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.

Don't be fooled, bubbles aren't for safety they are so the whole school doesn't have to close.

@Hercwasonaroll the lessons dd logged into on teams , not zoom, she could see the teacher and the board only not other students. She was incredibly anxious about missing out on the year ten catch up lessons. Apparently it was up to the individual teachers to agree to being videoed. Without exception every teacher agreed, her teachers genuinely care about their students. They were able to put their students education above the very small chance of ending up on TIkTok or a similar app.

My school has year groups of 400. Kids are moving around narrow corridors as normal and there is no bubbling apart from at lunch . We have been told we are forbidden from wearing masks. If we wear them to get to school we must remove them. If we share rooms with another colleague we must clean the teachers desk...but no gloves....

Boris has made up this rule that we all wear masks when indoors with 'people we have not met before '. Who knew only strangers carry the virus, eh?!

Numbers of infections are falling rapidly. Scotland is pursuing a policy of elimination. It’s much safer now than before lockdown surely.

It's now down to where it was around the 22nd of March, by April 13th 1000 people were dying each day.

I think it will be fine in September, but by December the policy of no PPE, no temperature checks and no funds for adjustments will have caused a number of deaths amongst clinically extremely vulnerable teachers.

I just don't think the unions will have any choice but to strike because there is no way they can allow that. The government know that but it allows them a scapegoat and a conflict with unions will play well with their base.

Without exception every teacher agreed, her teachers genuinely care about their students.

I care about my students. I want them to make progress and I want them to learn. It's pretty shit of you to imply that anyone who doesn't agree to your plan doesn't care.

We don't have the tech at our school so it's a moot point. It would also be impossible to only film board and me without getting students in due to the size /layout of our rooms.

@Hercwasonaroll Sorry! I meant I was in agreement with you, and was just extending my original point in addition to yours. Sorry if I didn’t explain myself clearly.

Ahh right sorry that makes more sense now! I've re read your post and see what you're saying. Absolutely right that again women will suffer.

I don't think being concerned about the impact on staff or supervision is looking for problems

Of course it isn't- you can't find a solution without identifying the problem. I've outlined what other countries have done upthread.

At the moment I'm hoping summer will bring the numbers down enough that track and trace can keep on top of them. I desperately want to be back in school, trying to teach from home is awful- I just wish there was a more detailed and resourced plan.

To all the people worried about toilet breaks, this is one of my main concerns. I’ll be into my third trimester by September and judging by how I am now, there’s no way I’ll be able to hold it all day or at least to the break. Also worried about how many people will be queuing for the one staff toilet in our block and the impact that will have on my be able to get food within the allotted break time. Hopefully I’m worrying for nothing and we’ll have PPA time as usual that can be used for food or toilet breaks. Not sure how PPA fits into a bubble model as luckily I am not the one having to create all these different timetables.

Ah, when PPA stood for Planning, Prep and Assessment. Now we’re hinging our time for a wee and a feed in these allotted periods.

@motherrunner

Ah, when PPA stood for Planning, Prep and Assessment. Now we’re hinging our time for a wee and a feed in these allotted periods.

Bad isn’t it but that’s the hope I’m clinging to in order to get me through those last few weeks!

September is ages away. The numbers are already infinitesimal (a few days ago was 34 cases in a city of 9 million (London) so why are you getting in a lather about September?
See what the situation is then, instead of running around like Chicken Licken.

@MrsR87

Secondary teacher here. Been in school throughout this pandemic and just got in with it and tried not to worry about it. However, as PPE becomes more and more common amongst other sectors, it has got me questioning this. I will be in my third trimester when we are back full time and have been told by health care professionals that if I catch COVID at this time, I will be induced. I will admit, this makes me feel sick to my stomach especially as wearing a visor or suchlike could drastically reduce this risk. I'm also worried about workload...it's big enough at the best of times (anywhere between 50-70 hours a week) but I currently feel like I'm drowning and this is before all the new rules kick in. I've been teaching in school full time this past couple of weeks so the online work the other pupils have been doing is piling up...currently have around 200 pieces to mark (that's just from 2 weeks). Have been told this needs marking before we break up in two weeks but I'm teaching again this week and have also been told that as a head of department I need to ensure that on our online platform there is a complete online provision available including lessons, videos and pupil friendly versions of the schemes of work. I've also been told it's important that we all get a well deserved rest over the summer! I'm so worried about how I'm going to get all of this done! When the new GCSE specs came out a few years back, I spend 4 weeks in school over the six week holidays rewriting schemes of work over the space of two years and that was only for two year groups! I don't usually moan about these things and just do what is expected no matter how long it takes but I'm starting to worry about how all this extra work, pressure and most importantly no PPE will impact on my baby. Also , my teaching day is extending by an hour and a half in September...I'm usually in school 7.30-5.30 in 'normal times' so something I surely going to have to give.

You really need to stay off for so many reasons.

Umbrella,

Time was when we only had 34 cases in the country....but then they infected other people, leading to the catastrophic results we have seen.

What teachers are worried about is two-fold:

• Infection risk, both to them (adults in schools are very, very significantly more at riosk than students, especially older staff or those with underlying conditions, pretty much all of whom are required to work in September) and to the vulnerable people in the community that asymptomatic or mildly affected pupils carry the virus to.
• Consequences of the limited infection control measure there are - in the form of teachers having fewer or no breaks or access to toilets due to changes in timetables and supervision arrangements.

While other workplaces have significant measures in place - working from home, ventilation, social distancing and PPE - to restrict the chances of explosive transmission of the virus and an exponential increase in infections, school staff will routinely have none of these.

I think part of the issue is the complete lack of teaching this term. My year 10 has had a couple of zoom sessions for one subject prior to the partial return 4 weeks ago. Other than that it's just been a load of reading and worksheets (self-marked). One call from a teacher before he returned. My year 4 has had enough work set for about an hour a day. He has had a call once.
Now, I dont blame the teachers for this. I am sure they have not had resources. But if the government had issued guidance and decided all lessons should be done live or recorded then there wouldnt have been this urgent need to return, it could have been more managed.
My objection to teachers wearing masks is one about communication. I am extremely hard of hearing. There is no way a child like I was would be able to access education if the teachers had their mouths covered, but could do so if for instance they were a see through visor.
Personally I think the answer lies with compulsory remote live or recorded lessons, with live provision for the vulnerable and some element of attendence-maybe once a week, but all provisions will be risky and imperfect.

Primary teacher here. I went to have my hair cut today, my hairdresser was wearing a shield, I was wearing a mask. I want to have the option of a face shield when I'm working close to children. Totally fine for seeing faces, and good for the lickers, spitters and coughers. Luckily my school has been given them, so I'm going to wear one.

domdoes

Have you read the circumstances she's supposed to put up with? And you think that's ok
yes I do think that's OK.
I'm an early years carer and have just got on with it as many many other people have.
the children I care for are way below the age of understanding social distancing and the rest of the bullshit.
So far we have all survived whilst enabling their parents to work: it's really not that difficult

Oh, and I get half an hour break from 8.30 - 2.45. Rest of the time I'm in the same room as 31 children. I'm on the 4th floor, so my windows dont open apart from right at the top using a winch. Greenhouse in summer, freezing TB ward in the winter. Benefit of that room, is I'm opposite the staff toilets.

@finished31
I really don’t want to let the kids down. Especially the years tens who will be year 11 who have had so much disruption already. It’s been great teaching them recently in the bubbles as I know they have made so much progress compared to the online learning.
I also don’t want to let the department down as I would feel that as the HOD I’d be leaving them in the lurch in such uncertain times 😥

Most primary schools have been back with no issues

WTF. Primary schools haven’t been back with no issues. Selected year groups have been back in bubbles of 15, desks 2m apart in different zones of the school and playground not mixing with any other bubbles. They also seem to have spent a lot of time outside. And there have been outbreaks.

How the hell is that supposed to be a comforting thought to a teacher going back in September to be exposed to a school of 1500+ much older children with no social distancing or protection?

@Swirlingasong Yes, our head thinks that we might need to provide the same level of provision for shielding children in September as we are now for online learning (she knows the reason behind our two shielding children and refuses to fine them) - so videos for English, Maths and a topic lesson daily, feedback on every piece of work submitted via Seesaw and a daily chunk of our class story videoed and sent out too.

I’d love to still be able to provide this for the child who will be in my class, but I just don’t see how it will be manageable. I already work after the toddler goes to bed until at least 10pm, and my partner works most Saturdays so I’d have to spend most of Sunday filming. Doable in the short term, trickier over a longer period.

Hence why I suggested use of Oak plus a bit of Zooming into class. Yes, I know this would be hideous, having my classroom videoed, but I can’t think of another way to do it...

We have to be ready to go immediately with online learning if a bubble closes, so I suppose that assumes we'll be working from home with covid if we get it!!

My ideal for that in primary is:

Lessons live streamed at a given time, to the children who are able to access that time. Same lesson recorded for others to watch later.
One maths, one phonics/spag, one 'something combined with writing' - 10 minute videos max time for each.
Only teacher face being seen by children - anything else is too distracting. They can still contribute though, but lots need home support for that.
The contributions from other children mean those watching later are more engaged (this is from experience over the last 2 months).
Children are provided with a workbook or a printed pack. Lessons suit those workbooks.
Ch take photos of work for one lesson a day and email in for marking - TA and teacher can mark and email back.
Other stuff can be marked using a 'mark-along' video on a visualiser - I've used this a lot this term.
Once a week, teacher groups children into sort of ability Teams/Zoom call group for 10 minute tutor type session.
Teacher reads a story every day Jacakanory style - they can get this sorted over the holidays, just have a week ready to go in the bank.
Head does a live streamed assembly for those at home once a week. Again, 10 mins is fine.

Children respond to seeing their teacher. Timetabled lessons dont work for lots of people at home. Feedback is essential. Using other resources like Bitesize or White Rose is fine, but not all the time. When I use one of those, I do a other video of me say how it matches up. There wont be a full timetable for primary children, it's not practical. Working independently most things take them longer, and if they have good support at home, 1-1 for max 2 hours is intense and plenty.

I know some teachers are unhappy with being recorded, but that's a bit tough shit really. This is only temporary. Kids using stuff to take the piss get excluded or something. New parent contract on this basis.

I've run how we do online provision for my school, we've done the above, but not live streamed because we didn't have the platform to do it until 5 weeks ago. Now we've got the children back, we've put a 'teach them how to use Teams' slot in for every class in the first 2 weeks. It's shit, it's not proper teaching, and it is so dependent on what tech children have at home but you know.

Personally I bought a cheap laptop for my child, because I cant see us getting through the year without needing one for school. She's in year 1. I've taught her to use a mouse and so on through lockdown.

And there have been outbreaks
oh, i must have missed this as I thought there had been no confirmed outbreaks.
have you got a link please giraffe

I've been back at primary school. There haven't been "no issues". One staff member was hospitalised. We had to close and deep clean for two weeks because there was an outbreak. This was in May. Since then we've had constant kids off and another staff member ill with it. The local R rate is rising.

That's with small, select proper bubbles in a rural area, not the stupid yeargroup bubbles in September where all the kids get bussed in again.

Are schools allowed to do temperature checks if they want to? I know it's an imperfect method but surely that would at least reduce risks a bit?