The Thirty-Third Republic - End of term and DfE threats- cheers all!

[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

Those of us that are are just in in case of accusations from kids

Same here. But now I’ve lost faith in them shifting their arses to support me if that happened. 🤷‍♀️

I ahve had cystitiis ( I think) all week and feel so nauseous this morning.

Teaching is not good for the health at the best of times.

Feet up this morning remote teaching and then a dash to shops.

From SKY twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1339833651220115456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1339833651220115456%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fcovid-news-live-latest-uk-updates-schools-minister-faces-questions-over-pupils-staggered-return-after-christmas-12162014

(sorry about the long clicky link)

Teachers won't be in charge of school testing, minister confirms

Mr Gibb explains what will happen to pupils after the Christmas break in England.

From 4 January, all primary school children will go back. But for secondary school pupils, they will be learning from home for five days - unless they are in an exam year.

The minister says this is to let schools get ready to implement a new testing regime, which will be planned by the Armed Forces and administered by volunteers and agency workers.

Asked if teachers will have any role in testing, Mr Gibb says categorically: "No - teachers are already fully occupied, they already have their hands full."

He tells Sky News: "People are very community minded, this is a national effort. This is about our priority for education, making sure children are in the classroom, getting lessons."

He keeps saying 5 days.

Some schools start back on Tuesday 5th...

My GP offered me antidepressants for ankle ache in my mid 40s, Neuro. I paid for a short course of private physio instead and have generic insole things in all my shoes apart from party shoes, which helped a bit.

I don’t want some ‘community minded’ busybody testing my child!

But but, the Armed Forces can't just rock up at a school and commandeer a gym. That's not how it works.

So disingenuous.

@PussyCatInChristmasStockings

From SKY twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1339833651220115456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1339833651220115456%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.sky.com%2Fstory%2Fcovid-news-live-latest-uk-updates-schools-minister-faces-questions-over-pupils-staggered-return-after-christmas-12162014

(sorry about the long clicky link)

Teachers won't be in charge of school testing, minister confirms

Mr Gibb explains what will happen to pupils after the Christmas break in England.

From 4 January, all primary school children will go back. But for secondary school pupils, they will be learning from home for five days - unless they are in an exam year.

The minister says this is to let schools get ready to implement a new testing regime, which will be planned by the Armed Forces and administered by volunteers and agency workers.

Asked if teachers will have any role in testing, Mr Gibb says categorically: "No - teachers are already fully occupied, they already have their hands full."

He tells Sky News: "People are very community minded, this is a national effort. This is about our priority for education, making sure children are in the classroom, getting lessons."

Well I hope this turns out to be true.

Not many volunteers on your thread though Noblegiraffe!

Unison for me and they've been helpful to me.

Hmm, teachers not to test, what about support staff? Hopefully not as he said volunteers etc, but.....

Child is 18 anyway, so can presumably self administer?

I still don't get how mass testing gets more kids in school? If so many are asymptomatic...

Our school seems pretty split between neu and nasuwt. The TAs are a mix of neu and unison. Neu have the only official reps at the school, but they only took that role on in April. For years we've just not had Union reps in school, because the majority of us are not militant and in normal times are quite happy with what's asked of us. Now though, we've got union WhatsApp groups that are busy every time there's a new announcement from the DfE or SLT.

We've had messages flying all over the place last night and this morning. The head has sent an urgent email this morning saying he will update us as to what is happening as soon as he's properly figured it out. SLT were meeting very early this morning so they can hopefully have some idea of what this is going to look like in our school by the time we all arrive this morning.

Someone just talking about it on R4 just now - he's mentioned volunteers for testing as well as agency staff. Schools expected to recruit volunteers and then close contacts will be sitting in your classroom while incubating the virus? At least the interviewer sounds incredulous

It's like a crazy plan for a school trip that an NQT comes up with that you know will never work but they can't see all the practical difficulties.
Except in this scenario the NQT is in charge of the country's education

Am I also the only one who is suspicious about why the mass testing at the beginning of term?

When are we going to get our weekly tests? If it's in a free period, I'll cry. The bumf does suggest we do it at work.

Nick Gibb again. Absolute tool. I used to think he was OK better than Williamson

I wish the interviewer on Sky had challenged Gibb further about the role of schools when he mentioned the volunteers. recruiting them takes time and, it appears, money. Over a holiday.

It's exactly like that!

Like an NQT is in charge of the whole country's education!

Yeah, I think all our local schools are only back on Tues or Weds 5/6th. (One or two inset days).

I have it on good authority that Nick Gibb is deeply unpleasant.

Yeah, I never thought he was "nice" but... I dunno, I think I thought he was more competent? Intelligent? Fair? Who knows...

The only tiny thing to be grateful for is that some journalists are starting to get it and are either publishing some decent articles or questioning politicians a wee bit more...

Good luck to everyone still going in today. I'm doing 'inset' in my pjs (mostly seating plans since I've no idea what's happening first week back). Only marred by the fact that some guys are fitting a new floor in my hall, so I'm confined to the living room with the dogs, and it's LOUD!

So, example from my school:

Y11 tested positive
70 kids are identified as close contacts

2 days later a Y8 tested positive
48 kids are are close contacts

How is that physically managed in terms of testing every day for 7 days?

Hats off to you all, secondary colleagues. I don’t know about the testing stuff, but it looks like you’re going to be replanning during your holidays for online learning first week back (sorry for my ignorance about how secondary online learning works - for us in primary it’s a completely different ball game and requires entirely replanning).

The minister says this is to let schools get ready to implement a new testing regime, which will be planned by the Armed Forces and administered by volunteers and agency workers.

Oh, well that’s alright then!

The amount of testers twiddling thumbs when I go to the drive in for a test (4 times now) - they could definitely be redeployed in the mobile units or just based in school.