Will schools really go back with 30 in a class and unvaccinated teachers?

[Lemons1571]

This is giving me anxiety. DH is late 40’s and not the fittest, but not CV as far as we know. Probably the most at risk in group 10 (if such a group existed).

We are both ok with waiting for our turn for the vaccine while the schools have relatively few kids in them and therefore sd is more possible and it feels a bit safer. But recently I’ve scared myself shitless with the new variants and the thought that the late 40’s are not on any priority list. DH is not allowed any ppe, it’s not allowed, no mask, no Perspex, and is at best 1m from the front row of 11-18 year olds in a poorly ventilated room.

Do you think teachers will be forced back into these working conditions? I’m losing sleep over this. I don’t know how to gain perspective, as my gut says 31 people with no ppe in a poorly ventilated room is not safe. Do you think if I contacted the gp they’d give me anti anxiety meds? CBT? Just until we get a vaccine and maybe then will feel less scared.

Anyone else a teacher or have a teacher in the family? How are you dealing with this?

I work in SEN and we have been in this situation since March. No one cares.

I really hope that if the government tries to send schools back wholesale as they were in March that all the teachers hand in their Section 44 letters again. It’s not remotely safe until all the priority groups listed have been vaccinated and even then things should be put in place until everyone over 16 has been vaccinated.

I’m hoping that the final week of December and all the section 44 talk (right to a safe working environment) might make a difference now.

I fully expect to be back with 32 y11 students and no masks, yes

I can't believe that they don't have older students in masks at the very least. That's quite shocking.

Go on some of the teacher-bashing threads. The posters will reassure you that it’s all nonsense.

If September is anything to go by, yes.

I teach in Wales and Drakeford is making noises about potentially exploring ways that the children can come back after half term on a flexible and phased return, and he does mention rotas. But as long as they keep saying 'schools are safe' then they will expect business as usual.

It certainly doesn't feel safe 30 in a room of 11yo's when I'm not vaccinated (group 6, so not until maybe April) when my windows barely open and there's not enough room to be 1m away never mind 2m away.

@SionnachRua

I can't believe that they don't have older students in masks at the very least. That's quite shocking.

Schools are safe, so we don't need masks. We've got to follow the rhetoric science

Of course we will.

Do you think a gp would consider giving me anxiety meds for this? It’s awful. I wake up and can’t sleep with the thought of the stuffy classroom with no mitigations no protection and covid still transmitting everywhere. Then I get that awful sleep where im not really asleep and keep waking with a jolt. I’m worried that if I phone and tell the gp they’d think I’m silly because we keep being told it’s safe.

Yes we will!

My daughter is clinically vulnerable and an HLTA. Not permitted to wear a mask and requests to work with the older children so that she can socially distance more easily have been turned down by the new and clueless HT.
I'm extremely worried about a return to school as they were.

DH is mid 40s and healthy enough alyhough could be fitter/healthier. He is a teacher in EY so full contact and no PPE. My job can't be done from home and I come in to (careful) contact with many temporary workers who tend not to socially distance. The only way we have have learned to cope with it is by accepting the breakdown of the data and believing it is a truly horrible flu that in the vast majority of cases (for our age group) can be overcome. There is no choice but to just get on with it and believe the chances of having a fatal or long term situation are not that high. There is no choice but to keep working so we do.

@Lemons1571

Do you think a gp would consider giving me anxiety meds for this? It’s awful. I wake up and can’t sleep with the thought of the stuffy classroom with no mitigations no protection and covid still transmitting everywhere. Then I get that awful sleep where im not really asleep and keep waking with a jolt. I’m worried that if I phone and tell the gp they’d think I’m silly because we keep being told it’s safe.

Hopefully because your worries feel out of proportion. I'm CEV, had shielding letter, didn't , have worked in SEN which is super high risk throughout. I have a whole class in, no ppe no distancing. I just go and get on with it. I fully expect schools to be back with 30kids as soon as is humaj possible after march 8. If you're feeling this unable to cope you do need some help

DH is in school at the moment. He's PE so they're in a lot covering as fewer virtual lessons to provide. All the teachers and all KW / vulnerable kids in are wearing masks at all times (not just in shared spaces as before eg corridors). Maybe that will become more commonplace.

As a teacher I was on anxiety meds by Dec ... after a term of it, we saw cases rising, people not following rules, reading people even on here saying oh I just broke xyz .... Had no time off, but would fell happier going back with no vaccination than when I was in school Nov-Dec and cases were higher!!

Husband works in an entirely unventilated secondary school. It’s literally a closed ventilation system. Never the less, the Borough insists it’s safe.

Hopefully the section 44 talk in December will make a difference to the government now. If it doesn’t, there are going to have to be strikes, I think.

I would hope for lockdown plus schools back. When everything else is open and people mix more it is a higher risk in schools. That is how it feels.

@RosesAndLemonade with respect, I don’t think that ‘just get on with it’ is a fair way to expect people to work. You are lucky that you haven’t been ill, it’s just luck, not safety. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for people to want themselves or their loved ones, to work in as safe an environment as reasonably possible.
Most people could go years driving a car and not need their seatbelt to save them in an accident but most people wouldn’t dream of not wearing one or assert that the law requiring one is disproportionate.

I really don't understand the not being allowed ppe thing. What are they going to do if he does wear ppe? There is a shortage of teachers so no point in firing him, is there?

OP just get your DH to wear a good mask. A medical grade one.

Increasing evidence masks protect the wearer and protect against severe disease.

Schools and the DfE can't force teachers not to wear a mask, they'd lose any court case where they tried to enforce that and then some.

@MrsHamlet my son's secondary all wear masks abd have done since October - there were still cases!!

But yes, insane though it quite clearly is, the DfE seems to be doing a sum total of fuck all to plan to make schools safer (rotas, masks, ventilation - the list of what they could be doing is long), so I'm assuming they want to send everyone back as normal so we can perpetuate the cycle of lockdowns and death that this country is on.

This is the biggest health and safety home goal and sheer stupidity off the scale on another level.

If any indoor daily face to face close proximity setting without social distancing and ventilation needs to be made essential then how about as a very minimum use all damage limitation risk mitigation possibilities such as full PPE masks if not double masks and face shields plus perspex barriers etc. Compulsory accurate and frequent asymptomatic testing may help too! Sheer stupidity as if there is nothing happening let alone world record per capita lives (and possibly livelihoods) lost or long term destroyed. Herd immunity is a proven scientific myth and vaccination is no life guarantee either although massively helpful as potential life changer.