Angry teachers why aren't your leadership team doing more?

[Blanketyblankblankety]

If there's 2-3 teachers catching Corona daily in one school (15 a week) as stated on another thread why on earth has your leadership team not shut the school? Another school with 66 cases in pupils in one week, why is the school still open?
Before you say the government won't support it, that's rubbish. My DCs school has recently shut for 2 weeks at least to all but year 11 and 13. And they had much fewer cases than above and none in staff.
You should be lobbying your leadership team as they sound useless.

Yes, we sent some home 'just in case'. They were back the next day in one case, and isolating for 14 days in the other case. Better safe(r) than sorry.

My DCs school are working with the Regional Health Team regarding the mainly whole school closure (all except years 11 and 13). Teachers also wear masks/visors in class and have done since September. They self isolate if they have stepped past a line in the class. I can't believe how different this is to other schools. I just feel they are dealing so much better with things than the schools I read about on here. They have really excellent home learning set up, have ensured all DC can access it and have deviseds to do so and very few vulnerable DC. Could this be why they've been able to shut? I

@Blanketyblankblankety

My DCs school are working with the Regional Health Team regarding the mainly whole school closure (all except years 11 and 13). Teachers also wear masks/visors in class and have done since September. They self isolate if they have stepped past a line in the class. I can't believe how different this is to other schools. I just feel they are dealing so much better with things than the schools I read about on here. They have really excellent home learning set up, have ensured all DC can access it and have deviseds to do so and very few vulnerable DC. Could this be why they've been able to shut? I

Where are you based in the U.K.?

@Blanketyblankblankety

My DCs school are working with the Regional Health Team regarding the mainly whole school closure (all except years 11 and 13). Teachers also wear masks/visors in class and have done since September. They self isolate if they have stepped past a line in the class. I can't believe how different this is to other schools. I just feel they are dealing so much better with things than the schools I read about on here. They have really excellent home learning set up, have ensured all DC can access it and have deviseds to do so and very few vulnerable DC. Could this be why they've been able to shut? I

I also find it very interesting that even with those measures, you have still had to shut. We’ve no hope

@ChloeDecker I also find it very interesting that even with those measures, you have still had to shut. We’ve no hope in fairness the cases have been in the DC not the teachers but I do know what you mean!

Round here schools seem to be isolating whole year group for one case ? How comes others are getting advised differently

The Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson has done such a good Invisible Man impersonation that people seem to forget that he might have degree of accountability in this.

This weekend, we'd have 'teachers need to lobby at a local level for the right to wear masks in school (but never mind the children as they're not spreading it)' and 'why can't teachers shut their school?'

If individual schools had had more autonomy months ago, the situations in them would very likely be much better than they are. As even the SLTs rely on watching the telly to see what the plans are re: schools, it's all been a bit of a shambles.

I work in a college and we have roughly 10 members of staff off at a time testing positive (they never announce the numbers of students isolating or positive).

I've never felt so over worked as I have this year. The students aren't getting the best me. Its just a matter of time until it's my turn to get covid from work. My DH has severe asthma so I'm terrified of bringing it home.

Schools and colleges can't take it upon themselves to do what they see best unfortunately. And if we did close we would be putting our students education at risk and potentially putting them behind others in the country.

Round here schools seem to be isolating whole year group for one case ? How comes others are getting advised differently
Part of it will depend on their risk assessment and the measures they have in place. This will vary school to school, for example one school I know has each year group in entirely separate zones, another has class bubbles so KS3 stay with their tutor group for everything in the same room, another has students in sets for lessons so a positive case could mean 5 groups have to isolate.

The other factor seems to be who schools speak to when they call up. Some decisions I've heard of are from teachers who can't understand the difference in reactions between two cases in the same school. There's no consistency.

“The decisions come from the dfe who are completely aware of the dire situations in schools and choosing to pretend it isn’t happening covering it up in anyway possible.”

I agree. Why don’t SLT use their position to try to hold DofE accountable.

Head Teachers have a duty of care and if they can’t keep the school safe, why aren’t they telling their bosses they can’t? Maybe raising a Health and Safety concern, or writing to local authorities or DofE or publicising what’s going on?

Well, noblegiraffe and other teachers are doing a sterling job of raising awareness on MN as to the dire situation in secondary schools.

The actual media, whose job it is to publish this type of information, seem to not want to touch it.

What makes you think SLTs aren't flagging up concerns left, right and centre?

Why on earth are we back to 'blame the teachers?'

Because some schools do seem to be managing this much better than others.

Sorry that sounds so awful I don't mean to criticise anyone. I am just astounded by school that has 15 teachers a week testing positive that is still open.

Sorry that sounds so awful I don't mean to criticise anyone

You have quite literally started a thread criticising teachers. Well, specifically SLT, who are all teachers.

Heads ring a helpline and are given advice which they have to follow. Blame the people giving the advice, not heads.

@Redlocks28

Sorry that sounds so awful I don't mean to criticise anyone

You have quite literally started a thread criticising teachers. Well, specifically SLT, who are all teachers.

Heads ring a helpline and are given advice which they have to follow. Blame the people giving the advice, not heads.

To be fair, some SLT's are woeful and are putting both their staff and students at risk.

I'm not even a teacher and I'm sick of hearing about how teachers need to 'lobby' central government, local government and any other decision-making body going.

How about parents, rather than posting on MN about how teachers should do more, doing the lobbying?

How about some of the journalists who frequent MN covering the situation in secondary schools?

@christinarossetti19

I'm not even a teacher and I'm sick of hearing about how teachers need to 'lobby' central government, local government and any other decision-making body going.

How about parents, rather than posting on MN about how teachers should do more, doing the lobbying?

How about some of the journalists who frequent MN covering the situation in secondary schools?

We tried. My daughter was threatened with disciplinary.

Erm, I'm the teacher at the school with 15 staff cases. It wasn't over a week, it was two or three weeks, and we DID close. We're a small secondary and can't cover that many staff absences.

They stopped emailing us about student cases as there were so many. I'm nervous about going back. But the buck doesn't stop with the Headteacher on this, surely you know that?

I'm not even a teacher and I'm sick of hearing about how teachers need to 'lobby' central government, local government and any other decision-making body going.
Thank you

The silly thing is that before the summer school leaders and teaching unions DID tell the government what would be needed to open schools safely and effectively. The result was being attacked in the media, accused of being work shy and failing the children, accused of wanting to be paid for doing nothing and then a whole load of gaslighting.
There were multiple threads a day on here where posters who don't work in schools would have a go at teachers, say they want to shut the schools, want to be paid for sitting around. It was silly.

Even now there's still threads saying 'AIBU to think that teachers want to close all the schools'

@Blanketyblankblankety

Because some schools do seem to be managing this much better than others.

Of course there are variations in how schools are managing, depending on community rates, their pupil and staff profiles, the physicality of their buildings, how large the school is, the way their pupils travel into school, the number of CEV families including staff.

And sheer luck.

In the same way that some hospitals, or care homes, or residential seem to be managing better than others.

But I don't remember seeing threads about how it was the responsibility of frontline health care and care staff to lobby the government for suitable PPE, cleaning etc. Posters seemed much clearer where the responsibility for central government policy lay.

The secondary school situation has strong similarities to that in care homes earlier this year. Central government policy was to vacate as many hospital beds as possible which in practice involves sending patients untested for covid into care homes, where the virus ripped through.

With schools, central government policy was that they'll be open, full time for all children. Not surprisingly, having hundreds of children mixing in an environment where it isn't possible to properly socially distance, with minimal other mitigation measures, and certainly not routine testing even if known to have been in 'close contact' with a positive case, has led to the virus tearing through schools.

If you think this is because teachers haven't done enough lobbying, then I honestly despair.

Comeawayfrom just seen your post.

Is your daughter a teacher?

No, my daughter is a student, my husband is a teacher.

Dd approached head of pastoral about numerous things that were making her feel unsafe and their own risk assesment not being followed. Noting was done so she emailed smt. Meanwhile the entire 6th form were sent home due to cases and too much mixing and she had no reply. There were other things too that appeared on th school social media which are a bit outing. So she emailed again and received a response that it was not appropriate and she was being rude and disrespectful and if she did not retract her complaints action would be taken.

Meanwhile a member of the HR team verbally warned dh that he had better watch what he is saying when he made a truthful comment about the situation to another colleague.

That sounds dreadful Comefromaway.

I don't understand why schools can't be reported to HSE for unsafe working environments - maybe someone on here has a H&S background and can advise?

Also, the biggest issue I have going forward is that although it's essential that schools remain open and teachers have been amazing and keeping things going as best possible despite it putting themselves at risk, they're not on any list for vaccination. If social workers are a priority for vaccination, teachers should be also.