The Forty Seventh Republic! Happy Valentines and get some half term rest

[Staffdontblowitnow]

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

Sympathies for those with back problems. I have scoliosis. Had back surgery 7 years ago to partially remove 2 discs that were bulging as they were killing my sciatic nerve. Only had 6 weeks off from work, hardcore me 😆 I still have to be very careful now. I have annual MRIs. My spine is that of someone 20 years older than me. Ask me any advice - I am an expert at all things back related!

Soft play... right now it's the subject of my wildest fantasy! 😂
Thanks for the rice sock idea, I'll give it a go. I may also be wandering up to the chemist later for some cocodamol as naproxen and paracetamol really aren't cutting it.
On a more positive note, I've just had an hour long conversation with a friend I hadn't spoken to in over a year. I do like friendships like that.

time 4yo and 1yo here and I'm so fed up with the bickering when the small one touches the other ones toys. I just cannot be bothered for it. Cbeebies has worked overtime this week, park trips are so over rated and like you I'd kill for soft play. Even the scummy unclean noisy local hell hole one would be preferable to trying to entertain them both all the time!

Us4us is doing well....

Pleased it’s not just me dreaming of soft play and allowing my child to watch CBeebies almost constantly (it’s linked to the EYFS curriculum....right.....please....)

@EnemyOfEducationNo1

Us4us is doing well....

They haven’t actually got many members, have they?!

Or like-minded friends judging by the first comment!

Do we know what’s happening with schools in Wales/Scotland yet? I know they keep saying the younger ones will be back soon but is that all of them at once/no masks/as before?

There was someone writing in The Times today . It was the most selfish article ever with the most self absorbed headline 'Goodbye, homeschool -I have my life back'.. Could have been framed very differently , as I accept maternal MH is very important for children. They chose not to tell us who their columnist Esther Walker is.

Oh, it's Giles Coren's wife. Sure she must ahve it very tough.

What does Giles do then, Esther? You have a a DH problem!

For a group with so few members us4us seems to have a lot of influence. Plus some of those members are not really members they're just having a nosey at what's going on

Nicola will be making a statement this afternoon about how Scotland's return to school will work.

I know that people on the main boards would consider me paranoid, but I started looking at CO2 monitors last night in case we're going back to 30 kids in a class soon. Especially as there are 6 adults involved with my class.

That’s because they’re not a grassroots parenting organisation but a funded astroturfing campaign group masquerading as some mums around a kitchen table outfit. They had the power and connections before they started.

I've seen doctors, physios, osteos, chiropractors the lot. The daily pain is low level enough that I can work etc but it's always there. It takes about an hour to get moving in the morning. It tends to go into full on spasm 3 or 4 times a year which usually means a week in bed necking valium. I've never known pain like it and I've given up thinking it will ever be better 😔

@Cantaloupeisland

I've seen doctors, physios, osteos, chiropractors the lot. The daily pain is low level enough that I can work etc but it's always there. It takes about an hour to get moving in the morning. It tends to go into full on spasm 3 or 4 times a year which usually means a week in bed necking valium. I've never known pain like it and I've given up thinking it will ever be better 😔

Literally feel your pain @Cantaloupeisland. If it wasn’t for the fact that my nerve was dying and I was experiencing paralysis in my foot, I wouldn’t have been a candidate for surgery. Back pain is debilitating. I actually attribute my daughter’s independence to my back pain as from the age of 16 months I couldn’t hold her. I taught her how to climb onto ladders to reach cups, how to take out meals from the freezer and out them in the microwave, dress herself, make phone calls etc.

Have you had a MRI?

I have mother - showed a bulging disc and some early degeneration but tbh I'm sure the issue is muscular. The pain in the lower back spreads into the upper and even into my chest - my ribs hurt like mad when I lie down at night. It's exhausting!

@Cantaloupeisland Do you lie on your back? My osteo recommends always lying on your front as it places your skeleton into the most natural position.

Me too! Slipped disc in 30s, now reasonably OK but have to have the osteopath intervene occasionally, then I do the exercises for a while then start forgetting/become complacent.

Best thing for me is walking. Oh and no stress, haha.....

I've got an unstable sacroiliac joint that causes lots of trouble when it "goes". I only know about it because I read about it on Mumsnet. No doctor or physio ever told me, despite my having had problems for over 20 years (since my second pregnancy).
I already knew by trial and error that some yoga style exercises helped, but I googled and found exercises specifically to help stabilise the SI joint, added them to the yoga ones and even though I have problems from time to time they now resolve in days rather than weeks. 15 min of daily exercises and stretches does it. But I still feel annoyed that I had to find out for myself.

I've been told by a couple of practitioners never to lie/sleep on my front, bad for organs and generally....

I love sleeping on my front.

Piggy, well done for venturing back into Data and getting a sensible discussion about the Warwick research going!

Lying on my front hurts and feels a bit suffocating! It's a vicious circle- any exercise, even walking, makes it worse but then doing nothing just means your muscles get weaker and weaker, gah!

Wow - do you think that the poster who complained about teachers having chairs

I’m sorry...what??

There was a buffet. And popcorn. And there were chairs around the table.
Apparently this is not allowed.

I'd just finally started getting NHS physio for a calcified shoulder joint when lockdown started last March. That's obviously not going to carry on ever. Reckon I've spent 1500 quid on physio for back/shoulder pain over the last 2 years. Combined with knee ligament issues, i cant help thinking it's age.. and probably, my weight.

Oh those chairs Mrs

I thought perhaps we weren’t allowed chairs at our desks any more.

Hugs to all the back pain sufferers. I herniated a disc years ago and the dr said to keep moving. I decided taking the codeine and going back to work was a good idea (probably because of the codeine 🤣)

Apparently I looked a bit grey but tbh it improved things with the Y7s I had at the time 🤷🏻‍♀️