One in 12 teachers was absent from schools in England during the first week of term, according to the latest data, the BBC reports.
Last week, 8.6% of teachers and school leaders were absent – 4.9% because of Covid, up from 3% on December 16th. This includes large numbers isolating as contacts rather than with a positive test. It’s striking that 3.7% were absent for non-Covid reasons.
The Telegraph reports that class sizes have reached up to 120 pupils, crammed into sports halls, as schools leaders back calls to cut the isolation period to five days.
School leaders have backed calls to cut the Covid isolation period to five days after it was revealed that classes of 120 children have crammed into sports halls amid a teacher shortage crisis.
Dame Maura Regan, Chief Executive officer of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, said she would “welcome” the move in England.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Personally, I’d welcome it, because I think the most important thing is there are many staff that actually have no symptoms, many children that have no symptoms, and I think it’s important to get staff back as quickly as possible.”
This comes after a survey by the NASUWT teaching union found that nearly half of teachers have been forced to cover for colleagues who were off work due to coronavirus as remote learning hit its highest level since lockdown.
Dame Maura told Today that “one of the biggest challenges” currently for schools is “effective supply cover”.
She added: “I think the most important thing we have to remember is that while it’s significant for all children, it’s particularly significant for those students that are actually facing exams, and many of them have had two, two and a half years, of disruption and to then have a lack of quality teaching is actually greater disruption for them.”
On Monday, Boris Johnson said ministers were considering reducing the self-isolation period from seven to five days for fully vaccinated people who test positive for Covid, with the Health Secretary reportedly backing such a move.
Here’s a radical suggestion. Rather than spending a fortune crippling children’s education via mass testing and isolation, why not just go back to the old system for dealing with a winter flu virus in schools. That was the system where occasionally one person would say to another: “There’s something going round.” Tried and tested, and much cheaper and less disruptive.
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Stop doing tests you absolute eejits.
This needs to be sent to every teacher, personally, by the government.
Until we remove the incentive of a fully paid week off work for public sector staff, this will never stop. Stop the tests, and no show no dough.
I thought they got a month off.
Yup, they’re up to 28 days of self certification now.
Too many on the covid bandwagon now. Regime are actually paying people to keep the hoax going.
Is that in ddition to the statutory sick leave of 4 weeks?
And posties also, not just the public sector – just got my Xmas cards yesterday. Can’t blame them though, the Royal Fail is a complete shit show.
Class sizes should always be 120. The myth of ‘education’ needs toppling.
Most of “education” funding is to subsidise both parents into working and boost land prices.
When you look at the bump of house prices located near schools most of the school subsidy gets eaten in mortgage interest/rent.
Isn’t everything to do with reasoning house prices and keeping everyone one the wheel of work and debt payments?
Interesting post.
But the “demand” from parents buying houses with borrowed money in those areas might otherwise be distributed in other areas, given that the prevalent “wisdom” in Britain seems to be to borrow as much money as you can when a moneylender says that as well as paying him interest you’ve also got to agree to let him grab “your” house if you can’t pay. (Agreeing such an arrangement is widely described as “getting” something or even as being “given” it.)
Certainly the expansion of “higher” “education” was all to do with increasing personal debt. There are many twentysomethings who don’t even know what debt means…they think “student debt” isn’t real debt, or that you’re only in “debt” when you are “behind in your payments”.
They want to educate? Then why are they destroying the society which they have promised the young will fulfil their dreams and aspirations?
But it’s not education so much as propaganda, dumbing-down, and prizes for all, is it?
And then a crap job afterwards, or after a pointless degree.
The ‘education’ system is designed to create narrative-supporting, order-followers.
Like teachers you mean
“But it’s not education so much as propaganda, dumbing-down, and prizes for all, is it?
And then a crap job afterwards, or after a pointless degree.”
Said Eeyore
Who’s Eeyore?
Who’s Eeyore?!
Never mind.
A depressed donkey I am, as long as it’s a clever ass!
It is said that their learning and problem-solving skills are up there with dogs and dolphins.
However, I would surmise that their ebullience factor is probably lower.
My grandma used to tell me to stay at home in bed if I felt too ill to go out. Simple, really.
I do not need an expensive “free” test to check I am not unwell.
I do not need to visit the graveyard to check I am not dead.
Teachers, along with medics, the worst profession for pushing panic throughout this nonsense (you can add journalists and politicians). Amazing they are STILL doing it!
Largely the problem of ridiculous union who instead of helping teachers so they can help kids are now just helping themselves to free leave .
The madness of testing. Someone told me yesterday that a collegue of hers had had covid 6 times! Turns out that this person has actually taken 6 individual periods of quarantine. Instead of being seen as a major skiver, she was viewed as an extremely unfortunate person who is constantly ill.
Who wouldn’t use a positive test if they could get two weeks paid time off?
Responsible adult human beings?
I know, I know, that includes the public and third sectors and far too many salaried employees.
Exactly – but I work for myself.
No work no pay.
A slightly different motivation and work ethic than the public sector!
Probably get some sort of accolade for ‘selflessly putting herself above others’.
Having said that shit all in pay rises for a decade really what kind of motivation does one expect .An NHS worker being offered a 2% pay rise is quite welcome to all the time off they want
indeed !!! mentally ill
Kit Knightly has a well timed piece in off-Guardian
https://off-guardian.org/2022/01/10/what-they-really-mean-by-living-with-covid/
Absolutely nails it, thanks for that.
This Is exactly what’s going on. I couldn’t believe the change in news broadcasting, all at the same time? This piece should be added to the DS as a stand alone article…..it’s Bang On!
They should refuse to pay them for their first 3 – 5 days of sick leave as happens with many low paid workers.
“On Monday, Boris Johnson said ministers were considering reducing the self-isolation period from seven to five days for fully vaccinated people who test positive for Covid,”
Does he not get the utter stupidity of that statement
It gets worse. It you are medically exempt from a vaccine then you can also benefit fro the reduced isolation period (as taken from the Test & Trace website):
When you do not need to self-isolate
NHS Test and Trace and the NHS COVID-19 app will check whether you need to self-isolate because you’ve been in contact with someone with COVID-19.
You do not need to self-isolate if any of the following apply:
What is the logic in that?
To avoid getting sued for ‘discrimination’ I would imagine.
Unlike not being vaxxed which is a personal choice.
The same as what religion you are……ooops!
Is “I already had the mild cold called SARS2?” listed?
I’ve started ticking the vaccinated box….I’ve been ‘vaccinated’ the natural way.
After if they can change the definition of vaccinated so can I? Surely it means ‘are you highly resistant if not immune’ which I am.
Bravo! We need more of this ‘Let’s fight them with their own logic’ approach.
Change definitions.
Tell lies where necessary to achieve the objective.
Spout logic (‘science’) that suits your purpose.
Obfuscate if challenged.
Party freely.
Most of all, use propaganda like there’s no tomorrow…
Remember, you MUST…
### LIE ### CHEAT ### CELEBRATE ###
Too many parties, his mind blurred.
120 kids in one class? That is not education. You will learn nothing at all. My class in school had less than 30 kids and the teachers couldn’t pay attention to everyone.
‘[Dame Maura Regan] told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Personally, I’d welcome it, because I think the most important thing is there are many staff that actually have no symptoms, many children that have no symptoms, and I think it’s important to get staff back as quickly as possible.”’ (my bold)
And still the penny doesn’t drop. Remarkable.
In other words, they haven’t had the COVID-19 disease but rather (granting the tests were accurate) have experienced SARS-2 in extremely mild form. Mild to moderate infection with SARS-2 has led to mass hysteria, with ostensibly grown adults everywhere obeying the absurd command to ‘self-isolate’ and, in the case of teachers, disrupted children’s education to a staggering degree.
Yet when the poo hits the blower, and ‘school leaders’ (contradiction) realise they need teachers back in the classroom, and they realise that teachers and children are not presenting with symptoms, they still seem utterly transfixed and unable to put two and two together and come to the conclusion that asymptomatic testing is not only absurd but has caused indescribable harm to our children’s education and society as a whole
How come 8% absenteeism results in classes of 120?
Because 1/(1-0.08) times the average class size which is probably about 25 is 120. It’s not for Telegraph readers to question “the science”. That would be conspiracy theory.
On the one hand, ‘well’ people both in Education and other public sector roles are being encouraged or even expected to isolate after a ‘positive’ test result.
On the other hand, IKEA has docked pay for unvaccinated people in the UK who are FORCED to isolate for 10 days, despite being well. BBC has reported this today, and opines that it ‘isn’t really discrimination’.
On the third hand, everybody is now testing manically out of fear, compulsion, design (to get off work), or mistaken belief it is the law.
This is British society in 2022?
Civilisation is hanging by a thread.
If you’ve got an IKEA employee who is in say their 20s or 30s or 40s, and the 17th time they put a stick up their nose they get a blue line in the
long desiredmuch feared place, why on earth does the idiot then tell everyone, tell their employer, tell “the NHS”, tell their Aunt Fanny, tell everyone on Facebook, tell their local “community bobby”, every nurse they see, etc.? Don’t they got nothing between their ear’oles?Or does a terminal program, which they probably call an “app”, do some of the reporting for them?
Someone should tell them “I don’t care what blue line you’ve got on your device, you cretin”.
In the case of those employees at IKEA there’s not even a financial incentive – there’s a financial disincentive. Do these idiots want people to feel sorry for them, say how much they love them, etc.? That’s got to be it, somewhere along the line.
I mean how hard is it, even for a smartphone addict who likes to “go on Facebook”, to educate themselves on a) the difference between a virus and an illness, and b) how the probability of having got at least one six with a fair die increases almost to certainty as the number of throws increases?
Imagine if they got a real health problem. They’d probably collapse into a quivering wreck.
All testers are borderline crazy, if not already such.
The point is that jabbed IKEA employees still get sick-pay; unjabbed do not (or it is docked) – AND must isolate with or without testing. The latter folk should resign and get a better job, of course.
The upshot is that the well are paid to go off sick, unless they are well but fall into the political category of ‘unjabbed’: they are then punished for the classification regardless of being sick or well.
It’s a ludicrous policy….
Not sick but vaxxed with positive test – a few days off work on full pay
Actually sick and unvaxxed but able to work – go in to work to keep pay levels and spread whatever you’ve got
I have never done a test, never tested positive, therefore haven’t needed to do an isolation. I run a small business. no-one pays me to be sick, so I am not sick.
Ikea would have to vary the contract. There maybe terms in the existing ones that allow them too but regardless of what the British Bullshit Corporation spouts-Ikea are putting themselves on very thin ice if someone with a bit of guts plays the game correctly.
Out of interest, what’s the best way to play the game, re: not being sent home for 10 days due to being unvaxxed?
Do you say your vax status is ‘confidential’ and not disclose it, when asked?
Or state you are unvaxxed – ‘come out’ – so to speak?
Send them this picture of a test result.
What you implyin’?
Unvaxxed dont test, just go home…
Get a grip, its a spoof fer gawds sake, to show the respect you have for anyone asking about a test the CDC was recommending be thrown in the garbage 5 months ago.
Really shouldn’t have to explain this.
I got the joke!
The hospital and school systems break down… Then it will be electricity and the currency…
But wait…the regime will hold a…Coronation!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_74Hh35jk0
Insane … the world’s gone completely bonkers!
The technical term is ‘Banana, Napoleon’.
Senile Joe in the background trying to remember his own name.
I stopped reading at “according to the latest data, the BBC reports.”
At least half of them would be idle chancers taking the golden opportunity for a good old fashioned bit of swinging the lead.
I live in a small rural town and all the local beauty spot carparks are always full of cars.
Working from home?
Tested positive?
Off sick?
You might say that but I couldn’t possibly comment.
The “cabal” must be pleased, state education and NHS crumbling. The population terrified and obedient. It’s all going better than was hoped.
Unsurprisingly, there are now a large number of folks who use masking as a virtue signalling ritual. The other day, while in a restaurant I witnessed a family of 9 from 70’s to about 10, all troop in with fresh masks on, walk 30 feet to their table, sit, then as one, remove their masks. As one after another went to the toilet during the evening, they very obviously, replaced their mask before rising, and sat back down before taking it off. Then at the very end of the evening, they all donned masks and left, only to stand outside and remove them as if on a signal. Then I presume that they all went home safe in the knowledge that they hadn’t killed a random grandma, and that they are better people than everyone else in the restaurant who didn’t bother with masks at all.
My daughter is yet to attend college since Xmas – staff off with common cold. Oops, I mean covid. Don’t need to add to that.
Be interesting to see the absence rates between private and public sector employees. I know who’d I’d have my money on for most days off.
Reuters reporting Japan is at 1% of its COVID peak cases and falling. India is at 3% of its peak and falling. What did these countries do? Ditch vaccine mandates for ivermectin. Since April 28, India medical officials started providing hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin to its massive population. As India is the major pharmaceutical manufacturer in the world, they were ready for this massive drug distribution. MIRACULOUSLY!, COVID cases have plummeted quickly since then. Meanwhile, all “first world” countries in Europe are reporting a rise in cases. Get your ivermectin before it is too late! https://ivmpharmacy.com
Regarding the lady in the photograph wearing some sort of face covering would you be able to explain to a grandchild in forty years time what the hell was going on ?