The Seventh Republic - the debate rages on but for some it is half term!

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. It is meant for school staff. Baiters and bashers can jog on somewhere else.

If you are NOT staff and just have a general education query please start your own thread.

You can play here only if you are a member of one the following groups-

-ABBA - anti bashers and baiting association
-SWAB - school workers against bashers
-SWOT - school workers opposing teacherbashers
-STARS - schoolworkers together against ranting + slurs

Other requirements for staff room entry include the ability to find the staff room, the ability to find a clean mug in the staff room, knowledge of the photocopier codes, and the ability to sniff out where the toffee vodka is hidden.

If you are fed up with cakes and biscuits there is now a cheeseboard on offer

Oh good. Hopefully everyone is off enjoying their bank holiday. I’m a bit incensed currently by reading about landlords feeling renters should be grateful for a roof over their heads rather than landlords recognising their tenants are paying their mortgage and then some.

Aware I’m a bit grrr

I agree with you too honey.

I liked that piggy. That is exactly how the conversation would go!

Piggy spot on 🤣

Morning! This is another reason why decent test track and trace would make all the difference. This teacher was asymptomatic as well. First test inconclusive and second test positive.

I’m starting to feel quite wobbly about going back to school. We are starting on the 2nd with the existing key workers plus Y6. We will hopefully be told tomorrow about
numbers etc. I think it’s the lack of info that’s troubling me. I know the SLT are working hard to figure it all out.

Yes there are a lot of unknowns TW. It was bizarre having a back to work phone meeting without having a clue what work I would be going back to

No idea what secondary schools are going to look like in September. I really can’t see it being back to normal any time soon.

Here’s one thing though. I thought about it and I personally would be willing to work over summer in exchange for not working the first autumn half term. Hopefully flights would be going again by September and I could get away to the my second home and sort some business out and get some sunshine.

Obviously they wouldn’t offer that deal though. I’ve always wished we could have the longer holiday in winter when I’m desperate to get away from England. Summer is nice anyway with long evenings and most people being in a better mood.

Feisty email just come in from NASUWT!

The main important point is that school's secondary plans must be based on workload and staff availability, not the other way round....

Excellent idea HoneyBadger !

Can I ask about rotas? V few children returning to us, some teachers are in 2 days a week, some in one day, some are not coming in at all.
I guess this is the planning for when more children return. Then maybe the other staff will be in? or will the rota swap?

I've read that swab tests are really unreliable. One in three people that should be having a positive result come out with a false negative. If those people are then sent back into schools (as has been happening in hospitals and care homes) that's a massive potential for fuck ups

Pinkrocker we are having very few in too, so a rota system to begin with and more staff coming in and dropping to individual bubbles when more children return. As in we only have 1 bubble to begin with staffed on a rota, then 2 bubbles and so on but once we get more than 1 bubble (of 8 children) the rota will stop.

Are childminders allowed at the moment? My neighbour has a young girl in and out of her paddling pool and it definitely isn't hers! I don't know them well enough to know if she is a child minder but it is the only excuse I can think of.

There’s a child minder near me who’s been posting photos of her (many!) charges during lockdown - she’s well regarded and quite a “proper” type so I assume it’s ok for key worker children. Surprised me though (but to be honest, some people need a child minder so I’m not about to start grassing someone up for that).

I’ve just opened three threads in a row where OP is talking about their child “refusing” to do schoolwork and playing games all day. Primary aged children too, similar ages to mine. I’m not a perfect parent but my kids wouldn’t dare refuse to do anything! It explains a lot of the problems I’ve had with remote teaching, for sure.

It’s the fact they see that refusal as the end of the matter-nub son may well refuse to do something but then it’s my job to get him to do it and make clear refusing isn’t an option and will be met with consequences that are more onerous than the initial thing he didn’t want to do.

Those refuse to work threads come up at half term a lot, mind. The kids are meant to be on holiday!

I don't think my NDN is a child minder. I think it is just all the kids of about three households playing together...they make so much bloody noise, it's the closest I have come to grassing!

censoredhead.wixsite.com/website/post/i-am-angry-and-disappointed

Apologies if its already been posted.

My neighbours had a full on party over the weekend. It was a baby's first birthday so the entire family was round, they had a bouncy castle up on the field outside our gardens and were having a buffet picnic going on as well. I don't understand some people!

My childminder is not working at the minute. She doesn't have any keyworker families and is actually retiring in July, so has been winding down recently anyway. Keyworker children are allowed to go to childcare. And there are going to be more people needing childcare as more parents go back to work. People will start (continue?) To use friends and family for childcare rather than sending their kids to school. And from an infection prevention point of view I think that could be more sensible depending on their setup. 2 families sharing childcare is a smaller bubble than sending the children to school. Assuming they stick to all the other social distancing rules, which I'm not convinced we can reasonably assume. But we can't assume that when they're at school either.

RigaBalsam that just about sums it up. Agree with everything he says.

If my cm doesn't take my kids I don't know what I'll do. I'm in work by 8.Dh by 7. Breakfast.club opens at 7. Ds is one of the oldest in.the year and will be pretty much 11 in Sept. School.is 4 minutes away, no roads. It keeps crossing my mind that at worst, I could leave at 730 and leave them to go to school themselves. But I'm not convinced they'd lock the door properly and it feels a bit shit. Mind you, they might actually prefer it to leaving so early for the cm.

Acat ds had to do the same at that age so I could get to work (supply at the time). I enlisted my parents to phone him when it was time to leave and remind him to lock the door etc. It was just him though-no siblings

Sister will be almost 9. We know all the neighbours. A few don't work, so are always around. Alexa would tell them.when to leave😀

I attached the key to the inside pocket of his school bag on a long ribbon so he couldn’t lose it. He was the only year 6 in his school who walked themselves to school, as he frequently reminded me.

They’ll be grand and have each other for company

It’ll also save you money