Teachers of infected students not required to self-isolate.

[NebularNerd]

More than one positive case at a local school.

The teachers of these students are not being required to self-isolate.

As a teacher, you can be in a room with an infected individual for at least an hour, with no mask and closer than two metres, and you aren't considered to be at risk.

And yet, if you encounter the same individual anywhere else, the NHS app will suit hat you self-isolate

Teachers are being thrown under the bus so that schools can remain open.

[Rainuntilseptember]

It would be so easy for pupils to wear masks more often. I don't understand why they don't do it, when they see me putting a mask on to glance at their work etc. Why don't they try to protect me while I'm protecting them? We have 2m zones but children have to walk into them to get in or out of the room, we walk through the corridor together etc.

[cherryblossommorningstoday]

It is truly scandalous.

I urge teachers to name and shame schools here (change username if more comfortable).

THEN, write emails to both the BBC and Guardian. Guardian confidential contacts page here:

www.theguardian.com/help/ng-interactive/2017/mar/17/contact-the-guardian-securely

As a society, we can't let teachers (and consequently children and their families) be exposed in this way.

[noblegiraffe]

I urge teachers to name and shame schools here

For what? It's all within the government guidance, and any decisions about who to send home are made by PHE/DfE.

[ilovesooty]

@noblegiraffe

I urge teachers to name and shame schools here

For what? It's all within the government guidance, and any decisions about who to send home are made by PHE/DfE.

I'm so sorry. @noblegiraffe you and others warned that return to school would be like this but so many posters didn't want to listen.

[LadyPenelope68]

@SpookyNoise
We aren’t even being made aware if a child or colleague is off because they have tested positive, or just because they are self isolating
Same at the Primary I’m at, all being kept under wraps. They need to be open and honest with staff.

[miimblemomble]

Don’t teachers wear masks at all in the UK? Here in France, everyone wears a mask in secondary, all the time (except to eat). And in Primary, all the adults wear a mask, all the time.

Physical distancing doesn’t really happen though.

[miimblemomble]

The attitude is similar though: the rules / guidelines have been written such to imply that it’s impossible for teachers / pupils To infect each other if they follow the rules - so if they get infected, it’s because they have done something wrong.

[WhyNotMe40]

I teach in a secondary. No masks allowed for pupils or teachers. Although recently they have said teachers can wear masks at lesson changeovers we must remove them in the classroom.

[SchrodingersUnicorn]

Agree with @noblegiraffe it isn't the schools, it's PHE and DfE. It's all there in the guidelines and we've been pointing it out all summer.

[colourofblue]

This is awful but I think some teachers will have to die, and then people will take it seriously.

[Slightlybrwnbanana]

Some teachers did die back in the spring. Teachers die in other countries. Hasn't made a difference. I suspect children dying would, though bloody hope I never find out.

[Piggywaspushed]

It probably won't be reported. I ahve noticed recently that there is no longer any focus on any of the loss of life, whereas in March and April we quite often got to know a little about the people who had lost their lives.

A lot of students at my place are off at the moment for over a week at a time ill. I suspect their parents are keeping them at home and returning them when 'safe' so that they don't have to access tests or isolate themselves.

[colourofblue]

That’s true piggy although I’d hope it would spread via social media, etc . (Not that I want people to die, I really don’t, but some attitudes are abhorrent.)

[QueenBlueberries]

Is this is a secondary school? I believe the local branch of Public Health England (if you are in England) advises the schools as to who has to isolate on a case by case basis. And this differs widely between areas and schools. DS is deputy head in a primary school, and when they had one case (a asymptomatic child whose dad had tested positive at home but the child was sent to school anyway, despite the very clear rules) and because the child was asymptomatic (wasn't coughing) PHE advised the school that only 5 children had to self isolate. DH's school decided to isolate the entire class anyway but not the teacher, as it was a y6 pupil and there was no close contact between the teacher and pupil.

However, in other areas and schools, if a few pupils (2 or 3) are showing symptoms at the same time, the entire class plus the teacher will be sent home.

It's very unlikely that a secondary school teacher will be asked to self isolate because they are supposed to always be 2m from all the pupils, at all times. THis isn't always the case for teacher assistants.

I work in a secondary school and every single situation is handled slightly differently. It's very hard to generalise here.

[Savemyusername]

In a local secondary here, 200 children from a year group and more than 20 teachers are self-isolating as a group of children tested positive.

[Savemyusername]

The knock-on effect is part-time teaching for the rest of the school as there are not enough staff.

[Giganticshark]

You can't think of another job where this would be the case? I'll give you one: supermarket assistant.

[Buttybach]

As support staff in a Sen school this scares the bejesus out of me

[DisorganisedPurpose]

So if a teacher gets it, they haven't been following the rules according to the risk assessment? Therefore would a teacher be disciplined if they get infected?

Also if the risk assessment says 2m and a teacher is required to teach in a room where that is impossible, should they not refuse and report the school to PHE or DoE if the headteacher insists?

I don't really get the comments on this thread as I never thought schools were the type of organisation that would disregard their risk assessment knowingly and by design..

[noblegiraffe]

It says 2m where possible.

That’s how they’ve fudged it.

[boriselbow]

My DH is a teacher. I think the big problem is that the Government have decided that keeping schools open to all pupils full time no matter what is a priority- but won't be honest enough to say that it's such a priority that they are willing to accept risks in schools that would not be accepted anywhere else. If they were honest about it, there would need to be some REAL discussion about how schools can be made safer (and investment in doing so) and probably some sort of financial package for teachers who are medically vulnerable/have vulnerable dependents.

That's all a bit too difficult so instead we are sold a lie that schools are somehow safe as they are. Teachers know that they should keep 2m from the children and each other 'where possible' but it's rarely possible and in any event does not protect properly when in an enclosed small classroom for 7-8 hours a day. The advice to keep windows open/work outside when possible etc does not work when it's cold and wet.

[LolaSmiles]

DisorganisedPurpose
The schools are doing their best with sheer incompetence coming from government.

The second the government decided all schools had to be fully back, no flexible timetables, no blended learning, no use of other facilities etc then social distancing was going out the window. The decicion to remove meaningful social distancing in schools comes from the top.

School leaders are having to mitigate the risks as much as possible.

In some of my classrooms I can remain 2m away from students. In other classrooms if a child tests positive then if they're sat in the front two rows I'll have to isolate because I'll have been within 2m of them for a whole lesson.

[QueenBlueberries]

As for those still comparing teachers to supermarket assistants, you are so wrong it's unbelievable. When at a till, you might be there for 5 minutes and you wear a mask. Many shops now have plexiglass boards between the till operator and customer. There is little conversation between the staff and customer. You would expect adults to use hand gel.

Teachers are between 1 and 6 hours in a row in an enclosed space with children, who rub their noses, rub their eyes, don't always wash their hands correctly, 'forget' to cough in their elbow. If you work in a school for children with special needs, you will be expected to touch the pupils, change their nappies, assist them in the toilet, help them feed, be in very close contact for hours in a row. Really, how many times is this going to have to be repeated.

[LolaSmiles]

Really, how many times is this going to have to be repeated.
You could repeat this millions of times, but those who have already decided that teachers are just lazy moaners who need to smile a bit more and think positively won't listen because they have no intention of considering they might not have a clue what's going on in schools.

[Giganticshark]

Apologies, I did not mean store assistants and customers. More of what goes on in the back with staff and staff