The Thirty-Fifth Republic - Covid - the gift that keeps on giving even during the Christmas Break

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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

We could definitely tick off a load of CPACS. Which reminds me I hid a set of required practical books somewhere at the start of the hols. Really need to get those marked

Ha, friend in Australia has just emailed with 'what is this bonkers shit about you doing testing?'

Just found a friend's entire family has caught Covid from their returning from Uni ds - who'd has two negative lateral flow tests before returning home (and, yes, definitely from him as they'd all been in the home and been nowhere else for 2.5 weeks). Good oh.

So. Nearly a whole bottle of wine and staying up with DS to introduce him to my 90s years (yes, apparently I'm old) and STILL no news from Gav et al?

@namechangedyetagain

So. Nearly a whole bottle of wine and staying up with DS to introduce him to my 90s years (yes, apparently I'm old) and STILL no news from Gav et al?

my 10yo DD thoroughly disapproves of our Friday night TOTP binges. I've heard more 90s music recently than I did in the 90s.

@Jinglingmod

Just found a friend's entire family has caught Covid from their returning from Uni ds - who'd has two negative lateral flow tests before returning home (and, yes, definitely from him as they'd all been in the home and been nowhere else for 2.5 weeks). Good oh.

Honestly, this country. We literally managed to get around 500 students home from the U.K. without doing that once.

Why is this government so bloody useless?

My phone has just reminded me that I have a smear test booked for tomorrow. Oh the joys.

www.theguardian.com/education/2020/dec/29/armed-forces-to-support-covid-testing-in-schools-in-england

www.theguardian.com/education/2020/dec/29/armed-forces-to-support-covid-testing-in-schools-in-england

It says that 1500 personnel will supply 'support and phone advice'.
How many secondary schools are there?
So does each head just phone up and and say 'how do I do this?' and they're given an easy to implement IKEA style guide?
I must say I'm looking forward to watching this roll out.
Or not - it's a way of pinning non opening of schools on the heads teachers.

4,400 secondary schools I think

[quote DecemberStar]www.theguardian.com/education/2020/dec/29/armed-forces-to-support-covid-testing-in-schools-in-england[/quote]
Wasn’t that mentioned a week or so ago-that the army would ‘advise’ on testing? I presume it doesn’t mean anyone helpful will turn up and do it in person like they did at Dover, does it?

What sort of support? Moral support?

Support from the wrong end of a telephone.

I don't know who's got it worse, secondary schools for having this testing shit landed on them, or primaries, who will just be going back into a Covid petri dish, business as usual.

This is so shit. I'm not a mathematician or a scientist but FGS even I can see that having schools go back as before Christmas is INSANE. Thank God I got to see my boy this holiday otherwise I would literally be a gibberish wreck now (not far off it tbh).

*gibbering

Getting moral support from a squaddie will slow tests down "yeah hang on, just need a chat with Dave..."

Will they promise to wear uniform?

I presume it doesn’t mean anyone helpful will turn up and do it in person like they did at Dover, does it?

I think the French firefighters delivered 10,000 tests and the Polish army and medics did the testing. That's definitely not going to happen in January. Although I'd love to see the headlines in the DF and Telegraph if it did.

So, there are 4000 schools. Maybe each school will need to test...2 classes a day? 60 kids? It took how many soldiers to test at Dover - 800 for about 5000 people? So maybe each soldier tests 4 or 5 people? So schools will need, at a similar rate, around 15 people testing everyday? 60,000 testing volunteers and/or teachers? Every day for the foreseeable? More if rates in a school go up? We’ve got to let in 15 extra adults into,our schools, without DBS checks, so at least one member of staff will need to be with them at all times.....even if you ignore the logistics of there being enough tests, parents have given permission, space to ‘store’ 60 kids socially distanced whilst waiting for tests etc. it’s not even nearly workable, is it?

@CallmeAngelGabriel

Will they promise to wear uniform?

I am not going back to work unless I'm greeted by men in uniform

Morning . It's all gone mental. We knew it would but all the same why is the government doing this to teachers, children, parents??

And WHY aren't the unions kicking up shit about the reliability of the tests? Are they like DH? 'It just won't happen; stop worrying about it' is his mantra. He is determined to be proved right.

I am assuming

a) Gav's DD's schooling has been barely affect by covid
b) he doesn't think covid is real