The Fifty Seventh Republic - the joy of bank holiday marking

[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

Two mobile testing units, Jan. Two. Really pushing the boat out.

Wonder how many were picked up by LFTs. That would be a good test.

We have four positive cases this week who tested negative on LFT. Only got PCRs as symptoms persisted.

Our local outbreak control team have stepped down because we've had no new cases for so long. Long may it remain

Good grief that poor school.
Elgin academy has 50 positive cases up here. I don't know of any in my school and am probably getting a bit relaxed about it now at work. Will retreat back to my "box".

A hundred!

Wowzers.

Yikes. That’s a lot of cases.

Sorry to hear about the moderation problems hobnob. Completely understandable that you feel broken by it.

Wow, that poor school. 100 cases, and it's not even a big school for a secondary. Makes me much more grateful to be where I am.

I'm knackered though. Full teaching day today, just finished parents evening by phone, still got year 13 homework to mark before doing another full day of teaching tomorrow. This week has really dragged on, with very little down time, and this is before all the year 11 and 13 assessments start (first one is Monday).

Blimey. We haven’t had any since March reopening thankfully. If it stays this way we’re disbanding bubbles and returning to teaching in our departments after half term.

Just back from a good work out at the gym. Hoping my ankle doesn’t kick off in protest. Going to go ice it for a bit now and then compress and elevate again for much of the evening.

Only 3 lessons tomorrow then it’s the weekend!

This week is about 100years long and I have no idea why.

100 cases is obviously a lot, BUT...maybe that's not actually a lot. Maybe that's what outbreaks are like in secondary schools when you actually look for cases.

We know from Sept-Dec that they were doing everything they could to avoid finding cases in schools, certainly no mobile testing units. We had an obvious prolonged outbreak but PHE wouldn't send whole year groups home insisting that the cases were isolated and not transmitted in school.

If they weren't proactively testing at that school how many cases would they have recorded? 10?

Bahviour really not great this week at our place.

Yes, two mobile testing units noble! And wouldn’t be interesting to know how many first showed up on LFTs.

Parents United currently have a post about one of the Indian variants and how fast it appears to be growing here. And no surge testing happening despite Matt H saying they would.

Just read in an article about the Elgin cases that the local authority insists transmission is not happening in school but all in the community. That doesn't make much sense, does it? 48 positive cases and no transmission in school. Pah.

Good point noble. I wondered about whether it might be a variant but you are right about them trying to avoid finding cases during the autumn term.

You may well be right noble. We're only shocked at 100 cases because it's the first time we've actively looked for cases rather than waiting for kids to start with symptoms. My school has only ever had isolated cases, as far as we can tell, while we were at school before Christmas. In January there was quite a big outbreak in the sixth form, where the majority of them would have caught it either in the last day of school or the weekend after. Most of my year 13 class tested positive in the first couple of days of January, so I feel quite relieved I hadn't been getting close to them at the end of December. We haven't had any cases in school since we came back in March, but that is purely luck rather than anything we're actually doing to prevent it.

Yup good point noble

Wonder if it will influence the decision to “unmask” in 2 weeks

Yes, exactly right, Noble. So, so many obvious cases at our place but kids were just off for a few days, or isolated because parents had it but they didn't get tested themselves, even with obvious symptoms.

Another thing I heard from colleagues in the largest local schools was that the more cases they found in year groups, the fewer kids they sent home each time. Was the opposite at our place: particularly in year 10/11 where they mix more and so we sent the whole year group home once a ceiling number of cases was reached.

@JanFebAnyMonth

Wonder if it will influence the decision to “unmask” in 2 weeks

It certainly appears to represent a change in policy regarding schools. Mobile testing units, full school closure and press coverage?

So a change from 'no problems in schools la la laaaa' to 'we are taking infections in schools seriously'.

I think that Sept -Dec they were deliberately allowing covid spread in schools. Now they're talking about vaccinating children instead.

Not taking it that seriously in Moray, though.

I have to say I’m looking forward to the tipping point, the volte-face, the reverse ferret when suddenly it’s so obvious schools are drivers of infection, it was never claimed otherwise, despite schools being safe it’s the fault of those pesky children mixing, teachers too of course, undermining wonders of testing, vaccination, blahdy blahdy blah. I reckon the end of May.

Yes that’s at least the second case reported of the hitherto almost mythical mobile testing units being deployed, isn’t it? Am wondering if it’s because they’re more concerned about variants than they’re admitting? (They should be, IMO!)

Our head sent an email saying we are not allowed to take time off during the school day for vaccination appointments. Idiot. As a result a few of us have had a vaccine at the weekend and then been off all day Monday as been ill from side effects

100 cases!

Lesson observation today. No areas for development . The children were on top form (even Bob!) and I got the friendly, laid back SLT person rather than the fearsome dragon so consequently I was much more natural and relaxed myself.

I'm sorry you're feeling so awful, Hobnob - I hope the day off has helped.

Hope your ankle is soon feeling better Honey.

@HarrietDVane

100 cases!

Lesson observation today. No areas for development . The children were on top form (even Bob!) and I got the friendly, laid back SLT person rather than the fearsome dragon so consequently I was much more natural and relaxed myself.

I'm sorry you're feeling so awful, Hobnob - I hope the day off has helped.

Hope your ankle is soon feeling better Honey.

Well done! I am in awe of anyone having no areas for development. I don't think that's allowed at our place, there's always something they can think of that we should do (which is often something completely unworkable in maths but would be brilliant in another subject).

It's only ever happened to me once before, I think. It's also completely subjective. Pretty sure the scary SLT bod would have found something to pick on as they know maths is the thing I fret most about.