I’ve been a teacher for over 20 years but I am scared of going back to school
As teachers we plan for every eventuality, so I fail to understand why the Government does not feel the need to do the same.
As the new term draws closer I feel incredibly apprehensive about returning to school.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my job as a secondary school teacher, I love what I do every day in the classroom; it’s all I have ever known, for over 20 years. I genuinely believe that it is a privilege to help shape and mould the futures of young people.
But now, as I look to plan for the new term, anxieties are setting in and they are not the usual back to school worries.
I am now a frontline worker, exposed to Covid-19 more than most professions.
As a parent too, my shopping list for this term includes anti-bacterial wipes, hand gel for school bags, and more filters for masks. I don’t know if this will be sufficient but I do not know what else to do.
The communication from our head teacher to our school community has been regular, consistent and clear. We have had our hall and drama studios converted into classrooms to enable socially distanced teaching. We have a one-way system in place. I know what to do should I or my students start presenting with symptoms.
Unfortunately, I cannot make the same comments regarding the Government’s messaging. The official briefings left me with more questions than answers.
Why were schools not closed earlier? Why has there not been more financial support to facilitate the cleaning of schools? Where was the PPE for teachers educating the children of other key workers, who were more likely to be exposed to the virus?
The guidance has been unclear and often contradictory. Just last week the Government reversed its position on face masks, now asking secondary school pupils in local lockdown areas to wear them in corridors.
My confidence in the Government has plummeted during the pandemic, and even more so following the recent results fiasco and various other U–turns.
The new term brings yet more unhelpful guidance, stating that students in year groups can be placed into ‘bubbles’ for the purposes of reducing the transmission of the virus. However, in a secondary setting – where form groups are large, and there are potentially between six to 10 form groups in a year group – the bubbles are too big to be effective.
Despite the immense amount of work that has gone into creating zones or areas for each year group on a school site, students in the same bubble will not be required to be socially distanced, which means hundreds of young people interacting with each other, as well as school staff, then going on to see friends, family and even strangers in social settings.
The reality is that school settings do not have the physical capacity to keep bubbles apart.
As teachers, we spend most of our days in enclosed classrooms with up to 30 students at a time. Every hour we then teach a different set of 30 students, therefore potentially interacting with 150 students a day, and 180 if you have a form or tutor group too.
The ‘moral duty’ that Boris Johnson has reminded us of to re-open schools does not reduce the risk factor to students and staff
This would be enough to make most people nervous during a global pandemic. I definitely feel like I am at greater risk in the classroom than people in other sectors going back to work – even with these new measures in place. Yet, if I raise my concerns, I’m vilified and blamed for not caring about the children.
The ‘moral duty’ that Boris Johnson has reminded us of to re-open schools does not reduce the risk factor to students and staff.
My colleagues and I will take what precautions we can and try to maintain distance with our students. However, from my long experience working with young people, I know that explaining something when you’re metres apart is very different from having a one-to-one conversation – giving individual feedback will be incredibly challenging.
The impact on learning will be huge: specialist classrooms like art studios and science laboratories have been turned into standard classrooms, so students can no longer access these facilities. I have no doubt that they will be disadvantaged when it comes to learning practical education.
In order to further minimise the risk, we are also attempting to implement staggered start and finish times, and breaks and lunch times, zoning each year group to a specific area of the school site.
However, all this is futile if there is not going to be regular routine testing of all staff and students.
I have two secondary school aged children returning to lessons, one potentially on public transport, as well as two elderly parents and a partner with a condition that makes him immunosuppressed.
I am also of Asian heritage and therefore statistically more like to suffer from acute symptoms of Covid -19. I have lost an uncle and several other friends in my community to this virus. It has been devastating. My family and I are still grieving so the threat is very real for me.
I have already told my parents that I will only be able to see them at weekends, in the garden, weather permitting. I have told my own children to shower as soon as they return from school and spray their blazers with anti-bacterial wash.
I would encourage all schools to invest in PPE for staff, screens around desks and temperature checks at the door, but a global pandemic is the last thing most academic settings would have budgeted for.
Schools need additional funding to facilitate a safe return and the Government needs to work in collaboration with head teachers and unions to ensure this is realised.
Instead the UK has relaxed lockdown measures, opened pubs and restaurants, encouraged people to Eat Out to Help Out and to go on ‘staycations’. Many people that have also travelled abroad are not obliged to self-isolate on return.
Now, these same families are sending their children back to school.
I fear that reopening them will be the catalyst for a second wave of Covid-19. This may see schools closing their doors yet again, and any lockdown will further disturb the learning of the young people we serve.
Online provision can only improve so much from what we already have. As teachers we plan for every eventuality; what I fail to understand is why the Government does not feel the need to do the same.
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