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Asking too much of teachers?

889 replies

DomDoesWotHeWants · 11/07/2020 10:29

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.

OP posts:
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peasaregood · 13/07/2020 12:45

And such places have cleaning staff permanently on-site, who are timetabled to regularly clean the loos
yes they will, but more or less ALL places are needing far more cleaning and that's why nearly all staff are helping out.

MarshaBradyo · 13/07/2020 12:46

I don’t blame people for not cleaning loos I wouldn’t either.

What is the discretionary funding going on?

noblegiraffe · 13/07/2020 12:47

Where do you work, peas, what facilities are you cleaning and is your workplace COVID secure?

peasaregood · 13/07/2020 12:47

sorry hiptight I don't understand what I ? you were implying.
Did I get the wrong end of the stick?
I thought you asked if other professions were cleaning and I answered that the vast majority were.
What was your question then if I got that wrong?

CallmeAngelina · 13/07/2020 12:47

Hospitals are quite rightly taking care of staff.

Can schools do this?

Apparently not, because it seems that Covid-19 won't attack schools, so teachers are fussing and being precious and "expecting special treatment," rather than just wanting what others are provided with.

HipTightOnions · 13/07/2020 12:47

and that's why nearly all staff are helping out.

Like teachers. Glad we cleared that up.

MarshaBradyo · 13/07/2020 12:47

The extra I mean, recently announced

peasaregood · 13/07/2020 12:49

noble
I work in an early years setting and we are all cleaning everything .
What do you mean by covid secure? I'm sure if I'd found a way to achieve that then all the governments in the world would be asking my advice!

CallmeAngelina · 13/07/2020 12:49

and that's why nearly all staff are helping out.

"Nearly all?" Does that mean doctors/accountants etc are also cleaning toilets used by hundreds of people/children?

Ickabog · 13/07/2020 12:50

I thought you asked if other professions were cleaning and I answered that the vast majority were.

Hip was clearly asking about cleaning toilets.

peasaregood · 13/07/2020 12:50

hiptight
that's good to hear that teachers are helping out too as a few on here are saying they categorically will NOT be doing so.

Piggywaspushed · 13/07/2020 12:52

Other workplaces have to announce they are Covid Secure. Shops display this in their window.

HipTightOnions · 13/07/2020 12:54

OK peasaregood (although I don’t think you are asking in good faith):

CallMeAngelina: Would that include cleaning toilets used by hundreds of children?

You: In an accountancy office i would hazard a guess it would only be adults using the toilets. In a nursery/ fast food restaurant/ zoo/ childrens' ward/ holiday park etc. etc. then I would say lots of children would use the toilets.

Me: Are accountants, chefs, zookeepers and doctors cleaning toilets now?

You: Pretty much everybody is taking on cleaning.

noblegiraffe · 13/07/2020 12:54

What do you mean by covid secure?

The guidelines that apply to all workplaces except education settings to ensure safety for all workers except those in education.

If you work in early years, you are being screwed too, I understand.

Clavinova · 13/07/2020 12:55

Department for Education Press release 23rd June;

^"Extra support for new teachers amid surge in applications
Up to 5,000 early career teachers to receive additional support, with twelve per cent more applications to teacher training compared to last year."^

www.gov.uk/government/news/extra-support-for-new-teachers-amid-surge-in-applications

"Now Teach said it has seen a 70% rise in applications for its training programme between March and May this year, at the height of the lockdown."

dailycambridge.co.uk/2020/05/30/home-schooling-boosts-parents-interest-in-teaching-as-a-career/

schoolsweek.co.uk/could-lockdown-be-boosting-teacher-supply/

Piggywaspushed · 13/07/2020 12:56

open, yet again you are being patronising. Do you think teachers haven't looked up and understood the actual risks? Enough to know any studies on school aged children are flawed and contradictory?

Do you think we are immune to the debate over mask wearing and the discussion around 'crowded indoor spaces'?

Do you think my DH isn't aware of his heightened risk as a 50 year old with atrial valve prolapse and a replacement heart valve?

Piggywaspushed · 13/07/2020 12:56

Are people just being purposely obtuse when it comes to teachers worries?

Yes.

HipTightOnions · 13/07/2020 12:58

that's good to hear that teachers are helping out too as a few on here are saying they categorically will NOT be doing so.

No, they are saying either
(a) they draw the line at cleaning toilets
(b) there isn’t enough time to clean a classroom between the departure of one class and the arrival of the next, especially if you are moving between classrooms yourself.

noblegiraffe · 13/07/2020 13:00

Clav and what is being done to retain the teachers that will be needed to train up the newbies?

You can’t fill a leaky bucket.

Piggywaspushed · 13/07/2020 13:03

The retention rates in Nowteach are abysmal. The minute those older, highly educated, previously highly regarded professionals hit a school running in the way we will be in September, they'll be off again. This si already identified as an issue with NowTeach.

The higher numbers is from a woefully low base, obviously and is based on a reporting lag iirc.

BrandNewShinyThings · 13/07/2020 13:09

I just feel so sorry for teaching staff being treated like this. I left my job as a TA right at the very beginning of this, I'm lucky we don't need my salary but I loved my job and was good at it. I just wasn't prepared to take the risk for myself and my family, including elderly vulnerable relatives.
Why shouldn't all staff in schools be offered the same protection as everyone else? They are at even more risk than e.g. someone working in an office, because young children are much less able to follow social distancing and older ones much less likely to care.
I wouldn't be anywhere near a school right now and I feel desperately bad for those who have no choice.

OverTheRainbow88 · 13/07/2020 13:10

I came back on here to reread what I wrote yesterday and to see if I was, in hindsight, being unreasonable.

What I’ve realised Is that @CallmeAngelina and @noblegiraffe are just on here to not listen to any reasonable suggestions, and to try to cause arguments.

I suggest you put that much effort into your teaching work, you could have marked a whole class set of books the amount of time you have spent on here

Mistressiggi · 13/07/2020 13:11

In my experience both callmeangelina and noble are too polite to say this, so I will happily do it on their behalf - fuck off somewhere very far away with your goady shite and when you arrive have a look at yourself in the mirror and fuck off twice as far.

Freddiefox · 13/07/2020 13:12

If you work in early years, you are being screwed too, I understand. yes we are being screwed, and no one really cares. Parents will when all the staff are sick though and we have to keep closing.

Lostmyshityear9 · 13/07/2020 13:13

my kids are young and I think they would struggle to understand teachers in masks

So it's the 55 year old teacher with diabetes' responsibility to not wear a mask, thus taking a bigger risk than he needs to regarding his health? Or is it your responsibility, as a parent, to teach your child that the world has changed a bit and one of the things that has changed is that your teacher might be wearing a mask and that is nothing to worry about but will help keep both the teacher and children safe?

High risk is for people with underlining health conditions and people above 55years of age

So there are no adults in any school environment who are aged 55 or over and/or who have underlying health conditions? And no child in any school across the country has an adult in their household who is aged 55 or above and/or who has an underlying health condition and who would be at risk if the child caught covid whilst in school?

Why not be honest and simply say 'fuck the over 50s and anyone with an underlying health condition'?

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