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The staffroom

Whether you're a permanent teacher, supply teacher or student teacher, you'll find others in the same situation on our Staffroom forum.

Original poster

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

999 replies

Staffholidayclubrep · 18/07/2021 12:13

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
19
JanFebAnyMonth · 04/08/2021 22:11

This makes some interesting points, although most of the first half is stuff we know already:

www.tes.com/news/why-schools-face-covid-culture-shock-next-term

noblegiraffe · 04/08/2021 23:46

Have you considered starting a thread with the FSM grade bumping campaign noble?

No way, I'm not insane. It was bad enough when I started a thread suggesting that FSM kids should be given food in the holidays. Some people don't think they should even be fed, don't want to give those people somewhere to air their bile.

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 04/08/2021 23:52

I don't think they'd gone into complete meltdown when I checked this afternoon. They weren't happy obviously, because giving parents the choice to vaccinate against a disease that might cause your child to end up with a period of time off school is clearly nuts.

noblegiraffe · 04/08/2021 23:57

They started a hashtag leaveourkidsalone.

It is full of teens saying 'fuck off tin-foil hatters, we want the vaccine'.

noblegiraffe · 05/08/2021 00:27

Oh you remember when the DfE schools guidance was updated to say that face masks would remain after Easter before they had supposedly reviewed the data and then it was quietly amended to say 'will be reviewed' again?

Total balls-up that they didn't publicly correct because they didn't want to draw attention to the fact that they had ballsed up.

schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-tried-to-avoid-bringing-attention-to-face-mask-guidance-error-despite-confusion/

Lots of negative stories about the DfE coming out lately.

Piggywaspushed · 05/08/2021 07:06

Both DS's tests back, both positive.

motherrunner · 05/08/2021 07:15

Eurgh @Piggywaspushed. How’s he feeling?

MrsHerculePoirot · 05/08/2021 07:16

Oh no @Piggywaspushed - but maybe better to bothe get out of way in one go?!?!

Piggywaspushed · 05/08/2021 07:19

He isn't up yet. He was showing signs of feeling better by yesterday evening.

DS1 , meanwhile, parading around going ' if this is what covid is, I have barely been ill. I've had worse colds' . He sounds like soem of our favourite posters. Plus, apart from when he had impetigo when he was 18 months old and ended up on a drip in hospital, he has never been ill. I am surprised he tested positive as he was so bad at doing his test!

DH veers between catastrophising and trying to think of ways to get to the test match on Sunday by manically symptom hunting as far back as we can for DS2.

Everyone is being an arse , apart from me and DS2!

WarriorN · 05/08/2021 07:39

Sorry to hear he has Covid Piggy, I saw on the data thread. Glad he's not too bad but ugh not what you want in the hols.

I'm being rubbish keeping up with the thread, have you all met up yet?!

I was to have a glorious day surfing and afternoon tea-ing yesterday, one day they're both elsewhere, but ds was suddenly poorly in the night. So test etc, as hes been at a camp all week. Luckily it's not Covid. But clearly wiped as had two naps yesterday! Still, I cracked on with mammoth forensic level of clearing out of house crap, house move level stuff, and am glad actually as lockdown definitely highlighted lots of it for over 18 mo!

I've given up on tbe data thread; what's been discussed in the last week is exactly what I posted about 2-3 weeks ago as we saw it in the NE. I'm pleased the ons data has confirmed what I said though Grin (high concentration in primary kids.)

WarriorN · 05/08/2021 07:40

Oh crap, both! Sorry piggy.

WarriorN · 05/08/2021 07:45

Oh and re the arts, I was thinking how important the arts are for pupils with Sen in particular.

In my school it's often an area where they can excel, and also enjoy. And move on into employment even; there's a local arts theatre that's a charity as it's run by a team of people with additional needs, with some support. But they make the decisions, the programme, work in Feb cafe. It's so slick, hip and cool, friends didn't even realise this. They use the space to do their own drama and put on plays.,If not employment, certainly a great source of joy.

But we need specialists to teach the arts well. And those will be a dying breed over the next few decades. They already are. I'm increasingly gobsmacked at how unconfident newer teachers are.

Beachhuts90 · 05/08/2021 07:55

I've come from the arts into education in the pandemic and even those of us who are already trained are leaving in droves. Many many of us were made redundant and put the skills to use elsewhere.

borntobequiet · 05/08/2021 08:03

If I were a 16 year old who wanted the vaccine and parents didn’t, I’d rebel big time and be so pleased to know that it was me being sensible and completely within my rights as opposed to having that sneaking feeling of behaving in an unreasonably juvenile manner just for the sake of it.

WarriorN · 05/08/2021 08:14

@Beachhuts90

I've come from the arts into education in the pandemic and even those of us who are already trained are leaving in droves. Many many of us were made redundant and put the skills to use elsewhere.
Leaving education or the arts sector? I handing thought of all the people retraining, that could be useful... shame the government doesn't see it like that.
Piggywaspushed · 05/08/2021 09:00

@WarriorN

Sorry to hear he has Covid Piggy, I saw on the data thread. Glad he's not too bad but ugh not what you want in the hols.

I'm being rubbish keeping up with the thread, have you all met up yet?!

I was to have a glorious day surfing and afternoon tea-ing yesterday, one day they're both elsewhere, but ds was suddenly poorly in the night. So test etc, as hes been at a camp all week. Luckily it's not Covid. But clearly wiped as had two naps yesterday! Still, I cracked on with mammoth forensic level of clearing out of house crap, house move level stuff, and am glad actually as lockdown definitely highlighted lots of it for over 18 mo!

I've given up on tbe data thread; what's been discussed in the last week is exactly what I posted about 2-3 weeks ago as we saw it in the NE. I'm pleased the ons data has confirmed what I said though Grin (high concentration in primary kids.)

Did you see that tables the lovely OP posted yesterday, too? Sky highest rates everywhere in the last fortnight of school.
noblegiraffe · 05/08/2021 09:15

Gav loves having weird things in his carefully staged photo shoots. The whip was fairly self-explanatory....what about a pottery figure of Theresa May as Britannia standing on possibly Jacques Delors?

twitter.com/ajjolley/status/1423061727441195009?s=21

Beachhuts90 · 05/08/2021 09:31

Leaving education or the arts sector?

Leaving the arts. Last year when the government was fannying about all summer and not saying who would get how much of the arts grant, most medium and large arts orgs had to let lots of people go. Those jobs aren't coming back. Too unstable even with things open.

Saucery · 05/08/2021 09:40

That’s Thatcher as Britannia, isn’t it?

JanFebAnyMonth · 05/08/2021 09:42

And other Schoolsweek articles:

schoolsweek.co.uk/mental-health-first-aid-training-for-primary-schools-ditched-government-finally-admits/

schoolsweek.co.uk/pearson-to-return-33-of-exam-fees-to-schools/
(I hadn’t realised all boards returned 25% last year.)

WarriorN · 05/08/2021 09:43

Did you see that tables the lovely OP posted yesterday, too? Sky highest rates everywhere in the last fortnight of school.

Yes, completely! And some areas only finished last Friday. Eg Leeds. Some schools there are doing 5 week summer hol and 2 week May break.

It started to turn in Newcastle, Gateshead and northtyneside around school holidays, but also as so many bubbles had popped. schools were closed by phe (mine was) in the last week in NT mainly as so many bubbles were off. So the self isolation put the breaks on and then holidays kept it going.

noblegiraffe · 05/08/2021 09:44

Oh wow I have found it...sadly out of stock. Def Theresa May, but with her foot on the head of Michael Gove. Called Brexitannia 🤮

www.stokeartpottery.co.uk/product/bairstow-pottery-theresa-may-brexitannia-figure/

JanFebAnyMonth · 05/08/2021 09:49

Oh no piggy! Have to and yr DH taken tests? You must be a bit concerned about him particularly.

No @WarriorN, we haven’t met yet! Anyone who wants to know the plan and who can vouch for their nonU4Tness - provide a Skype ID and PM me or noble!

echt · 05/08/2021 09:54

Purely selfishly....fuck me: back in lockdown and remote teaching. Sad

Struggling to see why a teacher has a covid test and goes back in and teaches, before the result.Hmm