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.

I think I’ve gone through that phase and gone the other way rule. At some point the new slacking will become an issue but for now I don’t care and it’s just funny.

[quote tisaginthing]@chocolateisavegetable I'm thinking about it yeah.
It's madness isn't it? I just don't understand it, they aren't doing anything that they couldn't do from home. To me it just sends the message that your health and your family's health doesn't matter.[/quote]
I would think that the union would support a section 44 in this case. Or report the school to the Health & Safety Executive!

That’s terrible Piggy. Too many deaths.

Why does the name ring a bell?

Vic Goddard? Head on the show Educating Essex. Decent one.

He was deputy at the time of the show I believe noble? Very active and vocal on Twitter. A real supporter of teachers and all education staff. (as well as his community and children, obviously!)

Mr Drew was his deputy. He then went on to be head of his own school and did the show Mr Drew’s School for Boys.

Oh yes, that's right!

Today the wind blew and so did the children. Monday was a calm day and I am still very grateful for that, although it does feel like it was a very long time ago.

In our primary, all children isolate if a bubble goes and staff are trusted to decide whether they are a close contact or not. No pressure is put on either way. This means that if child is in your class you'll probably be a close contact bùt if they were in the other class in the bubble you may feel confident that you are not close contact.

Well, testing is certainly making for a complete waste of these first two weeks back in secondary. Classes/groups/individuals missing all over the place. Impossible to plan decent lessons. What a mess.

2 positives identified at our school last week before we started, so those two obvs didn’t come back with the rest on Monday.

Ours are mostly doing really well with mask wearing. A couple who keep taking them off to talk, and a few huffers, but no refusals as yet in my classes. Y8/Y9 have come back particularly lively!

It is really nice to see the pupils and staff, but it is so hard to shake that constant fear that the whole thing is just not safe.

Further research shows specificity of LFD tests to be 99.72%, concludes there is no need for confirmation with PCR test:

go.mumsnet.com/?xs=1&id=470X1554755&url=www.gov.uk/government/publications/lateral-flow-device-specificity-in-phase-4-post-marketing-surveillance

(Lots of numbers, tables and graphs in there, all Greek to me!)

I hope Professor John Deeks will respond to this.

Can anyone clarify re positive LFTs followed by a negative PCR. Do students still isolate? Seems to be conflicting advice everywhere even on government websites.

@JanFebAnyMonth

Further research shows specificity of LFD tests to be 99.72%, concludes there is no need for confirmation with PCR test:

<a class="break-all" href="http://go.mumsnet.com/?xs=1&id=470X1554755&url=www.gov.uk/government/publications/lateral-flow-device-specificity-in-phase-4-post-marketing-surveillance" target="_blank">go.mumsnet.com/?xs=1&id=470X1554755&url=www.gov.uk/government/publications/lateral-flow-device-specificity-in-phase-4-post-marketing-surveillance

(Lots of numbers, tables and graphs in there, all Greek to me!)

I hope Professor John Deeks will respond to this.

Wasn’t the specificity of them always ok, but it was the sensitivity that was shit?

Hello everyone - just dropping by after an awful day at work. Everything just seemed to go wrong today

Hope you've all had a better day than me! Off to catch up with the thread.

I’d like to know the answer too, Herc. Yesterday’s daily covid e-mail from work was a little confusing and seemed to suggest that a negative PCR overruled the LFT.

Possibly because for HCPs it does and they’ve assumed the same.

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation

Can anyone clarify re positive LFTs followed by a negative PCR. Do students still isolate? Seems to be conflicting advice everywhere even on government websites.

Thought it was confirmed that if the LFT is done in school, no PCR needed. If done at home, confirmation can (must??) be sought via PCR test

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation

Can anyone clarify re positive LFTs followed by a negative PCR. Do students still isolate? Seems to be conflicting advice everywhere even on government websites.

I’m confused on this too. Our head seems to be going down the route of negative PCR overrules a positive lateral flow.

Some posters on threads are confirming this for their school too, while at least one hasn’t been allowed to. Confusion reigns.

Defeat from the jaws of victory for the govt because the testing itself seems to be going pretty smoothly (because organised by schools).

We had to send a whole load of y 12 kids home today to isolate, they all had had negative lfts on Friday, now a whole heap of positives ( did they all go to a party at the weekend I wonder, since they now all assumed they were in the clear?)

I've just marked my reading papers - we've brought forward the spring assessments, so the last time they were assessed was just before Christmas. They've been online apart from the last week before the Christmas holidays. They've nearly all made shit loads of progress - the only ones who haven't (3 of them), are the ones who didn't engage in online learning. I read and read and READ to this buggers - sometimes over an hour a day, we've got through a trilogy of books together. I reckon that was it. Talking about books for an hour a day, reading something together and discussing it/getting into it.

I'm taking that as a win.

That's great, Rule! I'd definitely take that as a win and grab it with both hands!

Well done rule, how fabulous!

I can't find guidance on when to confirm with a PCR anywhere, weird. Apart from here, which doesn't specify whether it means LFTs taken in the workplace or at home, and weirdly mentions primary but not secondary staff. I think this must be because it was written in Feb when they hadn't decided to move all secondary testing to home!

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection#tests-for-covid-19

We had a member of staff resign today having decided to take early retirement. She told the Head during lunch duty and he (apparently) ran to his office. The department was notified that the advert was out mid afternoon and the school would prefer an NQT.