NEU tells teachers not to go to work on Monday

[Workyticket]

skwawkbox.org/2021/01/02/breaking-union-tells-teachers-not-to-go-to-work-on-monday/

Yeah, nothing to do with the numbers, the increase in numbers, the increase in children catching and transmitting it and the fact school children have had the highest infection rates.
Or the new strain that's causing chaos in the South East.

I heard teachers hate their jobs, hate children, hate families and want to sit around drinking gin on full pay. (sarcasm)

@sausageathlete

Salaried TA here, not agency. No, none of us pay tax even if we work full schools hours - the minimum wage is below the tax threshold. The lack of appreciation for TAs on MN has been pissing me off of late. Teachers have been slated left right and centre but there has been some recognition of how hard they work but TAs are ignored.

Sorry sausage if you feel unappreciated. Whenever I talk about teachers and school safety I am really including TAs and pastoral staff under the teacher umbrella in the need for improved mitigation measures. We're all on the same team. Couldn't do our jobs without you.

And TAs tend to get lumbered with the really shitty tasks.

Infection rate data.

I just feel like him going on Andrew Marr signals that they will be opening primaries on Monday. I can't understand why they are risking such massive infection numbers. Feel sick at the thought of battling with the school but as a disabled mum the last four months were terrifying and I can't do it anymore .

@LolaSmiles

Yeah, nothing to do with the numbers, the increase in numbers, the increase in children catching and transmitting it and the fact school children have had the highest infection rates. Or the new strain that's causing chaos in the South East.

I heard teachers hate their jobs, hate children, hate families and want to sit around drinking gin on full pay. (sarcasm)

Where's the data on that?!

I just don't get why you think teachers can opt out of their jobs...of course you are entitled to be as safe as possible. But in the middle of a pandemic safe as possible isn't going to be as safe as in normal times.

You'd have far more support if you campaigned for PPE (good luck with that all day) of an evidence based risk assessment warranted it.

I have seen nothing in the media to suggest teachers are being infected at an alarming rate... have I missed something?

And pretty sure we can all play the "let's get a graph/website to suit our own narrative". I've searched for the original post I referred to but cannot locate it.

The key messages of this summary are pertinent though;

www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/children-and-school-settings-covid-19-transmission

@justgeton teachers on here have been posting about wanting PPE for MONTHS now and we’ve had people slagging us off and saying it’s entitled and we shouldn’t have it because other people don’t. And funnily enough, the people who “don’t have it” usually do...

We have been campaigning for more PPE and safer schools for a term- we haven't really got that. Just masks in corridors, which clearly don't work.

Unions have been begging for fairly minor mitigations for months now.

This is really a last ditch attempt to get our voices heard- and avoid a strike so we can still teach remotely and provide childcare for keyworkers.

This is what the NEU are asking for to consider schools safe:

- a review of all risk assessments in the light of the much higher transmission of the new variant;
- social distancing of 1 metre between pupils in all schools and colleges to replace the current practice of cohort distancing which allows whole year groups to mix without any social distancing;

• masks to be worn by pupils and staff in secondary school classrooms and colleges; - school and college staff to be made a top priority for vaccination - along with health care staff and starting with the most vulnerable; and - until vaccinated, Clinically Extremely Vulnerable staff and women in the third trimester of pregnancy to work from home, supporting students who are at home.

None of that is extreme (IMO), but we are having to take extreme measures because we have been ignored so far.

@sausageathlete just to echo what others have said - I do know what TAs, SSMs and other school staff have been doing - and the enormous pressure they've been under.
Someone I know well was almost in tears a couple of weeks before Christmas, having spent the day one to one with students, dealing with forgotten / broken masks, dealing with students being removed from class, handing out supplies to staff in bubbles, doing duty, administering first aid, and then to top it off, helping to trace contacts and parents and escort students to be sent home. That's probably not a complete list. The truth is, all school staff are under enormous pressure - and a lot of them are close to the edge too.

@justgeton this
justgeton

I wonder how much of this is because a vaccine is now available.

There wasn't this fuss last Summer. Now the vaccine is available it smacks of getting themselves to the front of the queue come what may.

@wizzbangfizz

And pretty sure we can all play the "let's get a graph/website to suit our own narrative". I've searched for the original post I referred to but cannot locate it.

The key messages of this summary are pertinent though;

www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/children-and-school-settings-covid-19-transmission

No point in countering a graph of infection rate data for kids in England with some report from other countries who have been far less mental when reopening schools is it?

[quote year5teacher]@justgeton teachers on here have been posting about wanting PPE for MONTHS now and we’ve had people slagging us off and saying it’s entitled and we shouldn’t have it because other people don’t. And funnily enough, the people who “don’t have it” usually do...[/quote]
I have no idea whether you'd benefit from it or not. I'd say you can't have it 'just because you want it'

The only way to convince anyone is a proper risk assessment with a sound evidence base.

@noblegiraffe

Infection rate data.

Ah yes but this is clearly something that James Vietch has knocked up to stop the trolls.

:)

@justgeton I would be interested to know YOUR occupation.

[quote Gogglebox20]@justgeton I would be interested to know YOUR occupation.[/quote]
I'm a senior nurse in the nhs.

I will grant you it doesn't reference the new strain but last resort, and teachers at no higher risks are reasons why schools should be kept open and that is my view and many, many others. The zealotry of many of here is not represented in real life. I'll be muting this thread as the debate isn't a debate by the true hysterical ones on here who think those who want schools open want everyone to die - especially teachers. Absolute bloody lunacy.

There is a general consensus that the decision to close schools to control the COVID-19 pandemic should be used as a last resort. The negative physical, mental health and educational impact of proactive school closures on children, as well as the economic impact on society more broadly, would likely outweigh the benefits.
• In surveillance data, among childhood COVID-19 cases, children between 1-18 years of age have lower rates of hospitalisation, severe hospitalisation and death than do all other age groups.
• Children of all ages are susceptible to and can transmit SARS-CoV-2. Younger children appear to be less susceptible to infection, and when infected, less often lead to onward transmission than older children and adults.
• This report does not consider the epidemiology of COVID-19 in relation to new variants of SARS-CoV-2, for which robust evidence on the potential impact in school settings is not yet available, such as one recently observed in the United Kingdom.
• School closures can contribute to a reduction in SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but by themselves are insufficient to prevent community transmission of COVID-19 in the absence of other non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as restrictions on mass gathering.
• The return to school of children around mid-August 2020 coincided with a general relaxation of other NPI measures in many countries and does not appear to have been a driving force in the upsurge in cases observed in many EU Member States from October 2020. Trends in case notification rates observed since August 2020 for children aged 16-18 years most closely resemble those of adults aged 19-39 years.
• Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 can occur within school settings and clusters have been reported in preschools, primary and secondary schools. Incidence of COVID-19 in school settings appear to be impacted by levels of community transmission. Where epidemiological investigation has occurred, transmission in schools has accounted for a minority of all COVID-19 cases in each country.
• Educational staff and adults within the school setting are generally not seen to be at a higher risk of infection than other occupations, although educational roles that put one in contact with older children and/or many adults may be associated with a higher risk.

[quote Gogglebox20]@justgeton I would be interested to know YOUR occupation.[/quote]
More accurately a recently returned from retirement senior nurse.

Because sitting at home doesn't sit well

@justgeton so I don’t understand your negativity towards schools...surely in your environment you would also understand the difficulty schools are facing? And I would also think you would want people to stay home, to save lives and to save the NHS?

I don't support this. Closing schools is not going to help. Ds1 spent 5.5 months off. Its made bog all difference. We are back to where we started.

It is inexcusable that schools were closed for so long last year. They didnt know what they were dealing with so mitigated a bit. Now they do know and they also know the damage this is doing to the poorest and disadvantaged children. It's very glib to say oh looked after children will be in school. The problem is the multitudes on the fringes, not "in the system": neglected, underfed, parents dont help them with schooling, we are throwing their lives away. They need to be in school where teachers can check up on them, where they will get at least one decent meal. Dsis is CAHMS consultant and so I know the toll lockdown took on child mental health. It's a really underfunded area and sadly the situation is going to cost lives. It's a time bomb.

Where is the evidence that schools are that unsafe? The new strain of virus may be more transmissible but it doesn't make people more ill. It is plain wrong to close schools so that some teachers dont spend a few days at home feeling ill (sorry shouldn't minimise, I do get why people are worried). But it is worry rather than legitimate health concern. The risks involved are low. If someone is vulnerable thats a different story. They need to take themselves out of school.

Teachers are happy for nurses and doctors to work in the same "unsafe environment". Same for supermarket workers and food production staff, and bin men and all the other jobs which have to be done. It's rank hypocrisy demanding that schools close.

I have lots of teacher / headteacher friends and fortunately they all say how necessary it is for schools to open. I think the unions are doing their members a disservice. I think most teachers know how truly vital it is for schools to stay open. School workers are a different matter because they are paid peanuts and I'm not surprised there are dissenting TAs and dinner ladies etc.

Our school is terrible at remote learning so until the government can improve the standard on this closing schools should not even be considered. But at the end of the day the toll on the disadvantaged is what's most important.

teachers at no higher risks

Why are the government refusing to release the data on this?

Again, no point in referencing a report from the EU when we are not operating schools in even remotely the same way.

@justgeton it’s this attitude that is astounding. I would never say “no you can’t have PPE just because you want it” to another workforce. It’s such a mean attitude to have.

Also - classrooms are enclosed, close contact, poorly ventilated areas which is the type of space the government says covid is more readily transmissible so why you’d think PPE wouldn’t help with that at least somewhat is beyond me. You don’t need a risk assessment to say that PPE would mitigate some of that risk.

And if your argument would be that the transmission rates are so high that PPE wouldn’t do much to help, then, well...

Where is the evidence that schools are that unsafe?

The onus is now on the government to show that they are safe.

We await their data.

[quote Gogglebox20]@justgeton so I don’t understand your negativity towards schools...surely in your environment you would also understand the difficulty schools are facing? And I would also think you would want people to stay home, to save lives and to save the NHS?[/quote]
Oh I do.

But I don't hear that. I hear teachers saying they're not safe. I don't hear them saying they want to safeguard vulnerable children. I don't hear them making sensible suggestions of how they can make things better for themselves.

I hear them moaning they work hard and they're worried about THEIR safety.

I wonder how many have met with families over Christmas ... because they can.

I hear the wrong arguments.

[quote year5teacher]@justgeton it’s this attitude that is astounding. I would never say “no you can’t have PPE just because you want it” to another workforce. It’s such a mean attitude to have.

Also - classrooms are enclosed, close contact, poorly ventilated areas which is the type of space the government says covid is more readily transmissible so why you’d think PPE wouldn’t help with that at least somewhat is beyond me. You don’t need a risk assessment to say that PPE would mitigate some of that risk.[/quote]
I didn't say you couldn't or shouldn't have it. I said that you need to make a case. Make a proper reasoned case and no one will deny it you. Not unless they're bonkers...