Safe space for school staff to talk about how they are feeling for next term…

[OnceuponaRainbow18]

I’m quite anxious about going back, although luckily managed to get the booster jab before Christmas. Lots of our families live hand to mouth so won’t regular test and can’t miss a week of work, which I do understand.

I’m also worried about exam classes having to sit exams as if nothing has happened.

I’m worried about lack of staff, week before Christmas hols our whole learning support team were off, with no cover.

I’m worried about getting ill and the hospitals are full.

I worry about having to send my kids into nursery where there’s a huge outbreak, but don’t have the option to keep them home.

I worry about bad behaviour as the SLT aren’t ‘policing’ the corridors at lesson change around sl behaviour is going to pot.

I also worry about school closures and kids mental health.

for you OP. Thank you for what you do for our kids’ education, school staff have been amazing through all this, you all deserve medals. YADNBU

@containsnuts

Slightly off topic but last term our school route was badly impacted by the absence of crossing patrol/lollipop persons making the journey to school quite dangerous at some points. Anyone else's school had similar problem?

Ww have barely any crossing patrol left in the whole Borough. The council cut those years ago to save money. Out children have to cross a busy road that has no safe crossing spaces.

I am a member of support staff. My role includes looking after any pupils who develop symptoms during the school day and assessing mental health and wellbeing needs, as well as helping to plan mass LFT testing and facilitating all the vaccinations in school.

Haven't had much of a break because several members of my family (including DH) have Covid.

My worries are really minor compared to most on here but they are still stressing me out!

I'm another who's blase about Covid itself. The vaccine side effects were 10x worse than Covid for me, all 3 times (3 vaccines, not 3 bouts of Covid!)

I'm worried that there will be restrictions on what I can teach. My subjects are Dance and Musical Theatre. If the children aren't allowed to sing in groups or have to wear masks, it makes my curriculum close to impossible.

I'm worried about the disruption and extra work caused by pupil and staff absence. I only work 3 days a week but I did 5 days for the last 3 weeks of term to cover absent colleagues. I'm not an academic teacher, I cone from a professional dance background. Covering maths and science lessons is not something I feel equipped to cope with but there's no option.

I'm worried about our major Spring Term musical. Sounds frivolous but we've put so much money and time into it already and we've got some fabulously talented children who are raring to go and will be crushed if it's not possible. Last year, we just moved it to June but this year the set is only available in our week and there are (in theory!) all the residential trips in the summer that we didn't have to factor in to last year's move.

I am an ex teacher but my husband is still a teacher in college setting and the students simply do not give one. My husband is asthmatic and boosted but I am still so concerned:(

@Foolsrule you're not wrong. The wage isn't a liveable wage and for the responsibility we take, I'm done. I've done my job for nearly 8 years, am well qualified and experienced but I've had enough. I'm plotting my escape as we speak.

It's a combination of feeling taken advantage of, taken for granted, dealing with entitled parents, feeling like we are failing the children.....the list goes on. Covid is the final nail I suppose. Our classrooms don't feel safe, we just have to get on with it. Lots of my experiences colleagues are also planning to leave. I fear for what will be left of education after this.

It’s good to read this thread and know that my own anxieties are very real!
Also dodged the covid bullet but….
Loads of staff absence puts multiple strains on multiple people but behaviour seems to be suffering the most.
Exams or Tags: neither seem to address the huge discrepancies in learning and provision experienced by students.
Ofsted has always seemed inhumane but hugely so now and frankly the prospect terrifies me!
My air quality monitor is always on red, even with the windows and door open. It serves as a reminder that I’ve been breathing in crap for over 20 years.
Also 12 to 14 hours a day isn’t enough to take the edge off the creeping feeling of failing to meet everyone’s needs. I’m sure it used to be???

I brought my air quality monitor home. Bizarrely, it is much worse at home (and I have a windowless classroom...)! But at least I know whose breath I am breathing there. It does show new build homes are rather sealed though and makes me realise why you should really really open windows if you have visitors!!

The last two weeks for us in school were horrendous. So many children and staff testing positive. We just couldn’t get supply in so we had to just manage with the staff we had. We tried to return to bubbles but we couldn’t staff it.
I am dreading going back into that situation again but without the ability to get a test quickly when your a close contact.

I just think it’s so daft that we were given them in a bogus nod to our safety but actually they’ve become another reminder of how slightly shit and stressful everything is 😀
And honestly, I love my job! Not sure how sustainable it is though….

Also couldn’t get enough supply and had to double up classes

@EddieVeddersfoxymop @Foolsrule

I was a TA, but left at Christmas. As you say - the salary absolutely does not compensate for the risk. I was sick of SLT publicly saying "no crossing of bubbles" and then asking us TAs to go into other classes to "help out" (had no problem doing it for 1:1 children whose normal TA was absent, but did absolutely object to doing it to generally help out with a normal lesson with 30 children).

I’m dreading going back as well. We had ‘only’ 3 teachers and couple of TAs with covid in December and it was absolute bedlam. The head is massively stressed about Ofsted but no time to do anything about it as they were mostly covering the absences themselves as there was no supply cover to be found. I don’t think things will be any better now. Unless the ‘returning retired teacher’ campaign surprised us all!

I think we could just about cope in the spring term if Ofsted was paused, but I really worry for my head’s mental health

@Haralambus

Yup I lost 5 of my PPA over 3 weeks to babysit a hall of 58 kids on my own

I have reported the post which is in no way anything to do with the thread.

Me too.
Obviously decided to land , without reading any of the posts and make the snide comment.

Wondering if she also invades other safe spaces: academics' corner? Black Mumsnetters? The OP is pretty clear...

@Iheartbaby

Message deleted by MNHQ.

Oh, do get lost.

Covid has been stressful for everyone. It's been a stressful experience in schools in a different way from other workplaces. Not only are you continuously surrounded by children whose families take a wide range of approaches to LFTs (from none ever even when symptomatic to punctilious), but you get bloody cold if the room is properly ventilated, as do the children, so you shut the window so that they can concentrate because - and this is a whole other source of stress - you genuinely care about the fact that so many of them have fallen so badly behind.

And the ones who have fallen behind the most are often the ones whose parents will not be giving them support to catch up because either thru haven't the capacity, or they don't give a monkeys.

So yep, I think school staff are allowed to whinge and worry.

@Piggywaspushed

Me too. Obviously decided to land , without reading any of the posts and make the snide comment.

Wondering if she also invades other safe spaces: academics' corner? Black Mumsnetters? The OP is pretty clear...

Exactly, it’s like they’ve deliberately posted just to goad despite being able to just scroll on by.

It’s awful when “safe space” is in the title, yet some posters choose to ignore. Why is teacher mental health less important than other professions?

Thanks @mnhq for deleting that post.

Reported again.

And I will keep reporting so maybe stop before getting yourself banned for bullying.

I've got all day to keep reporting your posts

Anyway, let’s not stop that derailing the thread.

How about helpful suggestions to start term less anxiously? I like the idea about listing what you can control and what you can’t.