The Fifty-first republic - twice weekly tests and wear masks at all time till Easter

[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.

Do not give the staffroom password to others 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. Do not sit on the chairs and wear a mask.

He said coffee room last time. Did someone point out that schools don’t have coffee rooms so he tried again, without talking to any teachers.

That’s the problem with this shit, no one is talking to any teachers. Education Datalab couldn’t work out why fewer teachers were isolating in secondary than primary. It’s because we weren’t allowed to isolate, duh.

I work part time. On my out of office email I state this clearly and say I will respond once back in the office. When asked once to keep up to date with email over the weekend I pointed out that this contradicted the advice given in out Focus on Wellbeing (or some such misnomer) training, it was on my list of Things To Avoid, and therefore I wouldn’t do it.

'Common room' made me laugh! Who has such a thing

We have department workrooms in our school but currently can't use them because of covid restrictions. Even in normal times I struggle to have enough time to get a brew!

Been a stressful week for a variety of reasons and next week doesn't look like it will be easier

Sixth form common rooms exist in most private schools and most or many state schools. For students.

They're not for staff. Many schools don't have staff rooms at all.

What would a 5 term year look like? We call ours 6 term so in that sense I guess they mean ten terms of less than 4 weeks each?

I've got a banging headache and feel like I have a massive hangover or am coming down with flu. Jab side effects I guess. I've got an hour in school today with kw then a couple more lessons to support after so will be alright.

If it got to the stage where we had 10 breaks of a week and a few weeks off for summer I think I'd leave. I could possibly cope with losing 2 weeks from summer and adding them to October and feb half term I could handle that as I'd have more opportunities to go away.

Endless bitty holidays would mean less chance of travel and ending up working every holiday.

Anyway it's not going to happen I don't think. I'm not convinced parents would want to be working out a weeks childcare virtually every month

@KatherineOfGaunt who is it that is messaging you about the work?

I have a suspicion that a 5 term year is not 10 short terms but 5 long ones.

We have a common room. It has sofas and vending machines and good lighting and space.
It's for the sixth form.

We have two . Both largely empty except for photocopiers.

If he said teachers picked it up by being forced to attend meetings, by having to queue for resources or by working in unventilated offices and workrooms, I'd be happier with him!

DH's school has a staff common room (private school) and staff eat lunch together. That did definitely cause some issues. Because of SI rather than illness though.

I have a suspicion that a 5 term year is not 10 short terms but 5 long ones

I feel ill at the thought of long terms.

We have a staff room. The only people who go in there are cover supervisors, trainee teachers (sometimes) and the cleaners while they're waiting for the kids to leave so they can start work. We've got departmental offices where we work and eat lunch (in normal times). In covid times we eat in our own classrooms, and only go into the offices for printing, getting a drink or if we have PPA with no classroom available.

You see in ours departments do share workrooms and offices and bring in biscuits and cakes and eat lunch together. Drives me potty. We ahve also this year brought in paired duties.

But there have been no staff outbreaks. So staff to staff transmission has not been an issue.

The longest they could be is 8 weeks if they're going to be even sized terms. With a fortnight between most and then 3 weeks for summer? I don't know - it comes up every now and then but so far has never happened.

I really don't want to go to school but have to leave now. Found out we're doing kw and remote simultaneously from Monday - so we're moving around going to classrooms even if there is only 1 or 2 kids in that group as kw/v provision and teaching them live. That scuppers the meeting with hod I think.

Anyway. See you later

We have a staffroom and dept offices/bases. I feel privelidged. Though no one really uses the staffroom apart from briefings.

@Saucery

What about the pupils who don’t want to test at all, for various reasons? You still can’t require daily tests from them without new legislation and the govt risks attracting the ire of U4T types if they do that, which I can’t see them being willing to do. They also aren’t going to be keen on employers being inconvenienced by an increase in morning phone calls saying people can’t come into work because their child has tested positive. Which might not be a massive problem with crappy LFTs anyway.

If increased uptake in testing is a measure of success in this pilot, then I’m all for U4T types campaigning against this and encouraging parents not to take up daily testing.

Michael Spicer and Rishi Sunak.

Those poor boys! They’re a credit to their parents.

twitter.com/mrmichaelspicer/status/1367752229223096321?s=21

3 weeks off in the summer will be a nightmare for parents trying to get time booked off at work and will fuck tourism.

I presume all private schools would only have 3 weeks off in the summer as well?

The longest they could be is 8 weeks if they're going to be even sized terms. With a fortnight between most and then 3 weeks for summer? I don't know - it comes up every now and then but so far has never happened. They did a pilot of this system a few years ago, somewhere I can't remember. It was almost universally hated. I don't quite know why it was hated so much. Maybe because it was different to what we're used to, maybe because it was just one county rather than the while country, so it would be difficult to spend time with family/friends in other counties, who knows.

If we were going to shorten the summer holidays it should be by starting a week earlier in August then having a 2 week break at October. That autumn term is the longest slog so we could all appreciate having a 2 week break in the middle. And, more importantly, exam years wouldn't lose a week of learning time, which they would do if the extra week of term is in July but the extra week of holiday is earlier in the year.

I would perhaps overcome my lifelong aversion and hatred of private schools if they maintain their massive 8 weeks and we lose our 6 and start looking for jobs.

From a quick glance at their twitter U4T are launching their no masks in schools campaign this morning.

A job has come up and I’m undecided about applying for it. It’s in a few paying indie and I hate the idea of paying for education and the barriers this causes to hard working state school students. But I also hate the idea of staying where I am. I can’t work out if I’m being an idiot.

We have a common room. It has sofas and vending machines and good lighting and space.
It's for the sixth form.

But there will be no spread in THAT common room, of course, amongst those adult-sized students. It's only teachers that spread it. Apart from the fact that there is no spread in schools. According to the fixed stats.

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

From a quick glance at their twitter U4T are launching their no masks in schools campaign this morning.

If they’re against masks and testing, then the only solution is bubbles isolating at home for 10-14 days when there’s a positive test.

Us4Them are also against 'healthy kids' having to isolate. We don't do it for the flu waaah waaah etc.

They just want schools open with no covid mitigations at all.