The Twenty-ninth Republic - lockdown light continues & good news for Welsh students

[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 staffroom password just in case it attracts the wrong sort

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 booze is stashed - Thirsty Tuesdays, Fizz Fridays now in operation.

If you come with a stick to goad us then that is not allowed in the staffroom and you will receive a detention

Anyone can see form the photo of the two together that the cabinet is covering Boris' backside. He is clearly incapable of wearing a mask indoors or SD. As is his fellow Tory MP who is 'concerned' about his shielding wife, so we hear.

45 minutes?
Is that a typo?

Feeling a bit pathetic as I came in this morning to find something not working and had a bit of a cry
I would never normally do this. I think we are all just a bit over wrought just now

Oh possums, hope your day improves. Its the straw that broke the camel's back. Increasingly I'm finding that one thing that goes wrong with printer or photocopier is now spiralling into a day of everything going wrong (although it's really just me). We're all just so tired.

@Medra

The immunologist on Radio 4 has just said if his child was in a classroom with a positive case he’d want the whole room isolating. Hmm...

It’s never made sense to me that hasn’t been the case from a Public health point of view.

Well it does make sense, but from a politicial point of view. It’s an aerosol transmitted virus.

This short term thinking is starting to really frustrate me. If we can’t grasp that a bit of short term pain leads to benefits in the long term then we’re going to end up in a cycle of lock down & release.

I am so cross this morning about this whole Boris self isolating thing.

We are made to feel like we’ve broken the law if we get closer than 2m from anyone and it’s our own stupid careless fault.

If BJ can’t manage it in a large room with one other person in a meeting and that’s just fine-why are we being subjected to so much blame and hostility?!

The German chancellor Angela Merkel will push for tougher curbs, including masks in all schools, smaller class sizes and drastic limits on contacts, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
Outside work or school, contact between people should also be “restricted to those from another fixed household,” according to a proposal by Merkel’s office that is due to be put to regional leaders of Germany’s 16 states on Monday.

It is quite clear that unless some drastic action is taken in schools, this virus will never be under proper control.

100% student attendance in every one of my classes today, it seems.

So, Germany and France are both moving on the school issue....

@monkeytennis97

So, Germany and France are both moving on the school issue....

What are France saying?

Am so fed up this morning!!

I thought lycees were going to blended learning...

Well, this is quite good fun!

The first paragraph just looks like my normal typing!

www.theguardian.com/science/2020/nov/16/can-you-solve-it-the-srcmalbed-nmebur-plzuze

I think I’ve worked that out - quite a cute little puzzle. And it might be years of being an English teacher but it took me a couple of glances even to notice that the spelling was all wrong! My minds just autocorrects garbage to something approaching real words.

So, we now have a full department of staff self-isolating, along with a number of classes, and quite a lot of support staff off as well. The worrying thing is the numbers of TAs - as a college obviously it isn’t a behaviour issue that they’re off but the whole student support staff are off bar one, and that has real implications for our vulnerable/weaker students who rely on face to face support.

First case here... surprised it's taken as long as this. Know which year group but not which pupil.. is this usual procedure?

Yeah, normal I would say. At least, that's how it was for us and we were told in no uncertain terms that we were not to discuss it anywhere with anyone, particularly on social media (obviously).
Unfortunately, that instruction came too late for some members of staff.

@CallmeAngelina thanks :)

... although I did discover which child it was but didn't tell anyone.

We're not told who. Although I know because I'm nosy!

Yes I heard the immunologist on R4 this morning and MHancock...
Wondering how long it will take journalists to pick up on this.

Hi all,

Had to name change. Been with you since the start.

Now have both children self isolating at home.

Argh!

Popping in to say re. BoJo - he has to self isolation because he spent more than 15minutes near someone with Covid. Turns out that in the real world which schools are deffo not part of that’s the rule, even if the space is well ventilated (which it is unlikely to be - Downing Street doesn’t legally have to meet the same guidelines as everyone else as it’s a government building).

None of which I shall be telling my colleague, who has been told that they don’t need to SI despite a positive child in her front row.

Oh ffs. Going to blame my typo on the inner rage created by my useless HoD today.

he has to self isolate

Numbers home schooling have increased by 200% (in a year, I think). There is no reliable way of tracking this however as schools are not obliged to inform the LA when a parent withdraws a child. I didn't know that!

Well, mock season is nearly upon us but we can't get the invigilators. Guess what? We'll have to do it ourselves. It'll be interesting trying to SD from 250 on one room!