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

You could always screen share it via teams or zoom and be in different places?

Wow @cantkeepawayforever, are you working in quite a deprived area, or not? I was only surmising!

Do you think anyone in government or PHE, surely, knows how parents think and act??

I would imagine they will have protective software to prevent this...

Besides which, have now discovered it is on a day 'off' we have been given at school.

Not that keen to attend CPD...

Nope. Look at how well the DfE know how kids think and act and that is literally their job.

@Piggywaspushed

I would imagine they will have protective software to prevent this...

Besides which, have now discovered it is on a day 'off' we have been given at school.

Not that keen to attend CPD...

Don't blame you

I think you're right August.

Dh mentioned he had a tickle in his chest and I said we need a test as it's v unusual for him with colds.

He's completely back tracked and pointed out he's not actually coughed yet (fine) but won't entertain the idea of perhaps ruling it out. I've pointed out a test today and a negative OR positive through by tomorrow would be better than delaying till doing a test tomorrow, as, yes, I'm thinking about Monday and yes also the hol we've booked in two weeks if we end up quarantining.

Obviously if one of us catch it from him or he's really ill we aren't going anywhere! (It's a local cottage, at the mo we can go under the rules !.)

Utterly selfish motivations...

(I really don't think he's even a bit ill; he's pointed out the radiators do this to him. But I'm observing my thought processes!)

Baring behaviour and psychology in mind, we may end up with a full lockdown situation by Xmas to be honest. The guardian reported 3/4's of people who test positive aren't SI.

Ps I think our hol at half term will be disallowed under the new rules on Monday

We are all doomed. There is a thread discussing whether kids from a popped bubble have to stay home or not. Quite a few saying its not the law. Some saying visitors are OK.

This will be an issue around half term...

Oh blimey Piggy.

Minor rant about shit colleagues this week. For non corona reasons I'm the only female in the dept (7 men) right now. It's been a hard week as I unintentionally became "mother" to them all. Need to consciously avoid this happening this week.

Yes and to the people (inc the Gateshead mayor I think) saying why can't the already restricted areas have long er to see if the current rules are having an effect?

• we can't wait, look at ICU stats

• can we ensure that even the majority of the local population is actually following the rule of 6, isolation guidance, and local restrictions? Er, not on yr nelly

• the current guidance (national/local) was never going to be enough anyway, going into autumn and winter!

@Augustbreeze

Wow *@cantkeepawayforever*, are you working in quite a deprived area, or not? I was only surmising!

Not at all. Affluent suburb of affluent town. Highly entitled parents with an attitude of 'My job is important, you are only a teacher. It is more important that I can carry on working than for you to remain healthy AS LONG AS you continue to provide childcare for my little darling every day'.

To be fair, head was concerned about livelihood of a specific family that is an outlier within the general cohort.

www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine.html

Just reading what cdc say. Because of the other thread about masks in your house etc but came across the rules for quarantining if someone in your house has covid and you cant stay away from them. Basically it says you do the persons 10d then they are released then another 14 for those who had contact in the house. So they would be doing 24d...
Which makes a lot of sense as that person is contagious up to day 10. Makes you wonder how often people catch it on someone elses day 10 if they have been exposed all that time already.

But i think it's particularly relevant for the students isolating in halls because they are being exposed i assume to the covid positive people in there and some others who become positive as well its is unlikely that they would all stop being contagious within 14d.

Thanks August will take a look

To be honest, I dread our school closing as dv increased a lot during lockdown for our kids. But it may reach a point where staying open is unviable and it's certainly risking many staff's health and that of their families.'

I don't feel we can tell if rules are working in Newcastle/ Gateshead as the universities are generating so many cases which will eventually lead to community spread. And I'm not sure what more they can do - some bars have announced closure as the no mingling rule is actually v damaging. Though it would minimise students and younger people flouting rules spreading further.

I do like the BMJ ideas.

If we have to effectively have a lockdown bar schools open, no going anywhere, so be it, but I'm not sure it's the answer.

I know of a lot of holiday clubs going to be opening during half term which will swap a few germs...

Oh crikey holiday clubs, I forget about them! Lovely. But essential for some I know.

Our essential problems are how to protect vulnerable children(at least, the ones we know about) and how parents can work, if schools close.

Has anyone got any bright ideas??

@Augustbreeze - I assume schools would be open in some form for these students as they were before, or hub schools for those where whole schools do have to close - although I imagine transport might be an issue in rural schools.

I can't understand why working parents haven't been considered in the government's financial support packages. This is the only reason why we can't go to blended learning and greater safety for teachers. Instead we have swathes of people paid for not working at all, who could be temping to cover parents who need someone at home to support blended learning.

I know that's simplistic and probably quite stupid. I am done in.

Our plan has us remaining open for vulnerable students even if everything is remote. It also has all staff in, which I think is ludicrous.

We have all staff in too.

Mainly because we will then be able to access KW childcare and live teach remote lessons.

Yes I was assuming open for KW (now known as critical workers and perhaps may be defined more tightly?) and vulnerable children.

But it's how to persuade, or make, some parents of vulnerable (not medically vulnerable) children to send them in. That's the real issue isn't it?

I assume that's the reason here too.

Our plan doesn't even contemplate school closure! I imagined that was because officially it couldn't. Other people's do then?

I mean I think SLT will have a plan, just not a 'published to all staff' one.

My school is saying live lessons if kids aren't in. Whether that's a bubble or whole school. Wondering how we can staff keyworker school if we're all teaching our normal timetable.

Support staff with KW children?