J&J - The no more Tiers formula...

[WaxOnFeckOff]

Another new Fred...

@WouldBeGood happy to accept that. I must just be one in a long line to have faced that accusation!

I wish I could see the post it refers to though.

It would be nice if there could be a nuanced debate but there never is.

This thread is for tiers and lockdown chat though, can we keep it on that?

Why are you so insistent on singling me out and attacking me @kurtrussellsbeard ? You're not helping your argument or cause at all.

Yes @StatisticallyChallenged it was a horrific year for us too (2014) as I mentioned above. Even DD who was 6 at the time remembers it and how scared we all were and says she'll never vote SNP. I really do not want to go through another indy ref or neverendum.

I voted remain in the Brexit referendum but the fact the UK is doing better than the EU has been a very good argument for Brexit and doesn't help NSs argument that Brexit is bad for Scotland (I know its not been perfect but the vaccinations are what people care about right now).

@WouldBeGood I'm off to bed too. Agree that we should get back to lockdown and tiers discussion. Not long before another thread is needed so might need to think about names again.

I'm not attacking you and I'm genuinely sorry if you feel that way. You said people who wanted independence were so fucking stupid. Why would I not be able to reply to that?

Anyway @WouldBeGood you are right this is for tiers and lockdown! Sorry for any part I've played in derailing! Clearly I'm over sensitive.

I lost my best friend to indyref - we staggered on for a couple of years after but we were never the same and she finally just showed clearly that I wasn't someone she valued anymore. Not helped that she hitched her wagon to an utter mansplaining twat who offered to explain the GERS figures to me. He had no financial background whatsoever...

@kurtrussellsbeard Me too. I usually get quite a bit as a paid marker so I will lose that.

We have about 300 pupils and are going to have to run 2 assessment rounds as had not had prelims. So, it is just going to be relentless. Brutal and awful and soul destroying.

And moving the deadline to mid June just extends the pain. Parents will want "just one more" and we will be marking forever.

@StatisticallyChallenged You were amazing in 2014. So patient and reasonable. I think you changed a lot of minds!

Not to forget the stress of moderation and no study leave.

It's a bloody shame for the kids. Their stress levels will be through the roof.

This sounds like hell for teachers.

Thanks @Cismyfatarse. I did learn a lot, I recall knowing way too much about oil prices

@kurtrussellsbeard

That's because there's a cause with the SNP.

I want Tyrells crisps the red pepper ones.

A cause that will likely bankrupt Scotland and for what?

DH saying this morning that Scotland doing brilliant with vaccinating so many in Scotland now, it has really ramped up this week. Considering all the rural communities, hard to reach places, we are doing fantastically well 🙌

Macbeth ... that takes me bac @Cismyfatarse. We did it for Higher in 1989 and I can still quote big chunks which we had to memorise because back in the day we weren't allowed texts in the exam.

Glamis thou art and Cawdor and shalt be what thou are promised. Yet thou art too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way

(or something like that).

If it's any consolation my son's Adv H chemistry video classes are regularly interrupted by his teacher's kids, yesterday they were battering each other with foam fingers in the background and the S6 students thought it was great.

That's awful statistically,
I don't understand why people can't compartmentalise.

Last referendum I was heavily pg and managed to avoid debate, although as I turned a corner where I live I'd always dread bumping into a friend with yes stickers or saltire key rings etc.

I'd say most of my RL acquaintances are nationalist, and other than economic dire straits, having to avoid almost everyone I know is what I'm least looking forward to.

Anyway back to tiers - Thursday. I've got a huge backlog of school work to finish off for the younger one, thank goodness it's half term next week.

CIS / Kurt
I never thought about the impact on kids. Do you think it would be better to run the exams rather than loads of assessments? Just being curious about your thoughts.

2014 I was for independence but now I think it would be a disaster. We'd end up with a hard border at Carlisle.
Debatable if we'd get back into Europe. If we did it would be on Europes terms.

Am I right in thinking that when the UK joined the EEC. That the UK allowed access to UK waters for fishing but ring fenced the oil and gas? Not that it's worth as much as we thought.

Its our Saltire too. I hate how its become a nationalist symbol.

Anyway onto teirs, DNeice upset because she hasn't been in uni at all in her first year and its all been online and she doesn't think she'll get any in class experience or socialising in person before the summer. She hasn't heard a thing about what is happening at her uni (Glasgow) after February and says its all been very vague. She lives at home, not accomodation halls but we think of the poor younger ones when the older kids of 17/18 are also struggling.

@blowinahoolie

DH saying this morning that Scotland doing brilliant with vaccinating so many in Scotland now, it has really ramped up this week. Considering all the rural communities, hard to reach places, we are doing fantastically well 🙌

Yeah. My friend's a Public Health Officer in the Highlands and she said the same yesterday.

I do feel for school leavers and students. I'm convinced that students is on of the main drivers for wanting to get the vaccine rolled out to all adults before September.

It might also be part of the fear of a winter resurgence in the virus. But fingers crossed for normality for next academic year for everyone's sake.

@jabbathebutt I feel really sorry for students. What kind of university experience or transition to adulthood is this? Just awful.

I have a little more hope this morning as I see Rishi is concerned about the goalposts for lockdown moving, and there’s talk of moving out of lockdown with the news that the vaccines stop transmission and serious illness.

@blowinahoolie and @StarryEyeSurprise I don’t doubt that NHS staff are trying, but the statistics speak for themselves. Even NS and JL have acknowledged its slow 🤷🏻‍♀️

@WouldBeGood I saw that too in the Daily Fail but I take what they say with a pinch of salt. They are so anti lockdown at times that they seem to not care about health. There needs to be a balance and I personally think its too soon to lift restrictions, at least not most of them. I do wonder what they might lift after schools though, and when.

Schools are to be back first.
Do we think they'll get all kids back before Easter even for a week so they can open other things up for Easter?

I'm thinking that places that rely on tourist trade will be desperate for business. Its rapidly becoming a pipe dream.
Furlough was extended to April is it likely to be extended, as that's another indicator of how much of the economy that's expected to open.

@Lockdownbear schools will be back by then in a limited form, wonder if that will count as putting schools first 🤔

I'm all for coming out of lockdown, but I'd rather like this current lockdown to be the last one.

So if that requires us to move a bit slower and means no foreign travel for most of this year - to avoid new variants - then so be it. I do want DS14 back at school as soon as feasibly possible, although having said that if he was allowed to play with 6 pals outside, then provided he had that interaction we could scrape along with home learning for a bit longer.

Although I agree with Rishi's intentions- and I get worried when people start talking about risks of long covid or absolutely tiny risks to DCs as being justification for longer lockdown- I do feel he's a bit of a bust flush, don't think in hindsight Eat out to help out was such a great idea, so I'm not sure how much weight his opinion will have,certainly none in Scotland.

@jabbathebutt I don’t think it was suggesting immediate lifting. But I do agree the goalposts have been ever shifting, and the goal should not be zero Covid. Vulnerable vaccinated should mean opening.

I know SG make their own decisions but those will be influenced by funding and also public opinion if people see movement in England