BC EDUCATION
Saved by @Alex1Powell

Dear Colleagues,
With just one week remaining before the winter break, we are all looking forward more than ever to a couple of weeks of respite from the intense duties of teaching, which are even more overwhelming in pandemic times. 1/
#bced

 Like teachers everywhere, we have had to face so many additional challenges this year. Constant handwashing &mask-wearing, pivoting to online learning, upholding health and safety protocols, struggling with tech issues, adapting to different school schedules &the list goes on. 2/
Underlying it all is the constant worry about our students, our children, our partners, our elders, and ourselves. Yet, despite all this, I constantly see #bced teachers’ energy and creativity shining through. 3/
I want to express deep gratitude for all you are doing every day. All of it is evidence of the consummate professionalism and deep commitment of #bced teachers. Thank you! 4/
Of course, we all welcomed Wednesday’s wonderful news about the approval of the Pfizer vaccine, which will begin rolling out to high risk populations in long-term care and health care next week. 5/
#bced
The @bctf & the @CTFFCE are advocating for teachers, as frontline workers to be in the priority order to receive the vaccines. This is critical for those with underlying medical conditions. So, there is light at the end of the #COVID19 tunnel, but it remains a distant spark. 6/
In the meantime, the @bctf and local unions continue to press government and the new Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside to improve the preventative safety measures in our classrooms and to ensure that they are adhered to by every #bced school district in the province. 7/
Our successful application to the Labour Relations Board under Section 88 of the Labour Code has given us an effective tool to resolve #COVID19 problems in our schools. The troubleshooter process can provide quick and effective solutions to the issues teachers are facing. 8/
Several Local Presidents have found that just mentioning that they intend to take an issue to the troubleshooter process has provided impetus for school districts to take positive action on issues, including plexiglass barriers, scheduling changes, mask posters, etc. 9/
#bced
If you have a health & safety concern be sure to contact your school union representative or your school-based health & safety rep, they will first forward your concern to school-based administration for resolution. 10/
#bced
If the issue is unresolved it should be taken to the JOHS committee. If there is no resolve it is then be directed to the local union office. Local Presidents will work with @bctf to either refer the issue to the troubleshooting process or find another avenue for resolution. 11/
We have also taken our advocacy for #bced teachers to the federal level. On Monday, December 7, I had the opportunity to testify before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health as they examined the mental health aspects of the pandemic. 12/
I highlighted the significant mental health challenges teachers have faced throughout the pandemic and drew attention to the inadequate implementation of health and safety measures in BC classrooms. 13/
#bced
In a brief submitted to the committee, we detailed concerns including lack of physical distancing in classrooms, untenable workload, economic instability for teachers required to isolate when they have limited or no sick leave, and chronic systemic underfunding. 14/
#bced
The brief concluded with six recommendations to safeguard teachers’ mental health. You can hear my testimony here https://t.co/6ZE3kTSYSO at12:10:30. /15 #bced
I also encourage you to read our written brief and recommendations. The recs are formulated so they can be enacted by the Federal government. This advocacy is being supported by the @CTFFCE #bced 16/ https://t.co/xXXV2l6ChJ
To conclude, I’d like once again to acknowledge the tremendous work you are doing and to assure you that your Federation is committed 100% to supporting you and advocating for the changes needed to help keep everyone in your schools safe.
In sol,
Teri
#bced

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I would like to echo the recent recommendation of my MP, who I understand has education as one of their priorities.
They lead with religious and political faith, and I'd like you to lend from their methods of applying faith over fact, if you could.

You see, I have faith in schools communicating clearly, consistently and safely as the facts have demonstrated they can. Unlike the cabinet.


Schools have acknowledged the fear and confusion communities have suffered when this government has failed to deliver clear and consistent messages that lend to 'common sense'.

This, despite the fact their 'common sense' pleas for the contradicting that of their own dangerous behaviour.
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The problem that the ‘lets-shut-schools-for-a-couple-of-weeks-crowd’ ignore is that its much easier to shut schools than to open them. Therefore, the probability is that once schools are shut, they will be shut for months on end, just like last time.

In other words, they are engaging in wishful thinking. The probability is that schools will be shut for months on end whilst online teaching provision will likely be patchy/minimal/inadequate/non-existent like it was last time & educational inequalities will continue to widen.

We’ve learned nothing from the schools shutting for 6 months last yr. Once those schools are shut, they will be shut for months. Online learning will continue to be inadequate, meanwhile big-mouthed Twitter users with no skin in the game will continue to opine on the subject.

The average Twitter user is more likely to be parent to a cat than to a human child. No skin in the game & it shows, quite frankly. The online learning that is available for parents is inadequate & it will be left to parents to utilise their own resources, again.

Educational inequalities will widen into a chasm. It will be a disaster for children, especially primary school-aged children, & for what? Where is the evidence that school closures minimised the spread of C-19? But the average Twitter user need not worry, their cat will be fine
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This thread is to help anyone interested and can afford to study in Australia but have 4 O levels or as low as 2 A level points. Most people think Uni when we talk about studying abroad, but do you know you can study in Australia and end up getting a work visa and/or a degree?

The answer is yes, and I will show you how! The information I will share now pertains to Western Australia only, as I do not know how other states go about it.
Before I continue, a note to those who might consider migrating to Australia or might want their kids to end up here.

If you can afford, it is better to come here as a student. Australian graduates have any easy pathway to PR whereas if you study outside Australia you will need work experience first and yet you are not guaranteed of success.

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The equivalent of a Polytechnic college here is Technical and Further Education college, shortened to TAFE. TAFE colleges in WA have courses streamlined for international students ranging from certificate III (equivalent to NC) to Advanced Diploma (HND).
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We used contact survey data collected by CoMix (https://t.co/ezbCIOgRa1) to quantify differences in contact patterns during November (Schools open) and January (Schools closed) 'Lockdown periods'. NOT YET PEER REVIEWED 2/

We combined this analysis with estimates of susceptibility and infectiousness of children relative to adults from literature. We also inferred relative susceptibility by fitting R estimates from CoMix to EpiForecasts estimates(https://t.co/6lUM2wK0bn). NOT YET PEER REVIEWED 3/


We estimated that reopening all schools would increase R by between 20% to 90% whereas reopening primary or secondary schools alone would increase R by 10% to 40%, depending on the infectiousness/susceptibility profile we used. NOT YET PEER REVIEWED 4/


Assuming a current R of 0.8 (in line with Govt. estimates: https://t.co/ZZhCe79zC4). Reopening all schools would increase R to between 1.0 and 1.5 and reopening either primary or secondary schools would increase R to between 0.9 and 1.2. NOT YET PEER REVIEWED 5/
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