Please be kind to teachers

[Tiktokersmiracle]

Please be kind to teachers, heads, support staff

I often see threads on Mumsnet where teachers take a bashing.
They have been let down by the government immensely. The DofE finally released figures for Covid cases amongst teachers compared to the rest of the population and it was huge

As a result, a teacher at my DC's School has passed away. We are all as a community devastated

The government willfully ignored the stats, kept promising it was safe when they knew by October half term it wasn't.

So whilst we all want our children back in school, please know that what may result in a tiny amount of virus of no great concern if our children get it, is putting staff in danger.
And please be respectful to them doing what they can. It's the government we should be angry with.

So sorry to hear about the teacher op. My teacher friend died age 42 a couple of weeks ago. She is in the National papers today

Cases in childcare settings currently in lockdown.

@mrshoho

Yes we have weekly lateral flow for staff only. This was our second week and we have had 2 positives out of about 70 people.

Our school set up the lateral flow tests for what was originally going to be the return to school in January. They have been used with keyworker kids and staff, out of 400 tests, 3 have been found positive. Unfortunately, it would've come too late for the teacher, who was taken unwell at the start of the Christmas term.

I think they help a little but unless you test everyone every few days it's going to miss some. And to test a school of 1300+ pupils plus staff, well it would end up being more testing and less schoolwork

@starrynight19 - am so so sorry . Have just read about your friend and my heart goes out to you and to her family. So sad and unnecessary 😢.
School staff need to be vaccinated - to be safe themselves and of course to open schools for ALL kids. I think everyone wants those things.

I worry the gov are going to turn around and argue that school staff can wait for vaccines as now bi-weekly lateral flow testing available?

@GinJeanie

Apologies. Bit tetchy at the moment!

No problem

@Nicknamegoeshere

I worry the gov are going to turn around and argue that school staff can wait for vaccines as now bi-weekly lateral flow testing available?

Me too. But I’m not sure the gov will get away with it this time like they did in September. We know kids spread it. We know teachers are less than 1m from the front row. We know masks are banned by the DfE. By the end of last term teachers were issuing section 44’s to their schools. Testing doesn’t stop you dying from it. I hope that the unions or schools put their foot down and say no. Its not safe, we have no extra funding, the hand sanitiser has run out. It’s not safe. Vaccine or no staff, take your pick.

Because there is no logic. There is no magic force field around a classroom, and covid doesn’t know it shouldn’t cross the teachers black / yellow tape on the floor in front of their desk.

@Lemons1571 I don't think the government care.

And I totally agree with you. 100%.

@Nicknamegoeshere no I don’t think they care either. But I do think there is a possibility schools would take matters into their own hands and overrule the government anyway. It was happening in the last week of term in December.

@Lemons1571 Yes I know of one superb head who said she was going to ignore gov and only open for key workers when they were saying all. She argued (quite rightly) it was in the best interests of her staff and pupils. Total respect.
I just pray other heads are as strong as her.

Thank you x

So so sorry to hear about the teacher at your DC's school. Heartbreaking.

DH and I are both secondary teachers. I can't watch the news at the moment as the wonderful NHS staff are being (rightly) praised but we seem to get bashed all the time. No PPE, no distancing, no ventilation and a society that seems to want to blame all its ills on us.

OP I’m so sorry about this teacher.
Multiple teachers at my child’s school have had it. Thankfully not lost anyone yet but I don’t know if there has been any long term issues for any of them.

@BigPlanes

OP I’m so sorry about this teacher. Multiple teachers at my child’s school have had it. Thankfully not lost anyone yet but I don’t know if there has been any long term issues for any of them.

Big planes I am still suffering with symptoms from my positive case from school at the end of November.

Thankyou @GinJeanie she was just too young to lose her life to this dreadful virus

My daughter's teachers are doing a great job !

Oh OP, another. I am aware of 4 school staff within about 8 miles of me who have died. It is too many. I have had to have conversations with my ex about funerals, insurances and direct him to keep an eye out for class action against the government if I die. It’s only a matter of time before there is a legal challenge, in my opinion. I shouldn’t have had to do that but the situation in school is genuinely frightening now. We have nothing at all to even feign safety and protection.

I personally feel that if Boris decides the lateral tests are "enough" teachers should strike. Many teachers had already caught it, sadly one didn't survive.
DD was meant to go back as she is vulnerable with her MH, she gets frustrated working at home and starts to actively avoid even trying to work at home. She said now though she won't go in at all,it's not safe.
DS is angry. He sees things differently as he has Aspergers, he went very quiet then punched the floor and said he is so cross about all of it, Lockdown, the virus, his teacher. It doesn't help that the whole school knows a family had a party in October half term where a tonne of them were all over Snapchat bragging. Within days of them going back, 30% of the school either tested positive or had to isolate. I think that kid would be wise to find a new school as looking at WhatsApp for DDs year group, they're blaming this kid.

Aw op I am so sorry to see this, I have lost colleagues to covid too and it is truly heartbreaking Hopefully school staff feel a little 'safer' now that many DC are at home learning. I am desperate to get my DC back to school as we are back to a weekly email with twinkl worksheets so I am worried sick about their progress, as I know other local schools are teaching the DC who are at home. But I know they cannot go back until school staff are finally offered some kind of protection and case numbers reduce. DH and I are key workers and sent dc to school last time the schools closed, however there are quite a few going this time so we decided it was the right thing to do to to try and work opposite eachother and send them to childcare the days we both have to work. The childcare is in a large hall with only a handful of kids daily and the staff wear masks and visors. I am not worried about covid as we already had it, plus DH and I had the vaccination, but I would feel guilty sending DC in anyway when I see how worried staff are on here. I do wonder if I am doing the right thing by my DC though :-( I would feel really guilty whatever I decided.

@starrynight19 I'm so sorry for your loss. She was too young to die. She should have been better protected at school, it's so very sad.

@Watchingbehindmyhands I'm so sorry to hear of the school staff you know that have died. I think your actions are wise and I'm sorry there are no protections in school for you.

I very much hope in light of so many that have now died and the knowledge that masks actually protect the wearer against more severe disease (by blocking some virus particle if not all) that headteachers are now encouraging mask use in classrooms at the very least.

My friends in the US think it's literally insane that teachers don't wear masks all the time - they do in their kid's school.

I'm a primary teacher and have just been issued with a pack of biweekly lateral flow tests. What I really want is a vaccine though. Teachers in the USA are being vaccinated, but not us. Also Gavin Fuckup Williamson needs to be sacked.

Thanks for the thread OP. A lot of parents chose to ignore the fact that the curriculum was suspended in lockdown 1. Now we are offering a full timetable of home learning for our children. Fully differentiated, included slides, written tasks, practical tasks, videos all made by teachers. 1:1 reading over zoom. Twice weekly zoom sessions with the class. All work uploaded to an online platform by parents and marked by us. Extra work for specific children. Weekly phone calls home. As well as teaching a full timetable to our keyworker children in school. It is exhausting and it's nice not to be called lazy when we are doing so much for our children and really want them back in school. I don't work from home at all, I'm in the building 7.30am-5.30pm every day and most of those hours I have 21 other people in a small room with me. Luckily I love my job.

@PrivateHall so sorry to hear you've lost colleagues too. It must be so hard.

It is difficult feeling that kids at home are being disadvantaged, but we also are keeping our kids off even though DH is technically a keyworker (not sure why really, but apparently he is) as the school is already very busy compared to last time around with many kids in. I'd recommend talking to your school about the provision - I have many times and my school has been really responsive and improved things where I said they were lacking as much as they can. Are they not using Oak Academy? We've found some of the teachers on there to be good and definitely better than worksheets if that's all you're getting - you can just access it and use it even if the school doesn't set it. We have done on a number of occasions.

Also Gavin Fuckup Williamson needs to be sacked.

Something the entire country can get behind. Sometimes I think they're only keeping him in post so that the entire populace at least agrees on one thing.

Isn't offering staff lateral flow tests and assuming that will solve the problem a bit like offering pregnancy tests and thinking that will help stop pregnancies?

@Bluewavescrashing

Thanks for the thread OP. A lot of parents chose to ignore the fact that the curriculum was suspended in lockdown 1. Now we are offering a full timetable of home learning for our children. Fully differentiated, included slides, written tasks, practical tasks, videos all made by teachers. 1:1 reading over zoom. Twice weekly zoom sessions with the class. All work uploaded to an online platform by parents and marked by us. Extra work for specific children. Weekly phone calls home. As well as teaching a full timetable to our keyworker children in school. It is exhausting and it's nice not to be called lazy when we are doing so much for our children and really want them back in school. I don't work from home at all, I'm in the building 7.30am-5.30pm every day and most of those hours I have 21 other people in a small room with me. Luckily I love my job.

Yes that's the same as DCs school, right from the originally intended first day back, the day runs online to their timetable, in fact yesterday was the first day with no live online lessons apart from form class as it hadn't been announced yet. The teachers have also made all the kids aware that they can answer emails, whether that's about school work or just for a chat if they are feeling down. Even yesterday, with the whole upset they were going through, they still put the kids first. Messages and calls were available, they use classroom and the form classes all had an open discussion for how they felt and memories etc. DS form tutor emailed me to check on him, he also offered to call my DD who he teaches. They truly are super human. We went to drop a card in for the family as School said that was fine, the ladies in the office were so upset.