The Twenty-third Republic - school attendance not great - half term to be renamed circuit break?

[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

Ha! Just heard the Of Mice and Men quote in my head! September always starts with wonderful determination that this year I’ll crack organisation in such a way that everything will be smooth and manageable

@Saucery

We have to get a bit selfish. Not in a “fuck everyone else” way, but in putting our own health needs first, physical and mental. What will happen if we refuse to something? If it’s lose our job then we have to find another way round it. If it’s that we will feel guilty as we’ve always put ourselves out for that thing, or the thing has become untenable, then we need to discount that feeling. There’s no prizes at the end of this. Apart from safeguarding our health as much as possible.

This is sensible and what I'm trying to do.

Thanks neuro. I am hoping to have the weekend to really rest and get over it then go back Monday before I get too behind. I also don’t want ds missing anymore school despite him loving being at home again.

Hope everyone working has a good day.

@Saucery

We have to get a bit selfish. Not in a “fuck everyone else” way, but in putting our own health needs first, physical and mental. What will happen if we refuse to something? If it’s lose our job then we have to find another way round it. If it’s that we will feel guilty as we’ve always put ourselves out for that thing, or the thing has become untenable, then we need to discount that feeling. There’s no prizes at the end of this. Apart from safeguarding our health as much as possible.

I agree. I have been fine with working all hours to deliver on Google Classrooms, then taking on another class to teach face to face whilst running my own class online, now bring in a class packed with children with sickness rippling through them (4 suspected Covid, no tests available). I am not ok to teach in a cold classroom. I have poor circulation- when I get cold my hands and feet are painful and I get terrible chilblains. If that's the requirement then I'll be taking unpaid leave.

A member of our Teaching staff has tested positive and PHE have told the Head that no-one else needs to self-isolate. Not any of students in his form, not any of the classes he has been Teaching, not any of the staff in his department that he has been having meetings with or anyone he shares an office with. Is that normal? I am struggling to think of a single classroom in our school that has sufficient space for a Teacher to teach 2m away from students. I can only conclude that he has been teaching all his classes while stood in the corridor!

@Washimal 😢😩😳

The same happened with our teacher except for the staff member she shared a small office with which annoyed SLT.

They tell them they have a 2 m zone and no one checks.

The app will make things interesting!

Apparently Parents will receive a letter today telling them that a member of school staff has tested positive but no need to worry because we've liaised with PHE and the staff member has had "no close contact with students". If I was a parent and I received that letter, I would assume that this was a member of admin staff who literally has no contact with students. Not that this could potentially be my DC's Form Tutor! It seems disengenuous.

I can see battles over whether students and teachers have to turn the app off in school.....

Is it just a case of heads saying "All the staff maintain 2m at all times" and no one questioning that? Imagine if the government had decided not to bother with Track and Trace "because we've told everyone to social distance at all times"?!

Maybe they got ill on monday so 48h over weekend?

Re chillblains i think that can be warming feet up too quickly from cold so say putting on radiator. Or maybe wearing socks in bed (thats when i got some). As you probably know it can be a covid symptom too.

Have you had thyroid checked?

Honey hope you get a negative.

Brtus map j just think they cant keep up. Would be useful to click on by date to see if it's getting better or worse.. What i think gov should be honestly saying is which cases are known to have spread. A teacher u think on another thread was saying just a couple of people removed after a positive but it had spread so more was then closed, bubble i think. I agree that surveillance report if correct when it's issued may show how many are now outbreaks. (Obviously not accurately due to lack of twsts and not testing contacts)

Also less likely to spread in say london where there may be some immunity.

We have a local school shut completely because they couldn't contain the spread. Even with isolating year group bubbles. There were so many cases, PHE shut the school for 2 weeks as a circuit break.

Staff are still in however, delivering lessons via teams. What a shit life.

www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/nailsea-school-coronavirus-classed-outbreak-4530785

Nailsea school said similar no need for anyone to isolate (for the second case...)

Linked from that story, Keep is this more worrying one
www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristols-biggest-school-confirms-coronavirus-4540538

"An entire year group is self-isolating after a pupil at Bristol's biggest school tested positive for coronavirus, despite not showing any of the main symptoms...... A letter sent to parents on Monday (September 21) said: "The student only had mild tummy upset symptoms followed by “cold” symptoms.

"They did not have any of the more classic symptoms of continuous cough, high fever or lack of taste or smell.

"Thankfully they took our advice to stay off school and get a test. We are very grateful to them for doing this as this has reduced the risk of ongoing transmission."

I got an NHS letter from DC's school yesterday reminding us only to get a test if they show one of the three main symptoms. That story above demonstrates the problem with this.

Yes I pointed the tummy symptoms out to my form class earlier in the week but they can't actually be tested on that basis.

Hope your test comes back negative honey and everyone else has some rest and respite over the weekend. I have come home from school having completely lost my voice. Hope it is a common or garden bug, but it feels really scratchy.

We have been told to hand in seating plans. At first I thought it was good because it would help tracking. But then I realised my head would just tell PHE that i'm 2m away all the time because- seating plan! It's untrue and crazy but it's what will happen. Apparently we won't shut my bubble if i'm ill because the seating plan says no. Just like it's fine to have the kid that couldn't get a test within 5 days back in because he's better.

I find myself praying for an outbreak because it's the only thing that will stop SLT being in denial.

I should add that I am at home now on my hard won at home ppa time eating supernoodles with cheese on watching netflix and it is manifestly the healthiest thing I have done all week.

Yeah locally maybe related to that someone on fb said someone in their family tested positive with no symptoms (kids in a central bristol school).
So our LA doing badly could be being imported from bristol. (Or going the other way).
Bristol makes no sense. They did test the vax there though.
They havent really yet had more schools affected than N somerset. But then d&c still despite the tourists isnt doing very badly.

@phlebasconsidered

I should add that I am at home now on my hard won at home ppa time eating supernoodles with cheese on watching netflix and it is manifestly the healthiest thing I have done all week.

Enjoy. Ds made me dinner last night. His signature dish of instant noodles

Food of kings I’m told

@Washimal - i wonder if your school have applied the 'no closer than 1 metre and no longer than 15 minutes' rule which ours have applied to us LSA's ? All bar one teacher I have worked with this week has been around the classroom, checking work, sticking papers in etc. But it would not have taken them 15 minutes. I on the other hand, have practically had to sit on one student to help them stand any chance of getting the work done. Fortunately I cannot stay still for long so I have been utilising a small whiteboard to summarise on rather than student looking at masses of information on a PowerPoint and then wandering around the class myself.

I have a classic sore throat at the moment, likely as a result of my own children sharing their germs but with the amount of sniffles and sore throats complained about last period, it could just as easily have been from any of the students.

Beyond exhausted today.

Part teething two year old (last ones! Whoop!) and partly sheer emotional exhaustion from things at work. And I'm only part time!

So many staff are going through tough times, as are so many children. It's so sad.

Cases are toppling schools here; because of how many staff also have children who would need looking after I can see many places struggling by half term.

This is appalling too: A school in County Durham has closed for two weeks after “multiple” cases of coronavirus left staff “really ill.”

Cake and gin and best wishes for a nice weekend for all.

I had two 8yr old boys right up close and blowing in each other's faces today! FFS!

By the way, back in the good old days of lockdown, when people were phoning kids/parents at home, were you expected to use your own mobiles for this? And what are the reasons for and against?

@CallmeAngelina
We used our own but blocked our numbers. Disadvantage- parents wouldn't pick up an unknown number so had a v low hit rate (time consuming). What was the alternative? I suppose I could've gone in to school to use the phone there.

Yes, same as RobertsUncle.

On the same theme it seems we have to start zooming self isolating classes... If I do it from home, is it acceptable to use my own laptop, or should I insist on a (non existent) school laptop?
Also, please please does anyone have any top tips for teaching via zoom?! As it can't be locked down (I think) as much as teams.
I have no idea why we aren't continuing with teams...