The Sixty Third Republic - as we glide into staycations the DfE whip up anti-school media storm

[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.

@motherrunner

On a positive note if bubbles have gone it means I get my classroom back and it actually does have a window I can open!

Feel the same. Out of the main block back into our area where we can open windows properly. Yay!

@noblegiraffe

I don't like that maths, tbh, piggy. Comparing how likely someone now thinks they are to leave the profession within 5 years to how likely they reckon they felt before the pandemic isn't the most rigorous of comparisons.

What we need is actual numbers of teachers who quit this year. I'm not sure who collects those.

Yes, I agree : they should be gathering this data all along. It is still quite stark though!!

They know how many people leave the profession vs how many people enter and where there are shortages, so I guess there must be measurements going on. But as a barometer of how teachers feel it certainly says something. For parents to know and senior leaders to admit that classrooms are full of frankly rather unhappy staff (including support staff) is important.

The EPI certainly seem worried.

I still have no windows... never will have windows...

Feeling the guilt here. Just had 4 days inc 2 work days self isolation before my skin biopsy this afternoon (prob nothing, just done to be on the safe side) and I've just told them I'm not in tomorrow either. It's a pinch biopsy so I have a 5mm hole in the side of my nose. If I talk it pulls. And at least once it has just started bleeding despite being stitched and dressed. So i think it is the right thing to do to avoid a full on public talking day but I wonder what the parents are thinking.
I have ppa thurs first thing and could offer to have that cancelled but a it includes pe and I am doubtful I will be up to that and b it will give me an easy first day back with less talking.

And I have a shit-tonne of work to do too obv. Esp as our one training day in sept is fully booked for outside training. And still need to edit the leavers video and prep the leavers service.

Who cares what the parents are thinking? You need to look after yourself first!

Afternoon colleagues!

So, anyone at a ‘sectionary’ school?!

What a typo! Great spot @ChloeDecker!

DrM as a parent, I would be horrified if I was the cause of you coming in to work just having had a biopsy and a risk of it bleeding

I don't know about sectional but I felt like asking to be sectioned for my own good today.

And what was the bollocks about mitigations for exams. That just means most subjects getting nothing again doesn't it??

I would like to know before January 2022 what changes there’ll be to exams.

I dare say the anti-union dm journalist didn’t get what they wanted. It was all too long and too many links in responses 🙄

And can the DM just fuck off out of the Staffroom?

The DM can fuck right off along with useless lazy bastard colleagues who couldn't find their arses with both hands.

We sent home Yr 10 yesterday, Yr 12 and 2 KS3 classes today. My colleague reckons parents are lying about positives now so pupils can isolate up to end of term. She is very cynical though!

@MrsHamlet

Who cares what the parents are thinking? You need to look after yourself first!

This with bells on DrM. I hope you're ok. Look after yourself first!

So now we have a PCR confirmed positive in year 8 and we've sent the class, and other close contacts, home, but not the rest of the year. Last week we sent them all home for an LFT. It's so inconsistent!

Also, possibly outing but I don't care. Our positive case is in hospital because they are immuno-compromised. I'm so, so, angry at the 'kids don't suffer' rhetoric of just letting it rip through the under 18s.

Oh no, that's awful. I do hope they are OK.

I'm trying to follow your new rules - close contacts won't isolate, but then there is talk of track n trace - what are they tracking for if you don't isolate? And vulnerable staff should take extra precautions. Doesn't say what they are.

Thanks Piggy, he's honestly the nicest kid in the world, he's been an absolute trooper dealing with his issues and having time off and coming back and soldiering on, his treatment is literally due to finish next week, what an absolute shitter.

I think they're tracking to advise taking a PCR.

I don't understand how your schools are sending home full classes when my school has multiple cases per day and is still sending home the stingiest handful per case possible. We've had local schools close fully too so it's not like we're in a low infection rate area.

Sorry to hear that Frlrl and it goes to show what difficult decisions those parents will be forced to make for their children in September.

We've never zoned ours. Our y8 have all their classes as a class, but will have different seating plans in different rooms, so possibly it's just that over the course of 9 or 10 subjects 'close contacts' would be so many it's easier to send the whole group home?

It feels like we just phone the advisors and they shake a magic 8 ball though at the moment.

@noblegiraffe

I think they're tracking to advise taking a PCR.

I don't understand how your schools are sending home full classes when my school has multiple cases per day and is still sending home the stingiest handful per case possible. We've had local schools close fully too so it's not like we're in a low infection rate area.

Especially because the reason why you have multiple cases per day is probably because you're only sending small numbers home.

Yeah we send home maybe 10 per case - when it's a girl. Oddly, boys have always resulted in more!! One boy had 60 contacts!

The only time we ever set home loads was when year 12 just got out of control.

Our yr12 are all out. Confirmed positive case and couldn't effectively pin down close contacts so they've all gone.
Yr8 has about 40 out (confirmed positive cases too) and their buses.

And some yr10.

Happy days hey?! I'm just not sure how we keep CEV kids or staff safe?