The Thirty-eight republic - Covid Carnage - Schools still waiting for test kits

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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

@Hercwasonasnowball

Riga You can't say u turn anymore? I missed that memo.

Who knew? 🤷🏼‍♀️

What why can’t we say u turn 🤷‍♀️

My eldest DC has a medical issue that does not affect daily life, but could go downhill rapidly if the working bit is affected (vague sorry). Covid causes issues with the organs in question. We were worried in March, but reassured that children didn't seem to be affected. I am now so worried, more so than for the younger DC with chest problems.

Gloria I hope your DD continues to be ok and fingers crossed for everyone else's tests! Happened to a child in DS class. Her family are in the ONS study and she tested positive with no symptoms (she never developed any at all). Weirdly, her Dad tested positive as well but her mum/brother didn't, even though they all live in the same house

Change of plan on London primary schools doesn't surprise me. I am fully expecting further changes to the plans generally over the next two weeks. For both primary and secondary.

Managed to get quite a lot of planning done today. Struggling slightly for Y12 because of the topic I am teaching. Will look for more animations tomorrow.

A parents group I am in are generally saying they would prefer their kids to have Teams learning than be in a mask all day in school then the subject changed to fines vs a choice.

Guess we can't please everyone.

The smiley face is the new anti maskers thing. In other words, with a mask on you can't see someone's smile. they are awful people who I doubt go around bestowing lovely smiles on people.

In other news so livid with my effing stepmother who has indeed had incredibly fragile just discharged form hospital 'friend' to stay since Tuesday. Sent me speedy Whatsapp confirming it had all been very difficult but with the 'right amount of medicine, warmth and company ' things were getting better. This woman's brother is now flying in from Dubai to fetch her on Monday. So that's house guest number two landing from an international flight FFS. Said woman's GP (!) had wanted my (spleenless 80 year old) DF and SM to 'hang on' to the woman for longer!

I am incandescent , actually, with the risks my DF and his DW are suddenly taking. Not replying to the Whatsapp for the meantime.

Grr

U turn not allowed because everything is always so rapidly changing. Poor wee Gavin.

We've gone from 268/100k last week to 607/100k this week. That's quite a scary rise. We're at our highest rate so far, and I would quite like our primary schools to close now as well.

Yes that's a scary rise

I've mentioned Gateshead a few times as there was a v clear unique purple blob on the heat maps in the 10-15 age group at the end of term.

It's case rate has risen by 68% in one week.

This is one way

coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases?areaType=ltla&areaName=Gateshead

I use this site coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map and use the slider to find the case numbers on a specific date.

Can I mention my village and surrounding villages? 500% rise!!!

@ChloeDecker

But what's with all the twitterers with smileys on their profile pic speaking utter tosh? Is the smiley face a bat signal to Covid deniers/Us4Them etc?

Yep, often with “ReJecT BaD sCiENcE” in the logo too. The fucking irony, with the absolute denial shit they talk. Sorry for the swears. I’ve been holding it in on Twitter and just blocking as many as I can find. Needed to let that all out somewhere

My whole county has a much less scary rise, just up from 168 to 280, but the city I live in has a huge scary rise!!!

piggy you win!! That is an incredibly scary rise!!

York is going bonkers with a worrying high rate in age 5-9.

Those rises are terrifying! Our cases are currently much higher than those in the neighbouring tier 4 area, even though we’re still tier 3, but I don’t know what the percentage increase is like.

Yikes. My area went from “suppressed” at beginning of November, 10-49 at the beginning of December, to 200-399 now.

Where I work has gone from white to 200-399 in the same period, and our main catchment area is 400-799

That’s actually pretty scary.

You can tell I’m an English language teacher as I haven’t even attempted those percentages

My home area is 700/100,000 and school is around 900/100,000

Our small area (admittedly small numbers...for now) has increased 100%

Am I right in thinking that if you had variant 1, you are just as at risk of catching the new variant as everyone else, no protection at all? As with flu?

Hubby 95% certain had it in April just before testing was available, with children bookending him with basically a temp and a sniffles which may or may not have been it. Dd was born v prem and on oxygen for 9 months, noone has ever been able to say if chronic lung disease of prematurity makes her more vulnerable or if she's grown out of it and is therefore just like every other 5 year old. Worried for her, worried about me (fat, asthmatic primary teacher.)

Oh monkey that is a lot I was going to ask if it makes you think about what you’re going to do, but honestly, what can we do?

Ds1 is in secondary, not back on until the 18th, I’m at work but students not in until 11th and 18th, but ds2.. he’s in primary and I really really don’t want to send him in...