The Fifty-second Republic - Beware of Education’s ides of March

[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 non-staff as it attracts the wrong sort of crowd.

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 do wear a mask.

@TheHoneyBadger, In my experience, such rudeness needs calling out every time. There are ways of doing it that don't need to be adversarial, but this colleague will continue to undermine you in increasingly blatant ways otherwise.

I think sometimes when you do an AIBU you can't enable voting . It's a shame, although it is clear where the groundswell is!

These are largely middle class people talking about choir and ponies, mind...

The govt will make all schools part of a MAT, put their pet heads in charge of the MATs and bingo.

@EnemyOfEducationNo1

Honey - yes extremely rude. I've just done my first LFT. The "box of stuff" included fairly comprehensive instructions. I've created my login etc and reported my negative result... I hope I get quicker at it though as that was a huge faff

I've been doing them twice a week for over a month and it does get quicker. The most annoying part for me is that we are reporting them on Arbor and the "add covid-19 test" button doesn't work on my phone so I have to turn on my laptop and do it.

"Just out of curiosity.... do you think that person would have responded similarly to a male teacher?"

No, definitely not.

The more I think about it, the more I think this longer school days/shorter holidays is a completely deliberate scheme. It’s not going to happen-they know that and will blame the unions anyway for not being willing to buy in.

But it’s all everyone is talking about today rather than the fact schools are going back with no real mitigations in place tomorrow and nobody is asking them about that. Win win.

Yup : on the old Brexit threads when certain ideas or posters appeared the usual posters used to say oh look! Squirrel!

I agree Appu.

I think it is incredibly sad to even consider longer days and shorter holidays taking all the fun out of childhood. All those turning round shouting yes please are basically saying fuck mental health issues as this makes child care easier. It is as though all those concerns about children's mental health and covid restrictions have been forgotten about !

It also makes them look nice and busy, like they are doing something to address the equality gap that has widened even further over lockdown/s.

Totally agree @StaffRepFeistyClub. I grew up in poverty yet still loved my summer holiday. Luckily it was the 80s. Church groups ran clubs and my mum would take my brother and I there so we would have food in the day. The Tories have created lack of social mobility through cuts to Sure Start centres/PP etc so now lower income families think ‘great! Kids in school longer’. It won’t make people happier though and doesn’t address the real issue - quality education costs.

IMHO, the need for childcare is inevitable since most mothers started WOH. So this has been building for decades.

Maths teachers looking for a consultancy role like the one my mate does for science, Ormiston academy chain will be hiring. Need someone in the North, Midlands and maybe Essex way twitter.com/jemmaths/status/1368298969445568514?s=21

To any school LFT testers on here, are the tests you're using in school any different from the ones we're using at home as school staff? My home kit looks to have all the same gubbins as for the regular tests we've been having at school and as the tests for the students but at another local school, apparently PHE has said the test won't work if it's only the nostrils (both) swabbed instead of throat plus one nostril. I know at least one of ours can't do the throat swab - they vomited everywhere when doing a practice swab last week - but is able to do the nasal swab.

@StaffRepFeistyClub

I think it is incredibly sad to even consider longer days and shorter holidays taking all the fun out of childhood. All those turning round shouting yes please are basically saying fuck mental health issues as this makes child care easier. It is as though all those concerns about children's mental health and covid restrictions have been forgotten about !

I went to a summer club in my youth, aimed at children from my part of the community (BAME). The friends I made there are my friends for life. To be fair, I had a grandparent at home so childcare when I was younger was never an issue, which I appreciate is now when both parents work.

My dc love to spend the summer holidays having lie ins, seeing their mates, attending the odd sports club and just generally the freedom of it all. I hope that this is taken into account by those pushing for them to be in school over the summer!

Noble that job looks decent.....

Know anymore about Ormiston MAT anyone?

@StaffRepFeistyClub

I think it is incredibly sad to even consider longer days and shorter holidays taking all the fun out of childhood. All those turning round shouting yes please are basically saying fuck mental health issues as this makes child care easier. It is as though all those concerns about children's mental health and covid restrictions have been forgotten about !

Completely.

It's like the tend for enforced mindfulness in schools when mindfulness for primary age kids is definitely just playing.

@TheHoneyBadger

"Just out of curiosity.... do you think that person would have responded similarly to a male teacher?"

No, definitely not.

Sorry to hear that. It's tedious and predictable, and I only saw how prevalent it was when I became a mum, I think. I always try to be on the lookout for this sort of behaviour with the students, but it's really annoying when you see it amongst the adults.

This whole business of lockdowns and now the longer days stuff has made me actually really fucking sad for kids.

As a whole society just seems to want them out of their hair and for someone else (school) to deal with them like they're these terribly inconvenient things that were foisted on us. They're a burden that has to be fitted in around work and cost too much money and parents cannot possibly be expected to look after them or contribute to their education. They all go on about the disadvantaged kids but I'm beginning to see they're all bloody disadvantaged by a way of living and working that sees them as 'things' to be parked somewhere.

And they don't get to make up for it with a rich world of their own in the same ways as I did for example with friends who I could go and see and hang out with whenever I wanted, and being able to play out and have a whole village territory and sleeping at each other's houses and having minimal interference from parents. They have this really confined restricted world of what they're allowed to do (and I'm talking before covid) and miniscule levels of freedom but very little time and input with family either and shoved in overcrowded schools with no peace in them and a fence around them in the day.

They don't need more school - they need more life.

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation

Noble that job looks decent.....

Know anymore about Ormiston MAT anyone?

My friend is a H and S inspector for the Ormiston schools near me in W. Mids. She enjoys working there, more so than when she worked for LEA. Said they were well run.

@DreamingofBrie - I saw your message on the last thread re. indy schools. I spoke to the Head of that particular one and she gave out a CBA attitude.... I'll PM though for info re. working in indies as there are so many round here - if that's ok?

Sounds like your colleague is threatened by you, Honeybadger.

@SE13Mummy I thought that with any type of test, two nostrils is better than nothing! But don't have any more specialist knowledge, sorry.

My home test kit says (re children) "if you cannot swab the tonsils, swab both nostrils."

Just did my lateral flow.

So you have to report your lateral flow test to government and then it texts you to tell you you are negative. No shit I told you.
Honestly. 🙄

Don't think a lot of parents will go through this rigmarole twice a week.

[quote JanFebAnyMonth]@SE13Mummy I thought that with any type of test, two nostrils is better than nothing! But don't have any more specialist knowledge, sorry.

My home test kit says (re children) "if you cannot swab the tonsils, swab both nostrils."[/quote]
Now that’s I’m a ‘certified tester’ I know the ins and outs of this, as had to complete a unit on nose studs - one piercing, two piercings and newly pierced.

It’s just logged as basically ‘no can do’ and just fo tonsils.

@HerdyGerdy, yes that's fine!

I'd be put off by a CBA attitude from the head of any school I was applying to.

(Have noticed I am also an excessive user of exclamation marks and am working hard on not apologising before I speak).