Teachers are not ‘callous’ for worrying about going back to school | Verity Lush

First up we had the Let Our Teachers Be Heroes front page of tosh, while those pesky unions (you know, the ones trying to ensure schools open quickly, as safely as they can given that there’s a potentially deadly virus still on the loose in the UK) try and block our caring, sharing government’s plans.

Gavin Williamson is a disgrace as the uneducated education secretary. The man has never even had work experience inside a school building, and his drippy rhetoric is nauseating. Give the man a bigger microphone and a stadium and he’d have broken into song: ‘We believe the children are our future…’

Perhaps he’d have shed a tear for good measure. I know plenty of teachers have while listening to his lies. Problem is Gav, teachers are – despite your mate Michael Gove’s assertions – educated.

They know emotive language when they hear persuasive speech, and nobody working in education is fooled. Yes, the vulnerable need more support, but school has never closed and anybody with a vulnerable child has been actively supported to send them in.

The real issue Gavin, is why are so many vulnerable? Why are so many living in poverty? Why was the NHS liable to collapse? Where was the PPE? Why were care homes – the ones that the elderly have to give up their savings to get into in the first place – not protected? I am surprised you’re not blaming teachers – although scientists are swift becoming another scapegoat.

Wednesday’s Daily Mail headline was the final straw – Callous Teachers’ Union Plotting Exposed. Callous! What, for forcing the government to make kids safe?

The Mail are keen to report Denmark’s success in re-opening schools. Denmark, with their 560 deaths versus our 36,000.

After this is over, the Daily Mail and this government need to be held to full account.

Teacher numbers have dropped for years – no work/life balance ironically (ask anyone who’s given it up to go into business) – after this, they’ll be at an all time low.

I think working from home is the way forward

Several businesses have announced that they’ll be working from home once the pandemic is over.

The rates that are charged for buildings alone will save tens of thousands a year for some and companies are trusting their employees to be working. And why not, in this day and age of technology?

With systems such as Office 365 in place, Zoom meetings and conference calls, you can remotely keep an eye on your workforce and rest assured they aren’t just sat at home drinking cocktails in the garden and reading the latest Stephen King (it’s very good by the way, he’s on vintage form!)

No time wasted commuting, less traffic, less pollution, a more motivated workforce. What’s not to like?

The world of teaching will change because of this virus

All teachers want more students in school. If you did not care passionately about children, you could never remain in teaching.

Transmission of coronavirus and the new inflammatory syndrome kids are getting is worrying. The latter is a small number so far, and of course children have been on lockdown so we have no real figures.

Regarding transmission, an Australian study suggested little occurred through ‘close contact’ in schools – but the study was done when only 5 per cent of students were in school and they were socially distancing. Our government wasted time earlier this year and are set to fail again if they do not learn from, nor admit, their mistakes.