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

Oh god, I hadn’t thought about dashing across site in the rain.

Kids dropping like flies at ours. Have over 25% of my Y7 class missing today. However also kids who are isolating and waiting test results also being sent in without having received negative results but my school being great and sending home.

Teachers in other schools now testing positive but those off in ours can’t even access tests so we have no idea...

Feels like March in a way because we know something will change but no idea what or how.... I am so angry at the handling of this right now by the gov.

@noblegiraffe

Oh god, I hadn’t thought about dashing across site in the rain.

Me either and now I’m imagining it vividly.

We have too many kids at our school to check if the kids we sent home for coughing come back in/have a negative test etc. One attendance officer oversees 400 children... attendance is only part of their role.

@noblegiraffe

Oh god, I hadn’t thought about dashing across site in the rain.

Is the flip side we won’t end up with kids coming in soaking wet and taking ages to get ready when all their books and clothes are drenched?!?

Piggy we’re being reminded to read out the names of kids on registers even if they’re coded as out precisely so we pick up kids being in who are meant to be isolating. We’ve had cases of this already.

@Piggywaspushed

We have too many kids at our school to check if the kids we sent home for coughing come back in/have a negative test etc. One attendance officer oversees 400 children... attendance is only part of their role.

Yeah we have one attendance officer for our 1200! However everyone that has been sent home has been coded X for two weeks. Everyone that calls in il for their child saying isolating with symptoms also gets same. They either stay off or send confirmation of negative result. We all check on registers and any Xs get sent out and collected. Have to say my school have been pretty amazing - I mean obvs we’re all in classrooms with no masks and few windows, but in terms of following the guidance and really keeping year groups apart and trying to keep us as safe as they can they’ve really tried.

Hmmm... we aren't that organised. they can easily sneak back in.
I was the only member of staff who realised a girl was in today who was coded ill . This was period 4!!

Apparently we had one X registered child attending several lessons before someone clocked that they were in school. Possibly because we are a very large school, and we won't have learned all our classes yet.
So now we check!

We do registers every lesson - you'd think they would say something if their name hasn't been called, or the teacher has said eg "John, off 'ill"...

Due to our current system our registers can be 10 - 15 minutes late.
and they still ping you after 5 minutes

On the issue of rain - parents waiting around between staggered drop offs at primary school is going to become pretty miserable. Children will be coming in soaking wet.

Weirdly I find that the Indian/Pakistani children in our school get sent in wearing about 5 layers of under garments for the cold, but nothing to deal with rain. I get that monsoon rain is a different beast, and it's usually hot, but it's like only half the message has been received.

We've got inset next Tuesday - all staff together in the hall. 70+ I should bring that up at SLT right?

I confess I had to look up exegesis!
But, bless her, she's probably over-compensating for not knowing how redundancy works.

If you're using SIMS, then there is a "code" icon at the top of the screen which tells you what they mean. The list is much longer than it used to be!

From a France based poster on data thread:

contacts in French primary schools now longer isolated after a positive case. No one . Not even teachers.No contact tracing. Nothing happens for the group : just individual cases, until they get to 3

contacts in French primary schools now longer isolated after a positive case. No one . Not even teachers.No contact tracing. Nothing happens for the group : just individual cases, until they get to 3

Knew that would happen here. It's just too disruptive.

Yes goats definitely bring that up.

I had a very frustrating conversation with a colleague today, where she said it was all bollocks and she wouldn't be isolating her family for just a cough. I got rather cross with her, because due to 2 health conditions I am at significantly more risk than she is. According to the covid age calculator I have the same risk as a 61 year old man ☹️. She's the same one that keeps closing my windows when she's in my classroom.

💐 For everyone who is feeling ill, isolating or dealing with ill children.

We've had the shingles and scarlet fever alert emails too. Both have confirmed cases in our school.

I’m now obediently calling the names of children who are marked as ill or isolating and pausing.

Ds got 2 warnings in one lesson for slouching on his desk today because he was feeling rotten. I had to deal with parent emails complaining that their child had had a warning or had been marked late today.

There’s a fucking pandemic and I’m running round trying to teach your kids in trying circumstances but you want me to email you to justify why I gave your child a warning they more than deserved or gave them a late mark for being markedly late to a lesson after break? Really?

Also I suddenly am dealing with loads of emails from kids about their homework etc. This is new to me and presumably due to the online learning in lockdown and communications then. I have too many emails as it is without excuses about homework from year 7s who don’t even include their class as if I’m meant to know when I teach 4 classes of year 7 and don’t know them yet.

Sorry. Moaning myrtle here

@Piggywaspushed

From a France based poster on data thread:

contacts in French primary schools now longer isolated after a positive case. No one . Not even teachers.No contact tracing. Nothing happens for the group : just individual cases, until they get to 3

Blimey-that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!

No sign of any extra cleaning being done today in areas used by known case...

@HoneyBadger, I've had two complaints (or whinges really) because their children didn't do very well in their spelling tests. Not sure how this is my fault.

We are, however, as a country getting around sending home bubble contacts of positive cases by not testing the kids. Can't send anyone home if no one tests positive, right?

@Piggywaspushed

No sign of any extra cleaning being done today in areas used by known case...

Schools are a bloody joke. Don't want to say too much as potentially outing but had an email today which was basically patting me on the head like 'there there be a good girl, you don't know what your talking about'(re COVID procedures) written by an SLT who contradicted themself in the next sentence.... grrr!!!!

*you're

It has been suggested that we take the time to 'map' oak academy lessons onto our med term plans and upload so that any staff member can set work in our absence.
Watched one for the first time.....
Also when the fuck am I supposed to have time to do that?