Those who work in schools ....

[THATbasicSNOWFLAKE]

How would you feel about full reopening from 8th March with conditions as before?

Are your unions starting to look at what can be done?

If you submitted a section 44 letter last time would you do so again?

Just saw this in the Guardian his morning. I then went on to say that the proposal for the under 50s is now to vaccinate according to age group so school staff and polic won't be at the top of group 10. Seems v harsh

Well said @OpheliasCrayon. I think we are in similar boats
I've been in and personally would be pleased but I live in a lower numbers area and have a wonderful Slt who support us well. I would back up any colleague that did not feel safe as my experience is not their experience.

I'd happily go back (although I am in every other week with about 50% anyway). I've currently got covid as have the rest of the house, which I strongly suspect was picked up at school.

We are a smallish school so all staff are in and we have to juggle remote teaching with teaching the children in school. We are all taking the same risk but obviously that risk will still be higher when all children are back, rates are still high in my area though and know that is not the case everywhere.

Well considering 6000 cases a day were a cause for concern at the end of September last year I would think daily cases should be significantly lower than that before schools are back fully.

I think we should have rotas - why does it have to be all or nothing?

I find it incomprehensible that anyone is teaching keyworker bubbles of more than half a class. Just madness!

And I'm currently in every day with key worker children and teaching them plus children at home. I hate it, it's hard and very tiring. Would love to be back with my class properly, but a bit longer of this now is preferable to in / out, isolation periods and worry of before.

Its not really about me though. I would rather schools were back in full but they werent closed for my benefit - (plus Im in anyway)

Infections need to be low enough and vaccinations have progressed enough to mean schools can open fully without transmitting too much virus in the community putting old and vulnerable people in hospital to the point hospitals cant cope.

I hope that its not too early and this kent varient isnt given another chance to rocket before those group's vaccines have been fully finished. I know all my old and vulnerable relatives arent due vaccine 2 until April time. But perhaps the partial vaccine is enough at a national level to keep hospital functioning, even if individuals arent protected.

The poor old givernment has to balance that risk with peoples jobs, childrens education and people's mental health. Glad its not me.

In our area (NW) the critically vulnerable group 6 are now being called for their vaccinations- 2 teacher friends (asthma, t1 diabetes) have theirs booked for this week. Hopefully other areas are at this stage too so CV school staff can have the vaccine v soon.

@OverTheRainbow88 I am in and out of 4 classrooms all day every day.
I am closer to the kids than the teachers sat behind their 2m tape

My daughter is a HLTA (but qualified teacher) and cv due to previous cancer. I'd be much happier with her returning once she's had her vaccination plus 3 weeks for immunity to build. She's currently doing the homeschooling. Also need ppe allowed for staff if they want to use it. If that's all in place then I think we have to start getting some semblance of normality back, barring new variants etc. I'd prefer opening slowly and carefully to avoid the mistakes we made previously.

We’re all in anyway at my school.

I think school staff should be vaccinated though.

Kids need to be going back but I worry about a mass reopening.

I read something like 75% protection from the first jab. They might be the az only though so it will still be 3 months before the most vulnerable will be fully protected.

Most of the people spreading the virus have not been vaccinated yet so transmission will not be reduced.

If the numbers of cases remains high it will be much harder to surge test any incidents of the variants of concern, as well as leading to a greater possibility of mutations. We know the Kent variant developed in September when prevalence etc was much lower than now.

Cases may rise again when schools open particularly as the guidance was ineffective at containing the spread of the old variant never mind the the Kent one who is more transmissible and more virulent

The mass testing team in schools are not in a position on to test hundreds of pupils. Based on the school I am in it will take at least 2 weeks to test the entire student body just once.

From my dd's perspective, she really does need to get back.
Although she is doing really well with her work, I don't think the teaching is of the standard of face to face teaching.
There are some very lazy teachers out there who are doing the bare minimum whilst others are doing all they can to keep it fresh and engaging.

@THATbasicSNOWFLAKE

How would you feel about full reopening from 8th March with conditions as before?

Are your unions starting to look at what can be done?

If you submitted a section 44 letter last time would you do so again?

I didn't hand one in last time, but I've always felt that full opening with no protection was never a great idea.

It went badly at my school in autumn term.

I'm cv and was working across school in all classes. I taught over 250 children a week with no social distancing - they are 4-7y so it isn't expected. I caught covid, was in hospital and had 7 weeks off. It's been 4 months and I'm still not right. I also now take extra medication since that time and will probably have to for life. Around 75% of our school staff ended up catching covid - despite staff not having close contact with one another. Several parents and some children also tested positive. Few of our children were tested though and the ones who did test positive didn't have the typical 3 symptoms.

When I returned guidelines chanced at school and I was in one bubble so only teaching 90. I was also allowed to wear a mask which I did, removing it only if I was at the front of the class teaching phonics. There were obviously still no social,distancing, etc.

I'm currently full time wfh due to being vulnerable (despite already having had covid my consultant won't confirm I can't catch it again and prefers me to SD and work,at home if possible) and also the role I do during lockdowns means I can work more effectively from home.

So 3 weeks time I expect to be back, teaching a minimum of 90 children a week with no SD. I will be wearing a mask.

Hopefully I have some immunity and hopefully I can have my first vaccine in the next couple of months.

I feel disappointed that the government has never been willing to consider alternative routes to reopening like rota, part time, blended learning allowing for some SDing but they're never going to. So it is what it is.

50% of staff at the primary school I work in tested positive for covid before Christmas. Might as well take advantage of a certain level of immunity... This Government’s all or nothing approach is seriously dim if it actually prioritises education over childcare, however.

Iq will be in after half term and think the teachers should be coming back too. Their lives are no more precious than those who have been in throughout.

I am the only member of staff working from home full time and that's due to being CV and my specific role. Make no mistake though - I am most definitely working full time and more. Absolutely no slacking whatsoever.

Every teacher and support staff are in school and have been since March, including 3 weeks of their holiday during lockdown 1. Our teachers have been given 2 half days a week for PPA, so an extra half day, for preparing remote learning videos and materials, for telephone calls and for a weekly who class video call.

Not all schools have had teachers working from home full time, especially in primary and infant schools.

@Redbrickwall

Oh god here we fucking well go again. I despair. I am a type 1 diabetic teacher and have worked throughout and desperately want my class back - ALL my class

You may be willing to ignore the risk despite being medically vulnerable, but that's your choice. Personally I'd rather take my doctors advise and be careful.

Catching covid and ending up in hospital wasn't a fun experience, that's for sure.

Agree with mamma and Jeremy hunt, why not aim for this so we don't have to lock down again?

I feel this is knee jerk territory again. I'd like rather some year groups went back before easter and probably most thereafter.. And see where we are. Imagine how many more people would be vaccinated by then?
Get crucial year groups back first... My 2 don't need to be in except for social reasons.
It's a virus that survives soley by jumping from human to human. If we stop that we stop the virus and our little humans get far closer to each other than normal adults and we can't stop them.

We all know dc need to go back but I'm struggling to understand the difference in a few weeks especially for those like my dc who are not in critical years?

I hope teachers do submit section 44s. It’s completely wrong that they are expected to work with NONE of the mitigations afforded to every other worker just because the teachers don’t want to spend a penny extra in schools. Parents should be up in arms about that, not grateful that they are going back. If I was a CV teacher I would not be going back in before I was vaccinated.

I don’t know how I feel.
I miss the rest of my class (in with about half) and I can see they need it. I don’t see what has changed really though and I think the rate will go up again.
Just exhausted with it all now. I shall just plod on and do as I’m told like I have so far. I wear a mask and keep my room airy and I stay away from the adults. I hope it’s my turn for a jab soon (group 9 but asthmatic).
It’s half term. I’ve never needed a half term more.

Sorry, the government don’t want to spend an extra penny in schools

I’ve been in most days or training,I’m sick to death of hearing my colleagues moaning about having to be in work whether we have 2 kids or a class full. 7 hours of them and many hours of messages . Either they’ve been put in the rota to work for 3 days one week or kept off it. There’s no nice normal work chat anymore.

Open the schools then the media will complain and demand they’re closed again, then my colleagues will moan about what they’ve seen/read.

I want my dc to go back, get them out the house and back to bring with other humans

I work as a cover supervisor (unqualified supply teacher) and I want to go back as I don't get paid when I'm not in. In the next few months when furlough dries up most of the population will be begging to be in work.
Also, I think primaries are a priority due to that level of education being more fundamental and therefore more important. To be honest, the government should have mentioned in its communication with everyone that specifically 5-7 year olds not being in formal education is a national emergency, because if you don't learn certain skills like reading and socialising in that window of time then you will never do either very well. I know that most parents on this site will be the ones most likely to keep an eye on their kids' education and have time to help them out but if we are honest we know that millions of children do not have this at home. I only work at secondary level but would say the primaries will be going back for this reason and rightly so.

I'm a teacher in an AP setting and have been in school throughout. All our pupils have been encouraged to come in but only about half have done so. Having everyone in on 8th March would definitely make our lives easier as it would mean not having to do live, remote teaching, resource delivery etc. at the same time as teaching in school.

I didn't submit a section 44 letter last time because my union didn't recommend that as a sensible course of action and because I was happy with our risk assessments etc.

My own children would love to be back at school with their friends.