School bubbles disappearing after Christmas and worried.

[motherrunner]

At my secondary school the majority of our mitigation measures will disappear after Christmas. There will be no more staggered breaks, no more separating bubbles, no extra cleaning, we will just be protected by the ‘2m’ rule and masks in corridors. The reason why is that our budget only allowed for extra cleaning until Christmas and were only able to keep pupils separated by is taking on extra duties each day and our 1265 hours only could be spared until
Christmas. We won’t even be protected by SI anymore as contacts won’t be isolating, just taking a lateral flow test each day which aren’t very successful.

My anxiety is sky high. I am already on anti anxiety medication, run each day and try to practise mindfulness. Has anyone got any other tips to help me relax? I was so looking forward to this holiday and being a parent. My children have not had the best of me for so long but I just can’t ‘switch off’.

I just don't understand the point of the testing, I think it's just to look like they are doing something so they can keep the schools open and they really couldn't care less about the safety of the staff. Are students going to be expected to carry out the tests themselves?? I think that will make the results totally unreliable.
www.newscientist.com/article/2263746-test-caught-just-3-per-cent-of-students-with-covid-19-at-uk-university/

Schools won't re-open in Jan op. You will be teaching online.

This makes interesting though unsurprising reading:

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/22/most-covid-costs-facing-uk-schools-will-not-be-covered-by-government

@SOmuchsparkle

Schools won't re-open in Jan op. You will be teaching online.

That's not what the latest DfE guidance says

[quote motherrunner]@IloveJKRowling. I do feel scared. I don’t like to say it though as I feel maybe I’m being over dramatic. I’ve been on the medication since August and at least it helps me sleep.

I’ve never tried to wear a mask in class as it goes against our guidance. Parents are very vocal where I work and I know there would be complaints.[/quote]
How much of a spine does your HT have when it comes to parental complaints?

@Anon12345678910

Bloody fucking hell OP get signed off, I would!

If I was a teacher and all this was happening I would be off for 6 months with a sick note. Think teachers need to start taking time off to be appreciated better by their schools, the dfe and the government!

Dh is a. Secondary teacher and feels the same. They have capacity for 12 Lateral flow tests an hour. If anyone can explain how that works I'd love to know.

I’ve never tried to wear a mask in class as it goes against our guidance. Parents are very vocal where I work and I know there would be complaints

I can understand the reticence given you've had no support but at some point it becomes masks or no teachers - or it should.

Everyone would think it was utterly reprehensible if a builder was expected to work without a hard hat on site by their employer. This is really no different (if anything it's more serious, with covid rates as they are). Every other employee wears a mask, my DH was given several by his employer and he has virtually zero face to face contact with anyone else these days (it's all zoom etc). The masks were for simply entering work buildings for short periods of time.

The people that want 'schools open at all costs' seem to often be the ones that are anti-mask. The two things should really be mutually exclusive now with the new variant.

Masks are worn by kids from the age of 6 in most other countries, and their teachers too. It's ridiculous that the UK, with rates as they are, don't have them in classrooms. Utter lunacy.

Also, I hear what you're saying about letting colleagues and students down if you were signed off - but really would you be? You'd be doing what you needed to do in an unsustainable situation. Long term I don't think it's good for kids to see this level of irresponsibility towards teachers and their health - and the expectation they'll just put up with worse and worse working conditions - what is hat teaching them? I don't think it's good for them to see this level of lack of care towards students themselves.

The way the government is behaving is the polar opposite of what we tell children in schools - you need to respect other people, be kind, community spirited, treat them well.

I completely agree that the ever-changing guidance about schools is stressful and it sounds as though announcements about reducing current measures in your school are adding to that.

Are you a member of SLT or are you (technically) able to switch off from following the news about the latest changes to guidance? If you're not SLT, I wonder if it would be helpful for you to identify things you have control over and that you can do to feel safer in school e.g. cleaning door handles, wearing a mask for teaching etc.? It's possible to get masks with clear panels over the mouth so students who rely on lip-reading or who need to see the full facial expression are still able to do so. Perhaps you could look into getting yourself some of those so as to head off anticipated criticism by parents? Although cleaning door handles isn't a job teachers would ordinarily do, likewise supply the materials to do so, if you would feel happier doing that, write a list of supplies you intend to take with you when term starts. Given the likelihood that the government will change its mind approximately 72 times before 4th January, would it work to limit yourself to only looking at the guidance once every 3/4 days instead of daily? And to then think about aspects you are able to control to some degree?

I teach primary so don't have the issue of testing of my pupils to worry about over Christmas but DH and my DCs are all secondary (DH is a teacher!) so January is a hot topic. DC1 is in Y11 and fretting about GCSEs, DC2 is Y7 and fretting about the rest of us being at our schools and unable to help when the WiFi goes down/Teams doesn't play ball. Neither of them are bothered by/interested in the tests. They are both aware that a local secondary was one of the national pilot schools and that their friends from primary school who go there have been very positive about how the testing has been working over the past couple of months. Parents and staff seem to be similarly positive about how routine it's become and how only 3 positive cases have been identified so far. In spite of the concerns about the tests, covid has not spread through the school and no bubbles have needed to isolate yet. Close contacts of the positive cases were retested every 48 hours and there don't seem to have been any secondary cases yet. Sanitiser, cleaning, staggered starts and other measures continue to be in place at that school so it wasn't a case of testing instead of those measures. In any case, unless there is a high level of students opting in to the tests, I would imagine your school would have no option other than to continue with the safety measures already in place.

Feeling so on edge is exhausting, especially as it comes at the end of a term that feels as though it's been about one year long. If you can direct your anxiety to help you take control over some aspects of January, that might be a useful distraction but if not, busying yourself with complicated boardgames, origami, baking and other things that need your attention may give you a few minutes respite.

Thank you again for all the supportive comments. Been awake since 3 so decided to get up and potter around. In answer to some questions:

• regarding the 1265. Extra duties could only be factored in until Xmas. I haven’t worked 1265. The only way to cater time for those continued duties would be to cancel other after school events from now to the summer so meetings/parents evenings/options evenings etc.

-Pupils come first at my school so although HT would support me mask wearing, if it was complained about they would cave to parents. -I’m not SLT. Been a teacher for 20 years and it’s the only career I’ve known. It’a who I am. Guess I’m some ways that’s my downfall as I invest so much of my life to school to the detriment of my own family (although m DC have never known anything different).

@SE13Mummy Thank you for the practical tips. I need to keep my mind busy. I know that won’t help my situation January but I want to enjoy this holiday as much as I can.

And this is why lockdowns are pointless..

Seriously though, I feel sorry for teachers - pre-Covid too. They get all the extra shit and pressure and non of the understanding or empathy. I honestly don’t know why there hasn’t been a mass strike. People say it’s important for children to be educated, but I think showing them that they don’t have to put up unsafe and unhealthy working conditions is an important lesson.

@motherrunner

Thank you again for all the supportive comments. Been awake since 3 so decided to get up and potter around. In answer to some questions:

• regarding the 1265. Extra duties could only be factored in until Xmas. I haven’t worked 1265. The only way to cater time for those continued duties would be to cancel other after school events from now to the summer so meetings/parents evenings/options evenings etc.

-Pupils come first at my school so although HT would support me mask wearing, if it was complained about they would cave to parents. -I’m not SLT. Been a teacher for 20 years and it’s the only career I’ve known. It’a who I am. Guess I’m some ways that’s my downfall as I invest so much of my life to school to the detriment of my own family (although m DC have never known anything different).

@SE13Mummy Thank you for the practical tips. I need to keep my mind busy. I know that won’t help my situation January but I want to enjoy this holiday as much as I can.

If mask wearing would make you feel safer, then I would do it.

If your head tells you not to, at that point, tell him that you have been feeling very anxious and the alternative is probably you getting signed off.

If your area is anything like mine, getting supply is bloody tough, even if the school has the money - unless it's long term guaranteed work, we simply have not been able to do it!

I would also speak to your in school union rep and get them onside.

If you have given it your best shot, and you aren't allowed to wear a mask, then you can get signed off with no guilt (well, not no guilt, but less, certainly).

Totally agree with sansashark re saying mask or signed off. Heads won't want to lose more staff.

I still don't understand what the 1265 hours are or what duties have got to do with parents evenings etc. Is 1265 a sort of limit of hours we're supposed to work or something? I've never heard of anything like that. If it is, then I wouldn't let it stop you doing something that you think increases safety. I doubt anyone is going to complain if you work more than you're supposed to!

I hope you are able to relax a bit over Christmas.

It's most interesting to me that the reports of cases in past 10 days at schools in my county are 3/5 primary schools.

My county produces a list of schools with at least 1 positive case and they are only kept in there whilst staff or students from that school are isolating.

I wonder if government are actually keeping this data at national level and using it to form such practices.

Eg primary no masks are required at any time.

@manicinsomniac 1265 hours is directed time, it is time where you can be directed by the head as to what you are supposed to be doing and where - it includes teaching hours, duties, time you must be on the premises (but not lunch), meetings, parents evenings etc. The other things you need to do to complete your job you can choose when and where to do (things like planning and marking) don't form part of the 1265 hours.

Schools should be able to give you a breakdown of the hours. For example if you work at a school and they say you have to be there from 8.30-3.30 every day but get an hour for lunch that would be 6 hours per day. Things outside of this such as meetings and parents evening are added on top, but in total can't come to more than 1265 hours.

So if they have increased the length of the school day to allow staggering that may mean they need to lose something else to avoid going over the time limit.

Oh, I see - thanks, FiggyPudding. My school just has holidays and term time, I haven't heard about directed hours before. Makes sense now. So motherrunner can't just carry on with the extra duties regardless because she'd be breaking her contract? That is tough. You definitely shouldn't be in a position where it's safety or going over your hours.

@manicinsomniac

Oh, I see - thanks, FiggyPudding. My school just has holidays and term time, I haven't heard about directed hours before. Makes sense now. So motherrunner can't just carry on with the extra duties regardless because she'd be breaking her contract? That is tough. You definitely shouldn't be in a position where it's safety or going over your hours.

It's not you can't work over your hours, most teachers do - anything you do that you have volunteered for, such as revision classes, after-school clubs etc. doesn't count. It is more the head can't direct you to do so, so they can't set up their school day to force everyone to work more than directed time and staggering the timetable or telling people to do extra duties would do this.

I doubt very much secondary schools will be open much in the Jan-March for in-person learning. Everything is changing due to the new variant fears.

@lljkk

I doubt very much secondary schools will be open much in the Jan-March for in-person learning. Everything is changing due to the new variant fears.

Agree.

But my post above shows why I'm hoping government also look at primary schools on a national level.

In my county (T2 today and T4 tomorrow) it's primary schools that have the largest infection level.

I think it would be a mistake to ignore what is happening in primary schools and attempt to keep them open.