I'm a teacher and Boris you have failed us

[NewnameNelly]

My school has no ppe, we have a cleaner wiping touch points all through the day. We have antibacterial hand-wash and sanitiser, but it still isn't compulsory for us to wear masks/face shields. Two weeks in to us starting back and I'm off sick waiting for a home test and I've been trying to get hold of one for the past 2 days and all I am getting is this. Come back later, what when I'm calling an ambulance or dead. So much for having key workers as a priority. University lecturers are making students wear masks and so are they but us teachers are being completely forgotten. If you want your children to have an education, you need to protect and look after the teachers! Boris you have failed me!

[quote Pomegranatepompom]@Oaktree55 the childcare comment is not helpful. I don’t need childcare, my children need an education though. There was a missed opportunity to get parents on board with home/blended learning.
I do think parents want safe conditions for all.[/quote]
Not all parents want safe conditions for all. You saw that twatty thread trying to encourage parents to get their kids not to wear masks in school, right?

Us4Them have been campaigning for months for no mitigation measures in schools. They don't want anything to be different for their kids regardless of the impact on everyone else. They're not fringe nutters either, they've had sympathetic articles in the media.

Come back later, what when I'm calling an ambulance or dead.

That’s a little over dramatic.

The situation is schools is crap. You’ve been let down. But your chances of needing an ambulance or dying are still extremely small.

@NewnameNelly

We need to have it in writing that ALL teachers must wear PPE, specifically visors
Visors have been proven to be useless. Hence the reason why the rules were changed so that hairdressers and barbers had to wear surgical masks under their visors from 14th August. (Subsequently allowed to wear goggles or visor with surgical masks from 10th September).

Apart from a visor being proven to be totally ineffective when worn by itself, hairdressers complained that the visor puts pressure on their heads causing headaches and that light reflects off the plastic.

I totally agree that teachers shouldn't be unprotected and I think both they and the pupils should wear masks indoors, whether in a corridor or, more importantly, in a classroom.

@ZombieFan

Come back later, what when I'm calling an ambulance or dead.

How will having a test change any of that?

Well that's the thing isn't it, having a test won't cure you of symptoms so just go on the basis your not getting one and self isolate if you have symptoms. Assume from the fact you are active on here that your symptoms are not that bad. Just self isolate to avoid passing on as you would if you had any other virus

Masks should be compulsory now to protect teachers and pupils.

Of course they should. It's an absolute no brainer.
At least give it a go. FFS

The government will wait another couple of weeks and look at the rising numbers, and then - possibly - extend face coverings to schools/unis/ colleges.

It took them MONTHS to introduce it in hospitals.

www.boycottunsafeschools.co.uk/reported-covid-19-cases/school-cases-after-12-8-20/?fbclid=IwAR3E8HPZAOomvB4SrFntA3c2no6MAILAO8gin3C68SwGAOd8YexayKfrb5c

Map of schools. This is what the government isn’t telling you.

I read in The Telegraph ( yes The Telegraph) that the way to eradicate this disease is universal mask wearing.

'Don't comment if you haven't read previous posts'
Ridiculous. It's a message board and even if you open the thread, you aren't the boss of us.

Apart from that, I agree with you. Teachers are being thrown to the wolves. It was obvious what would happen in schools. My dgd hasn't gone back because it was so obviously a bad idea. I hope you can get what you need, tests, PPE etc but most of all I hope they stop being so bloody stupid and close the schools.

Dd and I have both been teachers in secondary schools. We aren't now, thank goodness. I hope everyone comes through this.

Can't wearing mask/face shield be made a mandatory rule by HT's discretion? That's what happened in my dc's school. Everyone, students, teachers need to wear them from this week.

That map is massively out of date, too.

There are four times the number of schools affected in my area as are on that map...

Just self isolate

OP is doing this. Meanwhile, her classes don’t have a teacher.

There’s mounting evidence children spread this and Witty or Valence can’t recall mentioned aerosolisation for the first time. If you read the letter signing off school opening I can’t see how they can continue to operate under current conditions under H&S Law once the data is in re children transmitting. It leaves them wide open.

The map is made by one guy who relies on other people sending data to him. He updates it as often as he can, but it’s happening so fast that he can’t keep up

As the government aren’t issuing any figures he’s relying on the goodwill of parents and teachers

School in Solihull closes for two weeks for all 1774 pupils because of an uncontrolled outbreak.

"In the letter, the school said it was initially able to manage the situation, by identifying isolated cases and asking students to self isolate. This had led to the decision to isolate the whole year group in Years 8 and 12.
But it said the situation had changed and that it was "concerned about on-site transmission, where we are unable to effectively identify the source of the outbreak".
"Public Health England were concerned over the probable further transmission of the virus between students and staff despite our robust protective measures," the letter said."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-54261485

Whilst I agree that teachers are required to go like lambs to the slaughter, I also think parents are part of the problem. They absolutely demanded that schools open and would be marching if this wasn’t the case. There is no safe way to open most of our schools. Too many kids, buildings too small.

The government (I don’t support it) was caught between a rock and a hard place. Open schools unsafely or have parents protesting on the streets. It’s like someone having £10 in their pocket and saying to them “give me £50 now or I will punch you”. There is no way to win. It’s as though parents thought that by demanding schools open, that some magic would make them safe.

My ds is Y10 and used youtube to watch educational videos meant for his GCSE courses to further his own education. It’s as simple as googling it. Youtube is free. Teens don’t have a problem getting on instagram or whatever so they shouldn’t have a problem using YouTube like this. I want schools closed.

How can parents still be fined for not sending their children in to an environment that is blatantly not safe? Teachers, vulnerable parents and children are being hugely let down.
I'm desperate to pull mine out and deregistering should not be my only choice.

I want schools closed. I work in healthcare its a bloody nightmare. If a chold sniffs its sent home..so parent cannot work until tested etc..sniff,home,test,repeat. It also means( in my sector) that staff do not get paid if off for yhis reason..or if they do its ssp...as hourly rate and not salaried and that includes nurses...so financial impact could be massive if we have to do this on regular basis. They need to sort out testing and get an exceedingly quick turn around

Nelly I hope you get better soon.

I'm another teacher in isolation awaiting a test and feeling very poorly. A Child in my class tested positive last week (after a week of waiting for results) and loads of other children had minor colds/ bugs some tried to get tests but couldn't. I have no doubt I caught it in the classroom. What is more of a worry is the time lapse when loads of the children may have been passing it around. It feels like a bomb waiting to explode. My daughter now has it and neither of my children can go to school.

State schools should learn from the independent sector, to see how they do it.

It really makes me angry when people say this (about anything in schools, not just Covid). I have taught in independent schools and state schools. The Head at one of the state schools I worked in used to send groups of teachers on visits to an independent school whose Head he was mates with. All that the teachers 'learned' from the visits was how nice the facilities were, how delicious the free staff lunches were, how small the classes were, how spacious and well-equipped the classrooms were and that the demographic of the kids was very, very different from their own. Better methods or teaching staff? Nope. If anything a bit old-fashioned, slapdash and boring.

Independent schools do not have special skills for staying open and avoiding Covid. Although one I know of insisted every child and every member of staff pay £100 for a Covid test before being allowed back to school in September.That would work really well for state schools in deprived areas.

State schools should learn from the independent sector, to see how they do it.

HAHAHAHAHAHA what a ridiculous comment:

When our local private school had to go state academy due to money issues... guess what... the teachers had to come to our school and learn how to teach kids in big classes, mixed ability, with behaviour needs. Yup each teacher came for about 2 Weeks to observe.

It's so infuriatingly clear that some parents are more than willing to keep their children home, therefore ease the situation but why the hell should they be penalised for doing so.. Come on Boris, let parents keep their kids home if they can and keep their places without fines. This is an unprecedented situation and the whole system needs a radical shift in mindset and organisation even if only temporary. It is a rather shite completely outdated system anyway.

I think your school is letting you down as well as the government. The teachers at my children's school can wear PPE in the classroom if they wish to and extra precautions are being taken for any vulnerable staff eg one of my sons teachers is pregnant.

They all have a square taped around their desks so that pupils can't go near to them.

I'm sorry it's so stressful for you, it sounds like your head could be putting a lot more in place to help protect staff.

Sorry, Emoji, wasn't meant as a criticism of the site or the bloke running it. Just a comment that the situation is actually far worse than that site even suggests.

Unfortunately im not working at the minute and i work in a school. My son has had a temperature and cough, but he also has the symptoms of a cold. We took a test at Sunday and the whole families results came back (negative) except for his and none of us can return to work and school.

@Grapesoda7

I think your school is letting you down as well as the government. The teachers at my children's school can wear PPE in the classroom if they wish to and extra precautions are being taken for any vulnerable staff eg one of my sons teachers is pregnant.

They all have a square taped around their desks so that pupils can't go near to them.

I'm sorry it's so stressful for you, it sounds like your head could be putting a lot more in place to help protect staff.

I can’t wear a mask or a visor in class as the guidance states it hinders learning. I wish I could, I’m glad your child’s school has that option.

The comment about the tape around the desk though as ‘protection’. I also have the same. Can parents not see how this isn’t adequate protection? I spend an hour with each of my classes. Air circulates. The tape around my desk isn’t an invisible force field.

I can't believe some schools are not allowing teachers to wear PPE. The teachers at my DS school are all wearing them or visors when up close to the kids or in public areas.