The Thirty-Fourth Republic - Time to recharge our batteries and make the best of our festive break

[SantaAssociationRepresentitve]

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

So sorry Harriet

Government CANNOT admit that schools weren’t safe all along or that teachers were at any time at higher risk than “other professions and key workers” (whatever the heck that means), because that would acknowledge that their policies knowingly and recklessly threatened the lives and wellbeing of students, teachers, other school staff and their families. Which, when you think of it, is most of the population.
They’re trying to weasel their way out of it the new variant, making out it changes the situation. It does worsen it, but the damage was done weeks, if not months ago.

Just reading the less complementary comments on the DofE Facebook posts. Wondered how many of them were Mumsnetters from this thread :)

Aw no @Harriet

Just saw this

Not sure when I’m allowed out again yet - there seems to be ambiguity over dates because I suspect the child was in when they shouldn’t have been

Oh Harriet so sorry. The phonecall we're all dreading.

Is anyone else getting regular lateral flows at a test centre? We have a local one and they are encouraging people to go. I'm going every 3 days until new year!

@bornatXmastobequiet

Government CANNOT admit that schools weren’t safe all along or that teachers were at any time at higher risk than “other professions and key workers” (whatever the heck that means), because that would acknowledge that their policies knowingly and recklessly threatened the lives and wellbeing of students, teachers, other school staff and their families. Which, when you think of it, is most of the population. They’re trying to weasel their way out of it the new variant, making out it changes the situation. It does worsen it, but the damage was done weeks, if not months ago.

I really hope so in a way. It would be better than the prospect of much worse to come, but I think they'll shove us all back in unprotected anyway.

@HarrietDVane

Just had a call from HT. Child in my class has tested positive, so I now have to isolate

Haven’t caught up with the thread this afternoon so will go and have a read now.

So sorry to hear this Harriet. Take care .

How rubbish @HarrietDVane

I have a test on Tuesday as part of the trial so we'll see what that turns up

That's rubbish, @HarrietDVane, so sorry for you

Thanks to everyone who replied to my msg. I've randomly woken up at 4am after a nightmare (I feel like I'm a kid if ever I say that!) decided to look on the covid thread.. no mass panic there, and then reappeared here.
Thanks for your support. I went to sleep at 8.30 feeling terrible but I switched my painkillers before bed and took some stronger ones so that seems to have helped a little. I have an appointment about it this afternoon, but I'm sure it will the same old news at the moment 'sorry there's nothing more we can do " (I've had this and other things for decades and exhausted most treatments now ).

There better not be panic buying. I need to go normal food shopping today (we don't celebrate Christmas so I don't even need Christmas stuff ! Just food!) I struggle massively with shopping with all the bending over and walking around and whatnot so I'm always madly annoyed if panic buyers make it more stressful.

Ideally we wouldn't be going today but we were going to see family (we don't celebrate but it's still the school hols so do see family) so we hadn't got that much food in as wouldn't have been here. Hmph.

My little one is at nursery and so I just have my eldest one today. I'm going to give her plenty of craft stuff and maybe a bit of purple mash and a film so I can do a bit of work as well.

Sorry about your nightmare. I pinged awake at 4 but that's aches.

My toddler should be at nursery today; not sure what to do. I was basically going to do the same.

Can't decide if to try and work with them both on stuff like reading eggs. (And usually then tv) Had to all summer and also when they were isolating.

I feel one day in would be good for him but one day could risk having to SI all hol...

Ophelia, you missed my ranting about knowledge organisers for our setting earlier in the year. When you make visuals and vocab all the time as it is, they make no sense (other than for the staff!) I'm finishing off the bastards today.

Hope your appointment goes well. Is it RA?

Huge sympathies Harriet. I was worried about that happening too.

Oh FFS!! This is SO shit!!!

Broke up on Fri. My colleague, who I share a poky office with, off sick.

Can't sleep. I'm now up as I feel so horrible. Shivery, back ache, dry throat, fever.

So instead of my lovely haircut & Christmas food shop, I've got to book a bloody test!!!!

What are the odds it's just an end of term lurgy and not 'IT'??!

(Apologies for self indulgent rant. Waaaaahhhh!! It's not fair!! 'Stamps foot')

@NeurotreeWenceslas

Hope your appointment goes well. Is it RA?

No - ankylosing spondylitis but to be fair I'm still not sure after 15 odd years that I can actually pronounce that! It's an appointment about my very dodgy hip to see if there's anything they can do to improve / fix it. Had a go at my back and failed so.... Yeh. I don't have much hope

@TheLuckiest

Huge sympathies Harriet. I was worried about that happening too.

Oh FFS!! This is SO shit!!!

Broke up on Fri. My colleague, who I share a poky office with, off sick.

Can't sleep. I'm now up as I feel so horrible. Shivery, back ache, dry throat, fever.

So instead of my lovely haircut & Christmas food shop, I've got to book a bloody test!!!!

What are the odds it's just an end of term lurgy and not 'IT'??!

(Apologies for self indulgent rant. Waaaaahhhh!! It's not fair!! 'Stamps foot')

Oh no!

I'm sorry @HarrietDVane that you're isolating and that you're going for a test @TheLuckiest arghhh nightmare!

Thanks @OpheliasCrayon.

Temp 38.4. That's high, right?

@NeurotreeWenceslas

Sorry about your nightmare. I pinged awake at 4 but that's aches.

My toddler should be at nursery today; not sure what to do. I was basically going to do the same.

Can't decide if to try and work with them both on stuff like reading eggs. (And usually then tv) Had to all summer and also when they were isolating.

I feel one day in would be good for him but one day could risk having to SI all hol...

Ophelia, you missed my ranting about knowledge organisers for our setting earlier in the year. When you make visuals and vocab all the time as it is, they make no sense (other than for the staff!) I'm finishing off the bastards today.

Mine will be going. She absolutely loves it and like I said, we don't do Christmas and as we're in tier 4 we can't do anything anyway so isolating wouldn't make any difference lol! She digs nursery so much! She was very premature and it's been so good for her. She now seems to be as she should be for her age and has caught up with all her little preemie wobbles. I think lockdown ended up being really good for her as she was at home with her sister and desperate to do what she did... I think her speech and walking delays would have been much longer otherwise !
Other than that she is just exceptionally small. She's a full year and 4 months smaller in clothes than her actual age bless her she's like a very cheeky doll!

Ohhh visuals!!! I alwsys end up with piles of stuff that I've made, and then they get all gorgeously laminated and I feel very happy at my lovely pile of new things. And then someone shoves one in their pants, someone else eats one, one gets screwed up and all the laminating gets cracked etc etc.

I need to get some new phonics and early reading resources sorted because I've decided I'm going to start some literacy with mine. They have pmld / recovery curriculum, but I've added in some individual number and matching tasks to their usual sensory maths and they've loved it and done really well so I'm going to do some reading ones too in the new year and see how we go.

@TheLuckiest

Thanks *@OpheliasCrayon*.

Temp 38.4. That's high, right?

Well.... It's not low.....but it's also not mega high - sadly it is test worthy though! Ugh I'm sorry!! I hope you feel better soon what crappy timing!

Ophelia ah I'm sorry. That is tough. Aw lovely your wee one loves it! Gah, not sure what to do. To be fair most of the staff had it in a big outbreak a month ago,

Oh no that's shit Lucky! Utter crap! and medicinal has your colleague had a test?

@NeurotreeWenceslas

Ophelia ah I'm sorry. That is tough. Aw lovely your wee one loves it! Gah, not sure what to do. To be fair most of the staff had it in a big outbreak a month ago,

Oh no that's shit Lucky! Utter crap! and medicinal has your colleague had a test?

What tier are you in and how much would your Christmas plans be fucked up ?

It really is rubbish.

To be honest, we weren't planning to see family (apart from a festive Zoom!) Parents both CEV so we were planning to keep our distance anyway.

Good job I've done all my present buying!

Not sure how we'll do the Christmas food shop but I'll sort that later.

Am Tier 3 - Midlands. Yes, colleague had test on Fri but was a postal one so he hasn't heard yet. Just booked my test for 11am today.

Instead of having lovely, shiny new hair, I'll have a stick shoved up my nose. Booooooo...

What tier are you in and how much would your Christmas plans be fucked up ?

1. He had to SI recently and it's not great for a toddler. We aren't seeing anyone bar inlaws in the park but wanted to go out in the fresh air a lot.

If he had to SI it would be v boring for the sake of one day at nursery. At the same time I'd get more work done today! And two weeks off will result in lots of crying when he goes back. We've only just managed to stop that at drop off again!