rule seems sensible. But I think they should be mandatory now so the novelty isn’t there in September to cause classroom management issues. And government should be pouring money into providing safe environments for schools - if only so that their beloved private sector can get back to work without childcare issues.

I’m an interpreter and last year I worked regularly in a secondary school. In most lessons I was standing at the front of the class as there wasn’t any room for a chair. I had to go in the corner with the teacher if anyone needed to leave/enter the room. Teachers didn’t have desks.

Newly built secondary academy too.

New builds are the worst for being small thanks to Gove.

The problem with masks from my pov is that it's me who is hearing impaired and needs to lip read.

@Hercwasonaroll

New builds are the worst for being small thanks to Gove.

The problem with masks from my pov is that it's me who is hearing impaired and needs to lip read.

There’ll always be a need for exceptions but as a general rule I do think we should all be wearing masks. Screens and visors to help if needed?

Yes all our SLTs sit in their offices with no child contact, apart from the odd conversation at 2 metres.

Where do you even put your laptop or lesson plan or any stuff if you haven’t got a desk?

Thanks Pooie, sorry if I was snippy.
(I seem to be snippy a lot these days, wonder why!!)

Primary school teacher here.
We have been told to maintain 2m distance from others where possible and the tape around our desks/area is going to stay. We've also been told wearing masks and gloves is compulsory whenever we leave that 2m space, whenever we are within 2m of somebody and when we mark are books. Books cannot go home, we must complete all of our marking in school.
Our headteacher asked if anybody was uncomfortable with this but nobody said anything. Perhaps they will privately if they need to.
I have a boy in my class who needs speech and language support, he will need to see my mouth to learn. I am going to buy some of those masks with the clear plastic in the middle, or try and ask the school to provide some. I'm happy to take them home and wash them!
None of this is ideal but I feel that our headteacher is thinking about our safety.

I agree. Teachers and pupils in secondary should be wearing masks. At primary I don't think it will work as the DC are too young to use them properly.

It is also an absolute scandal that the government is not providing funding for cash-strapped schools to be able to provide the resources needed for handwashing (gel dispensers in secondary, temporary hand washing stations (where not enough sinks) or extra soap for primary.) Also for the extra cleaning required and the extra staff needed for staggered lunchtimes.

Love this idea of marking all the books in school! I usually spend about 12 hours a week marking books at home, despite being in school 7.30-5.30 the vast majority of days. I assume extra PPA will be given to teachers in schools where that is the expectation...hmmmm thought not!

I've just finished marking between 5 and 6 thousand pieces of work done during lockdown (books and paper sheets). No one told me that other schools have been categorically told not to touch books that had been at home, but that aside, each child's folder took around 45 minutes to an hour to look through. How could I have done that on the school premises outside contact hours?

Omg stop moaning!

Marking is part of a teacher’s job- who cares where it is done?!!!

Do it, don’t have to tell the world! This is why teachers have a bad name, always whining!

We had the most irritating NQT who would spend most her PPA telling us all how hard she worked, the long hours, so much marking at home... as if she was the only one!

My OH is not a teacher and most days is on a 8 hours zoom meeting with one 40 min break, then works til 10pm at night getting other work done!

@OverTheRainbow88 calm down! Neither response was whining, just commenting on the differences between schools.
I feel bad for the NQT at your school working with somebody like you. Hopefully they move to a school with more supportive colleagues. There are plenty around.

I wouldn’t feel bad for her, she’s doing very well, is happy, is a good teacher, has lots and lots of support and our time, it’s just the constant hearing how hard she is working is irritating!

Jesus Christ, Rainbow! Talk about an over-reaction, or to mention a total misunderstanding of my point!

Omg stop moaning!

Oh dear. Calm yourself!

Nobody was moaning.

I've never really understood the mindset of teachers who undermine their fellow staff. There's always one though. On occasion they end up in SLT.
I think if I ever get like that, i'd like someone to point it out to me so I could stop being an arsehole.

She’s not undermined at school, she is fully supported, as I said!

Nobody was moaning? Hahaha! Read the thread above!

How could I have done that on the school premises outside contact hours? Sounds like a moan to me

I think people need to come up with solutions to issues not just harp on about the issues...

Like that very sensible suggestion of wearing a face mask with a see-through bit to support those who lip read

I'd like the government to give schools money to pay for extra cleaning and install those handwashing troughs in the playground that we saw in the BBC news reports about schools in Sweden.
I'd like all children and staff to be sent home
to isolate for 14days if they have been sitting in a classroom for more than 15mins with someone who tests positive.
I'd like mobile test centres to be set up at schools where more than one person tests positive and all the children and staff to be tested.
I think all of this would not just protect staff but children, communities and also the economy.

@phlebasconsidered exactly. If I ever got like that I'd want somebody to tell me. If an NQT was talking to me about spending time marking or working hard, I like to think I wouldn't find that irritating. Or not get so worked up about it.
But then Rainbow doesn't seem to understand the difference between discussion and moaning so...would easily get annoyed by an NQT perhaps?

@OverTheRainbow88 that was me suggesting the face mask with the plastic bit. Cheers. It doesn't mean that other people aren't thinking of solutions though. This is discussion forum, there is nothing wrong with 'harping on' about the issues.