The Twenty-Seventh Republic - rules or guidelines - Pandemic or Pirates of the Caribbean

[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

Poor old Rita on the bbc..

Thought Kev did very well

How rude!

Have sent ds to the co-op with a tenner and strict instructions to phone me and talk me through what ice cream they have. I'm hoping for halo or coops own low cal ice cream to be available given I'm supposed to be losing weight. We are having ice cream and a movie night and we are being kept waiting by the bloody government.

Have explained to ds that we are likely going into lockdown at which point he cheered until I explained that it wouldn't include schools. He then quick cycled through disbelief, shock, horror and outrage I know just how he feels.

BBC run out of filler, Sean Connery back on!

Do you know what's really going to piss me off???

Being in work (primary) and having the usual bollocks, staff meetings (on Teams, obv), email directives, pressure for data & stats, SATS bollocks (parent complaints🙄), etc, etc. as if everything is normal.

With no acknowledgement that we're at risk every. Bloody.day. Just business as usual 

I'm getting to the point where I just don't care anymore. I don't care when I get a stupid email about some pointless task. My eyerolling game is very strong atm.

Obviously, I care very much about the children but having to be chipper and chirpy like everything is normal is getting harder & harder. I'm just waiting to get ill frankly.

How you are doing this in secondary, I don't know. Thank you. Gin and 💐💐💐 to you all.

And an extra big congratulations to you @marplemead. Lovely news!!

Bit concerned that the NEU are talking us into a corner of 100% full live lessons.

@Piggywaspushed

Bit concerned that the NEU are talking us into a corner of 100% full live lessons.

Naswat are going for the 50 50 approach it seems.

I also keep (very, very slightly) wondering if something big is happening, like Johnson's resignation...

How have you heard anything from NAS?

theluckiest

I suspect that it changes from school to school but our secondary is doing things in exactly the way that your primary is.

I haven't.

Only what was posted ok Facebook will see if I can attach it.

@Piggywaspushed

Given what the NEU have been like its probably so they can concede and move to the middle road.

@FrippEnos

theluckiest

I suspect that it changes from school to school but our secondary is doing things in exactly the way that your primary is.

Ah. The 'stick-fingers-in-ears-and-go-lalala' approach Fripp?

Tier 3 & potential National Lockdown 31st October 2020

Dear NASUWT members,

Many of us have been in Tier 3 for the last week to 10 days and we wake up this morning to hear that there is the potential for a National Lockdown but not for schools, colleges or universities.

We’ve already got many pending posts and direct messages on this topic this morning along the lines of - why would schools stay open in a national lockdown & what advice is there for those that are most vulnerable?

We know schools can take additional measures to make their workplaces even more COVID Secure such as:

(1) Requiring ALL children (primary included) to wear face masks in classrooms. We have examples of a number of secondary schools in the NW who have done this since the start of September and they are reporting none or very small number of children and staff who have tested positive.
(2) Public Health England have been clear - proper ventilation is key - yet we hear of schools where windows are being closed during lesson times - this is not acceptable.
(3) The government have the powers to authorise a rota system in schools (Secondary only in their guidance) that would see 50% of children in school and 50% working remotely from home. We continue to press them on this but they haven’t budge yet.
(4) As employees in our own schools we all have a role to play in ensuring our schools are as COVID secure as they can be. That means:

• Reporting concerns about health and safety to school management
• Following all aspects of the school risk assessment and where necessary remind other staff to do so
• Follow the guidance around self isolation if informed to do so by Track & Trace or any notification from the NHS APP to self isolated. Reports suggested that up to 90% of those informed across the UK to self isolate don’t follow the exacting requirements when asked to do so
• When not in school all of us have a responsibility to follow the government’s advice and use common sense - this requires everyone in our communities to do so also
• All members who have previously been identified as extremely clinically vulnerable, vulnerable, a member of the BAME community or is pregnant should be again requesting from their employer the ability to work from home (if they are not already doing so) and for their individual risk assessments to be updated.

The National Executive members from all over the UK are meeting for our monthly National Executive Council on Friday 6th November where these matters will be fully discussed.

Please remember though that 6 weeks ago the government’s own scientific advisors recommended a national lockdown and they were ignored. We’ve seen Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales take much more decisive action. In Scotland, for example, its was reported yesterday that from next week all secondary age children will be required to wear masks in classrooms as well as around school.

We will continue to apply pressure at a national level and provide additional advice and guidance to members. Please raise your concerns in writing with your local councillors and local MPs.

School leaders and governors have been put in extraordinarily difficult positions which sees most of their working day crisis managing school based Trace and Track COVID issues.

You all have your part to play. We saw a huge increase in workplace reps, H&S reps or workplace contact at the start of the first wave. They are the eyes and ears of the NASUWT, if your schools hasn’t got a workplace rep, H&S rep or even a workplace contact then please consider stepping forward. Please do not hesitate to contact your local branch for advice or support. Also please refer to our National COVID Hub which is being regularly updated.

I know how incredibly busy you all are in your schools - have you got the capacity to organise and attend a school based NASUWT members mtg to discuss your concerns as group of employees with a view to feeding back to the SLT? All it takes is one member to make the suggestion and get the ball rolling.

Damien McNulty NW NASUWT

Being in work (primary) and having the usual bollocks, staff meetings (on Teams, obv), email directives, pressure for data & stats, SATS bollocks (parent complaints🙄), etc, etc. as if everything is normal

Yep-this is what I’m thinking. Lesson observations, pupil progress, triangulation, data drops-carry on as normal. Clinically extremely vulnerable? Chop chop, where’s your data?

Reminds me of the Carry On team eating their dinner and laughing whilst the building they’re in is being destroyed in Carry on up the Khyber.

Hang on .. we aren't to meet outside with more than one person from outside our household. Oh well. Can't go to work then.

• Reporting concerns about health and safety to school management Following all aspects of the school risk assessment and where necessary remind other staff to do so

Well, I tried all that NAS. Nothing. Changed.

I’m supposed to hand in a plan of how the department is going to work if schools move to Tier 2/3/4 - I’m feeling like I’m going to refuse to write it if the whole country apart from schools are going into lockdown and we’re still working at Tier 1 in schools.

This is beyond belief. Utter contempt for his country. Poor Reeta she is doing brilliantly... Kev will be on soon again...

He’s deffo waiting for the ball to go out in the rugby....

Meanwhile the Beeb gives a platform to Sunetra Gupta while we wait. The zoologist who wants to pursue herd immunity.

She is being very political though so Beeb better watch out!!

Can imagine the swearing that Reeta will do once the cameras are off....

NEU lobbing everyone under the bus re live lessons.

Mark Enser and Co campaigning hard on twitter against this.

Oh now bloody Anne Longfield tweet full screen.

Anne what you should be calling for is FUNDING : and not just of schools. And SPEAKING to schools about how to keep those children in school SAFELY.

You just want us to do every jo the police, the care sector, social care and MH services no longer do.