The Twentieth Republic - all back and its time to bubble bubble ...

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. It is meant for school staff only – a sort of room of requirement. Baiters, haters, goaders 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 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

Do not give ‘The Every twat for Themselves mob’ the staffroom password as a number of them are operating in an alternative reality.

No DfE muppets allowed

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 goad us then that is not allowed in the staffroom, especially if you have not used the hand gel. Close the door quietly on your way out and put your mask on.

Good afternoon.

No reply to my PE question for dd's school yet but it might be they're sticking with their plan or considering what else they could do. But thank you to those who were able to advise on their school's arrangements. It was helpful.

We've been told their form teacher may change - dd's has - and from what we can make out from her chats with friends, they appear to be putting students into form groups by their lesson sets. At least as well as they can. I am actually impressed if they have done this as of course it further reduces movement and contact within their bubble.

I've got quite a few emails to go through from my work. Mostly it seems tweaks to previous documents. Otherwise I am more or less ready for my back to school.

Ds has his transition visit as well - I am pleased to report that the silly coffee tables have been removed from the classroom. They've put the standard desks back in, 2 to a desk in forward facing rows. Not brilliant social distancing but it is a lot better than I had hoped for them.

My eldest now has a croaky voice. Only been in since wednesday. That would definitely be from school (kids havent been anywhere inside. Actually technically youngest also went into school yesterday for a s&p but i cant see them asymptomatically catching and transmitting within 10h). This is going to be a long winter.
All very well gov saying send in if not those 3 things. But then it goes round the class. But not only that scarily shows that handwashing doesnt do anything. But also unlike an adult kids just cant really wash 20s or move hand gel around well enough to cover every pinprick size area.
Anyway with an average of 5d the number of covid will start rising from sunday/monday.

I've just had an email asking me to prepare online work for all the kids in my class isolating as a result of jaunts to destinations abroad. I knew this would happen. So now I have to mark actual AND virtual work. So cross. Anyone else?

I only have one who is still on holiday in Turkey. Don't think that's on the quarantine list though, so may escape your predicament.

@phlebasconsidered

I've just had an email asking me to prepare online work for all the kids in my class isolating as a result of jaunts to destinations abroad. I knew this would happen. So now I have to mark actual AND virtual work. So cross. Anyone else?

Not yet, but I've so far had 100% attendance to my lessons. So either none of my kids have been away recently or they are keeping quiet. Guess we'll start seeing kids missing from next week...

We are keeping all our KS3 in one group for all lessons, so the mask wearing outside of these makes sense. Y10 are mostly staying put too, just move a bit for options but it has been minimised as much as possible. Y11 and post-16 move a lot more, but only in their zone. I feel like school is doing as much as it can within the guidelines, but not convinced it will actually stop spread if covid gets in...

@RobertsUncle

[[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/05/mark-sedwill-urges-more-civil-servants-to-return-to-offices-in-england]]

Ha! Ha ha ha!
Civil servants threaten to strike over returning to the office one day per week!!
Lightweights pfft

Bloody hell! Of course it is okay for them to strike ....

@noblegiraffe

I’m more skeptical about ‘unions blocking x’ stories these days.

I do quite want the DfE back in the office full time, no mitigation though.

Absolutely - they have shown they need to be in to do work after the exam season screw up

I've been told to provide work for someone in quarantine after travel. I haven't found time yet and when I do, it'll be a printout of the PPT that I'm using in class. If parents want to travel at such a time it's their look out.

We're just printing off a twinkl pack (primary). We have loads of chn off quarantining after spending all summer in Europe.
Fortunately no pressure to provide more at the moment, that might change if parents complain, we'll see.

All of mine who are off are stuck in India or Saudi or something. No idea when they'll be back.

I haven't got anyone quarantining. Our attendance has actually been better this last week than it normally is in September. Each yeargroup has only been in one day though so that will change soon.

We've been told we won't be providing work for travel quarantine, but will be providing work for self-isolation. That work will be collated by pastoral staff, but obviously we'll need to set the work, and tbh it would be easier to email the kids directly or set assignments on Teams.

I think that's fair enough re: travel quarantine, but I am expecting the outraged thread on it any day now.

I've been told we have a legal obligation to provide remote learning.Why? if i'd fucked off to Spain for a holiday my trust would be making me take 2 weeks unpaid (and that is looking like a dream option right now!) Why do I have to do more work for idiot parents whose holiday was more important than anyone's health? Fuck that. They can get a rehash of the stuff I did in lockdown and i'm buggered if i'm marking it. Sack me. I don't see loads of year 6 teachers lining up. There are positions in my area unfilled for years. Hairdressing teachers teach ks3 maths. Ta's or unqualifieds teach primary.

I bought healthy stuff for my lunches next week today. That I could eat quickly in 15 mins from my flask. And fizzy alcohol which i am having now in my garden before I implode.

I'm currently at mil's house, listening to her ramblings about covid. She doesn't actually understand any of the science, but definitely has opinions on all of it . She's also just told us that dh's step-gran died of covid, in March!!! She didn't tell us!!! Not that we had much to do with the old woman, but it would have been nice to know.

I have a vague recollection that in that hideous week on the run-up to Lockdown back in March, we were told we "had" to provide work for those isolating for suspected cases, but not for those who were "just" scared. Or those who took the week off (2 weeks in some cases) and just didn't contact us at all or answer the phone when we attempted to chase it up.

My understanding is the obligation (which isn't legal AFAIK) is for those isolating due to coronavirus testing, covid illness, or T and T , not for holidays. After al, there is no legal obligation to pay staff. To provide work to every Tom, Dick and Harry when the gov shows no compassion to shielding and vulnerable families seems wrong headed to me.

We do have a legal obligation to provide remote learning. Shit as it is. My SLT have ignored this completely.

In the olden days, when Normal ruled the lands, we used to piss off parents who asked for us to prepare work packs for their kids whilst they took them off on holiday during term time. Our HT would tell them to shove it (or words to that effect).

I’m going to be setting all my assignments and homeworks on Teams as routine so that’s basically my remote learning for self-isolating students covered. I might, if I like them, also email them but I’m not recording lessons or any of that nonsense. They’re welcome to lesson PowerPoints etc though.

Hardly any of the parents who asked for those 'last week before lockdown' packs actually collected them and if they did, they didn't complete the work once they saw how much adult-input it required.

Here any parents asking for remote learning when they are in travel related quarantine have been told to get to fuck. It's always been the way - if you choose take term time off, we're not providing plans or resources for you.

No one is quarantining because of Covid (yet!) but I reckon we'll provide them with something. Most likely just a topic list for Irish/English/Maths as those would be most straightforward.

I’d be tempted to point them in the direction of Oak or White Rose for maths.

Mind you if you do that you’ll get the child who decides to do the entire science unit not just two weeks worth complaining they have already done that.

Just managing to catch up with the thread!
No lunch eaten for last 3 days just doesn't seem any time to sit down and relax for 10mins. Hoping it will calm down over the next week or so once we get used to new timetables and timings of the day. Loving the frittata idea as that's easy to prep on Sunday's whilst sorting dinner out. Greek yogurt with nuts and seeds is also a good one if you have access to a fridge.
Really need to get my meal planning head on again, if it's not planned we tend to eat rubbish.
Youngest DD has school dinner which appears to be of the sandwich variety which is fine anything which means I don't have to think about it is a winner for me. Always eat dinner together in the evening even if DD is just having a sandwich as it's the only time we might sit together all day. Older DD makes her own lunch.
School has been ok this week, I still remember how to teach! Getting used to wearing mask/visor around school but FFS the one way system, that COVID stone will hopefully come off quickly. Have full faith in HT (risk averse provided visors and encouraging mask wearing in communal areas) but some decisions/organisation had been left to DH (and oh boy 'piss up and brewery' comes to mind!
Good attendance but Monday is real first day back so we will see.

It's hard because i would rather they had work than realised their kid would get any so came in when supposed to q.
Same with testing etc.
Anyway bol just really annoyed me. Saying about how its not covid if productive etc. As that is not the rules. Unfortunately i think there was talk of that in march and about snot vs no snot.
Ive reprted 2 on that thread for misinformation they are encouraging others to use common sense that it's a cold. And that they cant possibly test/take time off school or work for every cough!!!!

@RobertsUncle

Interesting born Our lunch has just been reduced from 1 hr to 45 mins. I find it a rush. It helps Covid rotas/ bubbles and is hoped to reduce playground incidents.

Normal lunch break here is 1/2 an hour. By the time you've served lunches, supervised hand washing, wiped the tables x2 it's down to 15-20 minutes. If it's playground duty instead it's longer.