The Sixty-Fifth Republic - The Covid School Phoney War under way so who will the gold medal and who will get the wooden spoon?

[Staffholidayclubrep]

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.

You can sit on chairs but keep the windows open. You don’t have to upload LFT results during the holidays. You do not have to wear mask - free choice

A friend of mine has just finished with teaching and has moved out of education completely. I am actually jealous, and I’m never jealous of people! She’s a good enough friend for me to have told her that and of course I genuinely feel excited for her too, but it surprised me just how much I dread going back in Sept, having made this my second career. I’d hoped to carry on but……

I think we might keep PE kits on PE days next year. It save so much time and hassle…. Who knows though what my school are doing…

Well done Motherrunner.

I wish someone would give inset to my internal alarm - I don't need to wake up at 5.30am in the holidays.

What's she doing Saucery? Maybe wait 5 years before you get jealous - lots of us end up coming back.

Massive storm here yesterday it was brilliant to watch apart from the fact we had to get sandbags out but fortunately no flooding here.

My DC’s school also keeping kit days which is fab for me - less uniform to buy!

Don't you just end up with stinky, muddy and wet (if raining) kids in your classroom?

They don’t have grass to do PE on and if it rains and can’t use sports hall they are in classrooms watching videos of PE related stuff….

@noblegiraffe

Don't you just end up with stinky, muddy and wet (if raining) kids in your classroom?

My DS doesn’t need PE to be like that.

That happens anyway if they're in uniform noble doesn't it? I can never figure why they seem to get as wet as they possibly can when it rains at lunchtime Seems like a competition.

At least as a parent then it's only one set of filthy wet clothes to deal with and one set hasn't been festering in a bag with smelly trainers.

@TheHoneyBadger So true. Don’t think kids are bothered though. When it was tipping it down and we took DD climbing with her friend (and DS with a friend) I asked them if they wanted to wear their waterproofs. Tues looked at me with confusion.

*They

Moved into mental health support Honey. It’s hard, it’s emotionally tough, but she no longer feels in danger every time she enters a crowded classroom with no mitigations, so I’d say she’s a winner!

We have a lot of buildings so rainy days mean lots of very wet kids. It's the girls wandering along with their art folder over their head whilst they get soaked that most amuse me.

I guess I've forgotten about that, with 'zones' it has been the teachers getting wet as they schlep around.

@noblegiraffe

I guess I've forgotten about that, with 'zones' it has been the teachers getting wet as they schlep around.

Yup

We've all been moving - staff and kids!!!

I am still mulling over this sentence in the JCVI report :

Moreover, recent changes to national policy on NPIs in schools, in the context of a successful adult vaccination programme, should substantially reduce the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people’s education

Does anyone understand the bit about NPIs as it seems to be really contradictory. NPIs are non pharmaceutical interventions (eg bubbles, masks, one way etc). The changes made are the removal of the NPIs (which they imply is because adult vaccination makes them less necessary). If I am reading that right how, in any way , should that 'improve' anything? It might make little difference, but it won't improve matters.

The more I read it, the more that sentence makes no sense . Adult vaccination can't be what is allegedly improving stuff in schools as vaccination isn't an NPI...

What they are saying is 'they'll be in school more because we aren't isolating any more' so that'll improve their attendance. But it doesn't say that. So, it's saying they'll all be shoved in any way; no need to vaccinate them to improve things because letting it rip improves attendance anwyay....so no need to guard their health, or prevent spread, in any way.

Wow.

My assumption was that they were referring to the removal of isolation for children as close contacts from September, not anything recent.

Education won't be as disrupted from September because they won't be sending bubbles home, even if it means that every kid gets covid....because you (I assume is their thinking) only get it once whereas some children have had repeated isolations.

So is the plan for September that nobody isolates as a close contact if they’re a double-jabbed adult or you’re under 18. Is that just for schools or everywhere?

And no isolation if you’re app ‘pinged’ if you’re double jabbed?

And no isolation if you live with a positive case? So if my DH has covid and is really ill, I’m still teaching? But if I get covid, I isolate? Or not??

And no lateral flow tests after September so we won’t know who has it anyway?

Is that a fair summary?

It's for everywhere, Appu and it's from 16th August, not September.

Yes.

The only people who isolate are those who are ill (but there will be no free LFTs so only if ill enough / worried enough to get PCRs will anyone know). I would imagine that things like isolation payments will stop, so nobody will get children tested because they won't be able to afford to isolate, so will declare it 'just a bit of a cold' and send in anyway.

Everyone else carries on exactly as normal - nothing to see here....

(Lots of parents my age have late teens - usually single jabbed - isolating at home at the moment. We are the ONLY double jabbed parents so far not to both succumb as well)

Right, ok-thanks. So, if child in your class develops a new and persistent cough, can we send them home to be tested?

We can try..... but it hasn't worked this year (parents refuse and we have to re-admit the following day even if we manage to, because we can't insist on a negative test OR they keep them off for a day or two of worst symptoms so we never know and send them back in because the parents can' afford to isolate) so I can't see it working next year.....

@cantkeepawayforever

We can try..... but it hasn't worked this year (parents refuse and we have to re-admit the following day even if we manage to, because we can't insist on a negative test OR they keep them off for a day or two of worst symptoms so we never know and send them back in because the parents can' afford to isolate) so I can't see it working next year.....

Hmm, I suppose so. We’ve been quite lucky, I think-we haven’t had to send many home with coughs as they have been keeping them off, and they have all got their child tested before sending them back. My own DC’s school has been a bloody nightmare though.

It’s going to be a shitstorm, isn’t it?!