Another school one but please read!!

[lealealealea]

I have 2 DCs. Eldest in secondary, Youngest in primary.

Eldest has teachers from 4 of her subjects off isolating. In one of the subjects, the original teacher went off isolating and then the substitute went off isolating and they now have another substitute. The first to test positive was a pupil though.

In one department there is only one teacher left for that subject in the whole large secondary!

She's being supervised to study a lot by teachers who don't even teach that subject.

Three times (!) just in the past week I've had separate letters saying test and trace has been in the school.

My younger child in primary - he has had three different teachers covering this week for teacher isolating, and no homework been sent. Had two letters since schools went back from test and trace.

I've read in the news today about teachers being put under pressure to switch off the app or still come in even if they are a contact of a positive case.

Please be clear that I am not blaming teachers or schools in any way. I feel for them doing what must be an incredibly difficult job. I'm just putting it out there that it seems to be an untenable situation where education is suffering anyway.

Yep its a mess. My DDs school has the entire history department off at the moment and the work being left is woeful. There's supply teachers by the minutes meaning they're exposed to even more different people throughout the day/week. Shes in her 2nd period of isolation since September and theyre only sending close contacts home, not whole bubbles. It was always going to be a disaster because the government refused to put a single penny into making schools safe, so here we are.

Yes. We are on our second isolation round. Its only close contacts not whole bubbles but it means several teachers are off when the contact is front row - so the class in school get supply. The isolators get work set by isolating teachers if not ill. Some teachers have 'teamsed" their class with a TA covering for behaviour.
Not the schools fault obviously but a mess

Lots of teachers aired their concern on here but were abused.

It really is a case of ‘we told you so’ when no one wanted to listen. Schools open at any cost, including the health of school staff. I am not really sure what you expect us to do?

DD is in an important year and has an English teacher 'supervising' Chemistry (told to get laptops out and study) whilst popping in and out to do other stuff, she has had 3 different History teachers in the past week and is down to the last, and if her Art teacher (the one remaining teacher in the whole school) has to isolate, the whole Art department for all years is going to online only.

My son has 3 different teachers in primary this week.

There's no way it's a proper education. The 'answer' cannot be to restrict teachers from isolating. Why didn't they do blended learning if it's about education.

I know they are doing the best they can, the blame does not lie with them.

Yes, please do email your MP outlining the situation in your school and ask them what they propose to do about it.

Ask them why they are not following WHO recommendations for safer school opening.

Ask them why they have switched from having pupils in bubbles to only sending home close contacts.

Ask them why no funding is being given to school for covid measures.

Ask why head teachers are now essentially doing the job of test and trace in schools without any training or extra resources.

Ask why they ignored SAGE’s calls to shut secondary schools during this lockdown.

Why didn't they do blended learning if it's about education.

I think this would have been the best way forward, and to be honest would have resulted in equally high outcomes - at least down my end (KS1) - but the idea was unpalatable to many. I agree that now we've got the worst of all worlds. In my school we have two year groups out, one teacher from a different year group isolating and teaching through Zoom from home, and positive cases in the after school club staff which has meant another year group are about half in and half out. It's really just firefighting and the children would have made more progress with part time, but I do appreciate people want places for their children to go while they work.

Isthatitnow You get me wrong, I don't think it's teachers fault at all.

@noblegiraffe - thank you I will.

I am so cross schools have been put in this position. Its only through things like mn where people all round the country can illustrate how its impacting on them that you get the scale of weeks missed etc.

Unfortunately, when teachers post about the problems they are shouted down. Schools are going to shut or be massively disrupted. Neither is good for children.

There are two possible solutions.

1. Much better PPE, everyone wearing masks, proper social distancing, possible rota systems to spread kids out.

1. Vaccinate teachers after elderly and vulnerable to allow schools to run properly.

This seems to be opposed so chaos will continue.

Yeah, she's about to sit whatever the exams now are at the end of the month (main exams cancelled, it's now called checkpoints or evidence) and in nearly half of her classes the teacher/supervisor doesn't even teach the subject! It's crazy, especially since a vaccine is now imminent.

Online / blended surely wouldn't have been worse than this, and potentially better.

Also in my son's primary, no homework is being sent as it's a different covering teacher almost every day.

I repeat - I don't think it's teachers faults. I just think it's a mess.

My daughter is a secondary teacher and is now teaching several subjects!

And crossing multiple bubbles. There is no effective testing system for teachers.

Yes it's a mess. I'd assume, maybe wrongly, that the subject specialist - or a subject specialist - is at least setting the work.

Yep, it's a mess, not to mention fucking dangerous. Pupils and teachers are being treated like an experiment

It’s a terrible situation in schools and the government don’t want to listen as schools act as babysitters. Until they listen and accept the reality staff and kids are suffering. I so wish there was more support for teachers and staff as we’ve been saying it all along.

As the parent of an exhausted young teacher who is working flat out, including all evenings and weekends I now have total disdain for the system.

Government isn't listening.
Parents are not listening.

It's going to come crashing down.

And how many threads on here said "No blended learning! All back in school"?

Yep we must turn off our bluetooth on entering the school building. When queried it was because our phones are not with us at all times and so if it was say in a bag in a locker it could be close CD to a contact when we are not physically there . We've also been encouraged (informally) to not turn it on at all outside school due to too many staff being contacted

And meantime people are planning to take their kids out early to "save Christmas"...

Yes agreed it’s an absolute shambles.

20+ cases in both my dc secondary schools. 4 cases in my primary. Staff and children doing two weeks isolation only to come back and after a couple of days doing it again.
Children facing exams on 3rd / 4th / 5th lot of isolation.
Children being taught by anyone that can be found to stand in front of a class.
Schools hanging on by a thread.

But Boris / Gav can say schools are open and when you write to your mp they ignore every point you make and just tell you how important that it is that children are in school. Like we don’t bloody well know that

My class and me are isolating started today. I spent 6 hours prepping more home learning stuff that is the same in essence as the classroom lessons. Tomorrow I am zooming for an hour during which I will do a bit of maths with them. Then by Friday I hope to have the work ready for up to Christmas.

I spent two days in school during half term prepping the first two weeks so maybe in some strange ironic way I am being paid back as I can't leave my house till Tuesday. I don't have any symptoms at all it was a pupil who tested positive.

It is the most strange surreal situation and I can't wait for this all to be over! I feel weirdly grateful that I am getting the chance to have a proper lunch break and not have to clean tables but I feel very guilty that I am not there even though it's not my choice!

Schools are so stretched. Teachers and school leaders are trying their best. It's all a big mess!

On the other side of it my daughter who is one of the few still standing in her secondary has taught the following subjects in the last week -

Geography
History
English
Maths
Music
Religious Education
Computer Studies

All preparation lesson time now taken / books not allowed to be taken home so really difficult to mark work and the photocopier isn't working.