In sickness and in health...teaching in the winter.

As I lie here in bed feeling dreadful I can hear the family careering around downstairs enjoying their Sunday together. I managed to get through the last week by the skin of my teeth but come Saturday morning my body relaxed and the germs took over.

By tomorrow I’ll be well enough to go to work again but my weekend has been wasted in bed. It’s the age old problem of educators; children are often miniature Typhoid Mary’s and we see hundreds of them a day. It’s only a matter of time before we succumb to the snot and sickness.

Winter is especially bad. As is the start of a ‘new term, new germs’ cycle. Every year I say I’m going to look after myself so my immune system is strong and every year this happens.

But a day off sick is often not worth the hassle. Most teachers will have to drag themselves out of bed to first call the school sick number, then text their direct line manager before switching on their computer to send in cover work via email. None of this is conducive to relaxing and getting better.

Then I spend the day feeling guilty. None of us like making extra work for our colleagues and I feel guilty for leaving my classes.

So tomorrow I will be dragging myself in to spread these germs and the cycle will begin again.

But here are somethings I will be putting in place this time:

1. Industrial strength hand sanitiser that is easy to get at In a hurry!

2. Antibacterial spray for all desks, door handles and boxes.

3. All children will be required to blow their noses OUTSIDE of the classroom and find a bin out there for the tissue!

4. Vitamins, Vitamins, Vitamins! And I will remember to take them.

5. Finally I will put together the sub folder I’ve been meaning to for ages for those ‘just in case‘ days where a weekend is not enough and I can’t get to class. I know they work but time is always been hard to find for something that may be used. Oh, how I love TPT and the sub resources I will use!

But for now I’m going to pull the duvet over my head and hope the medicine does the trick by morning.

Thank goodness it’s half term soon!