Thinking of handing my notice in

[Jessie40]

Hello, I am a LSA in year 1 and after the Pm's latest statement regarding R, Y1/6 to be going back to school I am seriously thinking about handing my notice in.
It terrifies me the thought of having that many people in such a small area. The younger ones will not understand distancing.
I love my job so I feel torn.
I can't decide whether I'm overacting or not.

No problem!

I've had the email that we are to return (secondary) 14-15 students to a group.
My classroom is tiny and I struggle to get 34 students in - there is one central aisle, no gaps down the sides and no space to go down a row behind students. There is no way I can get 15 students even 1m away from each other and they will have to jostle past each other to come in and out of the room.
Due to health and safety I have 2 windows that can only be cracked at the back if the room. The door is a fire door and cannot be propped and I am a long way from the toilets and hand washing facilities and through many doors .

I also have preschool and primary aged children and they have shielding grandparents that we actually would like to see before their cancer carries them off.

My notice letter is written but I'm waiting until the end of the week before I hand it in.

We are fortunate that we can survive on only one salary (experts at living frugally after my breakdown a few years ago now).

Op. There is no shame in saying this situation is not one you choose to have to deal with. We all have to balance the risk to ourselves and our families.

Oh and to the PP above the Zoe app does not give R values but an estimate of the percentage of the population that is symptomatic. It relies on people entering their symptoms and ratios it up to the local population and so I guess will not include care home residents or children as both are unlikely to be contributing to the app.

Just had a post disappear due to chrome 'pausing'?

Most of it was probably 'pissing in the wind' trying to help others understand why, as the pp who has resigned after 30 years, teachers often don't have 'reserves' to pull upon. I also wanted to thank that poster for 30 years of service.

Also thank you mnhq for your intercession with that poster - even though I now look like I was talking earnestly to myself last night and thank you for looking into how to get us out of active so we can get away from those looking to incite hate and mistrust towards the teaching profession.

whynot I really hope it doesn't come to you handing that letter in. Surely someone will intercede - there's not even a shadow of 'evidence' that teenagers are any less likely to catch and pass on the virust.

Secondary?? ! Your head DEFINITELY needs to wait clarification on a) when year 10 and 12 are expected back and b) what 'some face to face time' means.

Why are so many secondary school heads bulls in china shops?!

I did read somewhere that thye are more likely to vote Conservative than any other secondary teacher ,so maybe that's it.

@HopeMumsnet - We have asked for that on a number of occasions now. Otherwise we will not have a safe space to chat about school issues without non-school types coming in to bait to us

Piggy, that's why I'm holding out. I'm hoping someone will talk to him.
I will be happy to return once we have track and isolate in place because then we will know where the clusters are. Untill then you are just asking for your class to be one cluster..

Thanks to PP to responses to my post earlier. Yes, it's all very sad. I have loved many aspects of the job - and for me it has truly been a vocation. I have been in for every results day in my holiday time to celebrate and commiserate. I have spent hours on the phone over the years securing uni places for desperate post A Level students. I have attended hundreds of hours of parents evenings, plays, ROA ceremonies and awards ceremonies - many of them in my own time.

I have responded to changes in government and changes in policy and specifications. I have written my own resources when exam boards failed me and my students. I have been through and survived many inspections. I have had to listen to pointless feedback and, as each new generation seeks to make it's mark, have had to endure 'experts' tell me how to my job - change their mind - then introduce a brand new initiative that involves me doing something I used to do 20 years ago.

I have had to sit back and watch as people with very limited teaching experience and very little understanding of teaching full timetables have been catapulted into management positions they cannot successfully do, yet they are able to look very busy and hide in their office.

I have built up a department to have it pulled down to nothing in order to make time for other subjects that are currently held in more esteem - for the moment.

In short I have done what thousands and thousands of other teachers have done. And reading some of the comments on MN during the current crisis. I realise that the decision to bow out is one that I really should not have spent so long agonising over.

I have given up years worth of weekends. I have sacrificed time spent with my own children as they grew up. I have not even had a thank you from my management after handing in my notice.

Sorry for the overlong rant - I guess this is the retirement speech I will not get to make! Sorry to hijack the thread OP. I guess my advice to you is to follow your heart. If you can afford it then why put yourself through the stress.

It is not an overlong rant at all and I concur wholeheartedly with the sentiment and content of everything you've said there noidea.

In particular this, "I have had to sit back and watch as people with very limited teaching experience and very little understanding of teaching full timetables have been catapulted into management positions they cannot successfully do, yet they are able to look very busy and hide in their office." , resonated so fucking horribly deeply with me. I used to call them 'yes men in cheap suits' in honour of one particular smarmy, incompetent, rude arsehole in my first school.

At that time (early this century) I remember realising that really good teachers as in those who not only could teach well but also had understanding of the issues facing those kids and classroom teachers, who genuinely wanted to improve schools had a kind of glass ceiling. They would be allowed to be promoted as far as let's say a head of year or head of keystage and to take on masses of responsibility and actually be the ones holding the school together but they could never be allowed to be a HT or assistant head or anything like that. For that (at least at the time and the schools i'm basing this on) you had to be yes man who didn't give a fuck if what you were saying yes to screwed over students and staff.

And yy to hiding in offices. I don't know about you but I've also had to witness all of those important and satisfying pastoral roles like head of year be taken off of the table for teachers. In the school I'm at they're all non qualified roles now. People with no experience of the classroom and earning about 16k. Cheap-yes, effective-no.

I can well believe you didn't even get a thank you.

@HopeMumsnet.

Finally an indication that the staffroom might be hidden. Thank you for this suggestion, which many of us have been requesting for a while. If we cannot have some kind of safe space to share our concerns, without the constant unpleasant comments from others then myself and many others will be removing ourselves from Mumsnet entirely.

I think we are all shocked at how vile posters are allowed to be on thread after thread about teachers and schools. No other profession has to tolerate this and some of us are questioning what the agenda is behind this, and MNHQ tacit support of it.

Fellow teacher here. I tend to read mainly and have only posted a handful of times. How do I still access the staff room if hidden?

I find it really helpful to see I’m not the only one feeling anxious about things at the moment so like to read the posts but I don’t want to lose the staffroom!

It won’t be hidden, just hidden from active threads.

I didn’t realise this was ‘ the staff room’ when I replied to the OP. I didn’t know it was only for teachers! I was once an LSA though and the OP is right the pay is not worth it . My DH used to call it charity work. I know two colleagues that have died from it in my line of work, but they had risk factors, and a relative now who has died with risk factors. I didn’t mean to flippant, but realistically healthy people will need to go back to work at some point so the economy doesn’t tank. I doubt things will be much better in September but who knows. All the best to you OP, your salary may not be worth it but I’m sure the vulnerable children you help in class appreciate you.

Imperial You would go to talk, go to topics and select 'the staffroom'. Back when I visited here regularly before I would do this to get to FWR and to News. They were my interest areas at the time and I valued and enjoyed the posts of, and discussion with, some of the regular posters on those areas so I checked into them. I only went to 'active' if I fancied indulging in reading a bun fight or people vicariously picking apart the details of a posters life.

Stairway it isn't only for teachers but it is primarily, I believe, for school staff looking for support and advice from one another and for parents coming to ask for support and advice from staff who are willing to help them. There's no 'teacher's only' issue but currently teachers, and here mostly mn'ers who are mums looking for support and also teachers, are being flamed and attacked all over the board. If the posts appear on active that just waves them in on a red carpet.

It would be like if sen parents had people flooding their posts telling them sen doesn't exist and they're all shit parents who are making up excuses for their kids behaviour (awful I know but not unimaginable). If their, 'I'm looking for support with my adhd child' posts were appearing on active they would actively be derailed and attacked by that flood. In which case it would be better if sen board threads didn't appear in active.

I would highly recommend not just looking at active but looking at specific boards. It exposes you to entirely different posters and in some cases really interesting experienced experts - I've learned loads from hanging out on particular boards. On active I mostly learn eg. that lots of people are absolute wankers when afforded anonymity, bottle feeding is considered demonic and MILs are assumed to be satan's handmaidens.

I did used to choose to look on the relationships board too - there were often posts that merited a response and support from fellow women potentially in a stronger place at that moment.

Just read this🤔back teacking already ?

www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-dfe-adviser-school-return-plan-could-risk-virus-spread

Hi sorry but another non teacher here but was hoping to offer some reassurance. I am another one who has been through the cycle already of having to figure out to work through the pandemic. Initially we had no PPE unless a patient was symptomatic, this has now transitioned to us wearing it with every patient. Just an apron and a paper mask but I do feel safe. We have made changes to our service that I would never have thought possible but actually everything is working really well now.

I would urge you to give it a chance, if it is a disaster then you can always go off sick during your notice period.

It is so sad to see good teachers needing to leave, I really really hope it doesn't come to that, for those that do enjoy it usually. I just wanted to show my appreciation and to say I am thinking of you and rooting for you and I hope you can find the right path for you.

@theemoji

He’s just written this. He’s very sorry for saying what he did earlier. He will try harder next time.

Have a look at some of the comments under that letter on the DfE FB page!

It can't 'not' spread it. Therefore they must want it to spread and have decided the risk to students, staff and their families is merited (ie. it won't overwhelm the nhs in the 6 weeks ish they're allowing this spread to happen deliberately).

It may be that it makes sense for society and the economy from the big picture lens. From the close up lens staff and parents have to decide if the risk is acceptable to them.

I can remember having it accidentally discovered that I had carcinoma in situ in the lobes of my breast. The privileged, arrogant, impatient older white male consultant I saw thought I was hysterical for wanting screening and to ask if I would now have regular screening despite being younger than 50 given I had cancer 'sitting there' that could spread. He explained only 5 in a hundred women (or some such) with what I had would go onto die of breast cancer.

I remember saying society might have 95 women spare for every five who die of it but my son only has one mum. 5% of me can't raise him.

Wow, emoji that article is shocking!

Thanks for your kind words private.

I know. And l want to put it in the Staff room solidarity board and l can’t find it 😭

Oh? We have a fifth republic now. It has been posted on there about 8 times !