If it's OK for teachers to have to carry on working....

[jomartin281271]

If it's OK for teachers to have to carry on working, why isn't it OK for MPs to go back to Parliament and work no PPE and no social distancing? These MPs know how dangerous it is out there and there's no way they'll put themselves in danger, but they're quite happy to throw teachers under the bus. And by the way, I'm not a teacher, I'm an appalled parent.

@ShatnersBaboon

It's fairly shit for everyone who can't work at home. Teachers can wear a mask and maintain a 1m distance from others if they choose to, just like shop workers, bus drivers, social workers, bank clerks...

It isn’t possible for the teacher or TA to be 1m away from children/each other in my sons class as the room is so small. My son is hearing impaired, as is another child in the class, if the teacher or TA wear a mask or visor my son and the other pupil cannot hear anything they are saying.

Shop workers etc don’t spend five hours a day in relatively small rooms with around 30 other people who are not wearing masks.

@Leflic

We’re key workers. The status that got us preferential treatment on buying houses amongst other things. Turns out that what the country really needs when the shit hits the fan are farmers, supermarket staff, nurses with someone to do childcare. But hey ho. Keep complaining whilst the rest of the key workers just get on with it.

Are you fucking serious? I'm not sure how to take your comment. Secondary school teachers are not childcare and I don't believe anyone thinks so. I'm hoping I have completely misinterpreted your comments but if not... Have some fucking respect for your colleagues who are classed as vulnerable. Who are expected to teach in front of 100+ daily without Ppe. Without 16+ year olds wearing masks. Can you think of any other keyworker who has to deal with that?

I am grateful for every NHS worker and any other supermarket worker or carer or anyone else I've missed. I've not hear a bad word uttered about any of these workers. Instead, the country was up in arms fighting for their right to PPE. But teachers? Fuck 'em.

@timeforanewstart

Its not just teachers though is it

Who else has been 'advised' that PPE is unnecessary?

I’ve managed for seven weeks.

Well good for you. The teachers and support staff who work with children with severe learning difficulties don't stand a chance. My nephew is 10 but in reality he's more like working with a 2-3 year old. Social distancing is next to impossible due to a mix of medical needs and his developmental age and support that is needed.

@ShatnersBaboon

It's fairly shit for everyone who can't work at home. Teachers can wear a mask and maintain a 1m distance from others if they choose to, just like shop workers, bus drivers, social workers, bank clerks...

We're not allowed to wear masks in classrooms.

And we can't always stay 1m away from young struggling children. Sure you wouldn't want us to leave your children to flounder because we wouldn't go near them.

@user1471530109 supermarket workers never had ppe until recently and why can't you wear a mask ? Or ask students to some schools have
Plus more details due next week maybe masks will be included
Ds1 wears mask in college walking around wtc , can remove in classroom but is small class and teacher keeping distance

I wear a mask at work.
Up until october I was only wearing a visor.
The hundreds of people i serve dont wear masks when I get closer than 1m.
I have to touch things they have had in their mouths.
My job is not essential or safe, in either sense of the word.
This idea that teachers are so much more hard done by than everyone else in the world is frankly bullshit and very bloody boring at this point.

@user147 then campaign your unions etc

I work in Y2- the classroom is tiny and with desks spaced out as much as possible it's nigh on impossible to to even find a space in the room 1m from any child. And besides, the day to running of a class full of 30 needy 6 year olds would make social distancing impossible. There's books and sheets to hand out- children need assistance with their work, soap need dispensing to them around 4 times a day, shoe laces need tiring, coats need fastening- zips get stuck, grazed knees need plasters putting on,. Then there's the numerous intervention groups to take out for phonic, handwriting, one to one reading etc. I wear a visor, but a mask would just not work for teaching infants- the visor is barrier to sound as well which makes the job difficult.

@MoonPomme exactly i get what they are saying but they are not the only ones , police are not all wearing masks either and i guess you mean waitresses etc
Have unions done a ballot to see if teachers want masks ? If not why not ? Surely if its a yes they can then help fight for this aren't they there to help with conditions

As a teacher I'm more than happy to be at work. I simply want to be as safe as anyone else at work in the current climate. Shop workers have screens and customers in masks, bus drivers have screens and mask wearing passengers, lots of people who work in offices are working from home (or will be) or, at the least, are sitting at socially distanced desks with adults who are also being careful.

Teaching IS different. It involves mixing with large numbers of people (close to adults in the case of secondary) who often do not comply with rules without encouragement. It involves working in rooms that are smaller than they should be and less well ventilated than they need to be and is a job that by its very definition, requires interaction.

Teaching is really tough at the moment. I've been in the job for 20 years and this last half term I've basically had to find new strategies for almost everything I do. Show us a whole load of data that tells us that the country is in a mess, cases are rising and out of control and then tell us we'll be fine if you must put please don't expect us to be ok with it.
I have children. I too want them to be at school but ONLY if it's safe for both them and their teachers. Honestly, those who feel differently need to really question their own sense of right and wrong here.

Literally no one (hopefully) is saying that teachers are the only people who have to work during the pandemic. Some posters are pointing out that most other jobs encourage you to social distance and have PPE - whether or not that is totally effective is another matter. The government guidance for primary schools is that PPE and social distancing is not necessary, so teachers haven’t really got anything more than opening windows. We can’t do our jobs properly at a distance in primary.

All of this is true and yet none of it takes away from the issues and injustices that other workers face at this time. People seem unable to handle it, though, and shout “but what about ME??? It’s not JUST teachers!” like anyone said it was. Stating the facts isn’t moaning and it’s utterly unfair to say that “no other key workers moan” - that’s bollocks, you just don’t like teachers for whatever weird reason.

Amazingly, you can point out difficulties in one job without saying it’s the only job ever that experiences them.

@echt

At least teachers have a job, which is valued and protected

It is not valued and they are not protected.

See these boards for the vitriol and contempt poured on teachers during the last lockdown and which continues to this day. As for protected, many are not even allowed to wear masks, the protections offered are pitiful and come out of shrinking budgets.

This.

I work in an industry which is [largely] undervalued and unprotected.
Thank God for the people who do appreciate us.
Someone said at the beginning of the first lockdown - "We're all in the same boat". Not true at all. Empathy wouldn't go amiss right now.

@FreekStar so do you think more teachers want masks than don't or you think maybe should be a choice

my dc secondary teachers are maintaining the distance , they also allow masks for those that want to wear them so schools seem to be able to put in place restrictions of they want

In your sample size of one school.

Listen to the people telling you about other types of school.

I'm in secondary. The rooms aren't physically big enough to 1m away at all times. No matter what my HT says.

Oh dear me. So what is the difference between teachers and pharmacists / shop workers/ carers / gas engineers

This message of if you can work from home, work from home is being abused by some employers. Mine included. We can work from home and did during lockdown one but the CEO wants all people in even if for just one day a week. It’s ludicrous.

Teachers can wear a mask and maintain a 1m distance from others if they choose to

Who is dense enough to actually think this let alone type it?!

Supermarket workers had the public behind them, outraged that they weren't protected. And you well know, because it is repeated over and over on here that teachers are asked not to wear masks in classrooms and it isn't on the government guidance so many headteachers haven't brought that in even between lessons. You also know, that me wearing a mask isn't enough to protect me. I need the 30+ 16 yr olds facing me to wear one too. The most annoying thing is they all would without a problem. But it needs to come from above. If I ask them to, the head will pull me up because some dickhead (there are many-have you seen these threads??) parent will complain. The head won't go above the shitting DfE who won't go beyond BoJo and Gav.

I'm a single parent. I can't afford to say 'fuck it'. Plus I don't want to! I love my job. I love the kids I teach. They will all tell you I go the extra mile and I'm not taking the piss. I need, and so do all of us, the parents to back us. I don't understand why you are so against us asking for protection. I've never regretted my career choice. But the disrespect for teachers on this site is enough to make the most experienced hard nosed teacher to want to quit.

'Shop workers etc don’t spend five hours a day in relatively small rooms with around 30 other people who are not wearing masks.'
Shop workers dont.
Waitresses do.
But instead of 30, or even 30 an hour, make that 60 an hour for 10 or 11 hours a day.
Its shit.
The main difference is people dont need to eat overpriced mass produced meals.
Children do need educating.
Thats why teachers will still have jobs.
My colleagues and I might not be so lucky.

Last time I checked, police weren't spending hours a day with 30+ people in poorly ventilated spaces.
Not that this debate is about anyone else's careers.

Unions were suitably vilified in the first lockdown so they can't do anything now without being accused of hating children.

They can't win in this one can they, telling businesses to facilitate staff wfh wherever possible to reduce the number of people commuting on public transport etc etc, but then being in themselves. Or the opposite and not going in, and having people who are out working moaning.

Lots of people are working - if they don't you won't have all the normal comforts we all take for granted ticking away in the background.

The reason for people to wfh when they can is to reduce the number of contacts overall and to help hospitals cope with other emergencies such as accidents etc.

It doesn't mean it is dangerous, it is about reducing contacts. Society needs to run and we are all doing our bit with our jobs and teachers are part of that.

Sorry, but waitresses in restaurants are in nowhere near as close a contact with their customers as I am in my school to the children. In the restaurant I went to yesterday the only time the staff came within 1m was to briefly pop our plates down and then collect them again. And she was wearing a mask and a visor.

@vipersputpaidtomylastusername

So what is the difference between teachers and pharmacists / shop workers/ carers / gas engineers

It takes a special kind of ignorance to even ask that question. But just for a start - PPE. Working with large groups of people who don’t and often can’t socially distance. Working in crowded rooms with poor ventilation. Shared toilets with no cleaning during the day. And so on.