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

Many will be offered rapid result tests

This is to students wanting to go home for Christmas - in a BBC article with a photo of 3 students NOT wearing masks on public transport.

Anyway... I wonder if these tests will be for the unsymptomatic? And if so, and they are considered needed for a safe Christmas, why aren't secondary pupils getting that option?

And indeed why aren't healthcare, education, supermarket workers getting the same privileges?

Teachers will be leaving schools on 18th December, without time to keep themselves to themselves before 25th, and therefore won't be safe for Christmas with older relatives.

Of course it's not just for secondary @Bluewavescrashing it is a mixture of all

@monkeytennis97

Ok I've not had a drink (headache) but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone here. This is such a great space for us all to let off steam. I feel like I know many of you and have pictured what you look like. You have all been so lovely about my DS. In real life the pandemic/teaching in it has caused ructions between myself and very close relatives which were never there before and has damaged sadly our relationships sadly but to get the support on here has been amazing, thank you

That’s sad about you and your relatives, monkey, here’s hoping that soon this shitty year will be a distant memory and we’re all able to see whoever we want, whenever we want.

Feel like this thread is keeping a few of us going.

I'm primary!!
Yoohoo.
And I think @RuleWithAWoodenFoot is too.

@Possums4evr DH and I do that too, he is a medic not a teacher but his trust is bonkers so we come home and do the therapeutic rant at each other and put the world to rights. I reckon it does help.

Re the vaccine I would be surprised if there wasn’t enough capacity for minus 80 storage. Bit outing but years ago I worked in a city hospital and my small department alone had 2 huge -80 freezers, and a liquid nitrogen tub. It isn’t as unstable as some have made out apparently, happy to spend a day on dry ice and still ok and not degraded the following day so you could easily envisage bulk deliveries to large hospital. Local despatches day 1 on dry ice to GPs, vaccination clinic the following day.

[quote MrsHerculePoirot]@TheHoneyBadger we got told to turn the tracing bit of the app off on Monday - borough wide apparently. I hadn’t even downloaded it but have now and turned it on. I’m such a teenager at heart 🤣

Good news @monkeytennis97.[/quote]
Likewise. I was determined not to download till a poster on here this morning said school had told them to turn it off. I immediately downloaded it and turned it on and on it will stay

I can't imagine our ht trying to tell us that. Possibly not trying dodgy shite like that is why we're still open and some schools nearby have had to partially close due to lack of staff. I think that sort of neglect would justify many a sick note from pushing stressed staff over the edge.

I agree that this thread is keeping me going. Home is moderate to shit, and I feel I have to be all positive and keep my colleagues afloat... but this is a safe space.

I've not felt part of a team in school for ages but I reckon we'd be a dream staff team in fantasy school.
Ps I made yesterday's crying colleague cry again by giving her cake today. It felt good today.

Bluewavescrashing hope it’s just a bug but pretty much the same symptoms dp started with.
We are all desperate to get out of isolation now.
Heard another class bubble has gone at my school. Still constant in both dd schools to. Let’s hope we get a stint in school before one of us goes again.
Really hard to read all the measures they are putting into place to ensure uni students can have a ‘safe’ Christmas with family but totally ignoring school students and staff.
No good if ds is safe to come home to us at Christmas if we are all isolating.

at everyone downloading the ap

I'm primary too. We have 1 y6 class out plus 2 teachers. The whole y6 bubble have only managed about 3 weeks in together since September!

I'm so hoping we finish early to give us a chance to SI before seeing elderly parents at Christmas.

If you're primary (certainly EYFS anyway) you simply have to refer to each other as (eg) Mrs RuleWithaWoodenFoot! When I moved from primary to secondary I did this a few times and got some very funny looks.... 🙊

The student tests are for asymptomatic in high risk areas and other vulnerable students according to the BBC. Not for all students, as the headlines are implying....

@bluewavescrashing I'm primary too. Hello!

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

she's complained about me giving too much feedback

Ridiculous. The whole point of the training period is to get as much feedback as you can, and act on it quickly. If you don't like getting feedback you might be a bit too much of a snowflake for teaching as a career.

You're right of course and if I had to bet on it I'd say she will never pass and even if she did she'd never secure a post but if the training provider and the professional tutor are ignoring the glaring issues then there's no point me making a ton of extra work for myself any longer.

I'm getting a bit thicker skinned and less perfectionist and learning to go ok you don't want me to bother, I won't bother. I'm keeping evidence of all coms and feedback and will do an observation form every third lesson and just a couple of www points and ebi points in an email for the others.

A friend has just told me of her sil's school in Suffolk which has had 7 positive cases today, 5 of whom are teachers. Whole department out.

MrsH I gave my crying colleague from Friday some haribo on Monday morning (a tiny pack that I keep in my cupboard to use as prizes) and she almost cried then too. It's nice when someone is crying because you've been nice to them rather than because sometimes been horrible.

I did think they'd probably cry again when I suggested cake last night. Amazing what cake can solve.

I told the colleague that keeps misunderstanding me and assuming the worst that she needs to stop assuming the worst of me as I've got no reason to complain or criticise her and I am now avoiding emails unless unavoidable. Definitely getting thicker skinned and cutting out unnecessary stress. I won't make it to Christmas if I keep letting things bother me.

I shall have the mantra not my circus, not my monkeys playing in my head from now on.

Sending so many and moreout to you all!

Glad ds has tested neg again monkey.

Welcome back @RuleWithAWoodenFoot ! Yes that's very much our issue. But if staffing falls below a certain level, especially in some classes, they've agreed to trigger closing of the class for how ever long is needed. Some tas or teachers are part time so it could be half a week.

So exhausted. I've Lost count of the number of people I've found out positive this week, triggering bubble closure left right and centre.

There will definitely be a rise in school age cases next week, potentially transmission the week after.

I've learned today of 2 people I know who've died from covid over the weekend. One was the dad of one of my friends and he was very old and very ill, but it's still sad. The other was a different friend's aunt, who was much younger, only in her 50s, and they really, really expected her to get better.

It just keeps getting sadder. That takes it up to 7 people I know who have died from this. Yes, they were older, but they definitely weren't obviously ill or on death's door. It's a horrible, horrible disease.

I have my medical for the vaccine trial this weekend. It feels like just about all I can do.

Oh, gin didn't work...

Oh gosh, I'm so sorry Ms Awesome

Has anyone already posted this?

www.tes.com/news/covid-catch-may-mean-more-hours-and-shorter-holidays?fbclid=IwAR2_HnFuohLczGTQdJPi4vPmh0NDLp86n7wNIX5xHL_rfFcCGCCYd5b9eh0

FFS!

@MrsHamlet

I have my medical for the vaccine trial this weekend. It feels like just about all I can do.

It’s a pretty big thing - thank you

Ffs. I'm going to venture to suggest that in many cases, those who most need to catch up, are those who didn't do the work set for them during lockdown and are unlikely to engage with any weekend/holiday catch-up sessions either.

I saw that was Halfon, and henceforth withdraw my previous suggestion that he would make a good Ed sec.

I know GPs and NHS workers have just been sent a letter asking them to work overtime delivering the vaccine so it might seem reasonable to ask teachers to too, but he seems to be entirely forgetting that he’s asking kids to put extra hours in. The kids can barely cope with the current hours in school, their stamina and resilience is shot.