Teaching during a pandemic

[NebularNerd]

I posted before going back to work about my concerns about teaching at the moment, about feeling unsafe.

Since going back I'm finding there is little/no social distancing between students and staff. No/little opportunity to clean hands as I run between different bubbles for every lesson. We wear masks in corridors which is something, but not in the classrooms. I teach secondary.

Like everybody else, I'm just getting on with it. I'm hoping we're lucky and it doesn't reach our school, because if it does the 'safety measures' won't protect staff. When we have rules such as the rule of six outside of work I just can't my head around it.

As the numbers rise once more and staff and students begin to test positive, I'm wondering what is next for schools.

How are other teachers getting on?

Yes, cardi, We seem to have imagined an entire summer of being told that no teacher had ever caught covid from a kid. I really should look up which posters it was and see what they're posting now.

I'm a dinner lady in an infant school and I already have a cold. Lucky it's not a different virus going round. We dinner ladies have contact with all the dc in the school, although the year groups are being kept seperate from each other.
Our employer is actually a contract company who provides the meals and they do say we can wear masks if we want to, but it feels awkward when none of the teachers or midday meals staff employed by the school have PPE so we have not been using them so far.

Secondary, pastoral staff. Zero breaks, might get chance to hoof down lunch on duty if lucky, if not tough, no food. Have to get close to students all the time. Always on the go. No time to get my actual work done due to extra duties (am responsible for 2 year groups so double the work load and double the duties) so I'm also working late into the night every night.

I work in a PRU too. No social distancing/masks . Being spat at and coughed on daily. Very physical job. You wouldn't know there's a pandemic. Plus have 4 children of my own in huge bubbles.

Has anyone spoken with their union? Are they aware of these conditions? Quite clearly they're common place.

I contacted my union before we went back and just got a vague reply about school needing to do a risk assessment. I asked them what happens when the risk assessment says I need to keep 2m away from everyone but that isn’t physically possible. I did not get a reply.

The union rep is a teacher in my school so sees the situation first hand 🤷‍♀️

I'm on my knees already. Some of my students are adults in a FE setting. Classes of 36 so half in class, half at home on rotation

Setting work for the home group then answering the (literally hundreds) of emails a week is draining me. I've answered 16 this morning

I suggest we all report our concerns to our unions directly. We need to start to do something, however futile it may be.

After seeing the briefing I'm becoming increasingly terrified.