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

@hedgehogger1

I notice the DofE seems to have switched from "school is safe" to "online learning is great" propaganda

4 legs good; two legs bad.

Oh that's worse than my boiler luckiest . Hope you feel OK and Christmas isn't too spoiled.

Noted that France won’t allow the lateral flow tests either when they open the borders.

@hedgehogger1

I notice the DofE seems to have switched from "school is safe" to "online learning is great" propaganda

Yes I saw that

Four legs good, two legs better!

I think noel had it the other day when she wrote we were never at war with Eastasia.

Anyone who hasn't read 1984 really should. It is creepily timely. Orwell was a genius.

We need to keep tabs who on this thread has had covid or has colleagues who have and how many. For when we are told no teachers have.

R4 headlines have just said Lincolnshire have had to open a temporary mortuary 😞

@Piggyinblankets

We need to keep tabs who on this thread has had covid or has colleagues who have and how many. For when we are told no teachers have.

10 out of 30, 2 from March, the rest since Sept. 3 of them possibly caught from own dc at that primary or other local primaries. The rest from classes sent home because of child cases. In one class 5 parents got tests for their dc as they felt the seating was too close for comfort and those dc were asymptomatic but Positive.

Hope you are ok, Luckiest

Three more cases at DS's schools in years 12 and 13. That's 12 since Friday. They chose to teach on Friday...

6th forms were ‘strongly recommended’ to cease teaching on the Thurs, according to DS’s Headteacher email!

@DecemberStar

R4 headlines have just said Lincolnshire have had to open a temporary mortuary 😞

There was also a report on the 6pm BBC news and an interview with their "death planning team" (not real name, but that's the role) who was asked what percentage of the (significant) excess deaths in your area are Covid related? She said "almost all."

@Piggyinblankets

MNHQ needs urgently to clamp down on the corona denying threads! Rife on the board! So much statistical and scientific bollocks.

I fully agree. I have reported posts and threads and explained I think it is morally negligent to allow such posts to stand ditto those encouraging overt rule breaking (as in hysterical my civil liberties/I’m doing what i want and you should all do what you want blah blah blah rather than someone’s toddler makes them seven type thing). I’ve just avoided anywhere else that isn’t here more recently....

I have no idea why they kept going bread. they are also starting teaching on 4 Jan and not taking up offer of INSET.

Productive day here, walked off the solstice hangover then dug out old unwise purchase of punching bag and boxing gloves. Just need to decide if it's gove, Williamson or Bojo's mug shot that is going to provide motivation...

4 legs good; two legs bad literal lol at that!

Sorry for bringing up the port MrsH. I have the remains of one bottle and another one still. My Aldi booze order came yesterday. I have port and some lovely wines which I must resist because they're for taking on Christmas Day. My long suffering sister is doing Christmas again so I want to turn up far from empty handed. So fancy wines were ordered that I can't touch but hope to at least get to taste on Christmas day some very reasonably priced port that I popped in the order for myself.

What I'm finding difficult to resist is the Rasteau - I'm pretty sure I've never had it but it sounds really nice and is 14.5%. I have two bottles of that and a couple of bottles of st emillion to take on the red front and a pouilly fume and some chablis for white drinkers. So tempting to open one of the Rasteau bottles for quality control.

Sadly I only have halloumi and cheddar so I'd happily swap you some port for a good blue cheese if you have one.

I think by the end of this whole covid saga I may need to have my liver tested! I've hung onto my sanity and amazingly bar brief dips my mental health has done me proud really but it may have been at the cost of my liver.

You could put Johnson's face on the punch bag, then Williamson and Govey can be left and right gloves?

4 legs good; two legs bad literal lol at that! - Meant to say except suddenly now it's 2 legs good 4 legs bad and we're not meant to notice.

Oooh love a Chablis!

Hello all - busy day baking fattening things that will contribute greatly to my obesity problem

So sorry to hear you’re positive, @TheLuckiest - I hope it’s a mild case and you’re feeling better soon.

I sent my test off yesterday but presumably it’s a bit soon to hear. I feel absolutely fine now. I think anxiety overwhelmed me after getting the call from the HT regarding my positive pupil. Hoping against hope for a negative.

Egypt was the 'somewhere hot' that was going in our post covid grand tour.

I am definitely up for the cheese and wine event too! I vote on a nice country hotel with open fires and armchairs and nice walks for those who can get up in the morning.

Anyone else's school on radio silence? I know it the holidays but I've had absolutely no information on the plan for Jan - as far as I know (and parents!) we're back as normal on the 4th, no inset, no official plan for remote teaching. Nothing about testing.

We post weekly stuff online for isolators anyway, and planned to teach 50% live and 50% independent work if a year group isolates - we were told there would be a rota published for this if/when it happened.

I assume we'll go to 50% plan, but without that rota I can't plan the sequence of which lessons will be live and which independent.

I know I should switch off and wait but I hate uncertainty!

We had a message on Friday evening that they would sort something, and that we were taking the Jan 4th inset, and not to worry until them.
So that's what I'm doing! I reckon plans wi change about 5x between now and then anyway

Not radio silence because I've had a text everyday informing me of another positive case and to check my work email for details. Nothing about the plan for Jan though other than we were told to plan for yr 11 and 13 in from the 4th and years 7, 8, 9 and 10 doing remote from Tuesday the 5th.

They've got their hands full just dealing with track and trace from this term still let alone thinking about becoming testing centres with a load of tests that some dodgy posh boys are trying to unload on the nearest thing they could find to a third world country.

I've just read this and feel they're priming us more for a bigger possible delay to the start of term. Hadn't really thought it could happen tbh, but that they should get a clear plan in place, unless it's tier 4. (Either way a clear plan is needed.)

Will schools be closed next term by variant of virus? www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55413656

There's been quite a lot on radio 4 today too.

Rather too used to how the bbc are used to prepare us...