The Fortieth Republic - Schools are safe but they are vectors so go online

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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

3yos primary aren't providing anything until Monday. Facebook is outraged. I'm not sure where I stand considering they have had months to be ready for this. They have approx 20% of kids in school so not overwhelmed. Is this poor leadership?

Nothing has changed where I am, viciouslybashed. Slightly fewer children in a classroom but 3-4 adults in there. Big fuss about not crowding staff room so unused classrooms used as extra staff rooms but tbh I would much rather those classrooms were used to halve the 20+ numbers of children!
Class bubbles still separate, which is great, but a case of Covid in a class is going to spread like wildfire. No 2m distance has ever been achievable - not in the first lockdown, not last year from Sept and not now.

My DC’s school really doesn’t want people to take the piss out of the key worker thing...this is after half a page about how home is the safest place for children and everyone should stay at home as much as possible. Glad they have the balls to put it out there to be honest.

@Piggywaspushed

Is this not a bit sinister this staff testing? Will they not use testing outcomes to prove we are low risk now?? (with apols to primary and SEN staff )

That's a really good point. I hadn't even thought of that.

@MrsHamlet

I'm not going to be tested. I'm not going in to school anyway but something about it doesn't sit right.

No I’m not either. I feel uneasy about it. I’m not keen on the procedure anyway but I also have no trust in the dfe.

Phew, just caught up, these threads are going far too fast.

Anyone who's been doing live teaching longer, any tips on how to structure lessons and or how to avoid screen fatigue. Have a bastard of a headache and it's only been two days.

Don't know if I missed this but what is the Schoolsweek/Gavin Twitter thing??

So sorry many of you are having such an awful time.

@EvilEdnasEnemiesOfEducation I have a very attractive pair of blue light glasses I bought from Amazon, helps with the headache. Last time I also got out for fresh air when I was finished for the day, but the ice here is atrocious. I can't get down my street without sliding.

@EvilEdnasEnemiesOfEducation

Phew, just caught up, these threads are going far too fast.

Anyone who's been doing live teaching longer, any tips on how to structure lessons and or how to avoid screen fatigue. Have a bastard of a headache and it's only been two days.

These may sound weird but I dindcthey help:

Blink lots
Don’t wear contact lenses
Adjust your screen brightness
Try to rely on natural light more, than ceiling lights
Don’t sit too close to the screen
In the evening, place a warm flannel over your eyes for a few minutes

@year5teacher

I feel so upset. I’m at work with 20 children, I can’t socially distance and there’s no rota. SLT all working remotely the entire time. I could cry. I’ve had it.

Your SLT are shits. The original contingency framework guidance said that a DSL or member of SLT had to be on site at all times.

I’m SLT and going in three days out of five, we did a rota between ourselves to always have two of us in. Our teaching and support staff are in for a full week every other week, so at home 50% of the time.

Can you get blue lights to go over glasses, I'm a proper Mr Magoo so cant read without them. Bit stuffed with getting out afterwards as I'm the only one who has time to walk the dog in the morning so that's my one trip out. Guess I could stand in the garden but it's tiny and next doors kids are always out and always want to talk.

Thanks Chloe, will try them too. You lot are ace 😀

I'm crap at name changes, who's badgrammarpun?

I'm glad others are questioning the testing. I don't want to do it but have been asked to send back a consent form. I haven't consented yet.

My siblings and I are all teachers or married to one. They are all gleeful they can send their dc to school. I am conflicted. I couldn't teach live lessons with three small children at home but it's a different message. Why wasn't it ok to send them in last lockdown but now it is?

I've seen a mention on twitter about legal ventilation minimum air exchange. Apparently you can insist it is in the risk assessment which needs specialist surveys.
I don't know how true this is, but you could ask for maximum occupancy calculations for available ventilation to be included in your risk assessments - so like the nasuwt advice about asking to see updated risk assessments - and this could be a way of insisting on lower numbers

@EvilEdnasEnemiesOfEducation

Phew, just caught up, these threads are going far too fast.

Anyone who's been doing live teaching longer, any tips on how to structure lessons and or how to avoid screen fatigue. Have a bastard of a headache and it's only been two days.

Our lessons are an hour 40! Twenty mins intro me talking Bit of group discussion More me Some kind of task Discussion 20-30 mins of them doing a task - I go offline and so do they. But they can email or message. Then back online.

I'm now testing them writing in their books and using office lens to upload an image of their work to class notebook so I can mark it on screen but they don't have to do it on screen.
Tested it with the son of two colleagues today and it worked. My fab new tablet is truly fab.

I just think there is a totally different atmosphere now. The blitz spirit has gone for a kind of manic and panicked entitlement. A lot of sharp elbows!

In a bizarre kind of way I miss lockdown on with everyone out purposefully exercising once a day whilst keeping 2 m away in a jolly fashion, politely queuing outside the supermarkets, making bread, shopping for neighbours, and watching Tik Toks. I only did one of those things myself...

I feel like I completely mistime online lessons. I marked year 10 work today and none of them had finished the task I gave them (even the lovely kids) so I am obviously rushing through because I can't see them and get no feedback from them.

I sometimes give them a document to write on on GC so I can see what they are up to but then that leaves me having to stay focused and it's too intense. I have five hours tomorrow. Wah!

@JanuaryChill

Don't know if I missed this but what is the Schoolsweek/Gavin Twitter thing??

So sorry many of you are having such an awful time.

Anyone?

Anyway, you'll all be delighted to hear this:

(Teachers are now officially "Heroes")

https://mobile.twitter.com/AnnemariePlas/status/1346767248971718656?refsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346767248971718656%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es11&refurl=https%3A%2F%2Fd-16758690652385089328.ampproject.net%2F2012232217000%2Fframe.html

@EvilEdnasEnemiesOfEducation

Phew, just caught up, these threads are going far too fast.

Anyone who's been doing live teaching longer, any tips on how to structure lessons and or how to avoid screen fatigue. Have a bastard of a headache and it's only been two days.

YY to blue light reducing glasses. Good lookers have good ones.

4head is also really good for screen related migraines. The weird stuff is effective by itself but the act of rubbing it onto your temples is like a mini massage and helps.

Also, for when it gets too bad: aspirin + full fat coke.

I don't want to be a hero. I just want to do my job.

@Piggywaspushed

I feel like I completely mistime online lessons. I marked year 10 work today and none of them had finished the task I gave them (even the lovely kids) so I am obviously rushing through because I can't see them and get no feedback from them.

I sometimes give them a document to write on on GC so I can see what they are up to but then that leaves me having to stay focused and it's too intense. I have five hours tomorrow. Wah!

I've only done two so by no means an expert, but on teams you can get hem to raise their hand, so today I got year 7 to raise their hand when they'd finished a task so I knew when to move on/reveal the answer. Or get them to give you a thumbs up emoji or a 'done' comment in the chat?

@Piggywaspushed

I just think there is a totally different atmosphere now. The blitz spirit has gone for a kind of manic and panicked entitlement. A lot of sharp elbows!

In a bizarre kind of way I miss lockdown on with everyone out purposefully exercising once a day whilst keeping 2 m away in a jolly fashion, politely queuing outside the supermarkets, making bread, shopping for neighbours, and watching Tik Toks. I only did one of those things myself...

Nail on head @Piggywaspushed

I feel like I completely mistime online lessons. I marked year 10 work today and none of them had finished the task I gave them (even the lovely kids) so I am obviously rushing through because I can't see them and get no feedback from them. I sometimes give them a document to write on on GC so I can see what they are up to but then that leaves me having to stay focused and it's too intense. I have five hours tomorrow. Wah!

This was identified as problem in my school during the last lockdown. You have to slow right down and you simply cannot check as much. Fortunately this came from SLT after surveys. The urge to replicate the classroom experience comes from a good place, but they are not the same.