Foi Request 202100174388 Correspondence Received by the Scottish Government on “Shielding Teacher” and “Shielding Teachers
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FOI REQUEST 202100174388 CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED BY THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT ON “SHIELDING TEACHER” AND “SHIELDING TEACHERS” FROM 01/08/20 – 01/12-20 -----Original Message----- From: [redacted under s38(1)(b)] <[redacted under s38(1)(b)] @hotmail.co.uk> Sent: 02 August 2020 20:50 To: First Minister <[email protected]> Subject: Shielding teacher My daughter is a secondary teacher in [redacted under s38(1)(b)] Secondary in [redacted under s38(1)(b)]. She has been shielding since lockdown with the appropriate letter. I as a mother have serious concerns for her to return to teaching in a secondary school as more than 130 plus pupils go through her classroom on a daily basis. There has been to my knowledge no thought regarding these vulnerable teachers for the past 5 months who have been shielding at home also doing their best re teaching online to pupils. I have real concerns for her on returning to school . Shielding has stopped on the 1st August and she is back in the classroom on the [redacted under s38(1)(b)] August. An extremely worried parent. [redacted under s38(1)(b)] Sent from my iPhone ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. ______________________________________________________________________ From: [redacted under s38(1)(b)] <[redacted under s38(1)(b)] @talktalk.net> Sent: 08 July 2020 13:45 To: Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills <[email protected]> Subject: Shielding teacher Mr Swinney, I am a primary school teacher who is currently shielding. Can you comment on the WHO’s new statement regarding the strong evidence around airborne transmission of Covid-19 by asymptomatic carriers.... “Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO's technical lead for infection prevention and control, said that evidence emerging of airborne transmission of the coronavirus in "crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings that have been described, cannot be ruled out". Can you tell me how a school classroom with 33 children, no social distancing and no PPE is a “ Covid Secure” workplace for teachers who are coming out of shielding? Also how does an RCT teacher (every Primary school in Scotland has at least one but usually more that one teacher in this role) protect themselves and others from Covid-19? I usually teach around 250 children over just 3 days a week with full time RCT teachers teaching even more children weekly. Your comments would be appreciated. [redacted under s38(1)(b)] Sent from my iPhone ___________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com ___________________________________________________________________ Dear Sirs, I was on the government shielding list and I am feeling that I and others like me have been forgotten about since the easing of the lock down. I am a secondary school teacher in Edinburgh, and since returning to school in mid August I have been asked to teach pupils face to face from age 12 to 18. It was very difficult to go from being advised to very rarely leave the house to having to teach over 100 pupils face to face in a short period of time. As the infection rate is very high at the moment (mid Oct), I am feeling extremely anxious about teaching pupils face to face. I feel that it is heartless for the government to ask shielding people to work, especially at this time of high infection rate. As a shielding teacher, we have not been given a choice to teach from home and we have to risk our lives teaching at school. As winter comes the infection rate will no doubt be high too. Therefore, I would like you to promote a scheme whereby shielding teachers are allowed to teach from home. Or at the very least be allowed to take a break (unpaid if necessary) from teaching when the incidence of Covid in the community is known to be high. Kind regards, [redacted under s38(1)(b)] [redacted under s38(1)(b)] ___________________________________________________________________ Good afternoon. I am writing to highlight a very frustrating situation that i have found myself in. I have been shielding previously and now living in Glasgow I am in Tier 4. I have been very fortunate that I have an amazing SLT at my school and we have had regular risk assessments. I have had mitigation’s all put in place and until recently I felt very safe in my work. However, I have recently been suffering from symptoms of arthritis and my GP has run a number of tests and one has retuened positive for Lupus. I have since spoken to my GP regarding my shielding status and have been advised it is not safe for me to attend work. I happily work as a [redacted under s38(1)(b)] teacher in a single person department within Glasgow City Council. I requested to work from home however this has been denied. I have subsequently left a number of lesson resources for pupils to study. I had hoped I would be able to use my iPad to deliver the lessons however I am now being forced to go off sick. I have two disabilities prior to the LUPUS diagnosis. This is absolutely ridiculous , the only purpose this serves is the students having no contact with a subject specialist. At least if I had been granted permission to work from home I would have been able to use teams to support their learning. My headteacher today was almost apologetic that she was telling me I couldn’t support the pupils in their learning. Please can someone speak to Maureen McKenna and explain as a shielding teacher I am desperate to support pupils in their education but not at the price of my life. I am a mother, carer for my elderly father and wife. It is for this reason I want to work but from home. I have had days recently when due to the symptoms of LUPUS I have been unable to get myself dressed but I have managed with the help of my husband to drag myself into school so that the students needs were met and lessons taught. Now after all my efforts I’m being penalised as are the students. I don’t want to be one of the teacher to speak ill of my employer or go to the media but this scenario is dreadful. I really hope that someone somewhere can rectify this situation. Your truly frustrated a stressed teacher with disabilities. [redacted under s38(1)(b)] Get Outlook for iOS ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com ______________________________________________________________________ Dear First Minister, I hope this email finds you well. I write to you as the husband of a primary school teacher, to express my frustration at the current situation primary school teachers face on a daily basis, during the Covid pandemic. And, I write this as someone who, earlier this year when Covid struck, was the first to jump to your defence when others offered their criticism of your leadership. Let me start by saying that I do not envy the decisions you have to take on a daily basis during the pandemic and I do appreciate that the pandemic must be a great and increasing weight for you to endure. My frustration comes from the fact that school teachers, and in particular, primary school teachers, which my wife is, have been largely forgotten by the Scottish government when it comes to what should be paramount. Their safety. In the case of my wife (an ex shielding teacher) her workplace is unsafe and nothing is being done about it. Wearing face coverings has been a contentious issue in schools for some time now, with some teachers choosing to wear them initially, and some (but not many more) wearing them when they became mandatory in secondary school corridors and staff rooms etc. Even in cases and places where they are mandatory, only a small percentage of teachers are wearing them. Why are management teams not leading by example and wearing face coverings and encouraging others to as well? Have they been advised to by local and national government ? If Not, Why not? Why are the government not insisting that these rules are followed? More specifically though, after your press conference last week, where you announced face coverings would be mandatory from today (Monday 19th October) in workplace corridors, staff canteens etc etc, my major concern is for the safety of my family and in particular my wife. Currently she works in a primary school where she continues to witness (and it seems this is fairly typical across a vast number of schools): Social distancing between members of staff, including management is non existent. This is NOT an exaggeration. Union Reps are singled out and regarded as trouble makes when trying to enforce guidelines and rules and protect vulnerable staff members. Staff who have underlying health conditions and have no choice but to wear a mask, are smirked at by a number of non mask wearing staff who seem to think Covid is a joke . Windows are not open for ventilation, even when requested on a daily basis. Cleaning of equipment does not take place. Staff brag openly about having been in Blackpool and other parts of England over the recent October break. Staff who do have masks often have them only covering their mouths. limited numbers in staff rooms is being ignored. signage is being ignored. How can any of this be happening ? How can you honestly say that you feel teachers are safe when this is the reality in a primary school in your country? The weight for her is equally increasing and causing her great angst every single day.