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?

Looks like I'll be back teaching on 22nd February. Open the windows and wash hands look to be the measures in place.

stargirl
It is absolutely dreadful. They have learnt nothing. Bloody stupid decision.

It's not that they've learned nothing. They just don't care.

Did you know Gavin Williamson’s wife used to be a teacher. And he used to be a school governor. I find it fascinating that these are still his choices. We’ll be back March 8th in Primary. Will have to hope it’s nice and sunny and that my 5 years olds suddenly know how to social distance, not lick things and sneeze everywhere and wash their hands.

Not a teacher. Think they have been given a raw deal through all this though. Other than writing to mp, are there any other measures teachers suggest parents take?

@HipTightOnions

I have zero faith in the use of lateral flow tests now. I was hugely against them being used to replace isolations, but happy for them to catch out any random asymptomatic cases. Now I can just see how people will use them as a false reassurance and probably increase risky behaviour

I completely agree. My school is offering them to staff (who are going into school especially for this), we have been told they are “99% accurate” and at no point has there been any suggestion that a negative test does not mean you’re not infected.

I hope you all feel better soon.

Was for these too to catch some asymptomatics but NOT in lieu of isolation. Your post is worrying. Hope they recover soon.

Is it going to be any worse than it was before this lockdown? Numbers are decreasing and we have a vaccine now that helps stop transmission

The earliest date for return is March 8th and I don’t honestly believe there will be full opening then. Pretty sure asymptomatic testing for teachers and students is already happening in secondaries which should make a real difference. Infection rates are falling fast. Do you suffer from anxiety usually? Or is this just related to covid? Can your husband do anything to improve his lifestyle and become healthier?

BungleandGeorge
I am very anxious about going back to teach in school. I don’t think I will be able to do so unless I am given the vaccine and, no, I do not usually suffer from anxiety. The rates are falling largely because schools are closed. When they open, they will rise again.

Well looks like they are throwing all the children in the lower stages here in Scotland back to school. I'm so worried😔
Nothing extra in place despite a virus that transmits more. Where is the science that says this is safe? Read also that the plan is then to let the other older primary years in from the beginning of March. Really very worrying since they do not have the evidence of transmission of children with this new varient. Hey ho,
Nice to know these year groups are guineau pigs. 3rd wave here we come. I won't get the vaccine until May too.. so close.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones

BungleandGeorge I am very anxious about going back to teach in school. I don’t think I will be able to do so unless I am given the vaccine and, no, I do not usually suffer from anxiety. The rates are falling largely because schools are closed. When they open, they will rise again.

Once the children are back in, noone takes lockdown seriously. Children will mix, adults too. Parents will go back to work and that will be that...

So what we have been offered is to be tested twice a week. Newsflash, I don't want to catch it. I'm mid 50's

@BustopherPonsonbyJones

BungleandGeorge I am very anxious about going back to teach in school. I don’t think I will be able to do so unless I am given the vaccine and, no, I do not usually suffer from anxiety. The rates are falling largely because schools are closed. When they open, they will rise again.

I asked the op about general anxiety as they mentioned CBT and medication, generalised or pre-existing anxiety would be different in terms of how it’s approached. Compliance has been achieved by instilling fear so it’s not surprising that people are now scared of covid. I’m not sure I agree that rates are falling primarily because of schools, primaries still have quite a large number in. Nearly 10 million vaccinated and generalised lockdown is hugely reducing numbers. By March it will hopefully be nearer 20 million vaccinated and then all those with immunity from having the disease on top of that. When you release lockdown there is bound to be some rebound after a lag but we’re vaccinating millions every week at the same time so who knows. By breaking the chains of transmission with immunity the chance of non immune people catching it is going to be a lot lower

I think it would be disgraceful to send teachers back unvaccinated and hope that they are prioritised.

I do feel like there's change afoot.
Pressure is definitely building for school staff to be vaccinated for a start, and quite right too.
That obviously won't address all the concerns as none of the children will be vaccinated, but there seems to be a softening of messaging coming out of government - I think rotas are being explored and I heard that the advice against masks has been removed from the guidance (I haven't double checked this). There's also improvements in plans for testing.
I do think we need to keep talking about making schools safer - write to our MPs, councillors and schools. And support zero covid strategies too - ultimately that's what would make schools properly safe.
If we just do what we did last term we will be back to square one pretty quickly.
Is your husband in a union OP? If not it's well worth joining one.
I'm not surprised you're anxious about it - I am anxious about DS going back too. I just really hope the government make a better job of it this time around. Hope you and DH stay safe.

There's been a petition approved for zero covid today if you would like to sign

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/571965

I think it would be disgraceful to send teachers back unvaccinated and hope that they are prioritised.

Teachers ARE back. We never left! 25 people in my key worker classroom currently. No ppe. An open window and handwashing. That's it.

@Bluewavescrashing

I think it would be disgraceful to send teachers back unvaccinated and hope that they are prioritised.

Teachers ARE back. We never left! 25 people in my key worker classroom currently. No ppe. An open window and handwashing. That's it.

If that is the case, how many are catching it? Where I am, there aren't that many children of key workers in compared to a full school. With a phased return, how is it going to help? It's not like they are suggesting spreading those classes out. No, it's business as usual. I've woke up early today, stressed. Media silence in the press YET AGAIN about mitigations, children's safety, vaccination. Its all accepted 🙁

Pressure is definitely building for school staff to be vaccinated for a start, and quite right too.That obviously won't address all the concerns as none of the children will be vaccinated, but there seems to be a softening of messaging coming out of government-I think rotas are being explored and I heard that the advice against masks has been removed from the guidance

That would all be sensible but as far as I know BJ said teachers wouldn’t be prioritised for jabs, and masks are still not recommended in the classrooms. I have heard nothing about rotas either.

Hoping you’re right though-do you have a link to new guidance?

I’ve got 20 children in my face to face teaching group. Other year groups also have 20 in a bubble. Same mitigations as PP said - open the window and wash your hands. No expectation to social distance from children either. Masks only allowed in corridors. No visors or face coverings allowed in classrooms. We are working as normally. Very different to the images in the media of 5 children spread out in a room with teachers wearing PPE.

It would be disgraceful to send school staff back in to full, crowded classrooms without any thing in place to protect them.... but I'm almost certain it's what the government will do.
Face masks and visors should be required for all staff and older children to limit spread and offer as much protection as possible.

We had the new variant hit our school the week before we broke up. It really did spread like wildfire, several new cases every day - crossed year groups within 2 days and was into our feeder primary (siblings) in half a week.
Most areas hadn't got the new strain when we broke up in December. Having seen it first hand, it really only needs one case to explode and it isn't containable like the original strain.

OK, I know this will be an unpopular post, but maybe interesting to see the other side. DH is a secondary teacher and he's desperate to go back. He says that many (obviously not all) of his colleagues feel the same. Yes, he's aware of the high risk of catching Covid but he's not particularly vulnerable and knows that he not likely to get seriously ill with it (of course that's not guaranteed). For him, the small chance of being seriously ill is far outweighed by the stress of being at home. Not that home is an unhappy place - we have a happy marriage and a nice house and kids who are dealing very well with lockdown - but he just desperately misses being in school. He hates feeling like he's not teaching as well as he could in person, he misses his students and he misses his colleagues. The stress of the first lockdown was huge - learning how to do his job in a whole new way almost overnight (private school so massively high parental expectations) plus huge stress over the predicted grades nightmare. This time round it's easier, as he's more at ease with how to teach well online - but everything is that bit harder, and takes that much longer - he hasn't really had a break since last March, except for a couple of weeks off in the summer when I made him do no work. And he's just very lonely without the camaraderie of school. Before I get jumped on, of course he'd love a vaccine, and of course he knows it would be different if he were in a vulnerable group - but for him personally, he'd be back like a shot. (And yes, I'm aware that conditions are better in private schools, but he's taught in state for many years as well, and I genuinely believe he'd feel the same if he was still in state.)

But you can't bring in additional measures and maintain the fiction that schools are safe.
And the priority is to maintain the fiction.

But you can't bring in additional measures and maintain the fiction that schools are safe. And the priority is to maintain the fiction.

You make it sound like there is a malign plot. Surely the priority of the govt is to return to normal education as soon as possible. The leading scientists do say that teachers are at no more risk than other people at work. This time round all CEV or elderly teachers will have been vaccinated too.

The mistake was in ever talking about schools being 'safe'. Wtf does 'safe' mean? Lots of people have inferred that it means 'impossible to catch Covid in', which is utterly ludicrous, as this will always be impossible to achieve while the virus is circulating at all. What the govt presumably means is 'sufficiently safe that the risk to pupils, teachers and society from transmission in schools is outweighed by the risk to young people in having schools shut' - but that doesn't make such a snappy soundbite.