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

@Evvyjb you can do like Piggy suggested in Teams. Create a word document and attach it to an assignment, making it so they can edit their own copy. Then make the assignment timed. You can dip in and out of each one and see them working on it in ‘real time’. They can’t write in text boxes though so use a one cell table if you want them to write inside a box. Don’t know if that helps? I can send my instructions for that if it does!

Those of you in Primary - have you been told that lateral flow testing is about to start? If so, is it for staff and children or just staff? Apparently we'll only be using it for staff, and wasn't sure if this is a general thing.

According to the Guardian article posted upthread , not starting in primary so I wouldn't worry!

Anyone with Brit Box? I’m watching Grange Hill. Teachers all out on strike in the middle of the day when they don’t like the actions of the Head. We need to learn from our 70s and 80s colleagues!

I’m still watching my way through 7 series of Father Brown. Might go with Grange Hill next.

@JanuaryChill I would think it is affected by schools like mine with huge swathes of office staff working from home, catering staff and maintenance keeping well away fro. The kids and those numbers dwarfing the numbers of TAs who must be at greater risk than the teachers.
We are lead school for a MAT though ( even having said that we have more office staff than any other school i know)

@chocolateisavegetable

Those of you in Primary - have you been told that lateral flow testing is about to start? If so, is it for staff and children or just staff? Apparently we'll only be using it for staff, and wasn't sure if this is a general thing.

Yes we have been told we are getting the tests for staff. We have to test twice a week and report results to school. We have raised the question about what happens to those of us who have had covid in the last month or two.

@chocolateisavegetable

Those of you in Primary - have you been told that lateral flow testing is about to start? If so, is it for staff and children or just staff? Apparently we'll only be using it for staff, and wasn't sure if this is a general thing.

Yes-we’ve been told the tests will arrive in school this week and we’ll start testing next week.

We will get a stash to take home and will do it twice weekly-in the evenings ideally, to allow the head time to cover any absence. Then we have to let the school know the test results- whether it’s positive or negative. No mention of it being for pupils or to replace SI at any time.

@JanuaryChill we have a meeting about it this week - don't think SLT have seen the Guardian article yet!

I’m watching Cobra Kai which is in serious need of some risk assessments.

Oak is making me wonder whether the knowledge being accurate is an important part of a knowledge curriculum.

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

Oak is making me wonder whether the knowledge being accurate is an important part of a knowledge curriculum.

Does that mean you think some of what Oak are teaching is not strictly accurate?

@JanuaryChill

According to the Guardian article posted upthread , not starting in primary so I wouldn't worry!

It’s still starting for primary staff-twice weekly, but they aren’t going to be doing the daily contact testing.

Fingers crossed they will stop this in secondary now as well! Are any of you in secondaries where they are actually going ahead and doing this now? I think it was @SaltyAF who was? Apologies if that’s the wrong person, though.

@JanuaryChill

Let's hope the NEU's work isn't open to accusations of bias...

Anyone any idea why the secondary non-teaching staff's rate is no worse than general pop's? OK more shut away in offices than in primary, but still many student-facing and, on and off, teacher-facing??

I think it makes sense, on reflection:

Primary schools' non-tesching staff will be predominantly TAs, with a few office staff (doing lots of first aid), a caretaker/cleaner or two, plus midday staff and catering.

Secondary schools': proportionately fewer child-facing TAs, but proportionately more office staff, data, exams, site, library, cleaning...

I can see that, on average, secondary school support staff (not just TAs) are less student facing than teachers whilst at primary, they are more student facing.

Weekly testing of staff and students in school is in full flow in all the secondaries I know of. We haven't had a positive case since Christmas to know whether our MAT is still going ahead with testing instead of isolating contacts (and I daren't ask).

[quote RigaBalsam]schoolsweek.co.uk/covid-19-nine-things-we-learned-from-scientists-at-education-committee/[/quote]
Just read that. What a load of absolute bollocks. Kids don't get out of school then cram together in groups of over 30 in poor ventilated spaces. Caused by mixing out of school my arse. These people should have to come and sit in a comp for a few days to get their facts straight

@chocolateisavegetable

Primary here. We haven't been told anything about the testing yet but have a staff meeting tomorrow so perhaps it will be on the agenda!

I know Hedge it's ludicrous. Its too icey and cold to hang out outside and the odd rule breaker, that my daughter tells me from her friends and what I hear at school a lot aren't breaking the rules. The few that are well they are always with the same people/friends not 30 plus.

I have serious doubts about the level of knowledge of many, many teachers. There are people that I like on Twitter who make a big deal about their in-depth subject knowledge but it’s just...having an English degree? It’s not ground-breaking research or anything, just standard textual analysis. And also, being able to analyse a text to the nth degree doesn’t make you a better GCSE English teacher! Half the skill is knowing when to stop! Otherwise you’re filling them full of “facts” that are half conjecture anyway and they don’t have the maturity of thought of experience to actually understand.

Think you're right re secondary non-teaching staff but can I just point out that in our school library staff are very student-facing! eg, my boss teaches all of Y7, lunchtimes, break, Homework Club....

But yes to all the officey staff I guess.

Not sure about secondary. I think i’m finding stuff in humanities stuff being aimed at year 3 and below which is being simplified to an extent that it’s not quite accurate anymore. Although I might be being a bit nit picky.

In today’s case either something is the Nicene Creed or it isn’t. I don’t think there’s ‘The short version of the Nicene Creed’ is a thing. If it was too complicated the Apostle’s Creed would have achieved the same objective. Or introducing it as parts of the NC if you feel that teaching 7 year olds about the Council of Nicea is important.

I haven’t watched many of them, just picked the odd one here and there, but it seems like quite a few of the history/geog/RE ones have something like this somewhere in each lesson. It might just be personal choice about how I’d teach it tbh.

Primary and we are starting LFT for staff only. Have been told that it will not change any of our bubble closure/close contacts isolation protocols that we already have in place.

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

Oak is making me wonder whether the knowledge being accurate is an important part of a knowledge curriculum.

Nah. Put it in a knowledge organiser. Job done.

!!! A poster on the Data thread says that Heads in her area have all been informed that, due to large amounts of surplus vaccine, school staff can get an appt for vaccination!!

Will ask her where.

@chocolateisavegetable

Those of you in Primary - have you been told that lateral flow testing is about to start? If so, is it for staff and children or just staff? Apparently we'll only be using it for staff, and wasn't sure if this is a general thing.

Primary LSA, were starting it for staff only not children.