"F**k off, Gav. Nobody trusts you"

[noelgiraffe]

Gavin Williamson appears to be now more hated than Gove by the education profession, including school leaders and head teachers, which is probably his only achievement since starting the job.

He actually managed to unite all education unions, including heads, governors and the Church of England to write a joint letter refusing to co-operate with his bonkers mass-testing plan. This never happens.

neu.org.uk/media/13741/view

"F**k off Gav. Nobody trusts you. There is no ‘we’. The good will reserves are empty. Some schools are working today on track and trace from last week because you didn’t let them close; your cut ‘n’ paste guidance is unresourced crap. You’re a bad joke."

The above quote from a prominent member of the education community is in response to an article where he gears up to pre-blame teachers and schools for the imminent failure of the mass testing programme that he wants quickly knocked up on a shoestring budget over the Christmas holidays. (Do Serco not have any of their billions of pounds budget left for this?)

twitter.com/educationgovuk/status/1341023021788770307?s=21

Given the complete breakdown in the relationship between Gavin Williamson and the people he is supposed to lead, is it indeed time for Gav to f**k off?

YABU: No, Gav is doing just fine
YANBU: Fuck off, Gav

@IHateThesePosts

He is crap but surely schools can accommodate this with more time and no online learning requirements for the first week or so. The tests need to be supervised but pupils can do themselves. If classrooms are empty and teachers don’t have to provide online learning, there will be space and staff to get this carried out? Am I missing something? (Not being goady, because I know how these threads go, am asking)

?

From 4th January, secondary schools will have all key worker children in, all vulnerable children in, all year 11 and 13 in and will be simultaneously delivering online learning to all other year grips that week...WHILST somehow also sorting the testing off the whole school twice?!

Well, you need to tell them to drop the online learning requirement then. Atm we are required to do this and Face to Face year 11/13 and vulnerable/keyworker/EHCP kids.

Even then , the suggestions about volunteers and supervision are bonkers.

A recent study form Birmingham Uni showed these lateral flow test to be highly unreliable, moreover and yet schools re told to ditch SI off the back of them. How accurate does anyone think these test will be self administered by 11- 18 year olds with a non clinical person 'looking on'??

It's like a constant episode of The Apprentice with all the really shit candidates.

surely schools can accommodate this

Serco tested 1.7 million people at least once between 3-9th December. They've had a budget of billions and months to reach this capacity..

Do you think schools can simply rustle up an onsite covid testing lab for 3.4 million kids to be tested twice in a week with one working day's notice?

Oh, and no budget. And no staff. And no idea where to put it as all school spaces are full. They're hoping parents will volunteer. And the guidance isn't out yet. And the guidance that is out is wrong.

Is this nobelgiraffe with a name change or a different person? Just asking since nobel does lots of schools posts

We will have all of year 11 and 13 on site, the children of keyworkers and all vulnerable students in from the 4th January and will be providing full time remote learning for students at home. Not sure who/when/what is available for setting up the test centre and administering the testing procedure or processing the tests for 3.4million kids.

It's the largest scale most ambitious testing event ever proposed in this country and it's been dropped on us last minute with the wrong leaflet and no staffing or funding to make it happen.

Meanwhile serco has had 22 billion....

@IHateThesePosts

He is crap but surely schools can accommodate this with more time and no online learning requirements for the first week or so. The tests need to be supervised but pupils can do themselves. If classrooms are empty and teachers don’t have to provide online learning, there will be space and staff to get this carried out? Am I missing something? (Not being goady, because I know how these threads go, am asking)

There is online learning requirements. It's been made clear it's not an extention of the holidays. Small problem over gaining consent from all parents, logistic problem of getting kids into be tested (do you let them all be in a classroom before testing) the fact that it's the staffs holiday....

Every time I think he can't come up with a more incompetent suggestion, he actually does.
I'm waiting with bated breath to hear what his next idea is. Possibly 'national hug a teacher day' to 'show your appreciation for school staff'.

@SkySports

Is this nobelgiraffe with a name change or a different person? Just asking since nobel does lots of schools posts

It's noblegiraffe in a Christmas jumper.

@noelgiraffe

surely schools can accommodate this

Serco tested 1.7 million people at least once between 3-9th December. They've had a budget of billions and months to reach this capacity..

Do you think schools can simply rustle up an onsite covid testing lab for 3.4 million kids to be tested twice in a week with one working day's notice?

Oh, and no budget. And no staff. And no idea where to put it as all school spaces are full. They're hoping parents will volunteer. And the guidance isn't out yet. And the guidance that is out is wrong.

This is the only pint that needs to be made actually. Fuck whether it could be done. Servo haven’t ever managed this level of testing. Why should schools be expected to with no money?

Can’t teachers just send home a textbook/internet link with the instruction for kids to read 4 hours worth a day and then get on with testing as a big ‘fuck you’ to their guidance.

I can’t imagine many come in from KW/vulnerable age groups at secondary anyway so hopefully with almost 5/7 year groups not in, there will be space.

I’m firmly in the ‘education and schools need to be open’ camp but a weeks worth of lost education to ensure everyone is tested and safe seems a very tiny sacrifice to make.

Didn’t universities mass test? How did they do it?

I saw mention of £78 million being magically available for staffing costs now...

Yep no mention of how 3.4 million kids are being transported in and out of schools in a safely staggered fashion for testing twice in a week.

Any ideas anyone? Maybe Kevin's mum's mate who has a 7 seater can shuttle them all back and forth.

Excuse typos. I’m cross.

I almost feel sorry for Clavinova on her mission to defend the indefensible .....

Gav, Nick and the DfE should have a new objective - ‘Get it done right first time’.

Can’t teachers just send home a textbook/internet link with the instruction for kids to read 4 hours worth a day and then get on with testing as a big ‘fuck you’ to their guidance.

Nope, the online provision has to be in line with the government guidelines and that wouldn't cover it.
Textbooks are rare.
Online stuff that is suitable needs prep time.

We need the classrooms to live teach from.

Also rooms being used for testing have to have non porous flooring which excludes a lot of ours beyond hall/sports hall.

Irrelevant as the hall and sports hall are needed for vocational exams the first week back.

Textbooks???

Outed yourself as an 80s child there...

Plus, no. Gov says no.

Not all unis did; that's a bt of a myth.

Uni students could get to test centres themselves at any time of day. All their learning was online and they have lots of free time.

Uni staff were asked to volunteer. Many didn't. But supervising 18-21+ year olds is a somewhat different prospect.

Can he be sued for failing to safeguard pupils and reckless endangerment. Covid was rife but schools had to stay open and anyone who disagreed was branded “hysterical”.

I wonder if the people voting for Gav not to fuck off are the same people who voted that he’s done a ‘fairly good’ job on this poll.

Baffling.

The question is not could it be done but is it going to make things safer or less safe? I am reluctant to volunteer as i actually think i could be making things more dangerous.

Some people are always contrary.

@IHateThesePosts

Can’t teachers just send home a textbook/internet link with the instruction for kids to read 4 hours worth a day and then get on with testing as a big ‘fuck you’ to their guidance.

I can’t imagine many come in from KW/vulnerable age groups at secondary anyway so hopefully with almost 5/7 year groups not in, there will be space.

I’m firmly in the ‘education and schools need to be open’ camp but a weeks worth of lost education to ensure everyone is tested and safe seems a very tiny sacrifice to make.

Didn’t universities mass test? How did they do it?

This isn’t just a one off mass-testing event (which in itself would be close to impossible; the guidance isn’t even out yet, schools don’t have the tests, there is no concrete answer on how to fund the 3-4 extra staff we’d need, few schools have an adequate size room with a non-porous floor etc) but designed to replace the current rules around self-isolation. So, instead of sending a bubble home you’d “just” test them every day instead. This just isn’t practical and it’s criminal that they’re trying to convince parents it is.

He will set his tarantula on you.

The covid situation, particularly in secondary schools, is simply not acceptable. Funnily enough I actually think the bare bones of the current mass testing plan is good but it needs some tweeks possibly getting existing testing staff to be redeployed to schools. Completely see it isn’t practical to ask teachers to perform them