Chickens Against Dementors!

[psychomath]

New thread!

Chicken ads for anyone who missed them.

Anyway have fun everyone, I'm off to sit in the park now that it's allowed.

Give that man a gold star!!

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Don't necessarily think it's just a middle class thing - I think it's middle class fuelled and it's gone viral from there (I actually think a lot of the fuelling is social media manipulation at least encouraged by the teaching unions) and now it's been latched onto by those who were obsessed with causes like the Charlie Gard case as well.

Family member is a governor in a school in an incredibly deprived area - they have 2 out of 70ish possible families saying they'll be sending their kids back. Possibly more leeway to do that there since very few of the parents work.

Basically its an idiots on social media gobshite problem - I'd dearly love to nuke the "share" button unless it's for funny dog and cat videos right now.

Well the messages from my schools MATs have been positive so far as well (two schools in two different trusts Mid Somerset and Bath and Wells)

I would have given him more points had he used the phrase 'check your privilege'

I'm feeling a bit depressed.

I'm not really up for this brave, new world where social distancing has become the "new normal". Life isn't designed to be lived at a distance of 2m. Are we never going to go to the cinema again, will there be no more live music, no orchestras, no ballet, no museums...? No random hugs with friends, no randomly saying, "let me pass you a pen".

I wish that it had just been said frankly from the beginning, "look, this is for most people a flu-like illness which will be unpleasant but will cause you no harm. But for some it will be very serious and they'll need to go to hospital to have a chance of survival. Nobody has any immunity because it is a new illness, so we need you to live with restrictions for a while so that everyone doesn't get sick at once. If this happens, there might not be a hospital bed for everyone who needs one. Once the numbers have subsided, it'll be okay to get on with things. But we might need to do this again for a little while if the numbers get to high."

Isn't that basically the idea? And if they had been more honest with people, everyone wouldn't be holed up indoors expecting to drop dead if they go out and come into contact with the virus!

Sorry, I'm feeling moody and fed up. On a more positive note, that Oasis guy is totally right. "Rather middle class" - ouch! But dead right 😄

My nurse just told me that apparently someone from a gym chain came to the hospital yesterday offering to donate exercise bikes. Apparently they thought they might need it, to burn off all the donated food they've been eating 😄

Chemo is going okay but the side effects are kicking in more today and I feel soooooo tired. I've still been having problems with the fluid build up and my stomach swelled up even more - so attractive, lol. So they are going to drain it and hope for the best - yuk.

DominaShantotto I agree. In our school it is definitely the less middle class (for want of a better phrase) who are saying there’s no way they will ‘risk my kids’ or ‘be Boris’ guinea pigs’.

It's another issue which affects "the middle" isn't it.

The very poor won't have to send their kids back because they don't work or one parent doesn't work.

The very rich won't because they have enough money not to work.

It's people like me who will have to send their kids back. Alright off but only if both parents are working because that's what our bills are based on.

Re cinema, my local paper reported that Vue is working towards arrangements for July opening. They are a European chain and are working with governments across Europe. I found that rather cheering - even if it's later here, it doesn't sound like cinema is expected to be out for the rest of the year, for example.

I do feel the media tide is turning, the front page rainbows yesterday are encouraging people to be more sensible and pragmatic which is how this should have been dealt with from the start.

I'm wondering how bad the queue will be for an opening day Costa drive thru. I really really fancy a vanilla latte made with coconut milk of awesomeness - but it requires getting out of my pyjamas. I don't see me doing so to be honest.

I suppose what he means is that the harms may be less for the middle class perhaps, not sure....big gardens, better food, more access digitally. It does mean much more of a divide

I's not sure why they won't be doing hot school dinners either. (heard this) as we can get takeaway food etc

Surely hot meals are better than packed lunches

I suppose is about the canteen staff.

Yes that’s very true Orangeblossom78, the divide will widen dramatically.

orange yes you're right. It sounds to me like he cares about the kids and to me that's what matters.

I'm assuming it's because a lot of school kitchens are tiny with a lot of people crammed in (purely anecdotal as a friend works in a school kitchen which is v small with 5 women in it at any one time! She is however still prepared to go back to work!)

Yep the digital divide really does concern me. Friend is a parent on a very low income and not the most educated parents in the world (we get on well - agree to disagree on some stuff) - absolutely devoted to the kids, do tonnes of creative stuff with them that I can't muster any effort to do with my own and deal with the mess - but the academics aren't the great point.

School closed - put all the work online. They use a very old no-longer supported tablet to access the net or an old smartphone (as their current one is broken). One school have an online learning solution while closed... doesn't load on their devices which are too old. The app the school uses to communicate newsletters - doesn't load on their devices - normally people at the school gates let them know what's going on but that's obviously not happening right now. Other school have weblink for activities to be printed out and done with kids...they have no printer and no device to connect to it to do the printing. They can't access the newsletters telling them that "if you can't access the newsletters or online learning - let us know."

In the end I've sorted them out an old laptop from our technology graveyard to keep their kids going - but they would have fallen through the net completely if I hadn't spotted what was going on. The crappy school are now posting printed work out with tremendous attitude and reluctance.

Did anyone see the news that the DfE have accepted that, when the initial year groups go back - the quality of online learning for the remaining year groups is likely to drop?! That one was quietly sunk out there (I saw it linked from an educational twitter feed) - so not only are our kids denied education, they're going to be fucked cos nothing will be online either - all the nice free site provision will go and everything - totally and utterly abandoned.

The schools thing also seems to be turning into the latest culture war battleground. If the Telegraph and Daily Mail are for it then FBPE Twitter needs to campaign against it, and vice versa. Don’t think that’s helping anything.

when the initial year groups go back - the quality of online learning for the remaining year groups is likely to drop?! That one was quietly sunk out there ... - so not only are our kids denied education, they're going to be fucked cos nothing will be online either

TBH that was my expectation teachers will be busy in schools even more so than now- though D1 Y10 isn't getting much anyway and it's increasingly just busy work.

I'm making most now of free for now sites - and already using many usually free resources that I know about thanks to posters here.

Our younger ones- Y6 - Y8 - we can probably keep going for longer period of time but many - well the majority of their peers many in much less previlaged postions than us.

Younger years will have time to catch up and adjustments more easily made - but older they are and nearer exams less easy that's going to be and how to be done fairly when on-line provision between schools is so variable.

Yes I know Jourdain and hope you feel more comfortable soon it sucks doesn't it.

I started the day in a pretty good mood but this site has made me incredibly fed up and grumpy, I'm off for a bit of casual murdering (aka going into a shop on my way to work) to see if that cheers me up

when the initial year groups go back - the quality of online learning for the remaining year groups is likely to drop?!

The other year groups teachers should still be online would have thought. Our primary is using Teams, and has two classes per year group. the year group teachers go online in alternate weeks, think would stay the same surely?

I think some of the other year group teachers will be drafted in to help teach the initial returning groups. With only 15 children per class they’re going to need double the number of teachers.

I have tried so hard today to spark some kind of positivity on the dementor threads but they are just so blinkered!