The Twenty Fourth Republic - conditions not great and are teachers becoming modern day lepers?

[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 yo

It's definitely not fair to ask teachers whether they should isolate or not. It should be a blanket rule that if a child in your class is a confirmed case you isolate

Totally agree MrsAwesomeD what happens if we make the wrong judgement call. And infect a load of kids in our class, they then give it to some vulnerable family members.

I’m not remotely comfortable with this.

It's appalling isn't it? In what other job or setting do you choose if you isolate?

Because it's not about you as an individual or even your classes, isolating is for the good of the whole of the community!

I'm not comfortable with it at all. I don't want to catch it, I'm CV (diabetic with poor control, apparently adds 20 years to my covid age!). I have a relatively high chance of complications.

But my BIGGEST fear is that I catch it and pass it on to someone more vulnerable than me. If I passed it on to my dad he would probably die, so I'm not seeing my dad for the foreseeable future. I know about my dad and his health issues though. I don't know about the health issues in every pupil's family. Which ones are going home to adults with serious health conditions. If a teacher makes the wrong choice about isolating and passes it to a pupil who passes it to their vulnerable family member it's an awful consequence. That shouldn't be on the shoulders of individuals. It's too big a burden.

A Year 13 has tested positive in my school today. That’s three separate cases in different year groups, since the start of term. They are saying DofE/PHE (whoever it is these days-it keeps changing!) have said that no staff need to isolate and the relevant pupils have been informed (included the Year 13’s girlfriend who also goes to my school I shouldn’t wonder!)
I teach the girlfriend... I’m not feeling on edge tonight, oh no!

@Augustbreeze

Because it's not about you as an individual or even your classes, isolating is for the good of the whole of the community!

This.

No one else has to make a judgement call like that. If you go to a restaurant and T&T contact you, you don’t get to say weelllll, I wasn’t THAT close to the next table, really.
Our dc aren’t being given an option to stay in school and see if they develop symptoms or not. DS says he wasn’t within 2 feet of the last case he is now isolating because of, but I don’t expect it to be his call. It should not be up to individual staff members, that’s unfair to everyone.

One of my y13 is self isolating because her boyfriend who goes to another school has tested positive. Just the 17 staff off today.

Think im heading for menopause only just early 40s though so seems too soon.

I was fully into menopause at 42 (snuck in a child at almost 41), haven't had a period now in 3 years I think. I'm 46. I'm also on HRT.

So sturgeon has said no to any school closures even partial. Since Scotland have been more strict than us that means we'll be soldiering on too right? Feels like some wierd parallel universe where covid doesn't exist in school right now. Apart from the continued coughing and spluttering, and absence ofc.

I really thought we were closing, just for a couple of weeks. We've been being asked to sort online stuff out etc.

@CountDuckulasKetchup

So sturgeon has said no to any school closures even partial. Since Scotland have been more strict than us that means we'll be soldiering on too right? Feels like some wierd parallel universe where covid doesn't exist in school right now. Apart from the continued coughing and spluttering, and absence ofc.

But as I keep reading on here the gains are more than worth it.

They just don't get it unless they work in a school.

Yes Riga, ventured into the health board to find someone saying adults should be glad to sacrifice everything for the sake of the kids. If that sacrifice is my vulnerable spouse then no. Not when we could spend some money and make it safer.

Our sixth case in school now. And pupils and staff still dont wear masks around school. I've just got back one class after 22 were off isolating due to a positive case and now I've lost half of another class.

Confirmed case at ours. ‘Of course staff won’t need to isolate as they keep distance’ was said. Meaning that’s our official line don’t question it. 🙄

No one in our school is really trying to keep away from the children, it's impossible. Primary though. Literally holding hands, sitting next to at tables, sitting on the carpet with them. If we didn't do that, we'd not be able to teach them frankly. We definitely wouldn't be able to keep a lid on behaviour.

adults should be glad to sacrifice everything for the sake of the kids

I'm not sacrificing 'everything' for the sake of some little scrote who is destined for a life time of benefits. Soz.

That was not PC, I do apologise. I spent half an hour this morning trying to convince an 8 year old in from behind the bins. He's wrecking the education of 24 other children, I've gone off him. Didn't help that his nan and mum were standing on the corner laughing at the situation. Fuckers.

@ohthegoats I know. Told a class today that we're moaning about the windows open that I'm not prepared to put my safety at risk, Sox.(Had told them they could put coats on).

Were
Soz

@ohthegoats

No one in our school is really trying to keep away from the children, it's impossible. Primary though. Literally holding hands, sitting next to at tables, sitting on the carpet with them. If we didn't do that, we'd not be able to teach them frankly. We definitely wouldn't be able to keep a lid on behaviour.

Were similar and it's worse for LSAs who are 1:1. I'm a class LSA but cant stay 2m away- there isnt the space in the classroom.

They (government) are so angry about schools closing last time they won't let it happen this time, to the bitter end we will be left in these schools, colleagues getting ill and some dying. They are playing a revenge game on us for all the DfE fuck ups they were in charge of. I just wish we could all walk out. What can we do?!

Unions are somewhat quiet aren't they - apart from Geoff Barton/ ASCL.

I just don't know what we can do. The cover situation at ours is horrific at the moment (although some staff are escaping for no good reason) but we've still got all the kids. Self isolators are doing input over teams but that means we still need to cover them. People are on their knees.

@Augustbreeze

@Augustbreeze exactly

Anyone else feel like we are doing tag team/whack a mole on all these bloody school threads where you get idiots saying 'well in my DC's school there hasn't been one case'etc etc?! 😤