If workplaces are planning on a 25% absence rate then how on earth are we all expecting schools to carry on as normal ?

[Timetobuckup]

I have just been reading in the BBC website that the gov are telling businesses to plan for a quarter of their workforce to be absent .
There is no way schools / colleges will manage with that amount of staff out.

I work in a secondary school and had a pcr this morning , my teen ds is positive and I am keeping fingers and toes crossed I am negative but not holding out much hope.
We are doing mass testing on Tues and I am really interested to see how many have to go home.

@angstridden2

I expect I’ll get shot down , but it would be good to see a few more teachers on here being constructive and offering suggestions on how schools could get through this hopefully short term crisis. Classes can’t be blended, non fully qualified staff can’t help out, online teaching won’t work because covid + teachers won’t continue working although most of the young people I know who have had covid have continued working from home. It’s so relentlessly negative. What exactly do they suggest? Send all children home again to the detriment of their education and keep primary school parents away from their own jobs...nurses, doctors etc.

I know it’s been hard, I know it can be a rubbish job; been there, got the t shirt but really what do people suggest happens?

I don't think there is an answer to be honest.

@refraction A Level students wi just have work set and sent home.
They say exam years should be prioritised but an English Teacher can't teach A Level Biology for example

it would be good to see a few more teachers on here being constructive and offering suggestions on how schools could get through this hopefully short term crisis.

Take us back to funding levels of say, 5 years ago. In my primary school we had 5 more TAs than we do now and a specialist language HLTA and PE HLTA. With those extra bodies in school permanently we could cover the levels of absence we were experiencing at the end of last term. We have good TAs who are more than capable of taking classes for a week. We also wouldn't have a ridiculous supply bill every week. A good TA who knows the school and the children will always be better for continuity of education than a random supply teacher.
We've been hoping it a short term crisis for 2 years! Even when Covid stops causing disruption we will still have to address the inequalities in experience for different groups of children so extra staff could be used for this. Again TAs who know the school and the children would be better placed to provide meaningful catch-up than the random tutors that came in for the catch up program.

@toomuchlaundry 1:1 TAs I don’t think you can qualify as being same, I’m only talking about class TAs. Again I know not everywhere has them but where they are available, I really can’t see the problem, especially if a key mitigation against disruption is that all materials are prepped at least two weeks in advance as our schools have mandated.

@hunder that sounds tough, I think you hit nail on head though that no one knows how long this period will be. Big problem

@NinaDefoe I feel like that’s the sort of obtuse / negative reply that the poster is referring to. Maybe you meant it as such I don’t know, but the poster is asking for what those who feel negative to all the suggestions would prefer. Of course we’d all prefer a return to past funding levels, good point raised above, but given that’s not possible before next week we need every idea we can get

Senior teachers are finding solutions - they're just busy communicating them to colleagues and parents rather than posting then on mumsnet!

One of the many casualties of the financial pressures in schools is free periods. Most of my colleagues are at legal minimum. They can't be asked to cover

We can in an emergency situation. Safeguarding comes above everything else. A class can't be left unsupervised because it is our protected time. We are told we will always get the time if possible but if there's no other option then there's no other option.

that makes homeschooling with graduate parents look like a much better option though, not to mention safer

Parents don't need to be graduates. FFS

I know one of our contingency plans relies heavily on our 18-20 year old gap year students! At least TAs have the skills required, even if they aren't financially compensated to be doing what they're doing. Our gap students are fab but they're barely out of school themselves. Although they are very unlikely to get sick with Covid, I guess, so that's one good thing.

@blameitonthecaffeine thank you, as a parent I’m reassured to hear this.

Every workplace/organisation will have its own challenges and solutions, even if they're cobbled together.
What I don't see happening is people who have no fucking idea piling onto staff in offices/supermarkets/hospital with half-arsed ideas that won't work in a million years and then get arsey when the people who work there and know what they're talking about point out it cannot happen (for bloody good operational/safety reasons). Nor do they get accused of "negativity."
WHY does the whole world think they can run schools better than, oh you know, the professionals whose job it actually IS?

[quote SonicBroom]@MrsHamlet can I ask a few questions, I’m honestly interested not having a go so not intended as such:

If I'm off, my three year 13 classes will all need cover. But they can't just slide into the parallel class because of the timetable. They could be "supervised" - but who sets the work for them? Who marks it? My colleagues who already have a full workload? Same with my year 11 class, and y10.

I taught for several years, and when I was off I used to set the work for the cover teacher and then I mark it when back. Does this not happen, and would you not expect to have a couple of weeks’ classes prepped ahead in case of time off? At my DC school, all the teachers have been asked to have at least two weeks of materials available as mitigation ever since schools went back, in the event that they had to take time off. It has worked well, not perfect of course, but has minimised disruption. Friends who are teachers have said that they marked work from home when isolating, assuming they weren’t too unwell which most weren’t. Do you have these sorts of provisions or is every school different?

It's not as if any other this could have been predicted and more effectively mitigated against.

What do you think should have been done, I feel the same but am at a loss to know what more there could be… other than making sure full supply of materials are available?[/quote]
If I'm well enough, I can set work. But if I'm not, someone else will have to. I have "emergency" stuff that I can easily bash out - but 5 months out from A levels and GCSEs, I need to plan as I see what they need to do at any given time. And if I'm ill, I won't be marking either.
We've all got emergency work, but not a fortnight's worth.
We should've been allowed to keep bubbles if schools wanted them.
We should've kept masks.
We should've been funded for ventilation.
Education should've been treated better for the last decade so that we had more slack in the system for emergencies.

@angstridden2

I expect I’ll get shot down , but it would be good to see a few more teachers on here being constructive and offering suggestions on how schools could get through this hopefully short term crisis. Classes can’t be blended, non fully qualified staff can’t help out, online teaching won’t work because covid + teachers won’t continue working although most of the young people I know who have had covid have continued working from home. It’s so relentlessly negative. What exactly do they suggest? Send all children home again to the detriment of their education and keep primary school parents away from their own jobs...nurses, doctors etc.

I know it’s been hard, I know it can be a rubbish job; been there, got the t shirt but really what do people suggest happens?

Ofsted needs to stop and the inspectors need to come into schools to help. The money offered to retired teachers needs to be much more. Sats need to be cancelled. The government needs to be realistic in what schools will look like. Money needs to be spent on air filters and ventilation. Money needs to be spent on supporting schools with extra staff. Pay double the money and there will be many more people willing to be dinner staff, cleaners and sports coaches. Children need to be kept at home if there is a case of covid in the family.

@whynotwhatknot

some people have to go to work

my bil is a keyworker and my sister a cleaner they cant work from home-sending kids home isnt a viable option anymore

Here's the really stupid thing. I'm immunosuppressed. So really vulnerable to covid and yet, if I don't send my primary (awaiting vaccination) dc in, I'll be fined. We can wfh and juggle home ed and I'd be happy to do that. Why can't those of us who can keep our dc home, do so, to let schools cope with 75% staffing?

@MrsHamlet thanks for the reply. Completely agree with all your suggestions, and those of @Sherrystrull (including household isolation for kids with covid in house, as much as it pains me to say it).

Question though, wouldn’t having eg 2 weeks’ worth of plans available be a good way to mitigate impact if you’re off? Yes it’s work up front but it’s not entirely work you wouldn’t otherwise be doing (or work that hasn’t been done in the past) and it means that your lessons can be covered at short notice - thereby meaning less extra work for colleagues, better quality work for kids, AND if you did end up being unwell and unable to wfh it has less impact. Both our childrens schools have insisted on it from staff so I’m surprised it’s not more widely accepted as being a good mitigation from education perspective

@immersivereader

UK will be back in lockdown as of Jan 10th.

@immersivereader

Care to share your source??

Or perhaps just confirm you're guessing, unfounded.

For those asking for a positive attitude, we already have some mitigation in place as all schools have had to write a contingency plan.
Without this more schools would have closed in November & December.

Schools are managing to stay open through shared arrangements for safeguarding leads. Only possible if other local schools have safeguarding leads available in school and governors agree to the changes. Without this schools have to close.

Classes have been shared. I have schools where one teacher has taught remotely ( from one room) across three classes.

Teachers and headteachers are cleaning classrooms, toilets, door handles and desks.

Teachers, TA's and headteachers are covering staggered lunchtimes and playtimes. This can take three hours in the middle of the day.

Headteachers are teaching, (in some cases more than they were as some have classes anyway)

Headteachers are picking up the 1-1 needs of pupils, which have been huge. HT's are unable to start their leadership role until pupils have gone home, working till midnight instead, prioritising the needs of pupils and staff.

More lessons are taking place outside, mainly active as children's physical health has deteriorated during time at home.

Schools are having to increase the deficit that their budget has, to pay for supply ( if available).

Leaders are calling in all favours of ex staff and known supply. Almost impossible to find.

Leaders & LA's are working hard with governors to safely recruit, often virtually to try and maintain a workforce.

Incidentally OFSTED carried on last term. Stopping inspections would certainly improve stress levels in school. It wouldn't provide the workforce we think though, as many are serving headteachers or LA staff.

I don't think any government that cares about children and their education would inflict even more covid chaos on schools.

The words don't match the actions.

@whynotwhatknot

some people have to go to work

my bil is a keyworker and my sister a cleaner they cant work from home-sending kids home isnt a viable option anymore

seriously

What do you expect schools to do if too many of the staff are off with covid?

@IWannaWishYouANutNutsChristmas the fact they’re calling it a “staffing crisis” when they’re about to willingly and knowingly infect millions of kids, parents and staff with covid says it all.

That’s not just a staffing crisis to me.

One of our local schools had so many cases amongst the pupils last term they were told by PHE to reintroduce bubbles so don’t mix classes at break, lunch, assemblies etc. So not allowed in the hall together. Then the staff started dropping like flies. Asked PHE if they should close as not enough staff. No, PHE’s solution was to tell them to put the classes in the hall and have the teacher teach them there

@SonicBroom I could prepare two weeks of absence work - in fact I do already have this. Given I can't predict when I might be off, it is appropriate but random work that isn't what we would be doing in class if I am in. I can't just leave my planning for the next two weeks and hope a cover teacher can teach to that - work for cover staff is always planned differently to allow for the fact that they probably have no expertise in that subject area.

[quote SonicBroom]@IWannaWishYouANutNutsChristmas the fact they’re calling it a “staffing crisis” when they’re about to willingly and knowingly infect millions of kids, parents and staff with covid says it all.

That’s not just a staffing crisis to me.[/quote]
I agree.

I don't know what to call it but I don't know why we're not protecting our children from it.

[quote SonicBroom]**@MrsHamlet* thanks for the reply. Completely agree with all your suggestions, and those of @Sherrystrull* (including household isolation for kids with covid in house, as much as it pains me to say it).

Question though, wouldn’t having eg 2 weeks’ worth of plans available be a good way to mitigate impact if you’re off? Yes it’s work up front but it’s not entirely work you wouldn’t otherwise be doing (or work that hasn’t been done in the past) and it means that your lessons can be covered at short notice - thereby meaning less extra work for colleagues, better quality work for kids, AND if you did end up being unwell and unable to wfh it has less impact. Both our childrens schools have insisted on it from staff so I’m surprised it’s not more widely accepted as being a good mitigation from education perspective[/quote]
I have 6 lessons worth of work prepped for a subject I lead. It can be dropped in anywhere - but it is designed to be delivered, not taught.
The y11 cover that I planned for my class last term when I had a planned absence was ditched for "make a poster" because the non-teaching member of staff deemed it too hard.
That's the reality.
In answer to someone else - Secondary TAs are not class TAs. I have one with a y10. They are there to work only with him. Some days, it takes both of us to manage him, let alone everyone else. If he's off, she's redeployed - but she's not a teacher and can't be expected to teach... not least because we rely on kids being off to staff all the 1:1. We're 3 TAs down on what we need and we can't replace them.

As to being asked to cover in an emergency, yes we can be. But staff are stretched thin. If you want to exacerbate the sickness absence issue, you push your staff beyond their limits. Then everyone suffers.
So I'll be keeping all my windows open all day (as I have been) and teaching from the front rather than working with individuals. Because that's really all I have.

No source.

But they've done that in Canada - staff in the public health system are off sick with covid, so less available staff to care for the sick. Hence 2 week circuit breaker.

If school staff are also off, how will you open the schools? Etc etc.

I presume this 'staffing crisis' due to covid absences is somehow affecting the public sector more badly than the private sector.