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?

[quote BungleandGeorge]@CorvusPurpureus where do teachers get paid twice as much? It’s sounds attractive![/quote]
TES International is your friend . Tax free salary plus generous housing allowance anywhere in the Middle East or Far East, plus assorted perks & retention pay.

& yup, it's not recruitment the U.K. struggles with. It's retention.

Lots of people do their PGCE, work for a couple of years, & leave.

I don’t think retention will be the same issue in future. After losing jobs in 2020, I know of several people who want to train as teachers; it’s seen as secure, and it is
Training isn't the issue. It's lasting long enough as a career to become skilled that's the issue.

It's also not as secure as people think. If you're a talented core teacher then great, if you're a mediocre teacher in some subjects then that'sok, if you're not qualified but willing to be a warm body in a room that's enough in some areas.

I love teaching and am glad I retrained to teach, but I've also seen enough people try to enter teaching who aren't cut out for it and I've also seen countless people leave when they find it isn't the family friendly, secure job they think it is.

I never understood why our government had seemed to like turning the public against the public sector
Because they want to run it into the ground and sell it cheaply to their mates, who then get taxpayers money to repeatedly fuck the service up.

We spend more on failed rail franchises than it cost to run british rail. Privatise profits and nationalise losses. It's socialism for the rich and austerity for the poor.

I do have respect for teachers, many of us couldn’t do the job. Teaching a five year old to read, or getting a 16 year old through GCSEs.
Retention in the prison service is high because of the burn out rate and understaffing issues. It takes a certain type to do the job, I guess teaching is very much the same. Having the confidence to deliver quality education to a room of 30 students.
The government know that many people will not leave the public sector due to a restricted job market.
Stand by for pay freezes for years to come. The government won’t care because they can just recruit more people. Nobody seems to care about retention.
Let’s not fight the unions, we bloody need them now more than ever in the public sector.

My daughter trained recently and huge numbers of her cohort have left or been poached by other companies / gone abroad.

@OverTheRainbowLiesOz

My daughter trained recently and huge numbers of her cohort have left or been poached by other companies / gone abroad.

What type of companies / sectors poach newly trained teachers?

Yes, are they headhunted?

@Confusedlady246

So you have weekly testing and PPE in your job

But teachers are entitled to want the same???

They want to work but they want to do it safely.

And btw I'm not a teacher

The TA I know is going in. She's in Unison and doesn't like the approach of NEU which apparently Unison are supporting.

Why can’t teachers wear face masks during lessons?

Mainly because we have been told we are not permitted to do so.

They do pose a problem for any child who is deaf. And any teacher with hearing issues if the students wear them. However, for the majority of those in secondary schools, they should have been in use since September.

*I don’t think retention will be the same issue in future. After losing jobs in 2020, I know of several people who want to train as teachers; it’s seen as secure, and it is.

I do think of this every time I read somebody on MN claiming they are ‘quitting’ or ‘handing their notice in*

Fantastic, welcome to teaching, Come and find out what the job really entails. 😀

I put underperforming teachers through improvement measures, support yes, but very quickly out if they don't up their game. Many are mature entrants with no idea of the stresses involved and no idea of how to transfer knowledge to a child.
Some of course are great!

@BustopherPonsonbyJones

I am worried about the professional consequences but think I may need to be brave and do what I think is right - which is to send the letter. The personal consequences might be worse if I don’t. What a bloody choice.

I'm not a teacher, but am so sorry at what a shitty choice teachers are facing. I'm actually surprised unions didn't suggest this earlier. The current situation isn't tenable and the stress must be awful.

What type of companies / sectors poach newly trained teachers?

Nobody needs to, the pay and conditions are much better abroad. Many leave for this reason, I'd estimate about 10-20% of the people I worked with since 2005. Only thing keeping me is my family!

‘Mainly because we have been told we are not permitted to do so.’

But actually the guidance only says that they are not advised, teachers are permitted to wear masks or visors but the myth has grown up that they cannot

@Peaseblossom22

You need to tell the SLT in my school that. . As a lowly TA you just do as you are told. If you’re seen in the communal areas with no mask then god help you 🤣 (even though the communal areas are empty). Strictly off in the classrooms.

@Barbie222

What type of companies / sectors poach newly trained teachers?

Nobody needs to, the pay and conditions are much better abroad. Many leave for this reason, I'd estimate about 10-20% of the people I worked with since 2005. Only thing keeping me is my family!

Oh I see I totally get the teaching abroad part.

I wondered if the pp meant private sector U.K. poaching.

@EYProvider

No workplace is ‘safe’ from an airborne virus. Everyone knows that. You do what you can to mitigate in line with the guidance, but viruses spread and that’s just common sense.

No workplace is ‘safe’, and if teachers do this, other professions will follow and the country will descend into chaos.

So what are YOU personally doing, as an employer, to reduce the risk of Covid for your employees?

I know what type of 'Covid secure' systems are in place for Dh and other family members - masks, plastic screens installed, strict social distancing, no more than 50% of staff allowed on each floor at any one time, one way systems to avoid pinch points, work from home for all who can possibly do so even if it isn't ideal, no face to face meetings with clients unless essential and then only with masks and/or plastic screens and strict 2m plus SD, employer provided additional cleaning and anti bac, etc

They've had a handful of staff catch Covid since March across their three buildings. At no point has it spread between colleagues, even those within the same departments - mainly as they are not near one another.

NQT maths teacher got a job in the City.

Paid triple what he was earning.

Language teacher went abroad.

Physics teacher into industry. Something to do with electricity.

There are loads more I can't remember.

What you have to remember is that a lot of the training schemes have links with industry. They are popular to recruit.

@manicinsomniac

An awful lot of teachers have left the NEU over the Covid stance. They're just too militant and don't speak for the majority of their members.

My school is closed despite being in a tier 4, non closure area because the head thinks it's too risky. I am not in support of this but obviously have no choice. If my school was open, I certainly wouldn't support strike action. But I'm in NASUWT who aren't, I don't think, recommending that teachers not go in without headteacher support.

In a private school, I'd be very wary. Unions and striking don't go down well, generally.

The NEU are reporting 6000 new members joined over the weekend, and that NASUWT are losing members over this.

I know they will report things to benefit themselves, but I don't think your anecdata is born out by the national picture.

you realise there are many teachers who DO have underlying conditions that make them vulnerable to covid right?

I am one of the .
Clinically vulnerable but expected to work with many many children each week with no protection, no social distancing, no masks, etc

I caught Covid and ended up in hospital.
I now have life long complications requiring daily medication as a result.

My 'underlying condition' is arthritis and medication I take for it. It's not something I would normally be expected to die from, nor does it shorten my life expectancy. With things like flu I have an annual vaccination.

With Covid - nothing for a long time and expected to have just been taking the chance I'd be okay. I wasn't.

@Hearwego

I’m a prison officer. Although things are restricted, I still have to manage 30-40 prisoners with their needs. This is for 10 hours a day sometimes. I can’t strike because the Labour Party banned us from striking in 2007/8. I’m still at risk of being attacked/ assaulted/ spat at. I don’t why teachers are more at risk than me and me fellow colleagues. As for PPE, all I have is hand gel and a face mask. Same for supermarket workers. Imagine if these amazing supermarket staff decided they don’t want to go to work now....

Ahh, it all becomes clear.

So because you can't have others shouldn't have it either.

Good to know.