Wish I wasn't a teacher because of Covid

[NebularNerd]

In my family/friends circle, I am the only one who will be face to face with 150+ people per day with no PPE, no social distancing, nothing.

I have one relative who is not expecting to return to the office this year.
Another who now only works in the office two days per week, in a building where numbers are severely restricted, one way systems, spaced out desks etc.
Another friend who is also able to wfh for the foreseeable future.

I can't help but think that had I made a different career choice I would not now be faced with contracting a potentially life threatening virus and passing it on to my clinically extremely vulnerable husband or elderly parents.

I will go to work and try to ignore what's going on in the world and do my best. But I wish I could be made to feel safer - screens, masks, fewer pupils, something.

I hope I'm worrying for nothing, but it is getting difficult to sleep at night.

Do you really think a one man band self employed roofer, painter and decorator and window cleaner have safety measures in place?? Yes they'll try and be as safe as possible but frankly the mumsnet ignorance of the working class trades is shocking. You have NO clue. The roofers down my road were working this week in that terrible weather.

Trying to compare the risks involved in teaching and roofing is not something I’d ever thought I’d see.

Just trying to point out that I've never seen so much whining here from teachers. It's a disgrace.

@PurpleDaisies

Trying to compare the risks involved in teaching and roofing is not something I’d ever thought I’d see.

Because teachers have a very small risk profession.

As a nurse who has worked from the beginning of this pandemic initially without PPE and a clinically vunerable husband at home I can see why teachers feel this way. At the beginning I was terrified, I had just performed a procedure on a patient which caused him to cough directly in my face, no problems the government said we didn't need PPE and the virus was only detected in certain individuals who had travelled from certain countries, a few minutes later a senior DR took me aside and said that patients CT scan looks likely he has covid, I can't tell you how I felt, my husband would end up ventilated if he contracted covid and it would likely be from me as he was WFH. I was advised no action to be taken unless I am symptomatic, I felt shell shocked but still we were not allowed PPE. I work in an emergency admission ward so don't know covid status for some time

Now for NHS we wear masks all day out patients do not though so I am protecting them but not getting the same protection back, I know at least we get to wear masks, I am now slightly calmer and just remind visitors who my trust now allow in daily they need to put their mask and step back, I wash or sanitise my hands constantly and I always change out of my uniform (not scrubs) before I leave, I then have to carry this home with me to wash.

My DC go back to secondary next week and I have drilled social distancing into them, they have reusable masks and hand sanitizer in their bags. All I can offer to teachers is my empathy as I have been where you are going without PPE for the first couple of months and my MH was greatly affected. This government is not to be trusted the change their mind constantly their is no consistency. Why not allow w everyone to wear masks at school? Although they really need to be taught how to don and doff as this is really important. My one probably selfish worry is that my son has a speech impediment caused by his teeth (dentist cancelled) so when you add a mask his speech is even worse, he feels conscious already and I know that would affect his learning. Interestingly I have noticed at work how my hearing and speech is greatly affected by mask wearing so I guess this is an issue for schools to.

I am concerned about the DC bringing it home to my DH as currently we are in control of where we go.

What do teachers think of masks and communication? I do think your concerns are valid and do very much feel for you but this is not as straight forward as people wearing them.in shops. I do have a feeling the government may uturn on this soon.

I feel so disheartened by 'all we can do' and 'its shit, but that's the reality.'

It shouldn't be the reality and all we can do is not good enough.

We have to hold the government to account by going on and on and on about what is being done to us, until someone listens. Stop just accepting it.

@oneday you’re on a thread where teachers are discussing their concerns about going back safely. It’s a shame you’ve dismissed that as “whining”. We aren’t saying we won’t be going back or schools shouldn’t open. Only that it needs to be done in a safe way.

We really needed another thread about this

At every hospital appointment I have accompanied my FIL to they have insisted on all patients wearing masks. Everyone wears masks.
Even at the dentist we had to wait outside wearing a mask and only remove it for the actual procedure and then replace when the procedure finished.
I'm not sure I believe patients are not wearing masks

OP will have to get used to it. Honestly if it was making me that worried I would give my job up and search for another. It won’t be just the teachers at risk. It will be all of us. Parents having to que and line up to collect and drop off the kids... touching the outside sinks that all the other parents have used to wash their hands in. It’s not great but what can we do but get on with it.

Teachers are working with low risk children. Many other professions are working with less amounts of people however they are at MUCH MORE RISK! (Adult to adult) Roll on September and we can really see what the fuss is about

[quote Backtobasics5]@SaltyAndFresh to be honest. When you say PPE do you actually know what it is? Because the term is constantly thrown around. A blue flimsy mask is not an actual FF3 mask there’s a difference.[/quote]
Apologies @backtobasics5, I was under the impression that carers were required to wear PPE, yet the PP claims we're working in conditions are no worse than hers because it's always the same race to the bottom.

@PurpleDaisies and I appreciate that but I was just trying to put some perspective forwards. If it wasn't for Covid, a teacher would have a very low risk profession (and it still is going forward). Other jobs have considerable risk every single day and that's without Covid. Covid isn't the only cause of death (in fact the odds of surviving are extremely high). Falling off a ladder.... well that's anyone's guess.

It’s not great but what can we do but get on with it.

That’s the issue. Why should we just “get on with it” unquestioningly? What’s wrong with a discussion about how schools can be made safer for staff and students? Some posters seem determined to dismiss this as unnecessary whining. Everyone is entitled to consider whether their workplace is safe except teachers it seems.

@onedayinthefuture

Just trying to point out that I've never seen so much whining here from teachers. It's a disgrace.

Its a disgrace that people can't discuss their feelings and thoughts on this without being called names

@roarfeckingroarr

We really needed another thread about this

Do we really need someone to come on to a thread to post "not another thread"?

No-one is forcing you to come on to these threads.

Notice no one has tried to police the happy hand clappy thread.

Teachers are only allowed to be beatific.

According to the DfE's own lists of thigs they will not pay for PPE is:

soap
gloves
masks
hand gels

As parents we have to weigh out up and decide if the risk is worth taking for the benefits it'll bring to our DC. For you it's the same, if it's not worth the risk to you then you have a choice to back go back and look for another job where you can WFH. I'm sure online teaching and tutoring is booming at the moment.

I just don't know where to start.

Teaching is our livelihood. Our families depend on us taking this risk. We are stuck in the job until Dec 31st anyway, and then what? Give up a salary for a bit of ad-hoc tutoring? You know that there really isn't a glut of alternative careers available at the best of times?

If a self employed roofer came to my house to work with nothing to protect him or any of the people he is working with, I'd send him away and get someone who took health and safety more seriously instead.

Interesting examples you gave,as you probably know that plumbers at the moment are wearing gloves and masks , keeping away from occupants and wiping surfaces down.

pipnchops

if it's not worth the risk to you then you have a choice to back go back and look for another job where you can WFH.

The thing is that I love my job.

As a teacher I understand that if I am ill and off work it will have an adverse affect on those that I teach.

Its a shame that sop many don't understand that if enough teachers are off schools will close or your children may get cover teachers. And with the best will in the world (as some of them are great) it never goes well.

This is more like the government telling roofers that they don't need scaffolding.

pipnchops

Just FYI.

A colleague of mine is thinking seriously of doing what you are saying.

They won't be working out their notice.

So about ten groups of pupils will have no teacher in September and for the foreseeable future.

Be-careful what you wish for.

What do teachers think of masks and communication? I do think your concerns are valid and do very much feel for you but this is not as straight forward as people wearing them.in shops. I do have a feeling the government may uturn on this soon.

@Rupertpenrysmistress every empathetic post lifts my spirits a little, so thank you.

Re your question, I only want masks in the absence of social distancing. There can't be SD in classrooms and in my view they are communal areas. I agree they will impede communication but with no other mitigation in place, I don't see there's much choice. I know parents will object and refuse though.

@roarfeckingroarr

We really needed another thread about this

I'd be happy to see Mumsnet flooded with wall-to-wall threads about the lack of safety measures in school until the message gets through. I might start another one.

Online tutoring isn’t booming as there are loads of highly qualified teachers (degrees , masters, pgces) from outside of the Uk willing to work for much less than what teachers earn here. The online tutoring market is flooded with teacher and it’s often min wage you would be earning.