I'm a teacher and I'm scared.

[NebularNerd]

I don't feel safe going back to work in September. When I became a teacher I did not anticipate doing so during a pandemic. I, like many others in secondary schools, will be facing up to 150 students a day, indoors, with no protection.
I am over 40 but not otherwise in a high risk category, although my husband is and we have elderly parents who will be exposed if I'm infected, as well as young children who will also be in school and potentially exposed.
I'm not disputing the need for children to return to school at all. I'm just starting to fear returning.
Anyone else feel this way?

@GermanSausage it's not that they think they're special at all... It's probably that (I've learnt this today) the govt have offered them no protection at all!!

Op I appreciate your fears.

But do all those teachers not think that is parents aren't worried? I've got secondary school aged dc, we are being extremely careful so I certainly wouldn't expect my dc to bring Covid into school. But we are relying on all the other children and their families to behave responsibly.

As well as the teachers. As a teacher, you could pass it into my dc couldn't you?

We aren't really mixing with other families, we aren't going to pubs or restaurants what if you as a teacher pass Covid into my child?

@Emeeno1

My daughter is 17. She has worked her first job on the checkouts in a supermarket all the way through this. At times she was scared.

She has one year left of A levels and really wants to go to university. She has worked so hard for this.

Please can we sort this out so that she can finish her education.

My DD is in exactly the same position @Emeeno1, only difference is she has SEN so its even more worrying. The place where she does her part time job is refusing to enforce masks in case it puts customers off - she is scared because I am in a vulnerable category and she doesn't want to bring it back to me ifyswim.

Seems like masks could help so much, but our Government sticks to its populist tactics and refuses to enforce them - mind you the number of posts/threads Ive seen on here with people refusing to wear masks cos its der hooman rites not to ....

Why do teachers think they are special?

Teachers think they aren’t special, so need the same measures that EVERY OTHER WORKPLACE has to put in place.

Why do you think that teachers are so special that they don’t need these?

@GermanSausage

Why do teachers think they are special? I don't see supermarket market workers, bus drivers, nurses, shop workers, doctors etc etc etc etc living in fear? Many other workers mix with many people each day.

They don’t think they are special, you could phrase it:

Why do the government think teachers are immune?

All the professions you have mentioned about have safely measure in place.
Where social distancing is impossible face masks are to be worn. But It teachers. Maybe you didn’t know. Lots don’t.

@GermanSausage

Why do teachers think they are special? I don't see supermarket market workers, bus drivers, nurses, shop workers, doctors etc etc etc etc living in fear? Many other workers mix with many people each day.

Teachers dont think they are special. They just want the same protection as all the other occupations you have listed.

All of the occupations you mention have PPE and changes to their work place because of covid. Teachers are being offered non of these changes

I’m really sorry you are scared - I was terrified driving to the care home my manager sent me to from the office to give payroll support during lockdown.
I remember the empty roads and driving along with the Darth Vader march coming to mind. Thinking why have I got to be out here?
We did Sadly loose a few of our very frail residents and a lot of staff were sick with it myself included.
Thankfully none of the staff were hospitalised and that includes asthmatics (me) and some very overweight staff. Many residents recovered quickly.
I hope you don’t think I’m minimising your worries I’m not you are allowed to be scared too. I just want to offer some balance as the hype suggests anyone getting it will immediately be struck down and die.
It’s quite low risk and my experience was a slightly worse than normal cold for a week.
I hope you can wear a mask which might help? Although all the PPE in the world didn’t stop our staff getting it.
However that was in a environment where the intimate personal care required added the extra risk.

I was scared going to work during lockdown, I work as a nurse and caught covid from a patient at the begining when there was limited PPE and we didn't have any on our ward. Luckily, I wasn't hospitalised but it was scary and I've never been so ill.

So, I can see why you are scared and feel for you.

I can't understand why the recommendation from gov.uk is to not wear masks - especially when you're within 2metrers off pupil, it would be beneficial for both you if 1 off you and had a mask on. Or it least a visor.

As for expecting pupils to wash their hands - I can't see this working either, due to the lack off sinks, surely hand stanziers are a better option.

We have visitors on our ward and it still amazes me that I have to remind nearly 50% to put a mask on or then wash their hands before visiting. We are also have strict rules on visiting times and the number off people allowed in each bay.

I really hope recommendations for mask wearing or PPE is reconsidered before school starts.

I hope you can wear a mask which might help?

Not allowed in my school-I wish it was.

It’s interesting how many posters on here are saying masks should be worn in school. That’s not the line of the ‘Them4Us’ campaigners.

@ilovebagpuss

I’m really sorry you are scared - I was terrified driving to the care home my manager sent me to from the office to give payroll support during lockdown. I remember the empty roads and driving along with the Darth Vader march coming to mind. Thinking why have I got to be out here? We did Sadly loose a few of our very frail residents and a lot of staff were sick with it myself included. Thankfully none of the staff were hospitalised and that includes asthmatics (me) and some very overweight staff. Many residents recovered quickly. I hope you don’t think I’m minimising your worries I’m not you are allowed to be scared too. I just want to offer some balance as the hype suggests anyone getting it will immediately be struck down and die. It’s quite low risk and my experience was a slightly worse than normal cold for a week. I hope you can wear a mask which might help? Although all the PPE in the world didn’t stop our staff getting it. However that was in a environment where the intimate personal care required added the extra risk.

Love this post. Common sense and a sense check too. There does seem to be a lot of "if I catch it I will definitely die" from completely healthy people. The media really has done a good job on scaring the heck out of people.

@DipSwimSwoosh do you have any anxiety over contracting COVID and passing it on to other, more vulnerable members of staff who will be back in school with you?
If it's "every man for himself" we're all screwed.

www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/health/coronavirus-children.html

This was the last update I heard regarding children and the viral load.

Is this false or are we just sticking to the narratives that make us feel safest now?

I understand what you are saying but many of us over 40 have not had a day off since March - yes I'm fortunate to often be able to work from home as can my boss but we do have to interact with the general public (they have to give contact details but what good is that if we have caught it off them???), we have to go into peoples houses, etc. Mostly I am talking about older people, the ones at most risk so my fear is being asymptomatic and essentially killing someone.

Those who are genuinely clinically vulnerable or over 60 I think need to be deployed to online teaching (proper online teaching) of vulnerable kids or those who prefer their children to be taught virtually this year but this would means far more cooperation between schools (as those teachers affected won't be equal) and academy chains doesn't help the situation, teachers can't easily be switched about.

There's inherent risk in everything, at 40 something we are more likely statistically to be in a fatal road traffic collision on the way to work. I'm not belittling concerns, apprehension, that's normal but I feel we all need to have perspective, this can be deadly but actually it's not actually that serious in most people.

Teachers: We want the same protection as everyone else

General public: wHy Do YoU tHiNk YoU’rE sPeCiAl

I think Boris stating that getting children back to school is a 'moral duty' is remarkably unhelpful. Blaming and vilifying unions for school closures is also a disgraceful sleight of hand dirty trick to use when they are just trying to insist on safety measures for staff. (Oh, and for the umpteenth time, schools HAVE been open Boris FFS )

Take 'bubbles' for instance. Let's face it, it's total bollocks. My colleagues and I worked out that every single bubble in our small school is linked by siblings. Don't get me started on secondary. My own secondary children are in different yeargroups. So they're not allowed to mix during the day but, hey, they also kind of live together

Feels like the DfE 'protective measures' are hollow gestures as there is NO real protection in a school setting. Which is frightening.

Real solutions would involve track and trace that works, blended learning and a large investment in a hugely underfunded sector - bigger spaces, better tech for all. But no, let's go for emotionally blackmailing the teaching profession instead.

Teachers are stuck between a rock and a hard place. As a KS1 primary teacher, I am desperate to get our children back but I have very serious reservations that we have little to no real protection.

And finally, this is also very concerning:

https://www.sciencealert.com/study-suggests-young-children-are-carrying-higher-levels-of-coronavirus/amp

I'll do everything I can to avoid passing covid on to vulnerable people. Including working for them, which I have already done. I just won't wear a mask if I can help it.

Neil Ferguson said very recently that the whole idea that children don't pass it in to adults is based on the fact that adults are tested and children often aren't, unless someone is conducting a study. Thus, if a child in a family becomes ill at the same time as an adult, the adult is lazily assumed to be the index case : same when clusters are detected and the children are symptomless. He said this was a dangerous assumption.

An outbreak at a summer camp in Canada definitely showed that children carried the virus back home to some parents.

I don't think it is right of germansausage to trot out the teachers think they are so special crap to this OP who says she is scared. She some kindness FFS . I don't think you would do that on another thread.

Fwiw, I know several scared shopworkers.

A recent study showed RIF was highest in healthworkers, and then nursery nurses and primary and SEN staff. Another Californian study suggested that secondary teacher absence would have huge impact in staffing and recommends class sizes of 10.

No epidemiologist actually thinks secondary schools should go back with the measures as they stand .

If you are too scared to do your job, you should resign.

I'm a keyworker and do public facing work (law enforcement).

I dont think the taxpayer should have to pick up the slack for teachers and other public servants who are "too scared" to work and presumably want to stay at home on full pay.

Police, prison officers, Border Force staff, all NHS workers, shop and food chain workers are people too and don't want to catch the virus either. However if everyone stayed at home like the majority of teachers have done since March, there would be societal breakdown, anarchy and lawlessness.

Funny how all those too scared to work are quite happy for other people to go out and work so they can stay at home.

Kind, thoughtful and helpful posts from bagpuss and missing. That's nice.

I'm not special. I'm 50, asthmatic (risk factor), menopausal (risk factor), with an autoimmune condition (risk factor) and in 5 years have had 2 days off work. But now I am expected to be "special".

So special that I can stand in a small, poorly ventilated room all day from 8.30 till 3.45 without a break until 12.40 when I get twenty minutes (during which I have to clean the bubble/colander toilets - another risk factor) with over 30 kids, in a room designed for 20, with no basic mask, ppe, or chance to stand even a metre away from them. They will face me all day, talking (risk factor) they'll eat with me, i'll wipe the tables up after them (risk factor) and then touch every single book to mark them (risk factor). In a big yeargroup bubble of approx 100.

Without the same protection as ANY OTHER OFFICE WORKER.

I am NOT special - that's the whole bloody point! So why I am being treated as if I am magically immune?

Because morally, (says the man with no morals at all - just ask the child he disavowes) says we must.

And fyi, teachers and education staff are now actually above hospital staff in terms of cases. And that's from the few weeks we opened up with limited children.

I am not special - I just want a mask or a plastic screen! I am petrified I or my kids ( both in massive yeargroup bubbles) will infect my elderly mum who lives with us and has vascular dementia (risk factor).

YANBU OP, I am also a teacher (primary) and very worried. Ds2 will be going into 6th form and ds2 to University. I wish we could have the option for them of remote teaching.I am considering wearing a mask but will certainly be keeping all windows and doors open, regardless of the weather. Parents have already been told to send in warm clothes and layers as it gets colder.

I don't think it is right of germansausage to trot out the teachers think they are so special crap to this OP who says she is scared. She some kindness FFS . I don't think you would do that on another thread.

No, I agree. There are some people who seem to despise teachers and dedicate large amounts of their time to being unpleasant, goady and dismissive of any school staff concerns. It’s bizarre.

@THisbackwithavengeance

If you are too scared to do your job, you should resign.

I'm a keyworker and do public facing work (law enforcement).

I dont think the taxpayer should have to pick up the slack for teachers and other public servants who are "too scared" to work and presumably want to stay at home on full pay.

Police, prison officers, Border Force staff, all NHS workers, shop and food chain workers are people too and don't want to catch the virus either. However if everyone stayed at home like the majority of teachers have done since March, there would be societal breakdown, anarchy and lawlessness.

Funny how all those too scared to work are quite happy for other people to go out and work so they can stay at home.

Nice.

Teachers can wear face masks/visits/gloves if they like

I don’t get why they are the only “key workers” who actually did not have to come into work

Whereas retail staff, nhs staff and other key workers have all continued to go in.

It would not be such a problem if quality distance learning was gold standard, but only 6% of schools have taught the full schedule

The only data that's available on schools, is from a time when most children weren't at school and it was possible to have 2m social distancing in place for the small amount of kids that were. That's why Johnson is able to claim schools are safe. The government cherry pick information to back up their case but impartial scientists don't agree with them. The former head of SAGE, Sir David King, said today that the country is heading back into lockdown unless the government takes a different approach to school reopening. He said the country is nowhere near being ready to reopen schools safely.
We need masks, social distancing, online learning for a large amount of secondary students - older children are most likely to spread the disease. We also need to show solidarity with teachers who will be crammed back into overcrowded classrooms with little ventilation and limited extra funds to help to stop the disease.
I'm not surprised you're scared. I would be too.