We're having 2-3 teachers a day catching CV19 DFE You're not keeping us safe

[Anon12345678910]

Look at the image from www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3223
I've circled where we fall in classrooms. It's time for face coverings in classrooms. I don't want to loose any colleagues or my own life.

The lack of respect from other professionals towards school staff is quite sad

To be fair, in some cases the feeling seems to be mutual, according to the nasty remark from the OP above!

Anyway, moving on - What is this about??

"More importantly, it also has the bubble testing initiative within that, where we are identifying close-contacts who may have to self-isolate for 14 days so that will give us the ability to offer the test on a daily basis over those 14 days.That means when they show up a negative test they will be able to go to class and it promotes face-to-face teaching rather than remote learning

Am I misunderstanding, or are they trying to use rapid testing in schools as a way to bypass isolation? Surely that is a terrible idea, even with daily testing, there is the risk of spreading it inbetween times surely Or am I being stupid? Is this not another example of keeping schools open at all costs?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-55227430

@PrivateD00r
And also, aren't these quick tests designed for symptomatic ppl in hospitals and have only a 50% accuracy in gen pop?
Which makes it even worse

Yes I think so too, the data coming from them doesn't seem great? I honestly can't understand it. There's all the focus on asymptomatic, but no acknowledgement that the staff are likely to not be so lucky (ie
not be asymptomatic). There has never been any suggestion in my work (NHS trust, same area as these schools) that NHS staff could avoid isolating with daily testing, why on earth would they do it in schools then??

Because it is not about public health. It is about propaganda. If you look at media it is straight from communist comms playbook (a.k.a. propaganda).
It is designed to convey feelings not facts. The truth has no play in this game.

If it was about public/personal health or even economy then the gov would not try to infect as many u18s (and teachers/staff) as possible. Because it is a bad idea to create a new group of people who will only cost money (NHS+benefits) because of long covid issues.
There is a huge shortage of staff in education -or so they say, I don't know- and this whole shitshow will make many leave/retrain.
Meaning that the education system will be functioning on a much lower level than now. Ergo: pupils will come out -en mass- more thick than before. Couple this up with curricula changes and brexit and you have the perfect combo to produce masses of non-thinking sheep.
This formula has been used in eastern europe very effectively.
Having lived in both worlds (EE and UK) extensively it is more and more obvious that for some very strange reason uk is following russian playbook, with a few local variations. I just don't see the end-game.

Sorry for going off on a tangent

@PrivateD00r

The lack of respect from other professionals towards school staff is quite sad

To be fair, in some cases the feeling seems to be mutual, according to the nasty remark from the OP above!

Which comment is this?

The daft comment about 'the rest of the population sitting in pyjamas, watching day time TV and pretending to work'.

Possums4ever thanks. I thought that I'd read that somewhere, probably got hold of the wrong end of the stick.

I know what you mean private but the professionals comment was really about a teacher deciding to criticise and - to be frank- slag off other teachers in some game of moral superiority (and , presumably, to meet with approval from some non teachers,although, happily, it rarely works these days)

My husband was in the staff room for around 30 minutes with a fellow teacher who developed symptoms the next day and then tested positive. The headteacher decided they weren’t sitting close enough to my husband for it to be a risk. It’s a small school (SEN) and he said the room is small and unventilated. The SMT made a shitty call and he said he’s heard similar from other schools with some schools making up their own rules and putting their staff at risk. It’s not easy to challenge the SMT. It’s poor employment practice and not acceptable.

Fair enough Gav, I may have let the op's comment annoy me more than I should have

I understand they are maybe just fed up of the teacher-bashing, which I do understand is horrific.

We have a bit of a row going on in my DC school (won't give detail as very outing) and its playing out on FB, some of the parent comments about the school staff are despicable. I felt so awful reading it that I fired off an email to them thanking them for something random that recently was done for my DC, didn't mention the FB crap. I would be devastated to be spoken about like that, I don't understand why others can't see the impact it has on staff.

Anyway I am going off on a tangent as usual!

That's a good thing you did there private.

@Possums4evr

What counts as senior pupils in Scotland? Here in France, all pupils wear them, including in primary (age 5/6) and up. Both my DSs (9 and 12) have been wearing masks since September and while they don't love it, it's fine and a price worth paying that neither have had a class closure or anything like it. And teacher absences are not high at all. DS1 is in secondary, with maybe 10 different subject teachers. Of that, 1 has been wfh (art - she teaches online once a week) and one other that has been off with covid. That's it.

Not getting at you btw - I just can't understand why masks aren't mandatory, it seems like such a no brainer in schools.

Such a lovely thing to do PrivateD00r! That will have meant a lot to the staff.

@TheSunIsStillShining

Sorry for going off on a tangent

No it's interesting. I've lived in the Middle East and have found myself comparing to the propaganda and media control there.

I definitely believe one of the key functions of state education is preparing kids for mindless work and boredom and for lowering their expectations ergo underfunding and interfering in what is taught and how makes total sense. Teachers (the good ones) are subversives who somehow manage to teach critical thinking and broad perspectives despite the curriculum. This is made increasingly difficult by deliberate underfunding and deliberately ineffective curriculum changes (eg the madness of the spag that has to be taught in ks2 instead of focusing on creating confident writers and a love of language and learning).

We have a political class of whom very few (especially at upper levels) were taught in state schools and who are largely extremely wealthy and utterly detached from the concerns of the general populace and totally buffered from the negative effects their policies and decisions have.

It's not mere negligence. No one can actually be that stupid and short sighted so it has to be a deliberate strategy of fucking up state education and driving it to breaking point.

@PrivateD00r - nice thing to do. We do hear on the grapevine of some social media punch ups wrt out school as relatives or friends of staff inform us who says what. We even have a couple of staff of some groups and parents forget that in their race to the bottom type comments.

Alas, it does colour my relationship with some parents who are prime backstabbers and then all the nicey-nicey to our faces. I am tempted to ask them why they said what they said but never do. On a couple of occasions, the head has spoken to ring-leaders about incidents to find it has been a game of Chinese whispers blown out of proportion and how sorry they are....

@TheHoneyBadger
Where in the middle east? I used to live in Iraq as a kid. Loved it :)

[quote TheSunIsStillShining]@TheHoneyBadger
Where in the middle east? I used to live in Iraq as a kid. Loved it :)[/quote]
Egypt. I will go back to the ME and teach in internationals when ds leaves home. Wouldn't mind a spell in EE too as I have known lots of people from there but have never traveled there.

@miimblemomble S4 and up, which is the top three years of secondary - around 15+

@PrivateD00r. To be fair, in some cases the feeling seems to be mutual, according to the nasty remark from the OP above!

Oh I just like to dish out the same medicine and give as good as I get!!!

@miimblemomble Not getting at you btw - I just can't understand why masks aren't mandatory, it seems like such a no brainer in schools.

Because we are a nation of snowflakes, soft touches, idiots....

It's actually so fucked up that freedom, mental health etc is worth more than life/ being alive to live afterwards. I now have Covid. Let's hope I don't die...

@Anon12345678910

It's actually so fucked up that freedom, mental health etc is worth more than life/ being alive to live afterwards. I now have Covid. Let's hope I don't die...

I have been saying this from the beginning.

Get well soon. I wouldn't worry about death, there is actually quite a small change. Fingers crossed rather that you don't end up in hospital or with long term effects.

@TheHoneyBadger I'm over here in lovely 🇪🇬 right now 😊.

We've just gone to distance learning. Sixth form bubbles both gone home over past two days due to positive cases; today's had received a negative test a few days ago & then a second test was positive, so he (mate of my ds's) & the rest of the year group were immediately sent home. Mum is mortified poor lady!

Decision was taken this afternoon to call it a term, as multiple other cases & suspected cases across the school. SMT very clear that we've bust a gut trying to get to the end of next week, but it's just not safe anymore so Game Over.

Full time zooming tomorrow & until the end of term as we did throughout last lockdown.

We have had masks. We have had hand sanitizer by the gallon. We have supervised socially distanced breaks. We teach in big, ventilated classrooms & to small by U.K. standard groups.

It was all working great, & then today we just hit the critical point that, well, it wasn't. But we made it this far from 1st September with isolated cases amongst students & teachers - I think we did a pretty good job.

Incidentally, we are currently advertising a job in my department, & usually get half a dozen proceedable applications. This time? 30 odd. Nearly all U.K. state school staff, including 2 ex colleagues who returned to the U.K. in the last few years for family reasons, & are now desperate to be back where it's relatively safe & they aren't bombarded with toxicity from the government, the parents & the press.

I'm on several parents' whatsapp groups as I have dc at the school - all thanking the teaching staff for our hard work, wishing us a brilliant Christmas, & sympathising with those of us who can't travel 'home' this year because of isolating aged parents or worries about catching it at the airport.

The U.K. education system's response to covid is regarded with incredulity from here. &, frankly, with pity & horror.