The Thirty-seventh Republic - Mass testing rolls on - school staff remain expendable

[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

@PandemicPavalova

I'm thinking that because of school testing, parents will get confused, dc show symptoms and say... They will get their test at school...

Rather than stop them going in and taking them to off site place

Yup

@PandemicPavalova

I'm thinking that because of school testing, parents will get confused, dc show symptoms and say... They will get their test at school...

Rather than stop them going in and taking them to off site place

Yea a bit like when they say go in (when they are sick) and school will ring if you need to come home. Now it will be go in (with symptoms of corona) and school will test you and ring us if your positive.

@cantkeepawayforever , @noblegiraffe

Originally, the testing information said that it was a choice between ten days spent isolating or seven days of daily testing. Parents would choose depending on whether they consented to the test. My understanding is that that's still the case.

Fuck knows what will happen in the future though. I can genuinely see the choice becoming seven days of testing or just come anyway if too many people choose to isolate their children. We have to remember: the purpose of this isn't to remove positive kids or to cut down on transmission. It's to improve the attendance figures that the DfE share with the media.

Guidance for testing in Special Schools www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings/mass-asymptomatic-testing-in-specialist-settings

What wasn’t clear about the 7 days of testing is that it is 7 school days of testing. So no testing at the weekend and no isolating?

@Saucery

The pupils it could set back by years are the ones continually ignored by the DofE et al. Inadequate provision that goes back to before they were even born. Raise up all levels of society and you’ll give those children a chance from the start.

Exactly. Where were all these people when the sure start funding was cut, or the homestart funding? Where were they when the in person developmental assessments by HVs got cut or when SALT waiting lists became so long?

@noblegiraffe

What wasn’t clear about the 7 days of testing is that it is 7 school days of testing. So no testing at the weekend and no isolating?

Exactly.

Some of those children (and staff) will be positive and shedding the virus on buses and trains, in supermarkets and shops, etc.

But the Government says it's to shorten transmission chains. Surely, they can't believe their own bullshit, can they?

The illogic is staggering isn't it?

@Achristmaspudsskidu

Ffs-why did I stray onto the Corona board-I’ll just get myself all worked up! Why can’t people see what a mess this LF testing in schools will be?

Is it too early for ?

I'm on my second , Achristmaspusskidu. Intend to carry on tonight but my alcohol tolerance is quite low so I'll probably go straight to angry/comatose and bypass happy completely.

I decided to do a gratitude a day in 2021, just privately to myself, on FB so I can remember them. Today I'm just glad I've got a brilliant HoD and colleagues. This year would have been so much worse without them. I made the mistake of reading the comments on the latest Times Article ("Heads Angry at Order to Reopen Schools") and had to stop. Too enraging/upsetting.

The Daily Fail homepage is screaming about school closures now. I mean, would they like to decide wtf they want?

Has anyone said anything about staff ‘close contacts’? If we are forced to come in daily to be swabbed (with the alternative being self-isolation with no pay) does that mean if we test negative, we are fine to go to Tesco on the way home? Or is it school to home only?!

Many teachers aren’t required to self isolate when a close contact anyway due to the magic 2m assumption so testing them would actually be a step up in safety. A 3% step up.

@noblegiraffe

Many teachers aren’t required to self isolate when a close contact anyway due to the magic 2m assumption so testing them would actually be a step up in safety. A 3% step up.

Yes that's true...

@PandemicPavalova

I'd like to see a wave of heads starting to stand together to say they can't guarantee staff or pupil safety so they can't open.

That would be brilliant. We can dream....

We have had yet more efforts by slt to help us re distancing but is still going to be impossible in some rooms.
We are teaching full timetable remotely from Monday, and our protocol includes essential live teacher interaction at some point. Should be ok though, and teaching staff don’t need to go in first week.

Was the haringey letter posted?

www.haringey.gov.uk/news/returning-primary-school-statement-leader-and-deputy-leader

Haringey.

I thought I had posted about it, but obviously I just imagined it.

[quote noblegiraffe]Guidance for testing in Special Schools www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings/mass-asymptomatic-testing-in-specialist-settings[/quote]

Thanks

Are we going to be expected to test kids who have symptoms or just close contacts of a positive case? As a pp said at the moment if a kid develops symptoms they're kept home until they get a test result- would they now just come in and do a lf test?

Anyone else got masses of keyworker kids in? About 10% of the school, including quite a lot of ks4 and some ks5...

@noblegiraffe

Many teachers aren’t required to self isolate when a close contact anyway due to the magic 2m assumption so testing them would actually be a step up in safety. A 3% step up.

I wonder what they’d do if your household member tested positive then-would you then be in for daily testing?!

I’m sure I saw on Twitter that siblings of positive contacts would still be told to come in for testing but i haven’t seen that confirmed in any guidance yet.

@CountDuckulasCranberrySauce

Anyone else got masses of keyworker kids in? About 10% of the school, including quite a lot of ks4 and some ks5...

We have about 50 in. Four competent year 10s with target 9s. The mind boggles.

Clear as mud.

So staff in primary Sen can be tested but not pupils?

Weekly screening or only if in contact? Daily LfT if in contact?

Wtf.

This will be the year's meme