A SENIOR Glasgow teacher has said many feel pressure and anxiety about returning to packed classrooms because of the continued risks of Covid-19 and said it is unlikely schools will be able to re-open full-time.

The teacher said comments that time away from school would lead to a “lost generation” of children had left her feeling "extremely angry" and were unfounded.

She said many children were thriving out of the school environment and a broad spectrum of parents were coping, from all backgrounds.

She said many children would remember this as “a wonderful time” and that it was important to remember schools are not a “child-minding service”, adding that education was only one part of the jigsaw of protection for vulnerable pupils.

The teacher, whose identity we are protecting, said suggestions that schools might re-open sooner than expected had left staff feeling even more pressure and anxiety.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon sets out plan to re-open schools 

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said earlier this week in her 'Next Steps' programme that it will be at least August before pupils return to schools in Scotland.

She said: “We absolutely do feel anxiety and pressure.

“This suggestion that time away from school will lead to a lost generation is absolute nonsense. I felt really angry about that.

“There was another person saying that the way we are dealing with children is a national disgrace. I had a really bad week last week because those stories were creeping in without talking about the safety of teachers. 

“Loads of children will be thriving but the focus seems to be on lost education. This isn’t going to affect children. There will be a lot of kids that will remember this as a wonderful time.

“There is this idea that children at school is childcare and it’s not.

“But I know a lot of teachers do feel anxious that children are not in school. Of course there are children that are vulnerable but school is only a part of that jigsaw of support.

“Our staff are nervous and lots of teachers are nervous about this of course because the usual checks such as social work door checks might not be in place.

“But one thing we keep coming back to is poverty. It’s not a crime being poor and some of our poorest families are doing brilliantly.”

She said the rotation of teachers in the key worker hubs had worked very well and there was enough volunteers to keep staff “as safe as possible”.

READ MORE: Glasgow schools unite to make PPE for frontline staff 

She explained that teachers who weren’t working in the hubs are working on solutions for a safe return to the classroom.

She said: “It won’t be education as we know it. The type of teaching we do will have to be re-framed. It won’t be full time. It can’t be. 

“The best thing would be for schools to look at their own community and how it will work for them. 

“You might bring different schools in on different days.

“I think it will look different but different isn’t necessarily bad.

“Children in primary one aren’t going to be compliant and their families might not be compliant. 

“Kids cough all the time and they don’t have this spacial awareness and I don’t like the idea that we will be training children to be physically distant.”

“But teachers feel an emotional attachment to their job and we need to be optimistic. It’s about re-framing the way we look at everything.”