Pingdemic?

Our school seems to be a textbook (excuse pun!) example of what is being reported in the news at the moment, with literally hundreds of students and several staff having to self-isolate at home. Most of my classes this week have only had a handful of students in, with many having as few as two - crazy! 

I've still got a streaming cold, which is apparently what the Delta variant's symptoms are like, but I've been doing a lateral flow test twice a day since Monday and each one has been negative so hopefully it is just a cold! Although I'm happy to follow the rules, no matter how inanely pointless many seem, I'm finding it somewhat ironic that I am going to work while ill and covering for healthy colleagues who, even after negative PCR tests, have been forced to continue to stay home because they were 'pinged'. Ridiculous!

There was a bit of a hoo-ha today, as one of my students tested positive and the girl who sits next to him told the school she hadn't, as 'no-one was in the seating plan' - complete nonsense! Our teachers have to provide the headteacher with copies of the seating plans for all their classes, which have to be adhered to as NHS Track & Trace use them to decide who's considered a 'close contact'. I am absolutely militant about students sitting in their correct seats - I print the plans out for every lesson, use them to do the register so I can check that students are in the correct seats, and make sure they move if not. Thankfully, my LSA and the other students confirmed she had been sitting next to the boy, plus their exercise books were together in the pile, further confirming they'd been next to each other when I collected the books in at the end of the lesson. The girl is a very good student and the consensus is that she just didn't want to miss any school. Could have got me in a lot of trouble, though!

To say I'm feeling grumpy at the moment is an understatement... but my 100 kilos of plasticine arrived, so that made me happy, at least!