The Forty Second Republic - Lockdown 3 online learning struggles continue

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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

I am so sorry for your loss January

They are collecting data from cases (in a rather ad hoc not very reliable fashion as extensively previously discussed) but not for fatalities. The line about 'risk of fatal outcomes' goes back to lockdown one.

@starrynight19

Appuskidu just rolling them out for staff only as far as I am aware in primary.

Right, ok. We haven’t heard anything yet.

Of all the decisions about schools over the last year, the use of lateral flow tests to replace SI is the one that bothers me the most. A few people on Twitter are pretty vocal about it but they have virtually no followers. We need a Marcus Rashford-esque celebrity on side with this or it’s just going to happen.

@JanuaryChill I am so sorry for the loss of your brother. Please take all the time you need to grieve and forget the less important stuff.🥀

I'm so sorry for your loss @JanuaryChill, sending many unmny hugs

Appu, despite being told primary weren't getting any lft last week, we've since been told we are for staff.

How they're being used is yet to be revealed.

Not sure if it's a local area thing or national though; I know some LEAs are choosing how to use their tests.

I am sorry, January. I am glad your brother was with people who knew him and cared about him at the end. Be kind to yourself

Btw have people seen Oak now has a Library section, one free book online for a week? Plus a few linked activities. Currently Tracey Beaker. Says aimed at primary but obvs that could be KS3.

Also noticed they now have a SEN section.

The clearest analogy I can think of is using a pregnancy test on day 21 of your cycle. No you won't get a false positive but a negative doesn't mean anything.

Surprised not to have seen it anywhere. Lurking journos feel free.

I'm with 2 different year groups back to back tomorrow. The second includes a kid who hates me. He's the one I was mostly describing when talking about behaviour problems being compounded in kids not made to engage in remote learning. Was surprised he's in school as I've had no work from him out of 3 lessons set so far.

Not really looking forward to his company and would feel a right twat if I ended up having to remove him in kw provision but I wouldn't be the first from a bit of research on Go.

@TrashedWarrior

Appu, despite being told primary weren't getting any lft last week, we've since been told we are for staff.

How they're being used is yet to be revealed.

Not sure if it's a local area thing or national though; I know some LEAs are choosing how to use their tests.

That’s interesting-I didn’t know LEAs would get a choice!

I presume secondaries don’t have a choice about whether or not to offer LFT as an alternative to SI? It’s all then down to parental consent and uptake?

I know when all the LFT stuff was proposed, that schools handbook told heads they had to be responsible for the gov propaganda and were expected to say the tests were accurate and safe, in order to persuade people to give consent, I wonder what the situation is what that now? The letter saying they were 101% brilliant was withdrawn wasn’t it? Could secondary heads send out a letter with some of the more salient facts about the LF tests or would the DfE threaten to sue them? Parents should absolutely know the facts and if heads knowingly mislead them, is that not a very dodgy place for them to be?

If, as a result of this policy, teachers end up forced to teach childen who test positive (knowing they were at very high risk of doing so) or pupils bring it home and someone becomes ill or dies-who is responsible for that? The head? The LA? The DfE? The government? Someone should be, because it is a very dangerous policy and completely avoidable.

Am accepting all these kind words and shocking hugs!

Will defo ask to rearrange the KWV rota so I don't have to go in tomorrow, don't fancy a day like Friday. And means I won't have my first "public" LFT as well, it is a bit exposing, isn't it? Different from swabbing in an anonymous testing centre.

The clearest analogy I can think of is using a pregnancy test on day 21 of your cycle. No you won't get a false positive but a negative doesn't mean anything.

Oh that’s a good one. And being a close contact is like having had unprotected sex - you aren’t out of the woods yet!

And the only form of contraception that's 100% reliable is not doing it in the first place!

Delurking. I always read these threads but I've only contributed once. As a TA currently on unpaid leave, I probably won't have much to contribute as I'm not on the front line at the moment, but I wanted to say

January so sorry.

And Salty we had to do PCR tests before we went back in January, and the option we had to choose was 'a local council has asked me to get a test,' which is true in your case, so you should still be able to get one.

You can tell I don't post often, I can't get my asterisks right.

@DriveInSaturday

Delurking. I always read these threads but I've only contributed once. As a TA currently on unpaid leave, I probably won't have much to contribute as I'm not on the front line at the moment, but I wanted to say

January so sorry.

And Salty we had to do PCR tests before we went back in January, and the option we had to choose was 'a local council has asked me to get a test,' which is true in your case, so you should still be able to get one.

I think this is new -the bit about who can’t get a free test

@JanuaryChill

Btw have people seen Oak now has a Library section, one free book online for a week? Plus a few linked activities. Currently Tracey Beaker. Says aimed at primary but obvs that could be KS3.

Also noticed they now have a SEN section.

I mean, it's something but one free ebook a week is a bit rubbish compared to just joining the library and getting hundreds of free ebooks.

Oak academy is pissing me off. Some of their methods for teaching maths are just BIZZARE!

Apusskidu that bit was there when I had to have my test, but I reckoned it wasn't my school that had asked me, it was the local authority. (But I live in an area with really high rates, and you can get tested anyway even if you are asymptomatic so it might be different.)

Yes I know random. And a week won't be long enough to read a whole book for many. I wonder how much they're paying in copywrite or whatever - I should probably know how these things work but don't. Not had much to do with ebooks either personally or professionally.

I'm so sorry for your loss January.

Some children's authors have temporarily changed their digital rights which must be how this has come about. They're usually licensed separately from printed books.

So sorry for your loss @JanuaryChill be kind to yourself x

I haven't been on here much this week -just been a busy one so catching up a bit. Got a CPD session to plan this week and need to do some longer term planning for our faculty around SEND and PP so keeping busy alongside the remote teaching.

This morning though, DH, DS(7) and me went on a nice long walk on the bridal way to the next village. DS played on the park and we treated ourselves to takeaway hot sandwiches from a cafe with a takeaway window. It was nice to get some fresh air and see something different!

Can't believe we still have at least 4 weeks of remote learning and in all honesty, looking at deaths/hospitalisations I can see us being mostly if not fully remote still after half term

Oh God. Just came on to have a whinge but have just seen January's news and everything pales into insignificance. @JanuaryChill I lost my brother just over 2 years ago. The pain is still indescribable so go easy on yourself. I'm just pleased that it was peaceful and in a way any decisions (and subsequent guilt) was taken out of your hands. What I've found is people rally round the wife, the mother etc and there are groups for this. But siblings tend to be forgotten about. Yet apart from with our mum that was the longest relationships in our lives. I can't describe how much I miss him and my children miss their kind funny uncle. Ds is getting scarily like him. I'm pleased. Prob outed myself now so will need to think of a name change soon....

Have failed yet again and having a glass of red whilst cooking lunch. Woke up with the fear this morning. Missing DB and not knowing if I can get through everything.

Just want to add I'm so sorry to hear about your brother, @JanuaryChill .