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.

Ah here you are 🪑

Did you get stuck in the cupboard mistress?

Well I wondered why I wasn't finding anything interesting in my TIO and realised this one had disappeared!
It's like my job all over again, everyone is further down the corridor having a laugh while I'm alone in my room

@Piggywaspushed

Actually, looking at the awful U4T letter, they have got remarkably few public figures to sign it. Only one who admits to being a teacher (the awful David Perks). Robinson is so self important he says he is a political adviser. Le Tiss and Lee Hurst both have dubious views : Lee Hurst in particular is very right wing.

They're monsters, U4T.

Le Tiss could do with looking back home and seeing how things are going there. Although looking at his twitter feed he seems to have gone full covid denier.

I'm guessing the government are glad he's here and not there. Although he'd probably just be a lone voice and everyone would point out he's being a bit of a twat.

@Mistressiggi

Ah here you are 🪑

You can’t come in here with that!!

Next you’ll be bringing in a buffet, getting us all in trouble.

If you start mentioning buffets and chairs we'll have HQ in here complaining again.

You can bring chairs as long as they're not near tables or buffets. I think that means we're allowed to play musical chairs.... I'll do the tape...

Are you mad??

Musical chairs sounds like a covid risk assessment nightmare.

Not if the chairs are 2m apart and the music is suitably funereal.

Do we need to wipe the chairs down between each person sitting on them?

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

Do we need to wipe the chairs down between each person sitting on them?

Depends on how many windows you can open per square m of space...

1am and I've just finished binging Bridgerton. Utterly silly, but ace sex scenes in ep 6. Made me laugh a lot.

[quote JanFebAnyMonth]Oh this gets even better: did you know that if you test Positive on LFD, then go for a PCR test (as instructed) resulting in a Negative, you still have to isolate for 10 days???

www.theguardian.com/education/2021/mar/06/school-covid-tests-pupils-in-england-very-likely-to-get-false-positives?fbclid=IwAR2qj-TZa7alo9BWXkhYdVdiZNId1juf-KDoitoS9bBOTx6MYKKnKOEsN74[/quote]
There is no point whatsoever to LFTs is there? I mean, we kinda knew that but......

I’m watching the national vaccination booking site like the most hawkish of hawks. Not quite brave enough to book on the offchance the system is open to 50+ and the the front page hasn’t been updated yet but I just want it done.

Dreading tomorrow. The role I took on extra hours for has now been replaced with a much more unsafe role and I am very cross. I made it quite clear I was only taking on the extra days for this specific role. Contract terms “any other duties” can get to fuck.

I don't know really what all the worry is about false positives : I know of about 5 schools that have tested over 500 students now - not one single positive result... They are really crap at picking up positives!

In other news i need sympathy because I broke a wine glass.

I know that doesn't sound much but I have had this wine glass since I left my PGCE placement when the lovely people I worked with gave me a blue and a red wine glass as a leaving gift to remind me it was an election year. The red one smashed almost immediately but the blue one has lasted all these years and this morning I smashed it. Am genuinely upset. I fear it is symbolic.

Symbolic of necessary casting off of the Old to move on to the New?

When I broke my favourite Denby mug, I trawled Ebay looking for another one. I fear this glass is irreplaceable.

We have had 4x positives from LFT in school this term. 3 of those were staff, though.

But a lot of parents seem to think schools can magically function without staff present...

I honestly think a lot of parents just want this to be over and just don't care if it all goes tits up in the longer term...

Yes, you are correct sansa. It's tunnel vision.

I genuinely seem to get the impression that everyone believes that "no more school closures" means "no more bubble closures." Wouldn't be true even if we scrapped kids isolating. Staff are still going to be ill. Our bins aren't going to be collected next week because the bin men are all off sick.

Symbolic of whether you vote for the bloke in the red tie or the bloke in the blue tie both are broken?

I had beautiful Art Deco style denby mugs my sister bought me when I got engaged at 20. Ds and my dad picked up a box without holding the bottom and 2 out of 4 smashed. They were one of the very few things I've kept through my vagabond years. My sister trawled eBay for replacements for my next birthday bless her.

Going back to school still feels surreal and far off to me even though it's tomorrow

I honestly think a lot of parents just want this to be over and just don't care if it all goes tits up in the longer term

Yep they just want to stop home-learning. I also loathe home-learning. I just can’t see how teachers, pupils and parents won’t get sick.

Could cry. 30 minutes into my online testing training and I’ve only completed 4 units out of 20. This is awful!

Hello everyone. I have enjoyed a few nights of slightly better sleep following dh's vaccine a week a go, but now back to the random dreams and early waking. Talking to a member of staff who has long covid yesterday. It has been 5 months and she is managing one slow 10min walk a week. She picked covid up from her secondary school children - 52, quite fit, very slim. I find it weird that so many people are completely unconcerned about their children going back to school. I totally understand people being happy to send them in, but saying they have no concerns at all seems odd. Pretty much all my neighbours have been vaccinated now. A couple of sets are retired and over 60, but others are for different reasons. All those that work are wfh.

@motherrunner can you watch them on 1.5 speed or something?

No, after each unit there’s a test. You need to pass it 100% and then given a certificate to download. We need to take all certificates in tomorrow.