Staff party blamed for school closure

[swabthenose]

I’m shocked at this. The staff didn’t break the law - why on earth should they live their lives being cautious beyond the point of guidelines when the government is shoving them unprotected back into overcrowded schools?! I’m appalled to read what the head wrote to parents. Way to undermine your entire staff like naughty children. No wonder they needed the party if this is the kind of person they work for. Should they also not have attended weddings or taken advantage of ‘eat out to help out’ or done any of the other legal socialising?

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

By the way, no vested interest here. Not in the area and don’t know the school or people involved.

No, they were being foolish. At least 8 members of one school staff group at one party (and presumably quite a number more as the infection rate is not usually near 100%) is ridiculous and in any case likely not within guidelines if at one home.

Just seen there’s a nearly identical thread but with the opposite point of view.

They were being foolish indeed but the Head is out of line to blame the staff. I wouldn't want to work for a Head who wrote that to parents. I do despair at a lot of younger teaching colleagues who go off to the pub together at the moment though... normal times, great but not a great idea at the moment to be honest especially as our 'mitigations' are so rubbish in schools (thinking of the child who coughed all the way through my lesson today who had already been in the medical room once today and was sent back to lessons)...

I'm not affected by this but I got pissed off when reading what he wrote! I understand it's affected the school community & that the school has had to close but my goodness, they work with him, he does not get to state what they can & can not do with their own personal time. Twat.

Outrageous! Also, read between the lines. This was a party of an ex colleague. I strongly suspect this person was in conflict with the head and head is using this opportunity to publicly reprimand any ‘sympathisers’.

I would make a formal complaint if I was one of the staff members. They hardly went to a rave. Most people wouldn’t consider seeing 7 other colleagues a party either.

That letter is shocking. They didn't break the rules. Swap 'party' for wedding or funeral. Are teachers expected to not have a life outside of school. I'm being cautious but a class I teach has had a positive case. Most of the class are now isolating apart from a few pupils and staff deemed not to have been in close contact. So I'm ok to be in school still but not have a social life if I choose so? It's all contradictions.

Well, he's a shit Head isn't he. Such a horrible attitude emanating from his messages.

Outrageous! Also, read between the lines. This was a party of an ex colleague. I strongly suspect this person was in conflict with the head and head is using this opportunity to publicly reprimand any ‘sympathisers’.

Interesting!

What kind of Head undermines his staff like this? He has no right to say what they do in their private lives. I personally wouldn’t attend a party right now but I don’t think anyone should be held up by their employer for public condemnation for not doing what he deems appropriate but is within the law. And honestly don’t blame teachers for feeling like their life is one big Covid risk right now and not being as cautious as other people might be.

Spot on, @Thenneverendingstorohree

Are teachers expected to not have a life outside of school

There were threads at the end of August berating school staff for daring to be seen out in public. We, apparently, hold the success of school opening and closing in our hands. Apparently parents socialising won't have any impact at all on transmission in schools. You really can't make this shit up.

So all the parents can go and eat out at restaurants and pubs and all the kids can cram 30 to a poorly ventilated room but God forbid the teachers socialise?

What a terrible school it must be. If I had a child at Bacup Holy Trinity Stacksteads I’d be seriously concerned about their education - NOT because of the missed couple of extra weeks (which is nothing compared to the government closure of 6 months!) but because I’d hate my kid to be under the leadership of such a misguided and unpleasant Head or taught by such a demoralised teaching staff.

@OverTheRubicon The letter states that the teachers did not break government guidelines.

It's the headmaster that needs to be apologising for his error in judgment, not the teachers. What a horrible man.

He was confused why there was a sudden uptick in cases...at the start of a school year...when hundreds of children are returning to school

Imo it's nothing to do with the party and the staff were affected by asymptomatic kids.

Could well be, @JanewaysBun

The staff didn’t do anything wrong at all though, did they?

I hope they all leave and go and work for a head that isn’t a complete arse.

Whether the letter was appropriate or not, I think teachers are professionals and they should be being sensible about their interactions and activities at this time.

Teachers have a duty to play their part in keeping schools open- no one is saying they shouldn’t go out but it is simply not a good idea to be gathering in large groups and not social distancing at this time.

I suspect the head was simply trying to allay parents’ concerns about the school’s procedures.

What an appalling head.

However, people have to make their own decisions about risk depending on their circumstances. Dh & I work in health and education. We've done our assessment that being in small classrooms and working in a variety of settings mean we're quite exposed. We've therefore not eaten out, we've seen friends but only one family at a time, (and now we can't even see our friends because we have kids which >6), not seen family, not gone to the cinema or the pub, not hung out in town... Other people make other choices. I respect that but I do think that some professionals need to think about the impact on their workplace if they get sick.

I do think that some professionals need to think about the impact on their workplace if they get sick

So that only applies to professionals? Because the SAH mums of the school I work out can be seen mixing their kids on the park next to the school, the children tell us about their sleep overs and restaurant visits they did with their cousins and 4 other kids from the class next door....if you want the school open, maybe consider who your kids are mixing with and try and reduce the likelihood of walking this virus into school?

I think writing and issuing that letter shows poor judgement and poor leadership.

It seems there is an element of him feeling he needed to defend himself from accusations/assumptions his staff had all fallen ill due to failures on his part in his duty of care to them, so I sympathise there. It must be a stressful position to be in.

The tone he struck I do not sympathise with and I struggle to see how the staff can work for him now. I don't imagine rebuilding trust and respect on both sides will be easy.

his staff had all fallen ill due to failures on his part in his duty of care to them

But they did. Three members of staff caught it at school from the 8 who went to the party.

This isn't his fault. Schools aren't safe.

But, he has now put teachers against parents, and teachers against other teachers, which is exactly what heads shouldn't do. At the moment we all need to work together.

Not how it works unfortunately. In my experience the head gets the backing and the teacher live a miserable life unless they leave.

Teachers have a duty to play their part in keeping schools open- no one is saying they shouldn’t go out but it is simply not a good idea to be gathering in large groups and not social distancing at this time.
8 people is not a large group, and was not against the rules at the time.
They will also have been spending time together at school so probably felt it was less dangerous.
Teachers can be expected to stick to the government mandated rules, no more and no less.

""Had I been aware of the event I would have told them that they should not attend because of the risks, but sadly I was not informed", he said."

Someone is sulking cos they didn't get invited!

Head sounds terrible. Hopefully his staff will pull together and make his position as the school leader untenable.

As a teacher I dont see myself with any more duty than anyone else. If I want to meet 5 work colleagues outside of school I will (and have).

And to be honest we're grouped together as staff in far larger numbers than the 'rule of 6' at school.