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.

Have I totally lost the plot? I thought we could go into each other’s houses in England? But only one household With one Other household at a time?

@OverTheRainbow88
I think anyone who is trying to keep up has lost the plot.
I think we can go into the house but not stay overnight which is/was illegal. Although not sure if we can see both parents yet. 🤪

You are allowed gatherings of up to 30 now iirc. That's the problem : no one knows now and the change in behaviour on my estate just in the last week has been marked. At least 4 full on house parties at the weekend and I walked past a kids' party compete with huge bouncy castle.

People don't care, don't believe there is any risk at all and, therefore think school staff are being precious. But, at the same time, express horror at the thought of anyone going on a foreign holiday.

We are planning a funeral just now sadly and the maximum of attendees is 20. Will probably be less as it would be so hard to pick out just a few friends to invite, so family only.
These people will be spread out in a large church.

Sorry for your loss.

I thought you could stay over night 🤣

I thought you could stay overnight now, but maybe that's not quite yet! I hope so as planning on going up to the in-laws after term finishes and can't do a 600 mile round trip in a day! 🥴

Yes, you can stay overnight as long as you are the only “household” staying.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do

Sorry that’s advice for England specifically.

The government advice is online, as it always has been, and news outlets seem to be reporting headlines. One person living alone can bubble up with another household and not need to distance, but otherwise keep distance indoors or outdoors and limit number of people at any one time. On limiting numbers there's a difference between law and guidance; the law says max 30 meeting or get prosecuted, but the government asks people to keep well below that. www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do.

If people can read endless waffle on mumsnet, why can't they read the government advice pages or the news? Why do people think that those throwing parties believe it's allowed, rather than the more likely scenario that they know numbers should be restricted but don't care?

I suppose a lot of posts on MN are quite short, whereas the government guidance is quite large long-winded and repetitive. I think you need quite a high level of literacy to read it. People's attention span is quite short these days too.

... and the briefings have gone!

I agree MRex but they did care 3 weeks or so ago, so why now all the parties that I had to endure at the weekend, and the bouncy castles in back gardens? there is something in the messaging that is failing : I assume it is disappearance of the briefing, far fewer public ads on the telly,and the pubs reopening,a long with a genuine reduction in 'fear' and , therefore, caution.

The police will not intervene unless a gathering is noticeably over 30.

there is something in the messaging that is failing

Agree with this. I have friends, colleagues and relatives - intelligent, educated and usually “switched on” people - who seem to be genuinely quite clueless.

Yes, I think it would have been more sensible to have weekly briefings with the round-up of the weekly reports.

One other consideration is that cases in some areas have plummeted so low, our own area doesn't even have a new case most days and it's been like that for weeks. We're definitely more relaxed as a result, I mean i wouldn't throw a party because that's stupid, but letting toddler DS play with a couple of small friends. Well aware it's against the rules, but for the toddlers who aren't in nursery it's important that they get some interaction. If/when cases rise in our area then we'll be more cautious again.

My comments about the guidelines were taking the piss because of the contradictions. I thought this was obvious, oops.

Hotels etc are now taking bookings so the overnight thing has relaxed. Haven't checked recently, but when they started taking bookings, they were cheaper.

And sorry for your loss.

I just can’t see an end to this. We’re likely to see a second wave - some people are now acting very irresponsibly. I’m petrified about what we will face in the nhs again (and no we didn’t sign up for this). Home schooling has almost broken us as we both worked FT throughout and on the 2 days DC attended school from June - home learning wasn’t completed - it was as the government said- childcare. Which must have been frustrating for teachers who actually want to teach. We’ve really struggled to complete the hone learning despite our best efforts ( we had a sheet emailed weekly but no support other than that), mental health not great at times as for many people.

I can’t bare the thought of DC not being back in school in September but can’t see how it can happen. I think teachers should have PPE. Perhaps every other week to facilitate smaller groups. I know this is difficult for people working though.

I feel at the end of my tether today.

This is often a sticking point when unions attempt to support staff as there is no legal definition of 'reasonable

Reasonable in the teaching context is the stuff we do that supports teaching and learning - parents evenings, open evenings, CPD, staff meetings, training, covering lessons etc. Cleaning of any kind, other than a quick whizz round and picking stuff up off the floor at the end of the day, isn’t reasonable. It doesn’t help students learn, and is a very poor use of our teaching and learning time. And we can’t be expected to do it in lieu of breaks, particularly if that means there is no time for us to use the loo ourselves or have a sandwich.

We’re going to need to grow a very strong collective backbone and learn to say no and draw limits on how much time we work outside of school hours. People will need to understand that being too nice or scared of speaking up is actually letting down their colleagues and further diminishing the profession.

Do you know I even worry if some staff will actually stay home with symptoms. We’ve been so indoctrinated into guilt and shame for ever taking a day off

I live in one of the top 10 areas MRex....

Me too piggy and next door to two others

@Piggywaspushed - annoying to live near idiots then, my sympathies to you.

I agree honey. I know someone who has now come back in twice after days off sick. I think the symptoms are going to be very strictly applied and , yet, I know people who have definitely had it who have not had the cough or the anosmia or a really high fever abut have had diarrhoea or migraines and a sore throat.

Teachers wearing masks has been resolved.

From the 24th masks mandatory in retail, expect for the staff.

If masks are needed in England due to risks of being in a shop for say an hour - being in a school building for at least 7 hours means a mask then!

@TheHoneyBadger

We’re going to need to grow a very strong collective backbone and learn to say no and draw limits on how much time we work outside of school hours. People will need to understand that being too nice or scared of speaking up is actually letting down their colleagues and further diminishing the profession.

Do you know I even worry if some staff will actually stay home with symptoms. We’ve been so indoctrinated into guilt and shame for ever taking a day off

All those little things done that parents take for granted like when they need to collect during the day; the bottle of calpol; late collecting after school. I'd be dusting off all these things so come September everyone is cued up on work to rule.

Once a few start to join in it's amazing how quickly it can spread including slt's.

One place when I started had two staff members working to rule, no-one ever took the piss. They arrived, got the job done and left. Any requests for after school volunteers, often to make the slt look better, work to rules weren't even asked. THat wasn't to say they never volunteered.

The gossip as you can imagine at lunch was interesting! Couldn't see the more that started doing it, the easier it was getting.

When those records are done for the end of the year, they aren't sitting there thinking oh Miss from year 5, Sir from year 4 also spent £150 on glue. They see £150 spent less.

THey don't see staff in classrooms after hours because how many are putting in the extra hour claim forms? Come to think of it, how many school staff are aware of these forms?

I've seen very uneasy looks on faces at the idea of time in lieu for school trip and even then a distant memory that failed to materialise.