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

@noblegiraffe

They are all getting thoroughly behind the JCVI report about letting positive kids come to school to help the poor.

Will U4T appreciate their children being infected with Covid by the lower classes?

Went into school despite finishing yesterday whilst I'm still "in the swing". Got loads of boring admin done with department which has meant we feel more organised for September.

Then went and spent £££ on FawkesPup at pets at home 😆

2 more days for me! Today we said goodbye to current class and have new one next 2 days (same yr for me). Spent the day tidying and sorting the classroom ready for new teachers. In this heat it was not fun.

@noblegiraffe

They are all getting thoroughly behind the JCVI report about letting positive kids come to school to help the poor.

Well they’ve all been so vocal about the vulnerable/disadvantaged children since 8th March it’s been deafening… oh no hold on.

Could it be actually about them not wanting to have their own child at home again in the autumn term. FFS.

One unforeseen (at least by me) consequence of school not doing contact tracing any more - and I don’t actually get why this is a consequence, can anyone enlighten me - is that, whereas up to Monday morning we had a daily list published of students who were isolating, detailing whether they’re positive, school close contacts or out of school close contacts, together with the expected return dates, now apparently we’re not allowed to do that. So we have no idea of who is positive, how many etc. [I appreciate some of your schools never did that, apologies!]

Individual teachers cqn only look at their SIMS register and find individual codes, that’s the only way to see.

There was something about whether to still set work for isolaters but I need to reread that bit. Doesn’t directly affect me and I’ve had another mad day with boss away, online training about harmful sexual
behaviours in school (about which I could say a lot...) and my job-related meeting this morning.

Fabarooney.

SAGE has advised that measures could be needed by August, eg masks and WFH.

There was something about whether to still set work for isolaters but I need to reread that bit.

It just says we are still expected to provide remote education for isolating students.

@noblegiraffe

There was something about whether to still set work for isolaters but I need to reread that bit.

It just says we are still expected to provide remote education for isolating students.

Even though none need to isolate?

We’ve still had our daily list for out - no info as to why not in but just list of ‘isolators’ so we know who to set work for…

The ones with covid need to isolate! Unless Dingbat gets his way.

Possibly if they need to isolate because they actually have it?

We just get told year groups or form names so you knew to set/upload work. Options teachers just had to retrospectively upload work once they'd spotted the child x on register

Ah yes although I was just thinking they’d be off sick! But I guess if no symptoms etc…

Do you reckon we’ll go remote again at all next year they way things are looking?!?

@MrsHerculePoirot

Ah yes although I was just thinking they’d be off sick! But I guess if no symptoms etc…

But how will anyone know if they have Covid asymptomatically if we won’t be doing LFTs? Such a farce!

@MrsHerculePoirot

Do you reckon we’ll go remote again at all next year they way things are looking?!?

I bloody hope not. I've hated it with a passion, both times. I mean, it's better than everyone being ill, but it's awful. I could cope with short circuit breaker lockdowns where we do remote learning for a couple of weeks then back, but I don't think I can cope with anything longer. If only they would let us have some more mitigations in schools so we wouldn't have to have any more lockdowns.

I have my fingers crossed that the vaccines are enough to stop huge numbers of people being hospitalised and/or dying from it, but I'm not holding my breath.

Jan That was how our place worked anyway. I'd check SIMS each morning. Usually by thr time I taught the lesson there was anothrr isolater. I had one Y7 -CF @ me on teams and ask for the work 15 minutes into a lesson when he only left site the lesson before. He was given very short shrift.

Happy holidays to everyone finishing today. My youngest is now finished so for us the holidays start properly tomorrow. I was so tired today - I think it’s this past year catching up with me.

@JanFebAnyMonth

SAGE has advised that measures could be needed by August, eg masks and WFH.

Jeeze really?!

I feel constantly gaslighted at the mo.

Yep. Hospital admissions figures could well be back where they were in January by the middle of August at the rate they are going. Doesn't seem to be any attempt to slow them down.

I saw a post on twitter from what appears to be a legit doctor saying there are no paediatric intensive care beds available in the country this evening.

I have no idea if that's unusual or why, if true.

That would seem believable to me, although AIUI the number of ICU beds isn't really a fixed number so if we absolutely needed some something could be sorted out. It's unusual for July and it will certainly but a brake on the whole catching up with the backlog.

Yeah I saw that too. C concerning.

At least that is the sort of thing that could produce powerful public outcry.

Did you the Spectator tried to run a story dissing Marcus Rashford?! (There’s a thread on it.)

I don't know if it will cause an outcry. It'll be blamed on lockdown. We'll increase the beds, or reduce the staffing ratios and it will be like it never happened.

Found it here
mobile.twitter.com/doctor_katie

Although seems it may not be totally accurate, but pretty close. Caused by this respiratory virus, which she framed as a “direct result of lockdown and schools being closed.” Am not sure whether she’s anti lockdown but her tweets could certainly be used that way

Crawled across the finish line today, utterly exhausted. I don't remember ever feeling so tired, but I suppose I must have been. I'm having a few days off to sleep/recover/reclaim my home, and then I'll pop into school next week to sort some things for September. I'm trying hard not to think about the Covid situation come the autumn - I need to get over this year first!

Thinking of those of you who are still waiting to break up!