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.

Did a bit of googling and couldn’t find more info about the FDA recall, however did find this BMJ article about why we shouldn’t be mass testing anyway!

www.medicaldevice-network.com/news/mass-testing-covid-19/

Staff are really burnt out. People either looking shakey or a bit manic.

Yes! What's going on? This term is always a bit manic, but everyone is visibly absolutely exhausted. I get home from work and just slump on the sofa. We've still got 5 weeks 3 days, and my to do list is MASSIVE.

I'd forgotten how much observations take it out of you - yesterday evening I was on my knees.

I feel very tired too, weirdly so. I think burnout is exactly what many of us are suffering from. The last year and a half has been frantic, scary and hugely pressured, and it's catching up on us.

Things are much happier here now y11 dd has finished for the summer. She has to log on to her hwb email in the morning as she gets her provisional GCSE centre awarded grades tomorrow. Which is obviously new.

I hope it goes well for her. I really felt like crying listening to the news last year in August as they were interviewing students as the GCSE and A level mess unfolded.

She gets told her CAGs tomorrow - before moderation?? Is that a Welsh thing then? I remember someone on here saying their school was going to tell them what they were recommending (iirc?), but we’re certainly not doing that!
Or is it a completely different (probably more sensible) system than the English one?

Rafa, as far as I can make out, the risk of serious injury or death the FDA are claiming with the Innova tests is only from the consequences of false negatives. It only describes tests that use nasal swabs so are these a different sort from the ones that require throat as well? It’s going to be very interesting to see what our MRHA does about this. Could be a massive problem for all UK plans.

Jan Ours had a group meeting with SLT where they were given a range of grades. Eg this group you all range from 6-9. Seemed a bit odd but I think has tempered expectations and hopefully results day won't be such a shock.

Face to face results day will be awkward this year. Fingers crossed ours is an email home!

Oh that’s interesting @HercwasanEnemyofEducation. @DrMadelineMaxwell I hope it’s positive for your DD tomorrow!

Omg, I actually just laughed at this:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57087517

To catch covid, work in a school.

We're back to masks indoors for all staff and students from tomorrow.

I can't keep up with the thread!

I think the theory is that viral load is lower in vaccinated people who get covid, and since the LFTs need quite a high viral load, they are even less likely to pick up a positive then they usually are

That makes sense thank you Rafa.

Also feeling exhausted here, don't think the humidity helps on top of the usual stress.

Rule Its ridiculous isn't it? Still can't believe they lied so vehemently that schools were safe.

I've also had my hair cut and hate it, it's not all bad but it reminds me of Edna Mode and I normally have a lot of layers. Got to wait to get it fixed so am already done with Friday.

@JanFebAnyMonth , it is part of the Wales grades process it seems. It allows any appeals of the grading to be done next week and the results day in August then officially confirms the grades.

@Piggywaspushed

His verdict on our education system:

The Maltese thinker was particularly scathing of Britain, where, he claimed, rigid thinking and an obsession with testing led to many children leaving school “believing they are stupid. They are not stupid at all, many are good thinkers who have never had the chance to show it. But that lack of confidence will pervade the rest of their lives.”

Agree with that. I’ve spent the last seven years teaching many such people.

I helped out a couple of people on my counselling course because school had totally destroyed their confidence and left them feeling, 'thick'. Their biggest barrier to the essays was their lack of belief in themselves and that no one had ever said look it's just a game, here's the system and here's how you apply it and it's just about 'getting' what they want you to show.

Three lessons to teach and then I'm done for the week and it's 5 weeks to go.

noble, you appear to have received the recognition you deserve at last on MN - this is from the “monkey box” thread, which is quite amusing in itself:

If a mumsnet AI could generate and resolve a legitimate boundary dispute thread, with diagram, nesting birds and tree protection order in place - I believe that's noble prize territory

There is also mention of monkey tennis on there, I felt a bit confused!

We start our new timetable next week. That's late, it's normally at the start of June. The big chat on radio Scotland is about whether schools will let pupils watch Scotland play in the Euros on Monday afternoon. I'm up for that even though I don't like football, it's a bit of a celebration.

Noble prize.

The kids are on the field. It's actually quite nice sitting here in my old lab watching them out there being normal.

I'm flitting between English and Science blocks at the minute due to Humanities going through refurbishment so we have no home to return to despite zones ending.

I want the 'well done' giraffe on a stamp please. I currently have a smiley owl.

200 year 9s out now...

Nothing to see here!

Apparently Dof E still happening in two weeks. , although the football tournament that happened at the weekend seems to have cause one or two extra fun and games re contact tracing . Funny that

@JanFebAnyMonth

noble, you appear to have received the recognition you deserve at last on MN - this is from the “monkey box” thread, which is quite amusing in itself:

If a mumsnet AI could generate and resolve a legitimate boundary dispute thread, with diagram, nesting birds and tree protection order in place - I believe that's noble prize territory

There is also mention of monkey tennis on there, I felt a bit confused!

You called?😊

@Piggywaspushed

200 year 9s out now...

Nothing to see here!

Apparently Dof E still happening in two weeks. , although the football tournament that happened at the weekend seems to have cause one or two extra fun and games re contact tracing . Funny that

And at least one of the other year groups has a parent who is an MNer insisting there’s no cases of Covid in their child’s school.

We would tell our kids their grades on pain of death. They will have to wait until August.

How are you secondary people managing with large groups of teens?

The ones behind me could do with being fitted with volume control.

Name changed for this but did any of you who completed GCSE tasks let the pupils go home after the exam to think about it and try again the next day. So they all told each other the answers. So now have a disproportionate number of high GCSE grades.

Just booked DS1 (19) for jab tomorrow. They are doing walk in jabs too in my town. Advantage of being in a plague zone. Kids at my school are a bit pissed off that they can't get them. So much for vaccine hesitancy in the young.