The Fifty-fourth Republic - Easter holidays anyone?

[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

Oh thanks noble for validating my posting from Parents United (some of whose posts are made by very informed people), and for the info re the birth of The Republic!

Piggy something (in Schoolsweek maybe?) I read yesterday said that teachers in small depts have been told they're allowed to form groups with colleagues in other schools for the grading work?

Morning all. I have a poorly dog this morning, my usual bundle of energy has woken lethargic and trembling

Oh no lonely do you think they need a trip to the vet? Poor thing.

I’m not looking at grade discriptors, I’ve decided it’s above my pay grade.

@noblegiraffe

Incidentally if you are looking for the birth of the Republic, it all started here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_staffroom/a3883670-Lets-boycott-all-school-threads-outside-of-Education

with the first proper Republic thread here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_staffroom/a3893542-The-Teachers-s-Republic-Refuge-solidarity-comrades on 28th April, so that will be a date for the diaries.

Major, major thanks to @StaffRepFeistyClub for kicking it all off. So many of us have relied upon and got support from these threads in frankly awful times

Just read some of that first thread. My suggestion didn’t end up bringing much peace and love, did it!!?

Oo Oo Miss!

Have discovered I was (briefly) on the first Republic thread, feel validated as a "teacher"!

And have emailed the person in charge of Catchup telling her that the Library staff want a meeting with her to discuss what we can contribute, and specifically if I could offer my primary qual/ experience in any way and that I'd be prepared to offer extra hours if that was a possibility (am noble, me!). She's responded with some date suggestions.

I can't be arsed with that tbh jan. The workload is mad as it is. It won't save me any.

Our workload as HODs was raised through the union : not had much of response yet.

Local relatives in late 40s with no underlying health conditions are now being invited for vaccination. Some WFH - so am annoyed on behalf of colleagues that there is no preference for teachers etc.

I hope Ddog is OK lonely

It's interesting looking at Thread One. I can't tell which old faithfuls are on there as lots of you have namechanged. Has echt been around recently?

@lonelyplanet

Morning all. I have a poorly dog this morning, my usual bundle of energy has woken lethargic and trembling.

Oh no, something he might have eaten? Sounds like a trip to the vet. Hope he is OK, LonelyPlanet.

Hi All. Three days till the holidays for me! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it.

In other news, I was vaccinated yesterday... Went with DH (as he's over-50 so booked) and the people were really nice, almost assuming I should be getting it unless I was part of a trial or breastfeeding or something. The only stumbling block was when I tried to explain I was an SEN teacher and the bloke's question was "Do you work in a special school?" To which my answer of "the base is but the school it's attached to isn't" nearly got me turned away, because apparently it's only SEN teachers in purely special schools who need to get close to pupils without masks for large periods of the day. Still, a wonderful woman next to this bloke basically told him to be quiet and she booked me in!

I feel like shit today but it's worth it. So there is actually a benefit to being married to a man much older than me!

Our local vaccination centre has said if staff get their arses down to them this weekend they will jab them. Clearly they are using some supplies up before 29 March.

@noblegiraffe

It was there, Jan, I saw it! It has been changed back. Which is really weird.

I saw it too.

It changed in the time it took for me to tell DH, him to say good and then went back to it and it had changed to 'until Easter' (from 'after Easter'). Grrr.

Just got really annoyed by someone on fb.
They said 'ive got throat infection/uti etc, with temps and muscle aches.
Havent tested for covid. Have heart rate issues etc.
And when i say that they should have tested.
No, couldnt have covid as have had vax 4w ago and dont go anywhere but daughter who does has 2 lft a week.!!

Yes i see they may well be right about what is wrong with them. But ffs it's not that hard to understand that neither of those reasons are an excuse not to test for symptoms. As vaxxed people do get covid. And lft dont identify half the infections. Plus obviously they go some places if they managed to get a jab, that's certainly a place to catch it.

@noblegiraffe @Appuskidu we went through some dreadful times with some very nasty things said about teachers. As time as gone on there will be those who try and have tried to rewrite history. We were threatened with MNHQ banishment which would have made MN a very boring place indeed. Horrible times for us all in so many ways.

We had to beg for the Republics not to be on the trending list and I think that was the one thing MNHQ relented on.

The Republics and the Broom Cupboards are our safe spaces. It is not for those experts whose neighbours rescue cat first owner also had a robin who not only visited their garden but went to another garden where the neighbours second cousin twice removed met someone in a nightclub 20 years ago who was doing a PGCE.

#solidarity #longlivetherepublic #bemoreBob

@JanFebAnyMonth we have been encouraged to team up with other schools to swop assessments as part of the moderation process.

We are basically using schools where colleagues have gone to or come from. We will be swopping a top, middle and bottom sample.

I think it will hods meeting in coffee shops for clandestine swops and feedback

@lonelyplanet Sending sympathy re: your dog. Hope he picks up.

Up all night coughing so have been for a PCR this morning. It feels like a cold (sore throat, lots of snot) but I thought I'd better be on the safe side. I don't think my HT was very pleased to get my phone call this morning but what can you do?

@KatherineOfGaunt Snap - partner nearly 15 years older than me! Late 40s though, so not been invited yet. May well just show up with him when he does go (and try to hide the pregnancy bump?).

Afternoon all!!
Just popped my head round the door to see how you all are.
Still 4 days to go here.

Anyone else in primary noticing more coughs, colds & general lurgies?? And yes, the ones in my class have all followed procedure and had negative COVID tests.
A few staff off with definite colds too.

We had a big reminder about hand washing, etc. as I think the children are starting to get lax with it again.

But then a parent told me off as he thinks too much hand washing is bad for his children TBH, I get the point that some germiness under normal circumstances may be beneficial to boost general immunity but surely not in a sodding pandemic??!!

@lonelyplanet I hope you're dog gets better quickly

The JCQ grade descriptors are just laughable - they may as well have not bothered!

3 days to go until Easter hols here and it can't come soon enough!

Hoping to get a ahead with planning for after Easter so that next term is slightly bearable among the huge amounts of assessment and marking for Y11 and 13. There will barely be a week when I am not marking papers/standardising etc.

I am also looking forward to some time off over the Easter break. I need to recoup after this term ready for the next one!

Oh and I'm mid 40s but no sign of a jab here yet either....

No sign of a jab here either - also mid forties. I'm trying hard to be glad for younger friends who've had it due to working for social care/law firms despite WFH.

Lots of kids with lurgies in my class but none being tested. Conversations go:

Parent - I kept him home yesterday because he was full of cold and a bit hot but he seems fine now.
Me - Did you get him tested as he was hot?
Parent - He was only a bit hot. We don't have a thermometer. I don't think it was a proper temperature.

Ok then...4 teaching days left.

Anyone else in primary noticing more coughs, colds & general lurgies?? And yes, the ones in my class have all followed procedure and had negative COVID tests.
Yes. We have a sneezy cold going around our bubble. Luckily it's not one with any symptoms to worry about, for me it was just a lot of sneezing and some sinus pain. It had to come around sometime I guess.

Lots of sore throats and colds this week in my class too. I'm glad to have broken up.
My pooch has perked up after a trip to the vets and pain medication. They couldn't find anything specifically wrong; we just need to keep an eye on her.
Just had my jab. Yippee!

Good to hear, lonely.

It irritates me, the number of parents who send their kids back in after a day or two off for whatever, saying, "Oh but it's not Covid."
How do they know, if they haven't tested them? (Primary).