The fourteenth republic - watching Scotland and ever changing DfE guidelines

[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
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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

Piggy, I think he's focussing on how they're vectors for second wave and I think the question was safety for kids. But yes, little consideration for staff. Who are clearly more at risk than the children.

The premise is from that clip is that schools and children are definitely vectors.

As per Israel.

It's interesting that more info is coming out now on this.

Yeah, I get that neuro but people might become a bit more concerned about safe reopening if they viewed them as places which don't just have kids in them. If they still believe kids aren't effective spreaders, everybody views adults as spreaders, so if we saw teachers also as vectors and as members of communities then they could discuss our role too in community spread. let's face it that's why the DfE guidelines tell us to keep away form everything that breathes (where possible )

They may not care about us as humans but they might be concerned if they saw us as community spreaders.

That said they'd tell us just to go and live in a hotel all year 'like the heroic NHS workers'. And that we should make sacrifices because our children need and education.

@TaxTheRatFarms

achy bones, headache, generally feeling “under the weather/ not 100 per cent

I think that’s good advice and I hope people are aware of it.

My own personal worry is that I have a chronic pain condition which can feel very much like the achy bones you get with flu when it starts to kick in. It then gets much worse, and I know then that it’s my usual chronic pain, but that first day it could be either. I also have permanent shortness of breath so I’m like a waking pseudo-covid symptom factory

I’m worried that I’ll assume it’s just my pain cycle kicking in and go to work, only for it to turn out to be covid. Because if I stay home every day that I’m in pain, I would never go to work. I don’t think they’d be too impressed!

I have this concern too. I've got a long term health condition that gives fatigue and achiness as standard (but it fluctuates, some days are worse than others). I can't isolate every time I have one of those symptoms or I'd never be at work. I was quite relieved that the 3 main covid symptoms are not symptoms of my underlying condition - so hopefully I'll know if I do get covid (although I also have had a cough for months:( ).

Oh dear - I was going to go laptop shopping soon! - My laptop died at the weekend. It already had 2 keys missing due to my toddler "helping" me work during lockdown, and backspace hasn't worked for years due to a wine/marking incident! It's now just irretrievably dead. It was at least 6 years old anyway....

I would not be at all surprised if children are silent spreaders. I just hope some decent research is done on this quickly, and that the government takes notice!

@WhyNotMe40

I would not be at all surprised if children are silent spreaders. I just hope some decent research is done on this quickly, and that the government takes notice!

It wouldn’t surprise me if schools get closed down across the country due to outbreaks, and no paper reports it at all.

I got mine through click and collect at PC World. Amazon would probably deliver as well.

@Piggywaspushed

Germany : detailed on another thread and in the news today.

But their schools are just so different . they run 8 til 1 for a start and are properly funded!

Loads of other countries didn’t seem to send their kids back when we did in June as they were about to break up for summer so it wasn’t worth it. I wonder if they go back after we do as well (which doesn’t fit in with the our kids have far too long summer holidays rhetoric we get over here!).

I’m really interested to know what other countries have planned and how that compares with our shitshow.

There is quite a good thread running on the ‘Global Educator Collective’ FB page about schools returning actually-I haven’t looked at that page for months.

Lots of places going back end of August but with a hybrid or fully online model.

So, that nursery in Gloucester closed after just one confirmed case?

I can imagine the concern a head would feel if there was a positive case-wanting to do the right thing by closing. Once word gets out about the positive test which it would quickly (at my DD’s secondary, it would be all over Instagram within 10 seconds!)-the hysteria amongst kids, coughing and texts home and people feeling ill, let alone calls from parents demanding their children be sent home/given a test etc.

I can see why you’d want to close. I can imagine these local PHE reps will be on the phone telling heads they can’t shut though and will be telling them to make decisions that cause the least impact, yet it’s heads who have to deal with the worried kids/staff/parents for the next x number of weeks.

I’m glad I’m not a head.

There definitely seems to have been the shift on MN in the last week. Far more posters popping up saying they’re not keen on a full return.

I don’t know if it’s making me feel better or worse.

A shift, not the shift.

The difference with a nursery is that they are a private business with paying customers. Schools are not quite so autonomous

I'm not sure that I'm seeing a shift, but I am trying to avoid threads that I think will make my anxiety worse!

I really wish I'd handed my notice letter in and not been talked around by DH

callme , nurseries are quite small, though. Plus I think the closure was sonly to those who had been in on that day. Which doesn't make huge sense.

@DollyMixtureLulus

There definitely seems to have been the shift on MN in the last week. Far more posters popping up saying they’re not keen on a full return.

I don’t know if it’s making me feel better or worse.

I thought that too for the most part. Also the media seems to be shifting a bit on its reporting. I agree it partly makes me feel better that I’m imagining the risks, but equally it is fuelling me worrying now others, outside of schools, agree.

I’m just trying to see my parents and gran loads during the summer before I feel I can’t again when I return to work.

It’s interesting on that Global FB page how long teachers are back in August/September before the children start-in most cases it’s a good week, if not more! We have one day INSET!

It seems to be loads of online/hybrid options which obviously leads to reduced class numbers, plus mask wearing though.

The rest of the word will be watching it all unfold (unravel?) over here in astonishment.

Why does it have to always be so crap?!

@CallmeAngelina

So, that nursery in Gloucester closed after just one confirmed case?

It didn’t close. They closed for the children and staff in that day only, deep cleaned and let everyone else know. I think in a way that might be how it works at primary if you do have a one class bubble tbh. Don’t know what they’d do if you have larger year group ones.

PHE told them exactly what to do - so they didn’t wait for two cases there.

Appu what day do you have full cohort back then?

Ours is not until Friday of the first week. The Thursday is y7 and y11. Two days inset.

@RigaBalsam

Appu what day do you have full cohort back then?

Ours is not until Friday of the first week. The Thursday is y7 and y11. Two days inset.

Inset day is Wednesday 2nd, then whole school back Thursday 3rd.

@Appuskidu we are back on the Tuesday.

It sounds like they didnt need to get teated as not the main symptoms but did anyway. Then sent them
back in as better.
You would think phe would then test the others to see how many asymptomatic kids there were.
Also because only 1 parent needs to stay home and siblings would still be in school.

We do need to expand it to any cold/flu/d&v especially for young kids.
There has already been threads

• -where someone thought it was an allergy

• someone vomiting and then cough (not tested yet though)
• people with sore throats and cold symptoms sending kids to nursery and them to work.

Really strict 3 symptoms missed i dont know 10% say
Then you have all the asymptomatics
Then the ones who will go out anyway
Some people with chronic temps or coughs so you cant tell

Also if t&t was working (worldwide) there would surely be links between cases so not just shutting down onward chain but where did you get it not just spread it. So where did the gloucester preschooler get it. Could well be from preschool.