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.

I am considering resigning, too.

Social distancing for everyone...except schools.
Masks recommended...except for schools.
Denmark have done it...with 8 to a class (not 15) spread across schools normally housing 1000 and without anyone promising parents that the whole school will come back 3 weeks later.

I think it’s a genuinely bad decision and I don’t trust the government saying that it’s anywhere near safe.

,@FeltCarrot I get that. As you say, that reflects your situation and your school. Plenty of teachers are on their schools rota as well as setting, uploading and marking work- I’m sure you get that your colleague who is researching EYFS ideas is not representative of teachers as a whole.

I work in a nursery, I'm also considering handing my notice in if I'm asked to go back (currently on furlough.)

I work with babies so distancing at it's absolute worst as they clearly have no awareness of personal hygiene!

Yes, people need to get back to work and I understand that schools are nurseries need to be open for them to do that. It just makes me cross that people don't seem to be thinking about the staff who are looking after the children. Or their families. Other workplaces are only allowed open if they can do so safely... doesn't apply to schools and childcare settings?!

You are very lucky if you can afford to resign. I have a vulnerable child, am vulnerable myself and can't afford to be out of work so I will be at work as normal as and when required.

I'm a childminder and I have 99% decided to close my business rather than reopen.

Guidance like:

• remove all soft furnishings (I work from my home so I'll just fold up my carpets and sofa and pop them elsewhere shall I?......)
• You can't social distance from young children so open a window instead (Apparently being sneezed on by a toddler is perfectly safe if the window is open. I'm not sure how much scientific backing that has though).
• Keep your family away from where the other children have been (a bit tricky as it is their home too and like most people we don't have unlimited space).

My list of worries and practical difficulties just goes on and on. When it comes to the crunch, financially and emotionally it just isn't worth the risk. My job will have no resemblance to the fun times of playing, going on trips to libraries, playgrounds etc that it used to be. I just can't do this.

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

Of course it is. Have you ever spent time in a classroom with small people who have no awareness of social distancing or personal hygiene?
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that of course it's more risky.

CherryBakewell I actually looked at this last night. 47 Teachers have died apparently not that the press tell the public that, as according to them we are too busy planing strikes and enjoying an extended holiday.

And we can talk about risk all we like, we all need to think about how to manage this new risk in our lives. You don’t have the monopoly on it.

I work with the COVID don’t tell me about risk because it really doesn’t even begin to compare
Obviously risk is relative. IT's not as bad as hospitals and care homes but it is riskier than supermarkets.

Having sat in classrooms with children with a cold/hay fever and seen them sneeze or cough and leave heaps of snot on their books/the table/on me I am not looking forward to being in class with potentially infected children.

47 Teachers have died apparently not that the press tell the public that

And how many of them definitely caught it from a child at their school?

@mayaginger that’s what you was doing before lockdown was it not?

I think a lot of this is far factor from been at home & watching the news. It’s the same risk that stands before we went into lockdown in all fairness and teachers were not frantically worried. The long & short is we can’t all stay at home indefinitely.

I’m glad you don’t look after “my infected child” anybody would think that the children have tested positive for COVID. You will just have to increase hand hygiene and get on with it.

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.

Did you mean like £30k bribery packages for PGCE, SCITT, GTP, School Direct... Teach First... Now Teach... Future Teaching Scholars... Premier Pathways... Researchers in Schools... Transition to Teach...

Almost like they were already struggling to recruit teachers.

@mayaginger that’s what you was doing before lockdown was it not?

It's happened before and after. I've still been working.

I felt like you, OP, when I read last nights government guidelines, and was so shocked and worried that I felt like handing in my notice asap. I'm nearing retirement age, so we could scrape by if I quit. I decided to wait and see what develops, though, as I think it would be a bit rash to make a decision when emotions are running high. I absolutely love my job (TA) and really want to be there for the children and my colleagues, so I'm hanging on for now, and hoping things change. Maybe you could give it some more time and thought, as it would be so sad if everyone jumps ship.

Assuming you're fit and well a working age woman has a 0.005% chance of dying due to Covid 19. The same risk as dying in a road traffic accident.

Cherry, at the risk of sounding rude, this is the staffroom, so if you're not staff please go and clog up one of the eleventy billion and one threads in AIBU about how we all just need to get a grip.

No-one is saying teaching is as risky as nursing/social care/ bus drivers, we are saying, in a place for staff members, that we are concerned about the risks of our job.

We're not entitled.

We don't think we have it worse than anyone else.

We're just wondering why when I catch the bus to work tomorrow I should apparently wear a face mask. If I pop into the supermarket on the way there to get my dinner I should do the same. But I can then spend 5 hours in a poorly ventilated room with 15 children with very dubious hygiene with no protective measures in place and that's apparently fine.

We care about our job.

We care about the kids we teach.

I actually cried yesterday when I received an email telling me one of the parents of the kids I teach had died, because I am so worried about the effect on that child. I don't want anyone else to go through that if we can help it.

Look around. The economy is about to completely and utterly tank. Where are the jobs for new graduates? Nowhere! Teaching will become a much easier profession to recruit to very very very quickly in an economic depression. Particularly if it is marketed as a teach first type opportunity, or as an academic support type role (bit like that physician associate role)

Epy - it's not the same risk level for everyone is it though?

Some of us are older.

Some of us are obese.

Some of us are BAME.

Some of us are male.

Some of us have underlying health conditions.

Some are more than one of these.

And to take your driving analogy - when I drive I put a seatbelt on, check my car is roadworthy, follow the speed limit etc. I minimise the risk. This is like having 5 beers, piling into a car without an MOT with 8 kids in a car designed for 4, not putting seatbelts on and driving at 80mph down the highstreet.

If we were doing similar to Denmark we'd be less worried but they have far less cases smaller class sizes and have spread out over a much wider area.

ilets - who is going to train all these bright new things?

It's not a 5 hour training program it's a year, where you have an experienced teacher in the classroom with you for all your classes. Yes I know teach first does it differently but every teach first teacher I've met has been disastrous. Mentoring student teachers is a skillful job, which doesn't normally attract any extra money or time.

Quite apart from the fact that if someone's doing it because there's no other jobs they'll last 5 minutes.

Teacher here also considering resignation.

Those guidelines show total disregard for health and safety of staff and students.

The endless teacher bashing threads on here have made me feel that all the work, stress, taking abuse from challenging students and bending over backwards to try to make things work in an underfunded and understaffed school is seen as worthless.

We’re meant to do all of that, go years without pay rises whilst taking on more and more responsibility and dealing with ever more challenging cohorts and still get called lazy and shit.

I’m a good teacher and I still find parts of my job fulfilling but I’m not a whipping boy.