The Twenty-second Republic - the DfE have no idea, Gav MIA, bubbles in and out

[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

At the start of term when the principal gave his talk to us, he mentioned being prepared to switch to remote/part-time learning, “in case there’s another lockdown, or, you know, a different pandemic”. I don’t have the time to worry about a new pandemic thanks very much!

Can nellodee tell us how many schools will have cases by end oct.
If its 3% now?

@Saucery please forgive me for saying this but... have you got too much time on your hands today?!!! None of us need to be musing about
"The pandemic that would be really scary would be ‘Ebeasles’ - the death rate of Ebola with the contagiousness of measles"

😝
As you go on to say, let's just deal with this one atm!

Masks are definitely definitely useful.

@Augustbreeze ‘MD’ in Private Eye came up with that one! I found it strangely comforting that things weren’t quite that bad Plus the word ‘ebeasles’ really makes me laugh.
I did always think there were some Scientific Grown Ups who would step in and sort out a pandemic in the early stages. More fool me. Turns out there isn’t

I always thought there would be proper scientific grown ups to take charge in this sort of emergency too saucery. Unfortunately it seems as if the proper scientific grownups aren't the people our government chooses to listen to 😢

I'm having an emotional day today, as our second guinea pig had to be put to sleep. We had an appointment for that to happen on Monday, but she was so poorly today that we've paid emergency vet prices so she didn't have to suffer til Monday evening 😢 Poor dd2 is heartbroken, and so am I tbh. No school work has been done today.

I've spent 3 hours moving my child into the box room, from her perfectly decent bedroom. She's been taking herself into the box room every night to sleep, and has actually given us 4 nights in a row without interruption, so figured we'd put the effort in. It's lovely and cosy, won't mind sleeping in there myself when I get kicked out of my own bed at 5am. Also no school work happening - none all weekend I hope.

MD in Private Eye has been my go-to voice of reason throughout.

Ehhh, poor little piggy Doesn’t matter how small they are, they are part of the warp and weft of your household, aren’t they.

Yes they are saucery. She's been with us for 4.5 years, along with her sister who died 3 weeks ago 😢. We knew this one was ill, so it wasn't a surprise like the other one, but it's still sad. And even sadder that we didn't make the decision a few days ago and book her in during normal surgery opening times rather than having to have it done as an emergency.

@Keepdistance

Can nellodee tell us how many schools will have cases by end oct. If its 3% now?

I'd be interested in making a prediction, but right now, I have had an afternoon glass of wine with a friend whilst I'm still allowed. Well... if I am allowed... I AM a teacher, so should probably just be marking books in a coal cellar.

My prediction is......All Of Them. (I expect my invitation to appear on More Or Less to be imminent).

I predict 95%+ but there might be some tiny rural schools that manage to avoid any cases coming into their little communities.

After seeing this map, certainly all the white areas before half term:

God the difference between England and Scotland and Northern Ireland is really obvious isn’t it?

Stocking up has started in supermarkets again.
Sainsbury's had little pasta, flour or tinned tomatoes. Checkout lady said people have been buying more, fearing another lockdown.

Great 🙄

I know a really good online supplier of flour if anyone needs one, I can PM it if you like. I’ve carried on buying from there even when the shops restocked.

[quote Saucery]@Augustbreeze ‘MD’ in Private Eye came up with that one! I found it strangely comforting that things weren’t quite that bad Plus the word ‘ebeasles’ really makes me laugh.
I did always think there were some Scientific Grown Ups who would step in and sort out a pandemic in the early stages. More fool me. Turns out there isn’t [/quote]
I hear you. Fucking scary that you find yourself thinking you could do a better job yourself. As an English Lit graduate.

Yep. Who knew reading Station Eleven and The Girl With All The Gifts would put you at an analytical advantage in these weird times?
Even Professor Frink from The Simpsons could do a better job tbh.

I bought washing powder, fabric conditioner, a pack of toilet roll, a few tins of beans and a big pack of eggs in anticipation today. I also have my supermarket slots booked for the next month - fucked if I'm doing the shopping at the weekend until I really have to. I also enjoyed a couple of hours on a beer garden with my DSM.

Here we go!

We have tins and packets.left from a few purchases when everyone was stocking up last time. Inc a bag of flour and a large pack of loo rolls that we stashed in the lift so they didn't get used.

I spent a couple of hours last night sorting home learning. I cannot just plan tonteaxh my in school class with the same materials as it's not the best use of their time in person. So it does need more time putting into it.

(Whispers.... my tlr has me in charge of leading the shit show that is blended learning!)

Blended learning is a shit show. SLT 'just upload a ppt'. Not useful if you don't use them. I'm using white rose and Corbett maths. Might throw in a bit of oak if needed later on.

I'd rather all online or all in school. Blended is creating so much extra workload. Even adding an oak link to teams takes 30 mins a day for all my classes.

I really hope you actually have a lift, DrM

I don't use PPT either except for A Level Lang. Our SLT combined teach fewer lessons than an NQT so their view on what good blended learning looks like isn't Really chiming with real life for the rest of us.

It's felt like the plague in my house since we all went back to school, so I've stocked up on vitamins. Boots are doing 3 for 2 at the moment. I'm taking a fizzy vitamin C tablet every morning, to remind myself to drink a glass of water.

Sorry to hear about your piggy, Awesome. They truly are part of our families x.

Our SLT sound similar. (apart from the two women who aren't allowed an opinion but are allowed a timetable).

We've been told to add each lesson as an assignment on teams. Poor y10 kids had over 45 assignments by the end of the week! Some of which they didn't need to do.

That's what they want us to do too, Herc - great news for autistic kids in school to have that to add to their stress.
SLT who presented on how to use teams at the start of term opened with "I didn't have any classes in lockdown so I don't really know...". I had to work really hard not to put my head in my hands at that point.

Similar story. SLT member had one y11 class and one y13 class. I've been back from mat leave since Sept and know more about teams than him.
Added to which we have to acknowledge every piece of work on teams, and give feedback on some. Feedback on teams is a disaster for maths. They need it modelling in front of them in a lesson.