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.

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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.

Had anyone seen the leaked 5 point plan?

Fucking fuck off Gavin and Boris you incompetent twats.

@Medra

Had anyone seen the leaked 5 point plan?

Fucking fuck off Gavin and Boris you incompetent twats.

No, but I have a feeling of impending doom.

What plan [fresh hell] is this??

Step 5 is return to a full school day. Who stopped doing a full school day?

@TheHoneyBadger

Step 5 is return to a full school day. Who stopped doing a full school day?

I have no idea. We've had a full school day for everyone all the way through. There was never any guidance that suggested anything less than that, was there? Just staggered start and end, which is definitely not the same as less than a full day.

Where does one find this 'plan'??

Telegraph and Sun. I googled 'leaked 5 point plan for schools'

They want to demonise soem primary schools who have one half day a week for PPE and say that, instead of chronic underfunding, it is because they are depriving children of an education (which they aren't) because they are scared of covid.

It doesn't really say much does it? Point 4 means nothing!

Majority of primary schools have half a day a week for PPA. We have a day every 2 weeks instead.

From a primary perspective, there is no way that all our parents will do daily tests on children who have been in contact with a positive case. We already have parents who aren't taking kids for testing or keeping them off when they have symptoms, etc. The child will just say "I don't want to" and it won't happen.

Besides, when the LFT tests are crap, most will just say what's the point? That's before you even factor in how a positive result will be highly inconvienent and so some just won't risk it.

Most teachers will have been double jabbed by Sept, yes? Unless v young and in places where it's hard to get an appt?

Why do the media go with the term 'scrapped' when they mean 'will end'?

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

Majority of primary schools have half a day a week for PPA. We have a day every 2 weeks instead.

They mean primaries who close to school to accommodate PPA for everyone on one afternoon each week.

Which, when compared to secondaries, must be a tiny proportion of them, surely?

AND,

5-point plan to ease school Covid restrictions from ‘bubbles’ scrapped to end of testing is ‘being considered by Boris’

By ending bubbles, stopping testing, stopping isolating and stopping staggered starts/finishes, they aren't 'easing' anything, they are just stopping it.

They mean primaries who close to school to accommodate PPA for everyone on one afternoon each week.

Oh, I see. My first school used to do that - finish on a Friday at 1.30. Was great, only 3 parents out of 500 complained when it was implemented too.

The thing is, if restrictions are removed completely from society as a whole (socially, in industry, etc) then I can see why they propose the argument for removing all measures from schools. Why should one aspect of society have different rules than everywhere else? It's not like there's something fundamentally different about that aspect... oh... wait...

If vaccination is the justification to remove restrictions then it should be the justification for all removals. Most parents would support secondary vaccinations after all.

Here’s a link
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/07/02/revealed-boris-johnsons-five-point-plan-end-schools-chaos/?fbclid=IwAR0OeHdYR_PepccL59CntK6RnrdlEASrrOraQuYJCxR8OxiuB9kvrgjG-0M

No big surprises and doesn’t even sound as if it’s necessarily going to make it anyway. DT definitely thinks it’s been instrumental in these potential changes. Which presumably means UKnowWho think they have won.....

Any plan they come up with will change at least 5 times before we go back.

The final version will come out Friday just before schools return mucking up the first inset return.

I don't really know what to make of that plan. On the vaccination point, I don't know any school staff who have refused the vaccine. I know plenty who have only just been allowed to get their first jab, but they tried to get it earlier. A lot of our pupils have said they want to get the vaccine as soon as they are allowed, but I'm not sure if anyone will take their opinions into account. We've never sent full bubbles home for one positive case either. The most we've ever sent home for any case has been 20, but when there are multiple cases in a class/year, that does add up to almost half the year "isolating" enjoying the time off school by going shopping.

I'm predicting at the start of the summer holidays. Everything I see/read at the moment keeps repeating "whole summer to prepare". Because everyone in every industry works through their holidays don't they?

It seems like they're relying on releasing restrictions everywhere else to justify changes to schools and to build conflict between parents and schools.
Parents have a point about their children missing leavers' assemblies due to covid when there's thousands of people at the football.

We did send home two full year groups - but there were multiple cases in each.

The. DfE peeps get extra as we heard at Christmas

Parents have a point about their children missing leavers' assemblies due to covid when there's thousands of people at the football. I agree. And transition days for moving to a different school. Those are arguably more important to the children than a football match, however exciting the game is. I can definitely see why parents want the rules to be the same for everything - I want that too. I'd personally be saying the football shouldn't have such crowds, but I can see why people want the school events to go ahead. The rules have always been unfair, having more impact on some people than others, and if you've been hit by lots of the rules I can understand why you'd stop following any of them.

My DH, who was shielding, is desperate to get back to assemblies etc. She considers it all a pain in the neck, and quite small fry. Alright for her to say, she was at home for months when the shit was hitting the fan and spraying all over the rest of us!