In two weeks pupils can safely return to school..

[Regulus]

..can they fuck.

There maybe plenty of reasons why they have too but to lie that it's safe is deplorable.

@picklespark

God, people are twits on this thread.

It's not about teachers necessarily getting sick - the data clearly shows that schools drive community transmission, and there are still A LOT of unvaccinated adults out there, and of course the children, who can pass on the virus.

This is still enough to drive up the R rate to increase hospitalisations within the next few months. A proportion of younger, healthy adults needing hospital treatment will still be enough to put undue pressure on the NHS.

Many school staff and parents are rightfully pissed off because the government could have used this lockdown to take measures to make schools safer, and they've done precisely nothing. Other countries, inc. Europe have masks for children over 6. Installing HEPA filters in unventilated spaces is a relatively low cost per child and would really help with aerosol transmission. They could have looked into Nightingale classrooms to spread out the space. Actually, they should have done this last summer when rates were extremely low.

Also, allowing moderate levels of community transmission increases the risk of mutations that can escape from vaccines.

It's been hard for all parents, we know that. But opening schools all at once is a recipe for disaster.

It's been hard for all parents, we know that. But opening schools all at once is a recipe for disaster.

How many times do school staff need to be ignored and dismissed on here before people actually start listening. You would have thought that by lockdown 3 people would have understood that maybe school staff are the best people to listen to where schools are concerned. But no.... we're just work shy socialists....

The primary school I work in will be exactly the same, no social distancing, no vaccine for staff, no masks, no rotas, no HEPA filters, no extra classrooms (portacabins, nightingale classrooms), no temperature checks on arrival, no perspex screens for tables, no financial assistance for parents having to isolate because of their sick children). Nothing.

Then in 2 months time everyone will whine and complain and we'll be right back where we started.

Yes, we all know about the vaccine, but wake up. Not even 2m people have been vaccinated (the government likes to mislead people by saying 1 dose counts as being vaccinated), and we're not vaccinating children or the majority of school staff.

With 20,000 in hospital and 10,000 a day testing positive the rates are still incredibly high. I hope to god it won''t rip through schools again but I cant see any reason why it wouldn't.

School staff aren't at risk of losing their jobs though are they? And they can send their children to school
At 52, if I get the virus and can no longer work I will be finished on ill health ... any teacher over 50 is only able to work as long as their health remains reliably good. Surley you know this?

@Myothercarisalsoshit

School staff aren't at risk of losing their jobs though are they? And they can send their children to school At 52, if I get the virus and can no longer work I will be finished on ill health ... any teacher over 50 is only able to work as long as their health remains reliably good. Surley you know this?

Yes, the same as everyone else?

Also the chances of that are slim.

[quote mumsneedwine]@ItsIgginningtolooklikelockdown I'm on my way. Staggered by the weirdness of people though. Education is sooooooooo important. So vital, so amazing. But the people who deliver it are not worth protecting. Nought so weird as folk. 🍷[/quote]
That is utterly bonkers, mumsneedwine, I don't understand why teachers haven't been vaccinated. So many parents have been banging on about having to homeschool and not being able to wait until school days return... we should all be putting pressure on the government to get our teachers vaccinated as a priority.

I don't blame you for putting your health first. You can't teach if you're incapacitated or dead, can you? I too hope you get your vaccination soon... and thanks.

At 52, if I get the virus and can no longer work I will be finished on ill health

The chances of you never working again because of Covid are small, as I’m sure you know.

The virus passes on best indoors... other restrictions they have laid out show that our government is well aware of that.

Is there evidence that Covid19 is the sort of smart virus that can tell if a building is a school or a gym or a hair-dressers?

No doubt our children will be sharing the virus and bringing it home. It is just that our leaders hope that there will be enough beds in ICU to cover this.

@1WayOrAnother2

The virus passes on best indoors... other restrictions they have laid out show that our government is well aware of that.

Is there evidence that Covid19 is the sort of smart virus that can tell if a building is a school or a gym or a hair-dressers?

No doubt our children will be sharing the virus and bringing it home. It is just that our leaders hope that there will be enough beds in ICU to cover this.

Don't you know? Schools are safe. There hasn't been any evidence to date of bricks or cement being infected with Covid. No evidence of any structural damage to school buildings brought about the virus.

So many of those people who have linked to the govt chart on percentage likelihood of testing positive for Covid really haven't understood it.

For one, it is the risk of testing positive, not of having serious or even any symptoms.

Two the risk is very small.

Although the chart looks like huge variation between occupations at first glance it is actually showing the opposite. The difference between most occupations is 1%

And,

'We have previously published analysis on the number of school workers, key workers and other professions in England who had COVID-19 from 2 September 2020 to 16 October 2020. This analysis did not find statistical evidence of a difference in the positivity rate between primary and secondary school teachers, other key workers and other professions.'

@TheKeatingFive In schools, teachers of 50 plus are usually at the top of scale. If they get long term sick, they will be replaced at the drop of a hat by a cheap NQT. Older teachers are increasingly managed out because of pressure on budgets. I wouldn't expect you to know this unless you are in the sector, but it is common knowledge. Of course, we could get jobs doing something else but hey, us older teachers with decades of experience are usually pretty good at our jobs.

@Randomschoolworker19: 'Don't you know? Schools are safe. There hasn't been any evidence to date of bricks or cement being infected with Covid. No evidence of any structural damage to school buildings brought about the virus.'

Schools are built of covid-resistant concrete! All are safe after all. Amazing Mr Johnson really should have mentioned that.

Secretaries are more likely to catch Covid than teachers (admittedly by a microscopic percentage) and next down from teachers (by a microscopic percentage) is managers.

Based purely on risk of CATCHING covid secretaries should come first, then teachers, then managers. But that is clearly nonsense.

Teachers are not as a group, vulnerable even if they do catch it, which is statistically no more likely than 25 other professions

I am a teacher. Fellow teachers, get a grip and get back to work.

Off to ask my MP why shops and libraries and cafes and pubs are not built of covid-resistant concrete .

I want our children to be completely safe after-school hours too.

@mumsneedwine if your vulnerable you should have a vaccine soon, so maybe speak to your school see if you can go back a little later once you have had vaccine.
But schools have to go back at sometime its 3 weeks then a couple weeks off which will hopefully show impact
Plus testing in secondaries so hopefully cases spotted and sent home before having chance to spread

nostaples make your own assessment of risk, don't throw your older/more vulnerable colleagues under the bus.

Even worse are the parents. Unless your children are clinically vulnerable they are at much greater risk of all sorts of things at home than they are of any harmful consequences of Covid in school. For CHILDREN other childhood illnesses such as chickenpox would be much more risky.

Older teachers are increasingly managed out because of pressure on budgets.

That’s true of most industries though. If you haven’t climbed to upper managerial, you’ll be managed out. Teachers at least have their very decent pensions as a bonus.

@mumsneedwine I also fall in vulnerable group and haven't been vaccinated yet so both dc going back to school and college is a risk , but then my dh goes in to peoples houses daily so he also is a risk , yes he wears a mask but they don't

@pinkpip100

So many completely selfish and uncaring people on here, I am gobsmacked. Can nobody get the fact that putting additional measures in place (staggered return, rotas in secondary, proper ventilation, masks in classrooms) will not only benefit all children by reducing the chance of having to isolate, but would also prevent families like mine, with clinically vulnerable dc, having to make a horrific choice between the mental health and education of our children (keeping them at home whilst everyone else is back in full time with minimal mitigations) and the risk of very very serious consequences for the health of one of them. So much ‘I’m alright Jack’ on these threads, I genuinely think no one gives a toss about vulnerable children and their families. And I am certainly not suggesting that schools stay shut ‘forever’, just that reopening them is done in a more measured, cautious way rather than “all schools open for all children” on 8th March.

I'm sorry Pink. It's really shit.

@nostaples now see you sound like most if the teachers I know .
If cev teacher won't they have shielding letter until 31.3 as well ?

Teachers at least have their very decent pensions as a bonus.
Woo hoo! Got to love mumsnet - so many posters are experts on teachers' pay, conditions and now pensions! Fucking excellent.

@Itslggining I'm talking about the statistical likelihood of catching COVID which is no greater for teachers than it is for secrataries.

So, if you're saying that teachers aren't safe, you're also saying that no secretary is either closely followed by managers.

But statistically there is no significant more risk for teachers than for 25 other professions.

That's the point about statistics. It's not about me making subjective speculation about my own risk, it's about looking at national and international evidence.

@pinkpip100 but masks are to be worn in classrooms for secondary and couple tests a week .
At my ds school they have always opened windows, kept kids in year groups in seperate areas , invested on large outdoor coverings etc so there is more things in place now

There will be parents not only concerned about their dc getting covid but about it being brought home to them.. either over 50s are at increased risk or they aren't, and as a group over 50s must be strongly represented in secondary school (in particular) parent groups.

I am a teacher. Fellow teachers, get a grip and get back to work

If you're a teacher, you'd know that teachers are working. I'm not a teacher so don't bother telling me to get a grip.

so many posters are experts on teachers' pay, conditions and now pensions!

If you’re on a defined benefit pension scheme, you are getting an excellent deal compared to anyone on defined contribution (the vast majority of the private sector). That is common knowledge. 🤷‍♀️