The Twenty-Sixth Republic -Half Term Horror?

[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 and you will receive a detention

motherrunner, sorry to hear you've got to isolate .

@MrsHamlet

Seconded, noble When you close the schools, I'm opening a book-shoe shop-cafe with comfy armchairs.

Oh my god you're me! It has to have cakes and cats

You can be in charge of the cats... I don't like their teeny tiny vicious claws. Granny's cat clawed me as a kid and I've never forgiven him.

mother I’m really surprised that just giving out papers means you have to isolate.

We’ve been directed to spray every table at the end of every lesson, and giving each table a paper towel. They wipe tables down.

It takes less than a minute to go round the whole room, which is why we’re able to do it.

We now have magic spray so we're not wiping at all. Tramping round the whole school means I'm often not in the room before the kids - how can we hand stuff out without handing it out? Chuck it???

Chuck it???

Tempting

I feel so guilty.

Sorry I posted without catching up. Sorry you have to isolate mother but yes it seems strange. Think we've been going on the close for 15 minutes interpretation of things.

I have fond memories of a bookshop over 3 floors with cats and cake or a recurrent dream because I can't remember where or when it was.

I'm drinking beer as a treat. Don't tell my diet thread either! Just watched the last Harry Potter and weeped over snape's loyalty despite having seen it a million times. For some reason after at least a couple of years break ds decided he needed to watch all of them again over the last couple of days and is now onto magical beasts.

I feel so guilty

You shouldn’t. PHE told our school it was:

Under 2m for 15 min or more
Under 1m for a minute

Giving stuff out doesn’t do either of those things.

Will you be remote teaching?

Yes I will.

@SmileEachDay

Chuck it???

Tempting

I do!

Yes I will

Bleurgh. Hope that doesn’t mean too much replannning.

@TheHoneyBadger how's the diet been going over half term? I was going to be so good and do loads of exercise-hasn't quite worked out that way- craving carbs and somehow managed to put 3lb on from beginning to end of day today grr! Blooming peri menopause bloating!

motherunner you shouldn’t feel guilty at all it’s the impossible guidelines we are trying to follow. Sorry your stuck at home for the rest of half term.

I’m more worried about teaching my 2 days of full lessons and holding a parents evening next week with DS isolating. I was so looking forward to this break now I feel like I’ve let everyone down.

Don't feel guilty at all. You've done nothing wrong.

Who has advised you to isolate? Seems to be totally at odds with the advice we've been given. One member of staff spent 3 hours in a room with a positive case, handed stuff out and even looked at work etc and no need to isolate. Luckily they didn't develop it.

The other year H&S swept though our school confiscating and binning cleaning products and banning anything being visible or in cupboards where kids could have any feasible access - inc the washing up liquid from the back of my walk in cupboard in my classroom that the kids don''t go into.

Now there's hand sanitiser, liquid handwash and anti bac spray EVERYWHERE!

@motherrunner you've let no one down. The bloody government have let you down.

The head. She called to say a pupil I teach has tested positive. She then asked if I had been in a metre of her. I said ‘yes’. She then asked if I had been in a metre of her for a minute. I said I wasn’t sure but maybe. She then said that the pupil had flagged me as a member of staff who she had had close contact with.

I said I wasn’t sure but maybe

You’ve done exactly the right thing. It’s a pandemic and the government aren’t letting schools be safe. You’re protecting everyone by answering honestly.

You’ve not let anyone down @motherrunner sorry it’s happening in your holidays. It feels so inconsistent between schools it is totally crazy.

Oh my god you're me! It has to have cakes and cats

@TheHoneyBadger, I visited this place in the Lakes in August and it was just gorgeous!

Kittchen.

Spent an hour having a lovely chat with a friend, with beautiful Misty curled up next to me on the sofa.

Motherrunner, I feel the same. My fear about testing positive is less about getting sick, but putting extra burden on colleagues and having to take time off work - which I know is the wrong way round. I hope you and ds are ok.

I don't stay at the front of the room - I try to, but it's just so difficult. Always have a mask on if I'm circulating. I worry as well that I will be told off/blamed for not sticking at the front.

Thank you for the supportive words all.

I feel so stupid. I have followed ‘the rules’ throughout and I feel like this mistake will tarnish me.

How reliable do you think it is to rely on students to say which staff they were in close contact with? I have pupils with no recall at all of what we did in their last lesson, I can't see why they would remember every teacher who spoke to them etc!
I am going to stay at the front far more this term, I was doing a couple of passes round to help/support but I don't think it is worth the risk now.

Am now wondering if I could face a disciplinary as we had a Covid section added to our working contract which of course I read ...