How many teachers will be handing in the section 44 letter tomorrow and not going in?

[SoscaredforJan]

My DSis is scared to go to work tomorrow in a private primary school in Tier 3 but lowish numbers. She is not ECV but has got chemo damaged lungs so it petrified of catching Covid.

She desperately wants to follow union advice and not go in tomorrow but she’s worried that most teachers will be in as normal, she will have a black Mark against her and will be quietly pushed out.

Are there many teachers on here planning not to go in tomorrow? What do you think will happen tomorrow?

You are saying it is not safe to be at your place of work which is different.

Yes - you are saying that normal running of schools right now isn't safe. It's fine to be in classrooms with fewer children in them, it's fine to be outside a lot more, it's fine to have fewer adults using the same facilities. It's not fine to have 30+ kids in a room with inadequate ventilation, no masks etc, when they literally rub themselves on you the whole time while telling you about how they've been doing sleepovers etc.

We should have done rotas from October half term. Fewer schools would have been closed last term, more security for all concerned.

I've had an email from my union NSWAT, they are not supporting action under section 44.

As a HCP I'm right behind you.

Currently lobbying our local authority and requesting they urgently make a decision re primaries. We are located between a contingency area and an area whose Council have recommended remote and KW only provision from tomorrow, yet our rolling 7-day numbers are currently in excess than both those areas.

Given the amount of people watching the union zoom this morning and the tone of the questions (that were all in support of the union position and asking for clarification on specific circs - none expressed disagreement with the union stance) I imagine an awful lot of primaries will close tomorrow.

I’m not a primary teacher but if I was I would have submitted a section 44 letter today and if the govt don’t see sense in the next two weeks I will submit one if required.

@BatteredHake

So I have a condition that makes me more vulnerable to Covid

But if I die that’s ok? Because I’m late 30’s and I’d only leave 2 children without a mother?

I have decided to go in and carry on as normal, based on the current rate in the population on where I Iive and work (still Tier 4 area). If that changes, so might my decision.

I work at special school so nothing will close that, they didn’t even close for a single day during lockdown last year.

I hope that all customer facing supermarket and delivery staff do the same...they’re at as least as much, if not more, risk than teachers given that they’re exposed to more people, and there’s no record of who they’ve been exposed to

The delivery driver puts something on my doorstep, stands 3m away, takes a photo of my feet, gets back in the van on their own, wears a mask the whole time. If the sorting office isn't a safe working environment, then it's fine for them to also use section 44.

People who work in supermarkets are often behind screens, numbers of people entering are limited, people don''t touch each other, no one is close to them for +15 minutes, the people who are there are wearing masks (as are the workers if they want to). If the store rooms aren't a safe working environment, then it's fine for them to also use section 44.

After the post Brexit bonfire of workplace protections, we should all get used to shouting loudly about places that are unsafe.

Result! Hugely relieved that other staff obviously also sent in Section 44 letters, as our school is now moving to KW and V children only on Monday. I will still be working in school, but it will now be so much safer for children, staff and the wider community. I was very scared sending in the letter, but now I'm so glad I did. Just shows that people power does sometimes work!

I'm glad MN is not a reflection of the RW in this case.
I think some people will need to get a grip. Yes, covid-19is spreading through the population.
But:

• It's not as deadly as it's made out to be.
• Our children are not toxic! They are just kids, living by the same rules as anyone else. (So, I would actually question if DC teachers mixed over Christmas...)
• Children need to be in school for their mental wellbeing as well as for their development.
• Parents need to be able to work, where else is this money going to come from to pay for Teachers, Nurses, Police & Co.?
• If you think about all the normal shit that floats around in the winter months, we had none... not a sniffle or a tummy bug - hygiene measures are working.

... And guess what, it's teachers that will have to fill in the gaps for interrupted / patchy learning. I can just see the future threads on here, slagging off parents. Shock that 9y old Sara can't read or 13y old John didn't learn his times tables at primary school. All for a virus that will just have to run it's course... Like all the others in the past.

@Tryingtokeepgoing

If they do, I hope that all customer facing supermarket and delivery staff do the same...they’re at as least as much, if not more, risk than teachers given that they’re exposed to more people, and there’s no record of who they’ve been exposed to. Perhaps that’d help them see who else is an essential worker!!

1. supermarket staff are exposed for a very short period AND in a much bigger space AND they mostly have ventilation.

1. If their employer is not complying with covid H&S laws there is a path to escalate.

Teacher's covid H&S rules are bullshit. So they have no escalation process. That is a very big difference.

I hope that the vast majority will follow s44 and not go in tomorrow. As a parent I would like to see them healthy and up and running again next year and after,....

I work at special school so nothing will close that, they didn’t even close for a single day during lockdown last year.

To be fair, nor did my school. I know that some did, smaller primaries into KW hubs etc, but most didn't.

I was also thinking about SEND provision. We have a S&L resource in our school. If I was the teacher of that I'd be fine going in - there are 8 of them in a normal sized classroom. More space, fewer families linked for transmission etc. My friend in an SEND school has 4 children in her class. Very close contact, but only with 4 families. In terms of contact it's not much different to EY provision in mainstream, just with 26 fewer families in the mix.

Feenie Are you sure? Not my union so I obv can't see but the poster I was replying to said there were 100,000. 400,000 would be nearly 80% of the teachers in the country. And someone else said the NASUWT has 300,000 members. Which should only leave about 200,000 NEU members max. Unless it's possible to be in 2 unions?

They are just kids, living by the same rules as anyone else.

They aren’t. The conditions in schools are actually illegal outside of school.

Parents need to be able to work, where else is this money going to come from to pay for Teachers, Nurses, Police & Co.

I'm so bored of that line. Perhaps the gov should just tax rich people or organisations properly. Or you know, scrap Trident - not spend a fortune on new aircraft carriers without aircraft or whatever.

Haven't rtft but I'm a TA and just had an email from my Union, GMB, who've said they don't support their members using section 44.

@AaronPurr

Except - you won't believe this - my school stopped buying paper towels in 2018 due to budgeting

That's very short sighted of them, what will you do if a student breaks a leg.

Don't worry about broken legs, you can make a splint with all the empty glue sticks.

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

Of course people should have adequate H&S at work.

Cool. The end.

?

Can teachers who are not going to work volunteer at their local hospital

My sister would happily swap to being a delivery driver or supermarket worker at the moment. At least she would be allowed to wear a mask!

The mask protects you not them. How long would you be okay with the vast drop in salary for?

profpoopsnaggle

Totally chilled out, measured, sensible reply. Rare for MN these days. I support you 100%

No I won't. I am quite happy going in to work.

Not a teacher, but as a parent I 100% support any teachers who refuse to work under these conditions now we know children probably transmit the new variant similarly to adults.

I particularly feel for infant teachers where SD either between children or adults to children is very unlikely.

No teacher is not working, wherever they are working from. So no, they are not available to volunteer in hospitals.

I don't think the section 44 letter will help us in our situation.

My school is only open to key worker children, our issue is that all staff have been told they must be in. So the entire staff body will be attending work during their normal hours in order to provide live online lessons and remote learning. We'll have around 120 key worker children in organised into four classes, one per year group. Classes taught face-to-face by learning support assistants, while whole teams of teachers plan and provide work for the ones at home. We just don't know where we stand.

The section 44 letter doesn't cover us, it states we will be available to teach KW children and we are, but with no word from on high and no sign of a rota like last time, we're all in all through the next fortnight.