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.

Very few TAs will be replaced if they leave as budgets simply won’t allow it.

@HorsesDoovers seriously? That’s shocking. Leadership makes such a difference to a school... Makes me even sadder to be leaving my lovely school - that attitude must have made the decision easier.
I agree, there will be more jobs in the future. There are already teacher shortages before all this and this is hardly going to be a great recruitment exercise. But we also have no idea what the long term impact on educational settings is going to be so everything may look completely different.
I can’t see many qualified teachers or other school staff who left the profession lining up to fill gaps during this unprecedented crisis, @Ilets

@ElizabethMainwaring thank you so much that means a lot to me, I've questioned myself so much over this.

@Cyberworrier yes it will be very interesting to watch from the sidelines as our settings have to adapt.

God, it makes me so angry and sad that the govt have made zero attempts to work with schools to try to find a safer solution. Absolute fuckwits. They could have been working to create some kind of new system, but instead, ignore the unions, ignore the parents (apartfrom hubs on MN apparently) and car crash blindfolded into completely overloading the already fragile and underfunded schools, showing zero caution, care or common sense.

You need to do what is best for you and it's a completely normal way to feel.

If it reassures you at all, I'm in nhs and when this all kicked off, everyone was terrified, we were poorly protected and every second person was in tears and / or saying they were going to resign - totally understandable. But - things got better. It's a horrid process to got through but you almost need to go through it to work out what the risks are for you so you can make a balanced decision - if that makes sense. Now, everyone is calm at my work, working differently as best we can and no one wants to leave and is glad they didn't. It's different for schools but the psychological element is similar.

I resigned two months ago today, as a carer, i got a hard time on here when I unfortunately posted my thoughts, two weeks prior to resigning.

make your own decision op is my advice, do what is best for your own circumstances.

I understand your concerns and dont think u are over reacting. It's a lot of people in a small space and too many unknowns. Do children spread the virus? Is there a second wave about to hit? Speak to your union rep. What's the unions position? Lots of TAs and teachers will share your view. Your union should be acting. Also I feel a lot of parents will keep their children off so it might not be as crowded as you think.

I think if you can manage on one salary for a while then go for it! No job is worth all the stress and worry .I think originally the Govt planned for a staged return for Schools, but have panicked and realised they need people back at work for the economy and Schools provide day care! I was a Nursery School Teacher and thankfully am not working now.I really feel for everyone in this situation .Small children need hugs and comfort from their teachers /other children ,and I worry about the long term effect on them if this doesnt happen .There is no easy answer .

CrowdedHouse I think thats terrible! this is your life /family and you should not be made to feel guilty in any way! hope you are OK now .

Ive just been watching tv and all they keep saying is that children will be fine and for parents not to worry. No mention of the school staff!
We don't do the job for the huge salary its because we care that makes it such a tough decision.
Thank you everyone for replying, I don't feel like its just me who feels like this now. x

Ilets brilliant advice

Weve been trying to hire teachers for my subject for a year. We have NQTs acting as subject leads, and good TAs are like gold dust, and just as valuble.

I assume youre doing the training to plug the gaps, yes?

I also think it's a panic reaction from the government with no regard to actual safety.

No point having a TA who isn't going to go in to work. Plenty of others who are about to be made unemployed would be happy to retrain on the job rather than live on esa.

As for teachers. If the government has any sense they will start an immediate push for some kind of additional graduate traineeship scheme, training on the job, for all those unemployed graduates. The teaching workforce is going to take a massive hit on all the teachers who resign or are shielding anyway, never mind all the worried well who appear terrified of returning to the classroom. Not ideal, but it's a pandemic. Needs must.

We dont want to go to work as it isnt safe.

Safeguarding children is a main priority. If we can not keep the children safe, they should not be going in.

@cherrybakewell the OP has clearly said she cares for three pairs of elderly relatives. Many school staff who are worried about catching it are worried about the possibility of passing it on to vulnerable relatives, who are much more likely to need hospitalisation and potentially die from it.
@acidburning thank you for sharing your experience as a NHS worker, and for being non judgemental and understanding as to the fears.

@acidburning I totally understand what you mean.Glad you and your colleagues are staying safe.
Thats why I wanted other peoples advice as well... everyone has been so nice.
I think I'm panicking as its only 2 & 1/2weeks away until I'l be in and I need to give 4 weeks notice so I'm already pushing it.
@HorsesDoovers that's shocking. We all need support at this time.

Although I very much doubt the teachers are working 8-5 five days a week.

No, we're working 7 - 9, then 12.30 - 8.30 Mon - Fri, then 12 - 6 on a Sunday. Or maybe that's just me.

@pfrench
Yeah... I ignored that aspect of this thread. I’m working about a day over my usual hours to provide work online and videos etc. I’m assuming most people in the Staffroom know the vast majority of teachers are working extremely hard in very difficult circumstances.

@pfrench @Cyberworrier, it was me who made the comment about teachers not working 8-5. Whilst I don’t doubt that you are working extremely hard under difficult circumstances, I probably didn’t make it clear I was referring to my own work situation. The TA’s are working with the children when “on rota”. We have online training and admin tasks to do when WFH. We have to fill in a task register every day, so when I see a teacher who has not been near the school putting “answering emails” and researching “changes to EYFS” as their total daily activity I get a bit pissed off.

Even if you were to catch COVID it could be just like getting a cold or a severe chest infection

You can't know how it may affect the OP or anyone else. Statistically is it likely to be like getting a cold but for many, many people it really hasn't been that way has it?

Or do you have evidence to support that a primary school is more high risk than the public shops?

There is now quite a lot published on the fact that being in a room with someone with Covid symptoms for 50 minutes or more makes infection likely. Something about how air flows. So given the poor ventilation in many classrooms up and down the land and the fact that we are spending up to 7 hours a day in the same room with children and then add on the fact that they will probably not socially distance and will have their fingers up their noses and their hands down their pants, being in a classroom is risky. At least if you are in a shop, the person with symptoms moves on by quickly.....

Teachers are sitting ducks. There is no doubt about it.

School Staff are being treated appallingly.

I'd resign in your shoes.