Am I missing the point here...

[kookykins]

I'm going to try and make this as measured as I can and try not to make it come across like a torrent of frustration.

Why is it that teachers are getting to say when schools go back? Why does it feel like teachers are constantly complaining about the virus? No one is an ideal situation right now so why does it feel like they are being allowed to 'opt out' of their careers now times are tough.

I work in a busy NHS hospital and It honestly sickens and saddens me that there are men and women, many parents relying on schools to open, relying on their children's education being properly resumed next week they are giving life saving treatment in dire situations every day. I haven't heard them complaining about having to come in and save lives work extra hours and a lot on low pay.

Teachers to an extent have chosen a career to support teach and mentor our children I feel when the going has got touch (very tough fair enough) they are opting out...however many of these teachers will expect ITU nurses to treat someone in their family who happens to get ill with this virus. How can this be? How is this ok?

I have friends who are teachers who don't feel like this and who want to get back to work but are very much being pulled along by the union so I don't want to paint all teachers with the same brush...

What happens to the children who need to go back to school, who need that hot meal that support that escape? Do they not matter?

Surely the children of this country are a higher priority right now?
Teachers and unions are being given insane amounts of power right now and I don't understand it. If we are all meant to 'be in it together' then why aren't we all cracking on like the next person and getting on with our jobs because we realise the impact if we don't...

Rant over...

@onedayinthefuture

The one argument I don't understand is when teachers complain about no PPE. What's to stop a teacher just bringing in their own PPE and wearing it? I'm sure even the most hard nosed headteacher would not have a problem with that?

There are teachers who have specifically been told not to wear masks whilst teaching.

Not me, because my head is pretty hot on masks, but a significant minority definitely.

And the DfE supports heads in this.

@Themanofmydreams

I work in a school in a tier 3 area (non teaching) and I am happy to go back.

What do you actually do, and how much contact do you have with pupils daily?

There are staff in my school who carry out valuable roles but have very minimal student contact, and I'd feel much safer on a personal level doing their job.

On a moral level I'm not sure I could facilitate schools being open.

Would you be happy to cover my classes all day in 2 weeks time?

Teachers are being asked to be in a room with 30 others for several hours a day with zero protection. I cannot off the top of my head think of any other frontline job where this is happening, no wonder they are concerned. Their lives and those of their families are just as important as everyone else’s, does this really need saying?

COVID is a mild disease in the vast majority of cases. People need to stop talking about it as though catching it means certain death. You're more likely to have a poor outcome from driving to school in the morning.

I see your OFSTED lady has come out to talk common sense

Get a grip teachers, if you need to isolate because your vulnerable do it, if your fit and well - bank on the horse with you

@Areyouactuallyseriousrightnow

Teachers are being asked to be in a room with 30 others for several hours a day with zero protection. I cannot off the top of my head think of any other frontline job where this is happening, no wonder they are concerned. Their lives and those of their families are just as important as everyone else’s, does this really need saying?

Anyone working in food processing, distribution, retail, NHS...

@WasSchoolTeacherSecondary

*WasSchoolTeacherSecondary
I spent 28 years working in five different settings in one of the wealthiest Home Counties. I witnessed daily abdication of basic responsibilities by some teachers, many 'managers' and most LA staff employed to monitor standards.

I can only imagine the opportunism which has occurred on the excuse of the pandemic by SOME, certainly not all, staff, as evidenced by the large number of parents who are complaining of little or no work being set, and/or that work being of very poor quality.
Many professions are on their knees at the moment, which will be made worse by parents having to organise childcare at short notice or attempt to supervise and support their own children while trying to WFH.
Further, one of the reasons so many professions and industrial sectors in the UK are on their knees is the decades of atrociously-let down students our state schools have churned out.

A good start in the state sector would be a fairer distribution of students per capita; get the skiving 'Extended Leadership Team' spreadsheet goons out of their offices and halve the size of frontline teachers' classes. This would reduce both transmission of the virus and teacher workload. However, that's just one of the many elephants in the room.

Parents who work hard in their own jobs and are held accountable for the standards of their own work are perfectly within their rights to voice their disappointment with their children being let down, both now and in normal times.*

Op. I think this is a measured assessment. I don't know when you left teaching but it is largely the same. The only slight sympathy I have is with the leadership team aspect given the constant grief from "The union", teachers with constant welfare problems that they think the Head and Deputy should resolve for them as well as all the plans demanded by LEA etc. The latest being to set up Covid testing teams in site!!

I note your point though is mentioning the extended leadership team and the word extended is key here....I have never known as many heads of, leaders of, etc, all with additional payments as teaching has, and which takes them away from teaching. We have a full time SENCO coordinator at ours who is too busy to teach apparently!! In our languages dealt, we have a head of French, head of German and a head of languages (she is head of the other two heads!).

My friend whose kids are privately educated has experienced from week two of the first lockdown, her kids having a full timetable at home supported by MS teams live learning. No arguments from teachers that doing this was a safeguarding issue, or that they were not equipped to. The only difference was the school did have the technology already installed. 9 months on some schools are still talking about it and dealing with union objections

Nurses and doctors signed up fully aware that they could care for people with infectious diseases. Teachers didn't. I assume at the hospital you wear correct PPE and have strict policies in place? Schools don't. Your patients will be socially distanced. School children won't be. You claim to care about children's education? I would say you want a babysitter. The amount of children in and out of class at the moment means lessons are constantly disrupted and learning isn't equal. Teachers are not opting out. They have been in since the schools opened, got sick, some have died. The unions believe it is a danger so teachers will listen to this. It is the duty of a teacher to protect children and to ensure they are safe. If that can no longer be done because of overcrowded classrooms and high risk of infection then they need to be closed.

I'm appalled by how many times I've seen teachers on Mumsnet describe their work as glorified babysitting.

If that's really how you feel about it, then I would invite you to think about whether you're in the right job.

My sister runs the early years at a London primary and is clear and vocal about how crucial school is to the children there. Is it perfect at the moment? No. But for many of the children who attend, its the most secure and happy part of their day and the work that goes on there is vital.

I totally agree with you. Many NHS workers have died treating covid patients, and although it's not something anyone wants to measure, teachers are relatively safe in that respect. There job is similar to many others that give face to face service, like pharmacists.

I do think they are right in complaining about the lack of masks in school and safety measures.

I think hot cuppa tea that some of those occasions might be complaints about how we are being used in a way that doesn’t support the education of our pupils. With the best will in the world when sat with a top set and a physics lesson I am a babysitter. When working in a school where more staff have tested positive ans vast swathes of the learners are out, doing endless cover and duties where I would normally be holding extra sessions and interventions - I am a baby sitter. That’s a complaint about the problems with the govt’s education plans not a life goal.

@ofgavin all those roles have masks at the very least, most teachers are not allowed to wear these.

Pregnant NHS staff are sent home from 28 weeks, rightly so. Pregnant teachers are expected to work to the end, even in a class of 30 non-socially distanced infants. Teachers also don't get paid for any extra shifts they do. I actually agree the NHS staff have it worse and will be teaching my class as normal on Monday, but don't pretend things are all wonderful for teachers. Oh, and every teacher in my school has said they will be in on Monday so definitely not the case that we are choosing not to be in.

Gosh this is so boring now. No one cares that you dislike teachers enough to believe that they should continue risking their health with no effective mitigations. That you believe this says more about you than anyone else.

Yawn.

[quote Areyouactuallyseriousrightnow]@ofgavin all those roles have masks at the very least, most teachers are not allowed to wear these.[/quote]
Well then you need your blessed unions to shout about that, not give you the ok to not work

What's slightly frustrating @kookykins is that your response to a lot of people's posts about the nhs is that they need to do some research as they don't understand things about your conditions, job, roles etc.

However, with respect, I would say reading your OP that you don't seem to really have done much research about schools over the last year or the current situation in them.

It's easy to read a headline and be frustrated. I've had medical treatments cancelled and read reports/accounts from friends of empty hospitals. I wouldn't though presume that all nhs staff are just sitting around on empty wards, but you see how easy to generalise it can be and no doubt how frustrated it would make you feel as an nhs worker if I suggested it.

I don't advocate complete school closures, but I am surprised as a nhs worker you're not supporting teachers fight for changes which would reduce the pressure on the nhs.

I also supported the nhs a lot last March in several ways, both financially and with ppe. I also know a lot of schools locally donated thousands of PPE items to our trust. Its frustrating to see these posts as their attitude now.

Closing schools may have the opposite effect of increasing spread as many parents will still have to work and therefore some kids will be in the care of multiple friends/family members a week just to cover school times. People are very naive if they think closing schools doesnt put poorer kids and families at greater riak.

@Strand27 I've just said it's what some teachers I know have stated this is happening not all teachers are even wearing the ppe when it's provided...not rubbish at all but thanks for your input anyway...

@doireallyneedaname

Well, teaching can be done from home. Life saving treatment, cannot.

No it can't!

@WasSchoolTeacherSecondary thank you for your post I agree with everything you have said. I personally feel yes my child is being let down whilst I am still held accountable on the front line, accountable when I am in work to provide the best care and accountable when I cannot come in (childcare)

@user1471588124

Closing schools may have the opposite effect of increasing spread as many parents will still have to work and therefore some kids will be in the care of multiple friends/family members a week just to cover school times. People are very naive if they think closing schools doesnt put poorer kids and families at greater riak.

Rubbish. 30+ children in a class compares to that? Why not have a party then? Fgs

@Crowsandshivers wow a babysitter how rude - get off the thread!

@Subordinateclause I didn't know this about pregnant teachers and that is totally wrong sorry to hear this...

I don't think it's great for teachers I don't think it's great for anyone but it's not the only industry that's suffering right now but they seem to be shouting the loudest or the unions are...

@Hotcuppatea I'm not sure if some of your comment was at me- I definitely don't think that is the case (as a teacher myself I know I do not babysit.) I was stating that it feels like they just want us to be childcare. I feel the government have closed secondary schools because the children are old enough to stay at home either independently or with a working parent who can get on with their own stuff. Primary school children can't do this and so they are being asked to go in.

@user1471588124 so true and very concerning