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
-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

They weren’t even the younger staff in the main, which surprised me! But then several younger staff had closer associations with serious cases and deaths from Covid, so they took it very seriously.
I’m too old and arsey to care what they think so if a window was closed, I opened it, if a child was too close I told them to move away.
We also had a couple of staff who were convinced they had it (and going off the symptoms and severity they probably did). They now seem to think they are immune, when that has been far from confirmed.

Yay hi on #14 thread!

We could do a countdown to 11 August

"And now, in the Fourteenth Republic House, it's 9 Days until the New Government Guidance for Schools is announced...."

@JulyBreeze

Yay hi on #14 thread!

We could do a countdown to 11 August

"And now, in the Fourteenth Republic House, it's 9 Days until the New Government Guidance for Schools is announced...."

And 31 days until the last minute revision which nullifies the entire days inset of how things are different this year?

Disclaimer: My maths may be wrong, I'm in holiday mode so my brain doesn't work

Probably being generous, it will be 32 days, as it will be released at 12.01 on the first school day back

I hope you enjoy your last full week off, tributes from Scotland. If you could pull into school on a chariot with flames billowing behind you, that would be a legendary move!

How's the mood in Scotland? Think I'd be less worried if I was north of the border as your case rate seems much lower?

The rate is lower in some regions, mine included fortunately. And I do try to focus on the tiny % of active infection at large.No deaths for 16 days is what all the attention seems to be on but Scotland just recorded its biggest jump in cases for 2 months.

People seem keen to get the schools back but everyone I’ve spoken to has had a little edge of worry too. Obviously face to face is different to online rantings.

The FB page for Scottish primary teachers has similar feelings imo.

The mood is cautious, hopeful and confused. The announcement of the guidelines 11 days before we return has left us with so many questions which we won't get answers to until we are actually back. What a coincidence.

I also have been thinking hunger games. In that it is the children sacrificed. And this tbh isnt far from that though the odds are in individual favour. But someone's child will die.
They need to go for PT (probably both primary and secondary) but with some way to enforce the work being done.

It's annoying them saying CV need to be careful as you cant SD from your own kids and no amount of washing your own hands will help in a house with them same as for elderly. They cant keep changing advice as people dont keep up. There have been 2 threads where people with asthma were tol they have health anxiety and were at no risk. Despite last i looked it still being on the CV list.
Interesting the thread about over 50s as they would still not accept that age alone makes you more vulnerable.

I just saw on facebook
Covid deaths for the full month of July:

England - 2230
Wales - 46
Scotland - 6
N. Ireland - 5

I think I’d feel better about going back to school on 11th in Scotland than I do about going back in a month in England if those figures are correct.

Deaths are delayed measures though in that they start to show up weeks after rises in infection. Obviously I’d feel safest in N.I though.

I take it there’s still been no announcement of flu jabs for teachers? I’ve never had one and would rather not tbh but it seems like that would be something to at least offer that could help reduce shutdowns.

A part of me still thinks they don’t have, and never have had, any intention of secondary schools going back all in full time in England and it’s all just a consumer confidence game to get everyone spending as much as possible in August. That may just be wishful thinking though.

www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2020/07/30/harvard-epidemiologist-hybrid-model-for-reopening-schools-is-probably-among-the-worst-options

Dr Bill is the husband of an old friend of mine who is also an epidemiologist.

The Daily Mail has a story from a secondary maths teacher (not me) who has cut up their union card in disgust at the unions and who has been telling all their pupils’ parents that the unions are blocking school reopening in September.

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-8584189/Secondary-school-maths-teacher-appalled-intransigence-union-children-school.html

Weirdly, it hits Us4Them talking points and doesn’t sound like any teacher I know...

How does he figure blended learning creates more contacts and opportunity for spread amongst teenagers? Weird that he claims it’s important to distinguish the difference between under and over tens then makes a blanket statement like that which assumes loads of extra childcare settings.

Sounds like a twat tbh. Should be in trouble for what he said to parents on the phone . I hope he doesn't expect union help at any point.

He'll probably be promoted for his can do approach.

I think Scotland had an outbreak from a pub didn’t they? 16 cases from people who were in the pub on 26th July. That might explain the big jump in cases.

The CV guidance comes from here www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing-after-4-july
It does look like they’ve rolled it back slightly. I’m sure they switched from only being able to meet up with people outdoors to being able to meet up with people indoors as well on the 17th July. Now they seem to have removed all mention of it.

Lol at DH cleaning piggy. There are 120+ people in my department, the amount of cleaning of shared surfaces I’d have to do is ridiculous. It’s almost easier just to wash my hand every time I touch something.

hands.

@noblegiraffe I read that on the DM, urgh it made me so angry!

@TheHoneyBadger @monkeytennis97 that’s interesting but Honey is right and he doesn’t differentiate between secondary school and primary hybrid model where you might not be introducing extra childcare contacts. Think there is a big difference between the two.

True. I guess I was looking at it selfishly that secondary kids shouldn't go back.

Do we actually have a union card to cut up if we wanted? (I don’t want to cut it up, just can’t think where my card might be if I do have one)

That's a good point. I have a Chartered College one. Maybe I could cut that up instead. Or my library card since their bastard unions won't let them open up.

We do. I just got mine in the post the other day lol.

Just seen my town is on the list of 26 towns being watched (the watch list) presumably as at risk of lockdown.

Hi all!

Place marking. On a filed in the middle of nowhere in a tent so will be checking in as and when I can.

Saw the news article on schools reopening and decided to turn my data off!

How many with kids at school wont have the gp back doing afterschool though.