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

@DecemberStar

Remind us *@Achristmaspudsskidu* is he primary or secondary? Am surprised they're looking ahead to mid Feb already!? How on earth can they?

Secondary.

They aren’t saying they’re definitely doing the February half term plan. Just that it’s been raised as a possibility if cases locally remain so high.

Definitely a change in tone from the government over schools

Our (secondary) current plan is 11/13 in from 4th Jan with all other years back on the 11th but who knows I am going to plan my first week to fit that arrangement but reluctant to plan much beyond that in case of changes. Advised my NQT to do the same - don't want him planning a load of stuff only to have to change it all.

It's a mess

Anyone watching Rashford programme? Bless him.

A scientific-sounding poster on the thread about the new strain affecting children more explained that the difference in how the virus bonds to our ACE receptors also may effect covid's transmission to women and younger people.

Have just posted asking if that might explain the noted increase in 20-40 yr old women being hospitalised in the autumn.

Personally (as Prof Calum Semple intimated at the time), I think that was more to do with the jobs the women were doing.

Ah OK. Didn't think it had been worked out.

Correct me if I’m being dense, but aren’t the unions kind of shafting teachers again by calling for blanket closure of schools again? Just when we were beginning to get a bit of public - and therefore electorate - support back...

This might just be me coming from a primary perspective, but I want to see more funding to keep schools open in a COVID safe way, e.g. week on week off rota to allow social distancing, additional cleaners, proper PPE for staff.

The rota thing would be horrendous for teacher workload - running a key worker bubble while frantically spending evenings and weekends setting up, filming and marking online learning for my class nearly killed me off in term 6 - but I really don’t think young ones learn effectively online, even in the most supportive families.

Is it just me being overly sensitive to criticism? (I come from a family of high earning, capitalist Tory voters so get a fair bit of it).

Is it just me being overly sensitive to criticism? (I come from a family of high earning, capitalist Tory voters so get a fair bit of it).

You’re definitely not. I too think of the nasty comments that will be aimed at us next term even though it’s entirely all down to the government. The fact not one measure has been put into keeping schools safer, at any time during this, by the government, is criminal.

@Timeturnerplease
I’m also primary, and I agree. I would much rather not teach online - the take up among my pupils during lockdown 1 was pitiful, and it was a struggle to provide daily online content as well as providing face-to-face support for our Keyworker and vulnerable children. Many of our children don’t have internet access so I also had to provide paper resources for them; I felt as if I never stopped! Had I had young children at home in need of help with school work I would have been sunk; luckily my teenage DDs were willing and able to work mostly independently.

I would much rather the govt took steps to make primary schools safer rather than trotting out the nonsense that young children don’t spread covid.

Well I don't think we're going to hear anyone in govt claiming that "children don't spread COVID" now....

@Piggyinblankets the Rashford programme had my partner in total bits. Full on snot bubble crying.

I think schools should be given some freedom to work out the best approach for their own community, through consultation with said community. I mean, our families don't want online lessons for eg.

@DecemberStar

Well I don't think we're going to hear anyone in govt claiming that "children don't spread COVID" now....

You may be overestimating our government.

I get the feeling that there’s a bit of a sense that if it’s not affecting kids badly we could still let them just catch it. Presumably because the only thing more world beating than breeding 1 significant mutated virus form is providing ideal conditions for breeding 2 of them.

Don't say that rafals.....

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

I think schools should be given some freedom to work out the best approach for their own community, through consultation with said community. I mean, our families don't want online lessons for eg.

I disagree. Too much scope for rogue heads who don't believe in Covid.

I agree with @SaltyAF here

Like mine!

I think I am the only one that had found online teaching less stressful. Don't get me wrong I would not want to do it forever. For example though our period 1 is 1hr 30 on Teams its only 45. So it's just a more calm start to the day. I have had full classes logging in and taking and answering questions.

It's crap trying to explain a required practical though. Not a long term thing but I am not against it at all.

@RigaBalsam I agree with you. Online teaching less stressful but that's the nature of my subject. To be honest only about 30% of my subject though can be delivered well on line with lip service paid to the other 70%. It's the other 70% of my subject which is stressful in terms of classroom management etc

Oh good @ChloeDeckTheHalls and @HarrietDVane - glad it’s not just me.

I teach Year 3 in a very leafy, middle class village in a very privileged area of the South East. Plenty of well educated parents, spacious homes to study in and tons of support for home learning (lots are VERY pushy as we’re on the Kent/East Sussex border so are looking ahead at the 11+ for the grammars in a nearby Kent town).

Still, the majority of the children have come back ok in maths fluency but weak in reasoning etc, KS2 are roughly on track for reading but KS1 have really suffered with a lack of phonics and writing is just dire. We’ve had to go right back to basics. I just think they’re too young to learn online effectively. Maybe even secondary kids are, I don’t know.

You’re right about having young kids; until they ‘allowed’ grandparent childcare again in June I did all that I did with an under two in tow. Her nursery, which she attends one day a week, wouldn’t even let her keep that place as I was ‘at home’. I worry from that that everyone just thought we were sunbathing and watching Netflix....and that that attitude will resurface again and Gav and his media cronies will use it to their advantage...

Jesus : Ds2's school:

6 cases in the whole term (only one in years 9 -11, the rest sixth form in separate school where he is).

They have now had 9 in the last three days... poor SLT, having to write to us to tell us to keep letting them know...

Lord knows how DS has avoided it!
(Disclaimer : he may have had it when he had a bugger of a cold in September when the government was making us feel socially irresponsible if we even thought about testing young people)

That said, they seem very keen to avoid students SI with the new lateral flow tests....

I have never worked for a toxic head, I may be unrealistic about community approaches.

I am on the fence with online lessons - I think they work well for the kids who join, but a lot don't engage and it will just widen the gap between those who do (can) join and those who don't.

I feel like over lockdown one, we just lost some kids completely - they are physically in school but so disengaged. And for them more online learning would be a disaster.

But a week on, week off rota with homework and accountability and maybe one live lesson a week could work well.

I do strongly feel something needs to change and the current testing plans scare me.

@Piggyinblankets

That said, they seem very keen to avoid students SI with the new lateral flow tests....

I might be too optimistic but I think the tide has changed over the weekend - I don't think we will see close contacts in school. I do still think that some kind of testing program will be required but hopefully now we will get a sensible plan!