Schools to remain closed until October half term?

[stopcollaborateandlisten]

Lots and lots coming out in the news how schools will finally be re-opening - anyone else think it might get pushed back at the last minute to after the October half term?

Both schools my dds go to are planning on reopening in September. Can't see that changing

And now we can’t. And no cover teacher in their right mind is going to cover it

Do you mean supply? We are available from September and some of us won't have a choice if we want to put food on the table.

Some schools have already decided they won’t use supply staff to reduce risk but regardless, supply staff are already in short supply so bubbles will need to close, possibly for sometime.
to avoid cross-contamination, agencies are suggesting schools have a regular supply to cover day to day in selected school only covering that school...how that would work in practise Lord knows. I have noticed a few more TA roles advertised than normal - to stick them on cover presumably?

Our school (primary) has all year groups back before the summer break - admittedly part time using bubbles of no more than 15. No cases or local rises as far as I know - numbers are continuing to drop in our town. I’d rather they continued with this blended learning if it meant all kids could go back and they and staff were kept safe. So it is possible to get all kids back safely without a rise.

Here in Scotland the union has asked us if we are willing to strike
Even in the absence of a formal strike, I think a number of teachers will “strike” and find a way to avoid going to work. This isn’t just about pay or conditions - it’s about lives. Some teachers will take steps to protect themselves if the union doesn’t.

Will these staff still expect to be paid? This situation could go on for a year or more. How the hell can anyone think it's right to sit at home on full pay. If people are unwilling to work they should resign.

@FarTooSkinny

I think this is the first step to permanently closing schools as part of a wider experiment to see what happens if we just stop educating our children Covid-19 is just a front for this. It is the logical extension of Gove and his 'we have had enough of experts' thinking

One of the most bonkers things I have read on MN in a while.

Will these staff still expect to be paid? This situation could go on for a year or more. How the hell can anyone think it's right to sit at home on full pay. If people are unwilling to work they should resign.

Strikers don't get paid, so no, they wouldn't expect to get paid.
If a teacher resigns now they still have to work until January as that's the way the contracts work.

Tbh why should a teacher be forced into resignation to protect themselves. That’s all kinds of wrong.

The new school environment is risky and dangerous. I foresee a situation where lots of schools don’t have enough staf from day 1 as they will be scared to come in,

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

Tbh why should a teacher be forced into resignation to protect themselves. That’s all kinds of wrong.

The new school environment is risky and dangerous. I foresee a situation where lots of schools don’t have enough staf from day 1 as they will be scared to come in,

Scared to come into work? That's not a reason not to go in! Imagine if it was!

The NHS would have come to a grinding halt at the start of this pandemic if all the staff who were scared to go in decided not to

And what if all teachers just resign? Then what?!!!!

But the NHS have PPE, teachers can’t even wear masks

Most NHS workers see 40 people a day, GPS mainly over the phone! I will teach 180 kids a day.

But NHS staff were treating covid positive patients. Of course they needed PPE. They still went to work even when these supplies were inadequate!!

It is a reason not to go into work. There is no protection at all. The whole bubble thing is just to trace who has it.

I perceive it as the most unsafe Covid working environment of all. 7 different huge bubbles, exposed to them all.

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

It is a reason not to go into work. There is no protection at all. The whole bubble thing is just to trace who has it.

I perceive it as the most unsafe Covid working environment of all. 7 different huge bubbles, exposed to them all.

Will you expect to be paid while refusing to work?

Who said l wasn’t going in?🤔

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

Who said l wasn’t going in?🤔

You said teachers will be too scared to come in. Were you meaning others but not you?

Yep, l know plenty who are.

Some of my older teacher friends are stressed already. I can imagine them being signed off unless the government does more to protect them.

Masks at the very least.

Yeah, lots of the same at my school.

I know a number of teachers who are planning to get signed off, rather than return. They have been shielding but have now been told to return as normal-they are terrified. Even if they resigned on June 30 or whenever it was that the school reopening plan came out, they couldn’t leave until December due to the way the teachers contracts work.

Heads will have huge difficulties in staffing schools if this is widespread.

Teachers surely aren't intending to 'get signed off' with a medical condition to mean they don't have to work. Is that really true?

Fedup, l know similar. This is one of the reasons schools may have problems with staffing.

I think there’s about 30% shielding at my place, and 20% over 50. That could be 50% off sick

I don't know any staff planning on not returning,'. We don't have any shielded staff but do have clinically Vulnerable ones, myself included.

None of us intend to remain off work.

However I will be speaking to my consultant again before I return as to my best course of action regarding medication going forward, etc.