The Eleventh Republic - countdown to summer holidays

[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

If you come with a stick to beat us with then please do so elsewhere and not in the staffroom

I really don't understand the science there.

I’m fit and healthy and don’t live with anyone vulnerable and college, with scant handfuls of students, is still fairly terrifying. I’m using what is the biggest classroom I think I’ve ever taught in and I still can’t stay 2m away from five students all the time and actually do my job. Let alone getting drinks, going to the loo, eating lunch and dealing with colleagues.

I really don't understand the science there.
I think that's to your credit! There's no science to understand.

My local corner shop got better as it went on piggy. M&S is pretty high on my avoid list though. Not that I shop there often.

My local area has had its PHE England deep dive into why its transmission rates are so high.

Results in two weeks....FFS

Deep dive? Are they taking lessons from ofsted?

Our new shop/tourist attraction is rather busy. He just is a bit anxious (whilst telling me I am !) about the whole thing and seems to find any thought of DS doing any exercise with football teams (not actually playing ), going with a mate for a kickabout etc very concerning.

I am sure MN would hand him a grip and tell him it's not Ebola.

He seems OK about going to Spain though. Weirdo.

I'm finding the 2m thing rather worrying - I'm not a conspiracy theorist, in fact I'm the opposite, but I'm thinking that the government advising 2m distancing means that firstly you don't count for track and trace as a contact, and secondly, if you die it's not the school's/government's fault as you can't have caught it at work if you had followed the guidance of 2m distancing..... So it gets around insurance and liability issues.

Exactly what I think why. I said that earlier : fewer contracts to trace, too.

Apparently schools are running contract tracers ragged.

Sorry Piggy, I missed you saying that - I've only skimmed the thread to catch up.

Does compulsory track and trace meaning need to do that app thing?

I have a class of 34 next year. Dunno what i'll do with the extra 4. Let them listen from outside? Classroom is built for 25 anyway so we'll be crammed in regardless.All from the 9 hamlets and villages are bussed in on a variety of people carriers. Looking forward to seeing how that works.

Meanwhile both my kids will be bussed to their secondary on extra buses from where? I will have zero chance of getting ds on the bus anyway once he realises it's just english and maths. He'd rather lie in front of it!

@phlebasconsidered, at least 2 😂s there, thank you!

What about the thorough disinfection of areas where year groups move to access different classrooms? Who's going to do that between lessons?

I hate, hate, hate the thought of school being reduced to just English and maths!!! What a rubbish experience for kids! I am a maths teacher, and cannot think of anything worse for some of my pupils. They need the creative and practical subjects. For some of them that's the only time they get to shine, and the government plans to take that away from them to give them more time in the subjects they struggle with the most. Just no!!!

I cannot stay 2m away from pupils at all times either. My board is at the front of the room and the door and all textbooks are at the back of the room. I can't enter our leave the room without getting closer than 2m away from several pupils. Although, that would take less than 15 minutes, so that will be fine, won't it?

Well we're going to stop time like Miss Peregrine and do it then salty .

I might have my tinfoil hat on here, but given Hancock’s comments about them needing to shut schools in Leicester could they have leaked the schools guidance to avoid blame.

This way they can say they’d produced guidance saying how every child should be back full time but they were forced to change it as they got new info.

Kier looks a bit silly now being backed into saying school are safe. Is he going to support these new guidelines?

Sorry, I voted for Kier in leadership but (only in terms of education) I may well be #teamRLB

Oh, how we need a briefing now!!

Of course it's awful that more are dying in Leicester (although actually is it just the infection rate that's gone up, or the death rate too (yet), I don't know?) however I do think ithe new lockdown will be helpful in one sense, well, two related senses.

1 It will "serve as a warning" to those who think it's fine to crowd onto beaches/ rave / shop just because "I need it for my mental elf" (not to disparage those truly suffering mental health problems of course)

2 Specifically, the fact that the problems seem at least partly to have been in Leicester's schools must surely give the government pause for thought.

Surely?!

Apparently in Brazil they are confident that children are major vectors of transmission in the favelas and are campaigning for mask wearing.

Trouble is , Leicester is 51% BAME. The white middle class MNers won't give a shit.

The AD thread has lost it’s shit so I don’t see this giving people pause for thought. It’s just another over reaction.

AIUI the infection rate is going up Strawberry. I think I’ve seen something about 10% of all new infections in the country were in Leicester.

Difficult to see how locking Leicester down is enforceable tbh.

@WhyNotMe40 I’m such an idiot I though you meant your dept were doing quizzes for the kids not each other 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Ignore my previous suggestion. Play here with us instead! Finally going to bed now. Definitely doing fuck all though as a teacher right now though....

Specifically, the fact that the problems seem at least partly to have been in Leicester's schools

Oh I didn't know that. I may be donning a time hat too and thinking the leak is so changes can be made.

Where has the Brazil info come from (was it piggy who said that?)

Who ever said the next leak is ladbible, I'm still giggling... but expect it to be so!

I think it's infection rates we now need to look at as hopefully most people who are vulnerable are being protected (at the moment.) hospital admissions may have a bit of reflection I suppose.