Staff party blamed for outbreak in school

[Silversun83]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-54161544

The head says he thinks it was ill-advised despite them not breaking government restrictions at the time.. Though surely 8 of them attending another person's house WAS against the restrictions.. (Which was only two households inside or six people/two households outside)??

Teachers aren't allowed to go to parties!

Teachers are less protected than any other workplace yet we expect them to be more careful than any other worker before they go into them? Could there be a clearer indication of how devalued they are?

I’m so sorry to the teachers of this school that they work for such a horrible Head. Can’t be very bright either given how he’s completely trashed his school through doing this.

To be honest, speaking as a teacher, I think it was ill advised! We’ve been asked to consider out of work socialising. And we’re careful and conscious to not all be together as a department (senior school). It’s just common sense and given the amount of effort that’s gone into keeping schools safe for staff, I think it’s fair. That headteacher was obviously angry when he wrote the letter. It sounds like they didn’t tell him either about the party so he would have felt responsible for the spread and have been stressing and worrying about safety measures in school. Head teachers have a lot on their shoulders at the moment.

What a wanker whatta whatta wanker

Poor teachers, no wonder morale is so low.

I bc would expect teachers to adhere to guidelines - not because they are teachers but because everyone should

The consequences - a whole school
closure - is shit for the whole community

@NaughtipussMaximus

He’s pissed off because they didn’t invite him.

My thoughts exactly, and I think I can guess why! I reckon the resignation letters will be thudding onto his doormat on the 30th October.

Of course teachers shouldn't have their lives curtailed more than the rest of the general public do.

But this party was very much against the rules (okay guidelines, not law but most people understand the guidelines to be the rules and don't faff about with the letter of the law.)

I think they acted irresponsibly and unprofessionally. But I don't think the head should be shaming them publicly. Nor do I really think there's much he can do about it on an official level. He could have just said ;transmission seems to have occured between staff out of school contact hours'. But I understand his annoyance.

At the school I teach in we were asked not to be abroad after the 16th August. They couldn't enforce it, no, but I would understand them being pretty annoyed if someone had had to isolate for two weeks because they went to a country on the 25th of August that then got taken off the safe list.

@iVampire

I bc would expect teachers to adhere to guidelines - not because they are teachers but because everyone should

The consequences - a whole school
closure - is shit for the whole community

But his letter states the staff did not break government restrictions so I'm still confused!

The Head sounds like a knob, he's thrown his staff right under the bus.

I agree it's up to staff how they spend their time!

HOWEVER, if I was a parent with a child at that school I'd be livid. I also think it's pretty stupid to attend a party right now, I'm in Wales so the rules are different but surely a party was breaking guidelines? As pp said it clearly wasn't an outdoor social distance barbecue.

This also just highlights why some posters on here get so frustrated/fed up by the hundreds of martyr posts from poor teachers back on the front line out at risk etc etc. I see loads of teachers on social media not social distancing at all from friends etc, so if they're not following the guidelines outside of school then they don't have the right to complain about being put "at risk" in school.

We have no idea if this was a bbq with 6 staff members in which case it is completely allowed.
There are also two different sets of guidelines so parties of up to 30 outside (from up to 6 households) was fine at that point. Not really sure what's going on in that infographic about 30 from 2 households.
Even the Head says in the letter that the staff acted within governments guidelines. He is utterly out of order to openly pass judgement on what they do in their free time - actually, their annual leave. It is a huge indictment of how badly teachers are valued: almost no protection in the workplace and expected to follow tougher guidelines than everyone else in free time.
I imagine every staff member in that school will be looking for another job now. I would, what a toxic environment to work in.

Posters on here have no way of knowing whether the party was indoors or out. Not unless they were there.

Headteacher sounds like an absolute arse. That letter is a disgrace. No wonder he wasn't invited!

See what you mean @mrshoho - there are definitely two schools of thought on this thread!

This letter is for the unions to deal with. Massively unprofessional. They should all hand their notice in at the same time, last minute on 31st October. Then get the head for constructive dismissal.

if I was a parent with a child at that school I'd be livid. I also think it's pretty stupid to attend a party right now

Would you be more or less livid if the teachers had caught it at a restaurant taking part in eat out to help out?

For clarification it was a baby shower outdoors in an afternoon.

So was within government guidelines at the time as the head said.

ohthegoats but it wouldn't have been so many teachers? It would've been one?

But for the record I think Eat Out to Help Out is stupid and convoluted - I understand that restaurants need help, it's not their fault. But it's irresponsible of the Government to encourage it.

If I hadn't worked in schools just like it, I'd assume that the letter had to be a joke. It shows the level of disdain that some headteachers have for their staff.

Whether the party was right or wrong, why tell the parents?! I presume it was meant to be a "it's not my fault guys. School is safe!" kind of thing.

If I were a parent of a child at that school, I'd not want them there any longer. How horrible to learn in such a hostile environment.

The makes me livid as a teacher. I teach secondary but not that it matters. All the teenagers were having sleep overs in the summer, BBQs, meet ups in the park no social distancing. I also have friends who have primary aged kids who had birthday parties with bouncy castles in the summer holiday. Parents took the view that they're in the same bubble. Not that that's any reassurance when 5/10 families have siblings in other year groups he's a wanker for sure.

@starrynight19

For clarification it was a baby shower outdoors in an afternoon.

Ooooh how do you know this?

So was it 6 people outside, how many households? How was it within the guidelines of the guidelines were 30 people from 2 households?

It makes no difference what time of day it was or the purpose of the gathering!

@SchrodingersUnicorn

We have no idea if this was a bbq with 6 staff members in which case it is completely allowed. There are also two different sets of guidelines so parties of up to 30 outside (from up to 6 households) was fine at that point. Not really sure what's going on in that infographic about 30 from 2 households. Even the Head says in the letter that the staff acted within governments guidelines. He is utterly out of order to openly pass judgement on what they do in their free time - actually, their annual leave. It is a huge indictment of how badly teachers are valued: almost no protection in the workplace and expected to follow tougher guidelines than everyone else in free time. I imagine every staff member in that school will be looking for another job now. I would, what a toxic environment to work in.

That infographic, published by the BBC, was right. It's never been 30 people from six households - it was always up to six people from six households OR up to 30 people from two.

And a bit worrying that the head didn't know the guidelines!

Why the absolute fuck should we not have some sort of life when the majority of people in our care don't give a shit?

If it was an outdoor baby shower then it seems to be very unlucky that so many people caught it...