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.

There is so much hate directed at teachers at the moment for trying to keep our children and families safe

Why do this job?

Can't cope with the hate any more

Saw this from my union. Might help.

I'm just waiting to see what the unions say, but my notice letter is written.
I've been teaching for 15 years, in a shortage science subject, always got excellent results at GCSE and a A level, have been subject leader, mentored many student teachers and have done years of primary liaison.
I'm done.

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.

In case you didn’t notice we had a global recession quite recently. Yet we’ve had teacher shortages since before I trained in 2001. Have you been living underground for 20years?

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

Oh boy, that made me laugh. You clearly know nothing at all about the current recruitment and retention crisis in education.

One primary school close to me is looking for 9 teachers at the moment. That's before the resignation deadline. There will likely be more after it. You can't fill gaps that size in any school with people straight out of uni or who have just been made redundant and who have no experience in working with young people. They will be eaten alive. Your child will sure as hell not get an education. Might as well be at home doing online learning. Oh, wait....

Reading through the posts on here has made me feel very sad that the education system will be losing so many talented and caring individuals down to sheer lack of regard for safety and minimising risk. I also, however, feel strangely reassured that my decision to hand in my notice at the beginning of April was, for me, the right one. I am one of the lucky ones, we are not reliant on my (pathetic) salary and can manage on what DH earns. But I do feel that I had no choice but to leave, and that makes me sad.
for all teachers and support staff right now, facing such difficult and stark choices.

@WhyNotMe40 I know that you will be a great loss to your setting. I also completely understand where you're coming from

For me the issue is.

If you can't socially distance and in enclosed spaces such as transport and shops we recommend the use of face coverings.

But yet the guidance for schools where there is no way social distancing is happening is that PPE is not needed.

And if you think the schools in general guidance is dodgy read the send guidance.

In 2001 when I trained despite offering training salaries not enough people were training.

Of those that did something like 30% quit without finishing the pgce or finished but never took a post in a school.

Of the remainder another 50% left within 2 years.

Ie. If you got 100 people to train 70 would go on to teach. By the time 2 years had passed only 35.

I don’t think it’s improved since then? Retention rates are dreadful. Most who can retire early or have to take early retirement on medical grounds. Many leave once they have kids and the lack of work life balance becomes unmanageable. Many who stay go part time.

In my experience once a critical number of experienced staff retire, quit and go part time the school is on limited time till it goes to shit.

Any history or economics teachers on here? Do you think teaching is so awful that recent graduates with no job would prefer to be on the dole than in a classroom earning what is very soon going to be seen as a pretty decent income? You know the score with economic depressions.
The ground is already laid for non-qualified and learn on the job teachers. fullfact.org/education/unqualified-teachers/ They don't need to last, they don't need to be in the job for life (in fact it's a much better way to undermine pay and conditions if there is churn). They might even be able to use microsoft word and the internet, should things need to quickly go online again.

Thank you HorsesDoovers (great name 😁)
We can cope on one salary fortunately.

Bea:

*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.*

No that is an average risk for healthy women of working age. If you're shielding you shouldn't be expected to go in. For the sake of comparison, men who are doing the most "at risk" jobs still only have a 25 per 100,000 chance of death. Still very low. The figures might move around slightly but they're all still very low.

Your car analogy is completely incorrect. Without wearing a seatbelt and with drinking the risk of death would be much higher than 1 in 20,000, obviously. What I am saying is the risk of dying for a fit and healthy woman is the same as the risk of dying in a road traffic accident in the UK

Your risk is obviously higher when you're interacting with children than it is when you're sitting at home completely isolated, just like your risk of dying from driving a car is higher than when you're sat at home isolated.

Perfect example of the ignorance and venom we’re facing llet.

Presumably standards, educational quality and care mean nothing to you? Just any warm body will do so long as you get 6 hrs free childcare a day? You dont mind the nations children being educated by short term inexperienced staff?

Don’t bother answering. Do note the staffroom sign on the door

llets - are you a teacher?
So are you happy about all these job vacancies we will be creating for all those recent graduates eager to fill our spots? I am happy to step back and let someone else take up the baton while I look after my own family in all generations.

epythymy I think you're ignoring viral dose. It is well known if a person receives a large dose of virus they tend to have much worse symptoms.
Anyone sitting in an unventilated room for hours with one or more asymptomatic infected person will get a large dose. Children tend to be asymptomatic. There may be several asymptomatic children in the room giving any adults or even other children in the same room a huge dose.
It's not the same as a brief passing by of an infectious person, or even a 30 minute tube trip. We are talking hours every day.

Any history or economics teachers on here? Do you think teaching is so awful that recent graduates with no job would prefer to be on the dole than in a classroom earning what is very soon going to be seen as a pretty decent income? You know the score with economic depressions. The ground is already laid for non-qualified and learn on the job teachers. fullfact.org/education/unqualified-teachers/ They don't need to last, they don't need to be in the job for life (in fact it's a much better way to undermine pay and conditions if there is churn). They might even be able to use microsoft word and the internet, should things need to quickly go online again.

@Ilets are you a teacher?

They might even be able to use microsoft word and the internet, should things need to quickly go online again.

Microsoft Word and “the internet” - because that’s all there is to it, right?

Oh yeah I got all my A level chemistry lessons from Twinkle ..

@Ilets - what a horrid approach you have to staffing. I hope you don’t work in HR!

I thought this was meant to be the Staffroom. I do believe some interlopers have entered

Just hold your horses guys....

I’ve had an email from some school company with a survey, and then the results at the end. This will be shared with the government not that they will take any notice.

75% said if union told them to boycott they would. That’s a lot of people.

I’m inclined to let it just slide away. Death figures are high again today, the opening regulations have been slammed left right and centre. I actually think it will all fall apart before 1st June due to the severe backlash. I don’t know, of course, but I’m biding my time.

Just report.

Teachers are going to cop it from the public if they strike from 1st June.

Especially given prison officers, police, firemen/women, nurses, carers, shop workers and social workers have all been at work throughout.

Lots of their jobs entail working with people who do not socially distance or comply with basic hygeine either, and many with no PPE or proven ineffective.

It isn't even about child care or exam results, school goes far beyond that and there are some teachers that either don't seem to see that, don't seem to care or want to sit at home on full pay until there is a vaccine.

HeyBlaby

Especially given prison officers, police, firemen/women, nurses, carers, shop workers and social workers have all been at work throughout.

Once again for the hard of thinking.

so have teacher

It isn't even about child care or exam results, school goes far beyond that and there are some teachers that either don't seem to see that, don't seem to care or want to sit at home on full pay until there is a vaccine.

Are you a teacher, @heyblaby?