Do any teachers out there think schools should stay open?

[YouAreMySunshine123]

Just wondering if you ALL think they should be closed again?

[quote YouAreMySunshine123]@Bbq1 other parents need to work. They can't do this as well as the job of teacher. ALL Kids need socialisation. What is confusing? [/quote]
I didn't say I was confused nor am I. In your op you asked if "all teaching staff wanted schools to close again". I merely corrected you by stating the fact that the vast majority of schools didn't actually close during the last lockdown and some even stayed open throughout the half term. If you had been an essential worker or your child was classed as vulnerable a school place would have been available to your child. I didn't write the guidelines on which children were allowed to attend, you would need to take that up with the powers that be. Yes, all children need educating of course, I agree but claiming that schools closed during the first lockdown is incorrect.

All children need socialisation granted but some have higher needs than others.

@SchrodingersUnicorn and @Slightlybrwnbanana

for you too. Cliched, but at least we’re not on our own xx

@YouAreMySunshine123

Thank you for your kind message.

Sadly, it is a case that parents don’t want the tests. I had to get a test recently and I got one for 8.30am the same morning. We are in an area that needs a lot of testing.

The problem seems to be that if the child is isolating whilst waiting for results the family have to isolate. If they just stay off ‘poorly’ then the family can go about their business.

They don’t want a confirmed Covid test as it’s too disruptive. As I teach high school, for the most part, kids can be left on their own whilst they are at home, so this seems to be the favourite option.

[quote YouAreMySunshine123]@Viciouslybashed the thread hasn't started any teacher bashing from what I've seen. I am genuinely interested to hear the view of teachers. What's wrong with that? If you don't like it don't open it. [/quote]
Sorry probably came across more grumpy than I intended.

Everyone is focusing on the NEU calling for schools to close as part of the lockdown.

This is the NASUWT position:

esponding to the announcement of a lockdown for England by the Prime Minister in which schools and colleges will remain open, Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, said:

“With levels of virus transmission increasing exponentially, the failure to deal with the threat of the virus has, once again, been fatally exposed.

“The second wave of this pandemic is putting even more lives at risk, and it has been clear for some weeks that coordinated and urgent national action would need to be taken to tackle a crisis that is now enveloping the entire country.

“Many will recognise that the Government’s failure to heed the warnings from leading scientists by reopening schools fully in September may have contributed to the increased spread of Covid-19 transmission and rising death rates over recent weeks.

“There is widespread evidence of rising Covid-19 transmissions within schools and that opening schools fully has acted as a vector for Coronavirus transmission in the wider community. It is vital that the Government recognises that schools and colleges must be part of a national strategy to tackle the continuing spread of the virus.

“The publication of advice by the Government has not been sufficient to prevent the spread of the virus in primary, secondary and special schools or in colleges.

“Determined and radical national action and additional measures are now needed across all schools and colleges.

“The Government’s view that it remains the case that schools should remain open fully will no doubt be viewed with concern by many parents and those working in schools, especially if the Government does not come forward in the coming days with additional Covid-safety measures for schools.

“In light of the mounting evidence, it is critical that, where there is an outbreak of Covid-19 transmission in a school, employers and public health bodies act swiftly and without hesitation to protect public health by sending pupils and staff home.

“Protecting the vulnerable also needs to be a priority. However, there remain serious concerns about the risks to teachers who are vulnerable to Covid-19 transmission, including teachers who are pregnant, or clinically extremely vulnerable, or who have underlying conditions or who are from higher risk groups such as BAME teachers.

“The Government will need to do more in the coming days to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected at this critical time. Ministers have said that people should work from home where possible and that those who have underlying health conditions or who are most at risk from the Coronavirus should stay at home. The same protections now need to be introduced urgently for those working in schools and colleges as apply to workers in other sectors.

“The Government has recklessly given up on the idea that social distancing can be maintained in schools, despite the evidence that this is the best protection against the spread of the Coronavirus. The Government needs to accept that ensuring smaller classes in schools must also be considered an essential element in the country’s strategy to get control of this worsening situation.

“The Government needs to be clear with the public about the evidence upon which it is relying to insist that keeping schools open fully will not impact adversely on children, their families, those working in schools or undermine the impact of the latest national lockdown measures in bringing down rates of Coronavirus transmission.

“In the event that more children or staff will need to be at home, the Government must also pull out all the stops to ensure that all children have effective access to remote education. So far, the Government has failed to deliver on its promises of laptops for children, which is seriously hampering the efforts that are being made by schools to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children during this crisis. An urgent national plan for remote education is needed which must be backed up by substantially additional resources for schools.

“Schools will also need urgent additional support if they are to get through to Christmas and remain safe to staff and pupils, including extra funding for cleaning, PPE and for additional supply staff to cover where other teachers are absent.”

I'm a teacher and yes to it staying open (but safely)... I think we are in a minority where we are not given PPE to protect ourselves.

@OverTheRainbowLiesOz

My daughter is a teacher. She wants schools open but with much better safety procedures. They are pretty rubbish at the moment.

They're non existent!

Even so, I'm a primary teacher and I think schools should stay open. As do all my colleagues I've spoken to about it.

@DBML - I'm so sad for our profession. It's gutting that teachers are leaving because of this 😞

They should stay open but with blended learning for senior pupils as:
A) they want to be there/have exams to pass so will be more likely to do the work set
B) if they go in 2-3 days a week they can get intensive teaching then work on work set for them (and with online interaction/support from
Teachers) the other days rather than having to spend free/study periods at school
C) it will reduce congestion in corridors and contact time between staff and other pupils

There needs to be an understanding that UKS2 teachers are more at risk. My school has had nil cases elsewhere but now 4 in year 6. They need to stop lumping year 6 in with primary data. Adolescence clearly makes a big difference. I would feel a LOT happier being allowed a mask or distancing in year 6 which I currently am not because primaries are "safe". Except not because kids are tall and adolescent from year 5 onwards as the data shows.

wineandsunshine and many others that work in schools.

We have so many advertised school admin and teaching assistant jobs, so many more than usual. School admin jobs were like gold dust...not anymore.

Very much want to stay open but more safely. Would love the money to split all classes into half so smaller groups, and more staff to supervise. Also need extra cleaners. And be allowed to wear PPE.

One of my friends works in a private school in our local town that has part boarding (mostly day). Before their kids came back - day and boarding, all pupils had a private covid test purchased by the school. The school have also bought one of those machines that gives a test result within 90 minutes, so if you get a symptomatic child, you could work through a lot of the year group within a week to test everyone, starting with those who had closest contact first, and isolate cases. As a result, the teachers seem pretty chilled out about teaching - this is not a dig at state school kids, quite the opposite. The reason they are chilled out is because they know that the kids were clear at the start of term and testing facilities on-site means an outbreak would be dealt with PDQ. Those kids who are absent through isolating can join live lessons using tech. I really feel for teachers who do not have these kinds of protections - I don't think that the average teacher in good health is taking lots of risk on an individual level, BUT of course when you multiply the small chance of getting Covid badly across the whole educational population, some unlucky teachers will and that is of course potentially frightening (and more so for those with vulnerabilities or vulnerable people at home).

I'm torn. I'm personally glad schools are open, I hated being off over lockdown, I think I've already had the virus and I don't have anyone particularly vulnerable at home. But if the statistics are showing that most transmission is happening in schools I do worry that the lockdown won't be effective and that really has to be the most important thing.

I'm angry that there was an opportunity for a two week lockdown over half term, we could have borrowed days from other holidays and not affected days in school. Opportunity has now gone.
So I really don't want school to close, but I think that closing at least secondary schools would be the right thing to do. I fear this lockdown will drag on for more than 4 weeks.

Paraphrasing from a pp on another thread:
There is very little sense in allowing 15 million unrelated people to mingle in close quarters 5 days a week if you're hoping to contain the spread of a virus. In the age demographic of secondary school to university, cases are fifty times higher than they were in mid September.

People are going to suffer a fair amount during this lockdown in different ways. It’s a shame that it may all be for nothing I’d our borders remain open and the two areas (secondary and universities) where infections rates are highest are kept open.

I can understand primary schools being open as younger children do worse with remote learning, infection rates are lower there, and parents can work.

All my teacher friends want to stay open. They are also aware how little access some children have at home to technology they can do work on. There are kids in DDs year trying to do homework on phones.
Online teaching sounds great, lots of children won’t be able to participate though. It would be another thing hitting the poorest students.

@YouAreMySunshine123

Just wondering if you ALL think they should be closed again?

I’m sure you’re not trying to blame teachers for the failings of the government to follow scientific advice but please be careful as your comment could be interpreted that way.

I want safer schools to protect teachers, communities, children, families and the nhs.

They are a hotbed if transmission.

This is not teachers’ fault.

A functioning nhs is desirable. Children not losing family members is desirable.

We need safer schools, choice for parents and recognition for our amazing teachers.

Excuse the typos, tired and rapid typing because what is happening at the moment is not ok. For anyone.

I'm not a troll. I have name changed as this is clearly a divisive topic. @echt MN can check that out if they want to

Thank you, OP. I've now figured why my post was deleted. Now I only have to wonder why on other threads, the same accusations by other posters are not deleted.

I'm a primary teacher and I wear a mask all day in the classroom. I'm the only one who does at our school, and I'm sure the head isn't too happy. But realistically what can the school do? I know the union will defend my right to wear a mask, and it'll look pretty crap if I get Covid and die, and it turns out I wasn't allowed to wear one. Government advice says it's not necessary to wear a mask, it doesn't say it's not allowed. So if you would feel better wearing one, just do it

I'm a primary teacher and I wear a mask all day in the classroom. I'm the only one who does at our school, and I'm sure the head isn't too happy. But realistically what can the school do? I know the union will defend my right to wear a mask, and it'll look pretty crap if I get Covid and die, and it turns out I wasn't allowed to wear one. Government advice says it's not necessary to wear a mask, it doesn't say it's not allowed. So if you would feel better wearing one, just do it

This is a terrible position for you to be put in, and the government is entirely to blame. Where I am, in Victoria, where masks are mandatory as is SD for staff (not perfect, I know) all staff have been emailed to say they must not make other staff feel uncomfortable if they have their own wacky interpretations of mask wearing/SD/sneezing, etc. What matters is that the government has laid down the law and isn't courting the opinion of libertarians.

@wondersun as stated up thread the question was promoted by news of teaching unions calling for closure. I was interested to see if this was a widely held view by teaching staff.

Someone then pointed out that not ALL unions are calling for closure but are asking instead for safer conditions. I was not aware of this as it had not been so widely reported.

Please don't tell me to "be careful" it sounds like you are trying to make some sort of threat. Thanks.

No threat but I do think you should be careful not to upset people and cause any more negativity towards teachers. They have been doing us proud. Too much has been asked if them.

I’m glad other people have explained it to you. I’m too tired of teacher bashing to comment any further.

As I stated above, schools need to close to lots of children because they’re not safe and out nhs isn’t safe. They tick every box for coronavirus spread in their current form.

They’ve never closed completely. They won’t close completely. None of this is teachers fault.

I teach and believe schools should be open, yes.
I don't know any teachers or school staff who have wanted schools to close.
In fact I don't know any teachers and school staff who work in schools which closed - my own school was open with full bubbles from April and throughout. We have a lot of key worker parents and vulnerable children so pretty much al staff were in worming FT, including during 3 weeks of unpaid holidays.

What I would like is safer schools and I don't understand why some parents aren't fighting for that.

Whilst their own child might be perfectly fine if they catch Covid not all will be, nor their teachers, TAs, etc. If you want your child's school to stay open longer, and have less bubble closures, etc then that is what you should be fighting for.

Make schools safer for all.

I also think teachers should continue to attend schools in lockdown

As said, most (bar 4 of us who are either vulnerable or live someone who is vulnerable) were in FT throughout the last lockdown, including the holidays. The other 4 oversaw most of the home learning, with pre recorded videos done by some of the staff in school too for us. I worked very long hours overseeing or school HL last time. A couple did PT hours at home and school (assisting with HL) due to needing to look after their own young children. All teaching staff monitored ad gave feedback on HL from their classes, but after school hours - again, all done in their own time.

I am currently off sick slowly recovering from Covid (picked up at school I should add) and I am still working. We have some class closures sill and some individual children isolating, so I am again overseeing HL, this time from the comfort of my bed or sofa. I even did some whilst in my hospital bed too!

that we should offer a combination of both live and recorded lessons with support available over this period.

We provided a minimum of 5 subjects a day, including pre recorded videos for core subjects. We didn't do live lessons as these were not appropriate for our children's ages or the school community. Our parents didn't particularly want them anyway and preferred the option of being able to do the home learning at a time which suited them, especially when they trying to wfh too.