I don't want to go to work and potentially come into contact with 30+ people!

[poblwcymru]

I don't want to go into work and put myself and family at risk. I'm expected to come into contact with at least 30 people a day- different people each day at that. I've done it 5 days a week for the last year whilst my children have continued to go to school and be given worksheets they often find too easy/hard because no differentiation, supervised by a TA.

I work in a supermarket. Part of my job is stacking shelves whilst every man and his family of four have come to my supermarket for a jolly and lean over me to pick up their packet of digestives. Most of them wear masks but a lot have their noses hanging out.

I don't have a union - can I join NEU please?

(And before someone says I'm teacher bashing- I'm not. I'm a teacher in my 30's who would very much like my mostly female in their late 40s/early 50's colleagues who hate their jobs to stop---- scaremongering.)

Let's get back to school!

I get what you are saying - but you will get flamed on here!!

[quote JellyBabiesSaveLives]@TwirpingBird apologies. I don’t really think the Op is any kind of teacher[/quote]
I'm a business studies teacher. Does that count?

@Thunderpunt very good point!!

I'm sick of these school / teacher posts

As a parent if you are worried then homeschool for a while longer.

As a teacher, if vulnerable stay shielded until vaccinated

Everyone else needs to crack on!!!

Sorry, OP, but if you're in your 30s, I don't think you get to dictate what your older colleagues are allowed to worry about. Their risk profile will be different from yours.

So op you are saying that a super market and teacher work in similar environment? You are actually comparing a large open space, where vast majority of customers are adults wearing masks and being sensible not to get in your face, to a small class packed full of children who have no idea what social distancing is, wear no masks themselves and you are not allowed to wear a mask? How are they the same exactly? Don’t know where you live and what your local supermarkets are like, but we have masks and not every one shops with their kids only single parents or those who have no choice. Also, as a shopper if I need something off a shelf and a worker is stacking the shelves etc, I usually ask them to move, so there is distance between us and I grab my item whilst wearing a mask. Pretty sure most shoppers do the same.

Problem is if teachers are shielding there is no-one to teach the children in school and schools don’t have funding to pay for supply

@DinosaurDiana

I am a Covid vaccination nurse. I personally come into very close contact with 50+ people per shift. Some of them only wear a face shield, some have their mask under their noses. I’m not worried. I think you need to consider if you are over anxious, and maybe have a chat with your manager about how you can do your job yet feel safe.

You are probably not worried, because you know one of the criteria of getting the vaccine is to not have any covid symptoms. The patients you see are the ones most probably least likely to have covid!

I am so with you OP. In reality I am sure most teachers are just getting on with it, the same as any other front line workers. The vocal minority on MN however, who just seem to be constantly complaining about how much danger they are in, irritate the hell out of me. I get that there is a risk, and it is scary. There have been times when I have been scared to go to work, but some jobs just need to be done, and schools have at least been able to close to most pupils through the worst of it. I really hope that now the vaccines are being rolled out quickly, schools can open up, and stay open.

So no one wants to answer my question. Standard response. Oooh so many other jobs have bad working conditions just like teachers. But no one ever tells me where else looks like a school corridor

I’ve been in supermarkets and have been in schools, and have to say, they bear exceptionally little resemblance to each other. Does the Op have a screw loose? Tbh, it would make more sense to compare the cinema or theatre to school - somewhere where you sit and talk in the same space for extended periods.

I know what you mean. I work in a call centre, no proper distancing and no masks (until this month!). Hot desking. No windows to open. There are, at any one time, 100 people off isolating. I caught it last year, was off for a month. I’m cv. Paid ssp for that, so pennies. Lots of people are continuing to go to work and risk their health.

Or a full packed pub in normal times?

It does sound like offices (if fully open as normal) and factories are, like schools, much less safe than supermarkets.

I'm a Police Officer who has spent the last year going into houses with covid, custody centres with inmates infected with God knows what, rolling around scrapping with people who aren't wearing masks and we'll, you get the picture. And we've been told categorically we will have to wait for our turn to get the vaccine. I haven't heard any of my colleagues moaning once about coming to work, in fact the general concensus is that we are all grateful to have secure jobs that we are still able to carry on doing during lockdown.

I do get a little inwardly annoyed when I hear some of the whinging about people having to put themselves at risk in different occupations, but I guess when you sin up for the police you sign up for an element of risk anyway so this is just an extension of that.

@Desmondo2016 I think you should be vaccinated now. And thank you for all you do. But how often are you confronted with this photo - I am, 5 times a day to try and get to next lesson. And then sit in an unventilated room with 30 students and no masks.

All teachers are asking for is some safety measures. We have worked and never said we won't. We'd just like some safety as I'm sure you would too. Is that really too much to ask ?

Could you bring some tea with that biscuit I'm a bit peckish and between lessons 😊

there you go.

Given the OP's username, I really hope she teaches in a Welsh medium school and is more coherent in her first language.

Mumsneedwine

Why is the school you work at so shit at providing any basic safety measures? Most schools I know have one way systems, staggered leaving times, masks etc.

Why does the head at your school allow your corridors to look like that??

That is the schools fault. Not the government, not the parents fault nor the students.

Yes they need to get on with it. It’s no wonder people bash them. I’ve been working as a TA for months and tbh I’ve never met any teachers in real life who are that precious. Thinks it’s a Mumsnet thing.

Did the staff at your school not put their heads together to work out how it could be as safe as possible? Or are they waiting for written, step by step instructions from Boris?

@poblwcymru

I don't want to go into work and put myself and family at risk. I'm expected to come into contact with at least 30 people a day- different people each day at that. I've done it 5 days a week for the last year whilst my children have continued to go to school and be given worksheets they often find too easy/hard because no differentiation, supervised by a TA.

I work in a supermarket. Part of my job is stacking shelves whilst every man and his family of four have come to my supermarket for a jolly and lean over me to pick up their packet of digestives. Most of them wear masks but a lot have their noses hanging out.

I don't have a union - can I join NEU please?

(And before someone says I'm teacher bashing- I'm not. I'm a teacher in my 30's who would very much like my mostly female in their late 40s/early 50's colleagues who hate their jobs to stop---- scaremongering.)

Let's get back to school!

Have you not considered that those older teachers are not 'scaremongering' they are more at risk than you are due to age or vulnerabilities? It is shortsighted people like you that will see us in lockdown 4. It would have made far more sense to come out of lockdown and back into schools slowly and carefully, giving time for those at risk to be vaccinated and track and trace to work.

I work in a supermarket, and come into close contact with hundreds of people everyday (the vast majority of customers have forgotten how to socially distance and some get agressive when reminded). Some will literally cough at/on you, and lots don't wear masks and lick their fingers to seperate £10 notes (so gross!) It's a huge risk, but one I'm happy to take as, like most supermarket workers, I'm just eternally grateful that my wages haven't become unstable or my job at risk, like thousands of other retail/customer service workers in other sectors across the country. Alot of my colleagues are middle aged and over, mainly women, and quite alot have underlying conditions which deem them at high risk. They do all they can to stay safe themselves with masks, visors etc, but it is hugely worrying. Still think it would have been an idea to vaccinate frontline workers such as teachers and customer facing shop staff as a priority after NHS staff. But it is what it is, most supermarket staff, are happy they still have jobs, trying to stay safe and are just waiting patiently for their turn to get their jab!

Forgot to say, I still think teachers have every right to complain and feel at risk/unsafe, as they were offered little to no protection, and expected to just get on with it. They have my upmost respect, and I would back whatever my dd's teachers believed was best for their safety.