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

I'm not swabbing children and I'm not convinced about the accuracy/compliance if you let them swab themselves. Back in the pre-covid days we used to get students to take a cheek swab so they could observe their cells under the microscope - cue lots of I'm not doing that and those that did often didn't have viewable cells...

I bet it is student support and SLT doing swabs - form teachers too busy taking registers, hand gel and face mask procedure and doing temperature checks

I dunno, I have one or two I wouldn't mind swabbing

I don't actually see how swabbing staff will lead to less staff off - surely more?

And I still want to know about weekend swabbing and why 7 days not 10.

And where are these pilot schools - 2 are quoted by DfE, inc one sixth form college - am surprised no one on MN or in press has ever mentioned this. Bet there were only 2 schools!

I don’t do Personal Care and I’m not doing Covid tests on anyone apart from myself. Sadly, I can see support staff who need the job a lot more than I do agreeing to do it.

I suggest we all stay safely in here this evening and whatever we do, do NOT venture into the "forcing schools" thread. I took a dip in earlier today and reversed straight out. U4T all over the shop!

They clocked off, Ange but if you’re not on the thread it’s worth reading the Greenwich legal director response to Gav. He’s not impressed and tells Gav off.

www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/5029/letter_to_secretary_of_state_15_december_2020.pdf

I schoolsweek.co.uk/7-staff-roles-2-hour-training-and-dhsc-sign-off-on-press-schools-given-mass-testing-instructions/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Wow, that's some letter noble. yay John Scarborough. (Ironically amused by his surname)

@BreadSaucery

I don’t do Personal Care and I’m not doing Covid tests on anyone apart from myself. Sadly, I can see support staff who need the job a lot more than I do agreeing to do it.

I suspect it’ll be support staff told to do it, at the expense of working with children with SEN.

Mass testing is great. Offering testing, in schools, by school staff, on close contacts of positive cases INSTEAD of telling them to self isolate, is totally shit.

My school simply is not up to that herc. It's depressing how much responsibility we are being given for public health.

Where is this forced thread? which I am not going to look at

I will never carry out a covid test on anyone other than myself and my child.

I don’t know why you lot are complaining about taking kids nose swabs and maintaining distance / not hurting them.

I’m planning to sellotape two metre rulers together. Swab on the end - I can sample them that way. Easy peasy.

In other news our department was down to only 1/3 of its regular staff yesterday. Not even Covid, just general illness / life stuff. Everyone’s knackered.

Our first aiders have been getting letters about doing the testing.

Yeah, we had a good couple of weeks and now 4 out from dept.

I had a better day today. Had my PPA cover cancelled, so just printed off loads of activities to keep them busy, put on Xmas music and did my PPA at the back of the classroom. Bad teacher.

We're all getting to the 'on our knees, mainlining sugar' time of term.

I think I've just had my brain swabbed. I don't know if I would have stuck the swab that far up if I'd done it myself or to someone else.

[quote Hercwasonaroll]I schoolsweek.co.uk/7-staff-roles-2-hour-training-and-dhsc-sign-off-on-press-schools-given-mass-testing-instructions/amp/?__twitter_impression=true[/quote]
That's hilarious even before you start because WHERE would they like us to set this up? We are using every available space for learning zones and break areas. We even did buy the famous marquee for an additional covered lunch area.

Then the idea that amateur staff and squeamish students will be able to do 11-13 tests per hour per bay Really? 5 minutes to explain, sort the kit, deal with the squealing, is it going to hurt and I can't miss and showing off for unlookers, do the test, put it in the correct container label it and clean down the bay for the next student? Yeah ok then.

My PPA was also cancelled.
I did a "proper" lesson on Roman baths!
But that's it for the rest of the week. Hat-making/Christmas lunch/one video only allowed/Christmas craft day (in lieu of missed fayre) and tidying/quizzes on last day.

Yes, Gav. Education right up to last minute is vital.

Coronavirus: Redbridge Council suggests schools teach online www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55324869

Ew rafals - the postal kits are more about the tonsils and having to avoid touching tongue or cheeks whilst accessing and wiping the tonsils. You are then meant to stick it up your nose to the point of 'resistance'. I managed it on myself last time but not looking forward to doing it on ds - there is no way on earth he's going to stay still whilst I swipe his tonsils or be capable of doing it himself as far as I can see and there's not a chance in hell he'd let one of his teachers stick anything up his nose.

Honestly - that 11-13 tests per hour per bay to conduct 100 tests in a day using 7 staff is farcical, we couldn't maintain that pace, and even if we could it would take nearly 3 days to get through a year group and they're meant to be staying in school mixing in the meantime? They're such lying cheapskates - send mobile testing labs with trained staff ffs. Not some let's pretend bollocks.

[quote monkeytennis97]Coronavirus: Redbridge Council suggests schools teach online www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55324869[/quote]
Love it! It's like a domino effect of little rebellions. They won't get to close but each authority that asks them to is essentially demonstrating a vote of no confidence in the dfe and making them look like petty bastards threatening them with legal action for trying to protect their own communities with a common sense decision.

And the papers have to report it! It's perfect.

Meanwhile the DfE keeps churning out the same statement about how essential it is that all schools remain open full time right to the end of term, without ever explaining exactly why.

I am absolutely not going to administer swab tests to children at school if this scheme makes its way into primaries! This is a lawsuit waiting to happen, surely?

Presumably we’ll be doing the tests while simultaneously teaching both in class and remotely, being subjected to endless performance management observations and learning walks, plugging all the gaps from missed months at school and dealing with the social and emotional impact of a global pandemic on impressionable minds. With no minimal additional funding or resources.

Ffs. It’s a mystery why so many teachers are leaving the profession