The Forty - Eight Republic - countdown for DfE media agency to wake up

[StaffRepFeistyClub]

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

A week away from the grand announcements. A Big Bang return? Dust off the LFTs.

Watch the DfE and their last advertisement campaign. They are good at spin.

Watch Gavin wheeled out from hiding to dish out spin on tv. I guess he will avoid Piers Morgan.

And I still want to know how many of the DfE gang got a £1k bonus for working over Christmas.

£1k = a fair few meal vouchers for those in need.

Are they still dishing out laptops?

Hello. I can't sleep. Twanged something in my back earlier in the week and my arm has now gone funny.
I'll just tidy the pigeon holes whilst I hope the sleeping pill painkiller combo kicks in.

Morning. I'm awake at stupid o'clock because I stupidly set the time wrong on my reminder for taking the guinea pigs to the vets. Apparently I think 4:45am is an appropriate time for the vets to see them . Then visiting dog heard my phone go so decided he could do with going out for a wee in the wet and windy morning, but will be go out by himself? No. He needs me to be out in the cold and rain as well.

I'm awake too. Nightmares again and my to do list is whirring round in my brain. Really need to make some headway today, I've been far too lazy and slept a lot this half term. Feeling so low about everything though and I can't shake the feeling of doom.

name I think you need the sleep you've been beating yourself up about. I always sleep too much at half terms, in some sort of attempt to catch up on the sleep I don't get enough of in term time. Is there anything on the to do list that we can help with? I remember the feeling of doom from my PGCE and nqt years, and this year is a more difficult year to be training.

Morning all (yawn).

Went to check up on the last thread and it had been filled, wonder how many posts were about Chris Hemsworth? 🤔

The DFE campaign sounds ‘fun’ 🙄 wonder if we’ll be required to wear ‘schools are safe’ t-shirts once we go back? Extra Covid protection.

@MrsHamlet Hope you managed some rest and woken pain free.

Morning. Toddler woke up with a bad dream at 4.22. Apparently there were ‘naughty chickens’. She went back to sleep after a cuddle with DP, as did he.

I did not.

Thanks staff.

The thought of them all being back from 8th is a bit scary. Let's hope LFTs weed out some cases and Easter is a natural 'break'. Although mixing over Easter will rise if schools are open.

Morning. Can anyone remember the last non stressful school holiday?

@Piggywaspushed

Morning. Can anyone remember the last non stressful school holiday?

Sorry what? A what?

Guardian is interesting this morning. Cases now highest in 5-12 year olds. Presumably because they've all been in school!

Not very clear reporting, though. When that eejit Woolhouse says 'schools could have opened earlier', I believe he means last summer, not now. For someone who moved his family to a Hebridean island , he isn't half gung ho!

Warning: wallowing post.

I really don’t want everything back as it was in September with no new measures, and teachers running all over the place. In fact, it will be more shit than September because we’ll be the only sector opening. I hate not having a space to work due to no one having their own room. I hate moving to my classes, always feeling like I’m disorganised with a crappy start to the lesson and if we’re back in school we’ll be back to being crammed into pointless staff meetings where I can’t switch my camera off and get on with something while they witter on about the latest initiative.

I feel almost exactly as you do. Some of the kids really upset me with their (governments and sometimes parent induced) sense of entitlement and nastiness before Christmas and I can't see how that will have changed.

Managers in our school have decided hiding is the best approach but also are at the hale and hearty end of the spectrum (albeit mostly knocking around 50 with one diabetic) and so ahve decided paired duties and chock a block canteens aren't anything to worry about.

Plus, my school has parents who will not keep their kids off school or get them tested. One thing that would make me feel less stressed would be if the government listened and added more symptoms to their list : but they definitely won't.

Oh that sense of bloody entitlement..... it's more the parents than the children (primary) but truly bloody astounding!

Hello all Really thought they might stagger return to schools this time. Can't believe they are going to cock it up again.

I'm still shocked they think there are classroom bubbles at secondary school. We don't have bubbles, other than full yeargroups, so over 200 kids in each, which is not a bubble.

Behaviour was awful in certain classes from September- December, and I can't see that anything will have changed for the better with them after this long at home. I do want to see the kids, but I don't see how anything is going to be different from the autumn term.

And just been reading a thread about kids playing together in parks and should they go for a walk with friends? Unanimous do it..... and then we have to be cooped up with them in a couple of weeks.

Is that it then? We really think he's just going to say all back at once and crack on with it?

Medra I completely agree.

My school has done as much as it can to keep us safe under government guidance. That doesn't change the fact I'll soon be exposed to 150 people (minimum) per day.

I hope the LFTing of all the students takes a couple of weeks and naturally staggers them slightly. Do you think it will be 2 LFTs before they're allowed back?

Ofqual announcement imminent too, that is causing me more stress than I realised. The reality of 3 qualifications feels like A LOT.

I don't understand the point of LFTs before returning. They shouldn't have been anywhere to have caught it. It's regular testing once we've been back a few weeks with need (with decent tests, too.)

I think secondary teachers keep underestimating the number of contacts a day. It's only 150 a day if you don't have a form. 5 lessons plus form equals 180 children plus however many TAs. If you're in a six period school, it's 210 kids a day!!

My school did all we could - zones, eating in classrooms, masks in corridors etc but we did not open fully from 3rd week in Sept when we had our first case. We had to close twice fully, once in Nov and once in Dec. How can things have changed that much in 8 weeks? My pupils travel by public bus and train in rush hour. I teach 90% BAME children who live in multigenerational housing. I’m resigned to going back and as I’m mid 40s I can’t see a vaccine coming my way soon, but I’m just sad at the thought of an Autumn term repeat.

What do we think are the chances of a doctors appointment? The pain is now up into my neck and it feels like something is in the wrong place.... I can't explain it.
I'm whimpering like a child!

Back to 5am waking and weird dreams. Have been enjoying the Chris Hemsworth posts. I really thought secondary would be staggered. Really had enough.