Are there any teachers on MN happy that schools are back to relative 'normal' in September?

[mostwonderfultime]

The opinion from teachers on MN of schools opening for all dc in September seems very negative. In contrast my dc's Secondary School teachers (year 10 and 8) all seem pleased - some saying they'd hoped they had been back after June half term. I appreciate this is Real Life and they may be lying but they seem genuine.
I also have 2 friends who are also secondary school teachers - all different schools who can't wait to get back to school instead of organising home learning whilst looking after their own dc. Seems such a contrast to what I read on here.

Yeah because a zoom meeting is where you reveal your anxieties about school being unsafe and how you fear you might die due to being middle aged and overweight

Yes, exactly! Telling a governor and SLT all my anxieties via Zoom wouldn’t be top of my list!

In contrast my dc's Secondary School teachers (year 10 and 8) all seem pleased

They're hardly going to say otherwise are they?

Upper primary. Been back a while. I love my job. Love the kids. Excited for September. Do think we should be entitled to a bit more protection than “wash your hands and try to stay away from everyone”.
It’s a joke that we aren’t even getting extra money for hand gel and cleaning. And then to be told we can’t even ask for the most basic of protection. We are in the main going to be working longer hours with little break, more risk. But if we say anything we are moaning.
I can care deeply about the children I teach and my own safety (plus that of my colleagues and family). The two are not mutually exclusive.

We all want schools back. I don't know any teachers that don't.

We also want it to be safe and for our working conditions not to be unbearable.

As with others happy children are getting back into school. They really do need this.

Not happy with the piss poor guidance from the government and the safety measures they have haven't put in place.

Theres also very limited contingency planning taking place. Cant help feeling that when the partial and local closures/lockdowns come there will be very limited home learning provided...and I can imagine the parents' joy at that!

You can be happy and annoyed at different parts of the return. It's not a binary choice.

Lots of teachers are having our breaks cut or removed altogether to facilitate the bubbles. Not sure how we're supposed to get through a 7 hour school day without going to the toilet.

I want my job to go back to normal.

I don't want schools to be closed again or to have part time or remote teaching if we possibly can help it.

I would like to know a bit more about how to successfully teach five year olds at a desk all day, please, on the days when we aren't on the rota for the small outdoor space. I've been teaching for 17 years and like to think I'm a good reflective teacher, but I fear thaT I'm about to morph into a very dry and boring one.

I'd also like to check whether my performance targets will change to reflect the fact that I am unable to teach in the way which helps young children to best learn.

I can't seem to find anyone who has any answers to the above and would like it if somebody somewhere gave these matters a bit of thought before it all becomes my fault.

I work with schools now, rather than in them. As a governor of a secondary, I cried when I read the September guidance. Lots of things that will make things more difficult for teachers (especially the less experienced), but in reality less actual protection than any public facing job.

Teachers desperately want to get back to normal. Many are, justifiably, anxious about their own health or passing Covid on to vulnerable family members.

The government and media got their retaliation against the unions in in advance, inventing resistance that didn’t exist so now there is almost zero public support for teacher safety. It sickens me.

There is a state primary near me where they have opened up to all year groups (London suburb) so those children will be well set up In September.

I suspect I am one of the posters that the OP thinks is being negative, after she misinterpreted a post of mine yesterday - although I don't teach secondary and can't therefore vouch for teenagers drinking hand sanitiser. We do have a couple of primary-aged ones who lick their shoes though, so who knows?

I have been back in school full hours since June 1st. I have since received lots of emails and cards, 'thank you' chocolates and wine from parents saying how grateful they are for the happy and cheerful welcome their kids have received and how much they've enjoyed being back with me.
As other posters have said, do you really think we're going to share with those parents our real thoughts about the state of the toilets in the school and our concerns that our personal safety seems way less important than workers in other professions?
Of course not.
But hey, you believe what you want to believe. And we will carry on doing our jobs as best we can and try to ignore the pasting and thinly-veiled goading some posters on here delight in giving.

@UmbrellaHat

There is a state primary near me where they have opened up to all year groups (London suburb) so those children will be well set up In September.

Ours has too. We have the space and the staff, so of course we opened more widely. We are not, however, set up any better for full numbers returning in September so far as staff protection goes.

Lockdown for me has been very isolating on the whole and it's nice to go in to school on keyworker rota.

There's no doubt that getting more conventional lessons will be better for the kids but i doubt I will be doing many practicals or even demos as I will be working across 3 bubbles.

Our school hasn't said how things will work yet as they awaiting the next version of guidance in August in case they have to change things then but it already seems we won't be allowed to spend breaks with colleagues have heated food or use facilities for hot drinks. In many ways it will be pretty miserable I think.

I'd be lying if I said i'm not worried though. Before lockdown I felt like I'd just have to take my chances. As things have gone on I've realised that as an overweight male already prone to chest infections the wrong side of 40 I may not survive or even be unable to work for many weeks which as a supply teacher means no pay.

I may be able to socially distance from other staff but teenagers breach SD all the time as it is never mind when the school is at capacity.

Can't help but feel that we've been thrown under the bus because the government can't come up with a way to give us covid secure workplaces like other workers

I have mixed feelings. I miss my normal day to day job as it was, but I’m concerned about going back to that because I don’t think the kids at my school will act maturely (silly behaviour like corona cough and a soft slt).

We are being given year groups to teach and teaching more than one subject (secondary) to prevent too much movement and mixing groups which worries me because I don’t want to teach them anything incorrectly so I’m worried my time will go on learning the content more than successfully teaching it. I wish that we could go back in September and all would be back to normal, but I agree it’s right not to do that at the moment.

Secondary teacher and happy to be back in September to something resembling normality.

I'm happy that my senior leadership team have done their best to keep everyone safe but also know that they're working within government guidance that suggests Coronavirus is apparently clever enough to know not to spread in a school.

I'm also concerned that the government is passing the buck to heads and expecting schools to do the impossible without the funds.

School leaders are often doing their best in poor circumstances and how successful they seems to be largely dependent on the nature of the school site.

We never really closed and I've been in full-time throughout all of lockkdown, but it will really good to get the rest of the children back in, some of which I really worry about.

The government's handling of everything but especially schools has been appalling though. Honestly I don't think they care about children's safety or well being at all.

Happy to be back. Lucky to be in an independent that has invested in sanitisation stations, signage, fogging machines for cleaning. It is the parents who at the moment are dictating they want a blended learning approach. We have quite a few GP and hospital doc children at the school though.

I'm looking forward to it. Secondary teacher here, practical subject. There are going to be a lot of changes and it is sad that extra-curricular activities aren't happening. I think some kids will be happy to have some normality, some will struggle with the new rules and behaviour will be an issue.
We can't socialise in the staff room or work rooms anymore which I think will be difficult, it can be quite lonely teaching all day with little adult contact. Meetings are going to be done remotely too. Very different.

What teachers say face-to-face to worried parents, and what we say anonymously on an internet forum could be different.

Just saying.

It is the parents who at the moment are dictating they want a blended learning approach. We have quite a few GP and hospital doc children at the school though.

What does that tell you?

Medical staff don't want their children back at school full time. Do you believe Williamson, Gove and Johnson? Or medical staff? It's tricky innit... I wonder who is most trustworthy...

Happy to be teaching in a classroom again. Very concerned about what the school day will actually look like ( secondary school) and how it fits with my daughter's primary school timings wise.

Happy to be going back. Relieved that our SLT are ignoring the guidance and doing their best to keep staff and children safe, while letting the children play and learn as normally as they can.

@UmbrellaHat

There is a state primary near me where they have opened up to all year groups (London suburb) so those children will be well set up In September.

Actually, *@UmbrellaHat,* why is it you think they will be well set up in September? What evidence do you have, when at the moment, the most they will be able to have in any year group is 15 children?

Delighted for the children to be able to come back.

From a personal point of view, teaching a bubble all day and filming videos for my class’ online learning/feeding back on 90 pieces of work submitted online every night is getting trickier to manage long term.

Struggling with how to maintain such a high level of online support for my shielding pupil when we return in September.

I’m primary though, appreciate that it’s different in secondary.

@UmbrellaHat

There is a state primary near me where they have opened up to all year groups (London suburb) so those children will be well set up In September.

There are two state primaries near me that have not been allowed to open up to all year groups by the LEA.

I'm a TA. I've been shielding but very happy to return to work. I work in special education. It's incredibly hard, nigh on impossible for the children to understand sd and some pupils require personal care. I am concerned because not only will there be no ppe with no sd, the children will be as close to us as ever .We have so much more contact than in a mainstream school. I love my job though, the children are great. I'll be glad to be back but I will be looking into ppe for myself.