The Sixtieth Republic - One half term to go - just need to survive Sports Day and Activities Week!

[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 for school staff to let off steam.

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. Finally, upload your covid test results twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays.

@TheHoneyBadger I think we teach in very similar schools, yours sounds just like mine!

Ours have had no possibility of a hot midday meal since last March.

@Timeturnerplease My class is the opposite: very boy-heavy, so there's lots of silliness in corridors and occasional bouts of fisticuffs because they're all sick of each other after a year in a tiny one-class bubble.

Congratulations hobnob! I've been doing Nasal only as struggled with gag reflex massively (not pregnant but really can't handle being sick).

We're still staggered start times and break/lunch times. Year bubbles of 60 which share staff/space. Honestly don't want to stop staggered lunches as having nearly 300 on our playground was hard work and I like having 60 (maybe 120 at a push!)

Just wondering what direction/ guidance the Manchester secondaries have been given around bringing testing back into schools? They must be having to do massive replanning and reorganisation for the rest of the term (don’t know whether they’ve been given a minimum period it will last for) to accommodate it. Staffing etc.

That’s great news hobnob

Hats off to you time 19 primary school girls telling all their friendship woes sounds exhausting.

In Bolton, 21% of primary children and 31% of secondary children are absent from school due to COVID.

Schools Week

@WhenSheWasBad

That’s great news hobnob

Hats off to you time 19 primary school girls telling all their friendship woes sounds exhausting.

Gosh yeah. Our class is evenly split between boys and girls but we do have a couple of girls that really delight in the drama. The current in thing to do is for them to wind up one of their friends until the friend does or says something mean or against the rules, and then come tattle to me or another adult.

We're still in bubbles, but year groups now (60) so they play in the same zones at break and lunch. Still staggered start and end time, and staggered breaks. Whilst I like fewer children on the playground, it isn't much preparation for Life when you are only playing with your own age group. Those with siblings don't like it either, can't check up on little brothers. Still eating in classroom but I have stopped wiping tables beforehand, as it was my lunch time (I only get 20 mins anyway and actually it's more like 8 if I'm lucky). I'd like a bit more whole-school integration, helps the little ones to socialise and understand.

Really GFD? I've come to really like it here but I was thinking about how weird they are with newcomers this morning and our kids are actually a lot like the bar props in a very 'local' pub. They're not exactly warm to new faces

Looks set to be roasting today!

What's happening with LFT testing in secondaries at the moment?

Yes I saw that too rule.

In most of England (and Scot/Wales/NI??) students are theoretically doing twice weekly LFTs at home. Many aren’t!

In the Greater Manchester and parts of Lancs it was announced yesterday that testing will be brought back in school, like when we initially returned in March. There was talk of army support but I doubt that means that the army will be doing the testing? Although maybe??

How is it only Wednesday? Feels like the longest week ever.

The woman I share an office with has some sort of hideous sounding respiratory infection she caught off the child of a friend. So far everybody is ignoring the constant coughing and not making her get a PCR test. I’m running out of stuff I can do that isn’t in our office.

We’ve discussed the government continuing with their ill advised use an LFT instead of isolating experiment in schools where they know delta variant is spreading, haven’t we?

It’s just come up on my Twitter, but I feel like I knew about it already.

I posted about it a couple of days ago I think.

I am FUMMING. FUMMING, I tell you.

Kid came into school at kicking out time to escort GF on to a bus. In uniform. He boarded the bus with GF. Unmasked until I got him one. V small bus so no SD.

He tested positive for covid and was off school, SI, I found out afterwards.

Apparently bus does not need to isolate because of time frames but SURELY he should be sanctioned??

@Beachhuts90 @WhenSheWasBad Girl drama is a killer. I have v v little patience. Much prefer it when the boys all bundle each other, someone gets kicked in the face and they’re all over it 10 minutes later.

No one even spoke to me about this factor - just about the getting on a bus when he doesn't have a bus pass bit!

I don't understand, piggy, was he positive for covid when he came into school in his uniform to pick up his GF?

Piggy

That's disgusting behaviour from him! It is a legal requirement for him to remain at home! At the very least, he should be sanctioned from school and, personally, I'd be referring him to whoever the correct authority is. He should be getting a non-compliance fine.

On his penultimate day of SI following a positive PCR , yes.

Several more (PCR) cases today...

So why didn't the bus have to isolate?

Yeah the bus bit doesn't make sense. If someone is suddenly saying that you're not potentially infectious on day 9 of SI then we don't need to be isolating then.

I'll bet someone has decided just to say that because it's "easier".

Because PHE said so....