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

My DS goes to an ‘isolate as usual but do two PCR tests’ school in this trial. If they agree to sign up and have to isolate they get a £20 shopping voucher as a —bribe— reward.

The school has had one case since returning in March and our area is significantly below national average for cases so go’s knows what relevant data they’re going to be able to gather. DS is not signed up to it.

Maybe on purpose or I am minded to think he is just thick.

Are they still wearing masks on school transport?

Wasn't mentioned, I don't think. Public transport, I presume it's as before.

Definitely on purpose. I am so cross! No masks in classrooms is one thing, I'll just stay in my magic box, but in corridors!?!

I actually feel less unsafe in corridors. The contact is so fleeting.

Oh s**t

And students will be gathering indoors (possibly in small groups) and out of doors in large groups. Joy

And SO much discussion and angsting about “returning to the workplace”. It’s really really not fair.

(One day I’ll learn to collect my thoughts in one post)

FFS. I’ve got the rage for you all. Which bit of mitigations will help keep the low number of cases low are they struggling to understand?

I assume all this masks stuff also applies in areas like mine with high levels of Indian variant....

It’s back to how school life was before November - think my school started wearing masks in corridors when we moved into Tier 3. Look how great that worked out! Although the MN collective we tell us we have all been vaccinated (I have had one but not my second).

I was just about to ask whether it applied to your area piggy? Surely not.

Guessing so...

Oh crikey piggy...

U4T must be happy, anyway!

DfE Fb post here, apparently the only masks are for staff in communal areas, that’s a new version isn’t it?
www.facebook.com/educationgovuk/photos/a.317627041606420/3974115485957539/?type=3

@MsAwesomeDragon

Here's a puppy photo for those who want one. He's very cute and squishy.

Yes I'm exhausted. I have no idea how I'm going to get through the next 3 weeks.

He's just adorable, MsAwesomeDragon. Does he have a name?

Done my 5 lessons today, rapidly running out of patience with my needy younger groups. The end of the week is easier though.

I feel somewhat ambivalent about the mask situation, maybe because I've become a bit jaded about being in crowded classrooms now. I will probably continue to wear one when I'm circulating around the classroom, although I remove it when I'm at my desk behind the magic tape. We have the windows open and the weather is improving. The kids have been pretty good about wearing masks and there are very few exemptions in school - I can imagine some will continue to wear them anyway.

So what’s left for mitigation in schools then? Is it just going to be open windows?

I’m guessing they haven’t read the paper I linked to yesterday about the mitigation’s needed for reducing covid spread in schools.

Boris really is a cock-faced tossbag isn’t he?

Misread that as cock faced teabag 😂

Yeah. Windows? Feel so sorry for unvaccinated colleagues.

But we are the ones who are vaccinated ( more of us anyway) and yet no masks for kids.

The comments under that DfE post are giving me the rage.

Oh sodding hell. Well, at least by next Monday I’ll have just had my first vaccination! (Sod all use that will be after two days, but hey ho.)

We’ve just had four confirmed cases in my school (proper pcr test confirmed positives) in our year 8s and 9s. So this feels like fantastic timing.

Grr argh etc.

Against the advice of his scientific advisors.

Oh @MsAwesomeDragon that is one cute pupster!!!!

We are going back to own rooms after half term and no masks in rooms but keeping in corridors because....I dunno why.

So tired already. Full teaching day, 2 meetings after work and the department situation is not improving. Kicking myself for not applying for jobs earlier this year.