The Twelfth Republic - push and glide to the summer break

[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

That article lists the UK as somewhere mask wearing is optional for students and staff. I don't get the feeling it's being put across as something we can easily choose to do here.
Guidance from my own area is completely vague about this.

What I also note is tat the children in one pic are facing each other but across the length of a desk, which keeps them at 1m+ distance. But, of course, you can't squash them all in that way and Gav wants them rubbing shoulders facing the front!

Really interesting read. It makes me think masks at secondary might make a big difference given fairly small, cramped, poorly ventilated rooms in many parts of our school.

Just received an email with a letter attached from DC's school. Not reassuring at all and they'll send further detail in a week or so apparently but the second line says in bold that face masks must be removed once on the premises in accordance with government guidelines. Not sure why the head is being so firm on that particular point at this stage when there are so many indications that regulations on masks are likely to change and this would be an easy issue for the unions to focus on that wouldn't make them look like they were preventing reopening and wouldn't be costly if people are encouraged/told to provide their own. I just don't see how they can make masks compulsory or highly recommended elsewhere but forbid their use in schools!

I would imagine this is partly why Boris is stalling on making masks compulsory in shops. Once he says that, it highlights the fact that government guidance is that we don’t need them in schools.

I have such a horrible feeling about the Autumn. I can’t see another nationwide lockdown again, so it’ll be individual cases triggering bubble closures. They are saying 2 cases in 14 days and a bubble closes now, but I can see them changing that and just telling people to wash their hands more. I can see absence rates going through the roof as well with staff and children having to self isolate every time they have a cough/temperature. How many kids will claim they’ve lost their sense of smell/taste rather than come in and do a physics test?! We couldn’t find supply teachers for love not money in March-this is unlikely to improve.

What about the staff who are back but were CEV? Some will get it, some may well take a long time to recover or not recover at all. I think schools are going to be a stressful place to be.

Talking about hand washing, if you can’t go to the toilet, you can’t wash your hands regularly either can you?

God I hate this government for all sorts of reasons, but I especially hate the way they leak and hint at potential policy changes like they are doing now with masks. So much confusion and stress caused.

@noblegiraffe

Talking about hand washing, if you can’t go to the toilet, you can’t wash your hands regularly either can you?

Come on, Noble, where's your "can-do" attitude? I think you were away from MN when the infamous "why not use buckets of water in classrooms" thread was running. (If she's got any sense, that poster will have name-changed).

Oh silly me, I’m simply not being innovative and creative enough to think of these genius solutions.

Teachers will, of course, be expected to provide their own buckets.

In our school, TAs have to take 30 mins before or after lunch and cover the whole hour plus breaktimes. Luckily i work with fab teachers so will cover them when they need to nip to the loo (make a coffee) and they do the same for me too.

In Septemeber, I imagine teachers will get full hour and TAs will be expected to cover their bubbles lunch everyday.

Which government guidelines stipulate that face masks must be removed on school premises??

After every lesson we have to squirt the desks and the kids have to wipe them down. This is what we have been doing with y10 not sure it will work so well with a full class.

I will definitely need mask with all this spray and stuff! Just so I don't hyperventilate!

(mistress* someone posted a snippet up above that pretty much implies this : schools should supervise their'safe disposal'.

AFAIK my school ahs bought no lidded bins...

Schools should also have a process for removing face coverings when pupils and staff who use them arrive at school and communicate it clearly to them. Pupils must be instructed not to touch the front of their face covering during use or when removing them. They must wash their hands immediately on arrival (as is the case for all pupils), dispose of temporary face coverings in a covered bin or place reusable face coverings in a plastic bag they can take home with them, and then wash their hands again before heading to their classroom.

From the 3rd July guidance. Not sure if that's the only reference to masks but it does firmly imply that they must be removed and we must ensure students don't touch their faces when doing so?!

@noblegiraffe

Oh silly me, I’m simply not being innovative and creative enough to think of these genius solutions.

Teachers will, of course, be expected to provide their own buckets.

Of course. One for each child and they were to be filled up by (never-quite-resolved who or when) staff members or the children themselves from wherever in the building the nearest tap was. Then slurped along the corridors to the classroom where they were to be stored (never quite ascertained exactly where). I gave it until 5 past 9 until the first bucket went flying (generous, I thought) and asked about the hygiene aspect of 30 buckets of festering germy tepid water sitting around but apparently I have a negative defeatist attitude and was not trying hard enough to find solutions.

@noblegiraffe

Oh silly me, I’m simply not being innovative and creative enough to think of these genius solutions.

Teachers will, of course, be expected to provide their own buckets.

Of course. One for each child and they were to be filled up by (never-quite-resolved who or when) staff members or the children themselves from wherever in the building the nearest tap was. Then slurped along the corridors to the classroom where they were to be stored (never quite ascertained exactly where). I gave it until 5 past 9 until the first bucket went flying (generous, I thought) and asked about the hygiene aspect of 30 buckets of festering germy tepid water sitting around but apparently I have a negative defeatist attitude and was not trying hard enough to find solutions.

We’ve bought a marquee. Do hope the head wasn’t on that thread.

We have some gazebos out on the field for shade during playtimes. You can fit about 5 year 6 kids under them.

Yeah, I'm uneasy about September too. I think my Head has done the best she can do in the circumstances, and I think we'll all do our best to abide by the guidance as interpreted for our school.

But there is no way we'll avoid outbreaks, just no way. By 'we' I mean all school settings. It's going to be a bit chaotic, which makes me stressed just thinking about it. Add on everyone being stressed too, and you've got a really highly strung working environment. Not much fun really.

I remember how I felt that last week before we closed and I'm dreading it. Find out tomorrow what our school have planned.

I lost nearly a stone in the two weeks before school closed. Probably need to do THAT bit again... not the insomnia though, that was brutal.

It was awful in my school that last week.

People were self isolating left, right and centre with symptoms. Trying to cover the classes was a nightmare and there were no supply teachers left at the agencies!

Because I’ve got an Apple Watch that measures heart rate I can actually see plotted on a graph how awful the last week was. Not good health-wise.

When I went into school for my face to face with Yr 10 and 12 I was surprised to see me work trousers were loose. (We’ve been teaching live to timetable so haven’t been needed on rota). I weighed myself and I had most 8 pounds over Lockdown. I am now 8 1/2 stone and 5 ft 7. I remarked to DH about my weight loss and he said ‘don’t you look in the mirror? It’s obvious’. With only a 20 minute break each day I know I won’t find time to eat as I’ll prioritise a wee and getting myself organised for the afternoon.