The Thirty-Sixth Republic - New Year approaching, no clear idea of what is happening next week and has Gav been sacked yet?

[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

@noblegiraffe

European Research Group. Jacob Rees Mogg’s lot.

The ones who stand up when the national anthem plays and aren’t quite sure what the Good Friday Agreement is.

Thanks. Thought I should have known that acronym

Oooh goody. I've just read that teachers move up the vaccine list. But still behind NHS workers, care homes, elderly and vulnerable. So just before..... anyone else? And it's only been mentioned in reference to secondaries.

I'm confused as to where that leaves me. I'm vulnerable but not cEv, and i'm also old, a bit fat and I eat too much cheese. As my conditions can be written off as "underlying", I wonder if i'll just be left to get on with it? I expect so.

Today we have switched round roles in my house. DH has taken over listening to news reports and Jeremy Vine and getting sweary whilst I have gone for left over mince pies and denial. Ds is staying with Lego.

Next week in school with loads of children. Today I had to wear a mask at the tip, outside with only 4 other people there and all well over 2m apart.

My only answer to this is more mince pies. I have even bought 2 more jars of mincemeat on yellow stickers and am planning to bake more. Tonight we crack open the port and cheese.

@GleamingBaubles

I know this is very simplistic - but do you think primaries and SEN are ignored because none of the cabinet have kids in primary or SEN? A bit like how you forget the sleepless nights, but on a more fucked up national scandal scale?

I think Matt Hancock has primary aged children. And I can't find their ages but I'd guess Rishi Sunak's daughters are primary aged too.

If you're officially "vulnerable" Phlebas, you'll be in group 6. The group that there is the slimmest chance teachers might now move into. Or maybe a new group 7 - before over 45s but after everyone else already mentioned.

@Piggyinblankets - these dreams are flairly blatant, aren’t they?

I dreamt I was in INSET but had no clue what I was doing. When I asked HoD she said airily “oh, it’ll be all right, it doesn’t really apply to us anyway” then led me into a room where the floor was that metal mesh stuff you get on ships and which was clearly above a lift shaft with moving machinery etc. When I backed up against the wall and said no way was i walking over that, as it was clearly unsafe, she tutted and acted like I was complete fusspot.

Once again, completely impenetrable! No idea at all what that could mean!

Dh and I genuinely looking into whether we can afford short term alternative accommodation for me until he gets vaccinated... As if my job hasn't already cost me a ducking fortune since March already

@DecemberStar

Epidemiologist at Queen Mary's London, there's a whole MN thread on her thread:

And school transmission is key. Models largely look at opening & closing schools, as if these are the only options that are available. Let's act to curb transmission in schools now, by making them as safe as possible. This is the only way forward. Anything less is negligence.

Basically we've created this mutation and exported it to the rest of the world:
mobile.twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1343910101472714759

Fuckityfuck.

@DecemberStar

Was meaning - Cameron has a disabled child, did that result in any more regard for SEN?

There was a MNetter with a disabled child who actually met him to discuss provision. Not sure if anything changed as a result.

Of course Cameron being fabulously wealthy might have meant that he didn’t struggle for resources in the same way (although undoubtedly still personally heartbreaking).

I’m having a large item of furniture delivered later this week. They have phoned to ask the Covid status of everyone in the house, prewarned us that they will not enter a room any of us are standing in, asked us to open as many windows as possible and when I asked if the delivery people will be wearing masks she said they will. And that they have their temperature checked every morning before they are allowed in the warehouse.
A furniture store takes more care of its employees than a school. Hurrah!

Phleb, I think I'm the same as you and don't come under any vax groups.

Although the Gp mate I saw the other day said that he felt vaccinations would go quite rapidly through those 6 groups and that having the less severe class of asthma (though on Fostair so not that low level) and hypothyroidism, in my 40s, would probably put me fairly high up the next lists. He felt strongly that teachers should be bumped up too.

clearly, the furniture company realise that there is a pandemic

My target is for 85% at expected or above, across the board. I kid you not. I genuinely laughed out loud. With a following wind and a lot of extra adult input that will never materialise I might get 50% there this year. My class are nearly 50% EAL with a real mixed bag of SEND and a high proportion with utterly disinterested parents. I have a TA for just under 2 hours a day.

I’ve been laying in a darkened room for the last couple of hours with a stress-induced headache. Can’t think why.

Are the new cases a reflection of the last week of term? I'm trying to work out the "delay". Or are they starting to reflect Christmas mixing?

The cases today are horrific.

I have two elderly grandparents 98 and 93 neither of them have been offered the vaccination yet. Why aren’t they drafting the army in to sort that out instead.

Thursday’s ONS sampling will be the graphs to look out for.

If the infection rate in school kids comes down/stays static despite case rates going up that will be a massive argument for closing schools.

@phlebasconsidered You're not alone - I’m also the wrong side of 45, and I’m colossally fat and unfit with mild asthma. I think I might be collateral damage as far as the government is concerned. Sadly Ms Vane has died of Covid, although of course, she had underlying health conditions.

Why aren’t they drafting the army in to sort that out instead.

Someone on another thread said the army being drafted in to man the phones are mechanics and electricians so not sure they’d be any more use at vaccinating than schools testing.

@noblegiraffe yes that was Riven who met DC. I used to chat with her regularly when my DS was little and I was trying to come to terms with the trip to Holland I was taking instead of Italy (still haven't really come to terms with it though...) I used to frequent the SN boards a lot in those days. She is an amazing woman. Sadly lost touch with her as she left MN.

No, DC did fuck all for disabled children.

Wish I could take credit for this but I found it on Twitter:

‘If you think secondary students can administer COVID-19 tests themselves you have clearly never asked them to glue in a work sheet’

m.youtube.com/watch?v=KvCJZw8Ymxk

Always hated it though tbh...

Just stumbled across this thread - everyone echoing my thoughts - I am sure that my family and (non) teaching friends think I am exaggerating when I explain how risky it is being in a classroom at the moment!

Is it time to open the gin yet.

@rainingcats

Just stumbled across this thread - everyone echoing my thoughts - I am sure that my family and (non) teaching friends think I am exaggerating when I explain how risky it is being in a classroom at the moment!

@rainingcats welcome!😊

@RigaBalsam so true😂