Anybody can change from being fit and healthy to sick and bedbound.
Anybody can develop chronic health conditions or become disabled or terminally ill.
Anybody can change from being employed to unemployed and unable to work.
These things can happen to anybody.
Anybody.
Steve B
6,753 posts
Educator;
Dad;
Headteacher 2011-2023;
Navigating chronic illness;
Music fan; Tied to the 90s;
Hat wearer;
Hope, always
#cleantheair
Lincs, England
Joined April 2020
- After eight weeks completely out of school and many months consumed by an anxiety disorder, our daughter spent an hour on site today. It was Gardening Club - not normal lessons and not inside a classroom - but a seismic step forwards. Recovery. New life. New beginnings. Hope.
- You might not be able to get (or afford) tickets to see Oasis at Heaton Park in Manchester but you can buy tickets to see Paul Heaton in Manchester. What a night it will be. A national treasure, performing much loved songs which span four decades, with all tickets at £35.
00:00 - This week, my niece has been in her first ever school Nativity. She sang and danced. She shone. Everyone shone. She's been embraced by her mainstream school. All the children & staff used Makaton throughout the performance. It was natural & supportive. Inclusion at its best!
- On this day, more than 18 months after anxiety consumed her and 9 months since stepping back inside a classroom, my daughter has spent her first full day back in school. Our journey to here has been about understanding, having the right support, working together...and patience.
- Some Truths about Education - A Thread My daughter is one of the 1.8 million pupils currently classed as persistently absent from school. She's not lazy. My daughter was one of the 1.4 million under-18s referred to mental health services in 2022. The trauma is real. 1/
- Covid is airborne. Chicken pox is airborne. Measles is airborne. Whooping cough is airborne. Four contagious, dangerous conditions. All airborne. There are many others too. We could reduce the transmission of all of these by cleaning the air. Why wouldn't we try?
- If you want higher pupil attendance, clean the air. If you want higher staff attendance, clean the air. If you want less illness, clean the air. If you want to improve pupil behaviour and development and outcomes, clean the air. It's simple science, not rocket science.
- You can't make ill children better by pressuring them into school when ill. You can't make ill staff better by pressuring them into work when ill. You can't reduce illness absence by encouraging people to "push through". You can't improve outcomes by fuelling harm. You can't.
- 18 months ago, I tested positive for Covid, for the first time. Covid took my health & fitness. Long Covid wreaked havoc with my immune system and my life. 18 months on, I live with chronic illness & I'm unemployed. Many have lost more than I have. We deserve a full inquiry.
- Today was the start of Year 8 for my oldest daughter. She hasn't been able to step inside a classroom since January, when she was completely consumed by anxiety. Today, she has been in an art lesson. It's one lesson but it's so much more than that. It's recovery and hope.
- I received some astonishing abuse for my posts last week about cleaning the air in schools. The hate aimed at those of us who want to protect others from avoidable harm is off the scale. Meanwhile, I have a very poorly girl, again. With Covid, again. It shouldn't be this way.
- Today, Rishi Sunak is focusing on how we can get more teenagers to study maths for longer. Meanwhile: 780,000 children have been referred for mental health support. 250,000 of them have been refused. 22% of school pupils are "persistent absentees". There's the maths crisis.
- I remember the old days: When we used to instruct children and staff with contagious illness to stay off school, to avoid spreading it. When we encouraged poorly children to rest and recover at home. When we sympathised with people who were unwell. We called it "care". 1/9




