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

BBC article on the Leicester PHE report

(www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-53257835 )

which includes this:

The report said the increase in positive cases was "most marked" among the under-19 year group.

While there had been "good provision of primary school access for children" since the beginning of June, researchers said, they could find no "analytical link" between this and "any real or apparent rise in new infections".

However, they said it would "seem sensible to investigate" in order to exclude a link between this and an increase in young people testing positive for Covid-19.

Five schools in the city closed as a result of positive coronavirus tests, it added.

*Reasons for parents not getting their child tested I can think of include:

• Not understanding the procedure - Thinking "By the time we get postal results it'll nearly be a week anyway" - Understanding procedure but thinking it'll traumatise their child - Problems with transport, disregarding postal option - General disorganisation/chaotic lives -Not wanting the label of being Infected, maybe’*

I live in a deprived urban area. Our nearest testing place is 15 miles away into the countryside - the kind of place where there’s a bus to twice a day. It is beyond me how poorer families, busy people,etc are supposed to manage testing. They really need to sort this out before schools open.

The only response that the Government needs to bring in is big fines for those who flout the system - so if a child says my mum have me calpol this morning and by the time it wears off they have a temperature, they get fined. It needs to be in big enough sums to hurt and initial fines need to be well publicised. It need to be made difficult for business to sack people who are complying with the rules and the benefits system must pick up those on low wages, part time contracts and 0 hours contracts so again, people can take the time off they need.

The Zoe app is trying to build a diagnosing system using the IT rather than testing. This would be ideal for schools who could ask the questions, press ‘diagnose’ and send kids home with a letter saying they can’t be back in school until X date. A warning on being out in public or large fine should also be on there - no need for any child to be wandering about during school hours - and again large fines well publicised will help compliance.

Of course it will be wispy washy shite and teachers will get ill and some will die. It is all too predictable in my opinion.

Parliament timetable has Gav at 11:30 and a whole bunch of people asking him questions so it’ll go on about an hour.

Which exactly matches the time I have an appointment. If anyone watches, can you give us the gist please?

Reported the goady thread saying nurses now work as hard as teachers.
Deleted. It, not me.

A small distraction from marking VCE coursework and sorting out the garage to put hard rubbish on the nature strip.

BBC article seems pretty confident now that the leaked guidelines ARE the guidelines.

The only reason it is said teachers are at no greater risk is based upon a study done while schools were in lockdown. ONS looks at this at regular intervals and I suspect this is a league table teachers may well move up.

The better news re Leicester is there hasn't been an increase in hospitalisations. There is a worldwide trend for infections to be moving down the age groups, it seems. Those people do tend to become less ill.

If so many parents (and it seems some headteachers and MAT execs) don't care about us, they should acer about the constant hokey cokey that will be schools with giant whole year group bubbles.

The question I really want answering is about where teachers fit into these bubbles in a secondary school. Are they trying to avoid sending us home at all by telling us to stay at the front? So, they are admitting they can't trace student's multiple close contacts, but expect us to be able to. I can imagine the carnage.

I'm getting really worried about the focus on English and maths. Who the bloody hell is going to teach it? We already have to have non.specialists teach it and it's often a bit of a disaster. Especially as spag is not everyone's strong point.

If year groups have to regularly self isolate due to infections what happens if that year group is Y10, already struggling to ensure all the course content is covered?

English and maths - pah!

We're doing RE as our main focus on the first 'week' (3 days) back. And playing with some maths gubbins like dienes and counters. RE is about miracles. We'll be able to see what their English is like from any response work they do to that.

This plan is going be awful, we all know it, but the government and media have fine such a good hatchet job on teachers and unions that I would imagine no one will back us in any objections and we’ll just be told it’s time for us to step up, have a can do attitude and do our bit

This expresses so cogently the positioning of the teachers' unions by the government:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/30/boris-johnson-teaching-unions-closed-schools-teachers-children

Let's try a little scenario.

Because I think this isn't factored in!

What if a TEACHER is the first person to show symptoms? Sure, they have stayed distant form other adults, but, what about the children. Which bubble goes home??

Secondary DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.

Loath as I am to admit it, primary makes a bit more logistical sense. But secondary I just can't figure.

Are teachers/ TAs etc etc literally going to have to know exactly what students they have been near and for how long?

How come whole year groups will pop then if children have symptoms?

My head hurts...

Good article.

This bit though...

So why bother creating this false narrative, which nobody will buy, and is unlikely to get the government off the hook for a disorderly or delayed return to school?

I know who will ‘buy’ it.

Reading comments on the DM (which actually make me draw a sharp intake of breath sometimes as they’re so venomous), I know there is a great swathe of people out there who think we are lazy workshy marxists, eager to rabble rouse and avoid going back (despite most of us being ‘back’ in full time anyway!) to try to increase our already bloated holiday allowance.

Sadly, I agree, Appuskidu.

Loath as I am to admit it, primary makes a bit more logistical sense. But secondary I just can't figure.

Me too. I just about get primary, if no assembly, sets, wraparound care (possibly a big issue for working parents, teachers included!) though that means separate play/breaks/staggered starts, no Mixed interventions and where to even start with PPA will be a total headache, but it’s probably manageable.

Secondary is just unworkable. Staggered timetables would be needed to keep year groups apart but will be impossible to staff, and schools don’t have enough teachers for that So they will instantly be teaching multiple year groups. Once one teacher is ill-that would close the school! Transport to and from are already packed and I doubt the government will be funding more buses.

I have a horrible feeling today will just be a Tory talk with a few shit soundbites but no guidance. That will probably be published next week.

My parents fell for the whole powerful unions, lazy teachers narrative, they’ve been surprised to hear that I’ve been marking, phoning kids, and when they’ve asked why state schools haven’t done live lessons I’ve pointed out that their own grandkids would then miss out if I was teaching live lessons and they were supposed to be doing live lessons. Who would get the laptop? I had to ask them not to keep asking my Y2 if she was excited about going back to school when I was pretty sure she wouldn’t.

It’s taken the entirety of lockdown but I think they’re slowly realising that the papers might not be right about stuff, and that the government might have been incompetent.

schoolsweek.co.uk/ofqual-reveals-proposals-for-exams-in-2021/

I've been sent photos of work that needs marking. My printer isn't good enough. What's the best way to mark on a screen please? That I don't have to spend money on

So... no trimming of content in Eng Lit, the most overstuffed GCSE FFS

What is 'content sampling'??

A photo editing app, hedgehog? They normally let you draw and insert text on photos.

My iPad just lets me do markup when I download a photo from the browser which is how I’m marking.

I used a clip tool to clip bits I wanted to comment on, then stuck it in a table and commented on the side.

Sounds long winded, wasn't really.

Arguably, that's history, Piggy...

But, yes, sounds a bit rubbish. By default, schools will end up removing non-core subjects if they remove content from art/drama whatever but not Eng and maths.

The Ofqual proposals for media subjects ADDS workload! gravity where are you? What do you think??

I am pulling my hair out!

The guidance has been published...