The Twelfth Republic - push and glide to the summer break

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. It is meant for school staff. Baiters and bashers can jog on somewhere else.

If you are NOT staff and just have a general education query please start your own thread.

You can play here only if you are a member of one the following groups-

-ABBA - anti bashers and baiting association
-SWAB - school workers against bashers
-SWOT - school workers opposing teacherbashers
-STARS - schoolworkers together against ranting + slurs

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 toffee vodka is hidden.

If you are fed up with cakes and biscuits there is now a cheeseboard on offer

If you come with a stick to beat us with then please do so elsewhere and not in the staffroom

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

Well I thought this was a great response to those claiming things are fair etc? Did any bashers and baiters e-mail governors, LEAs, DfE, MP, ministers? Probably not ...

Where were you when SEN schools were forced to shut?
Where were you when the budgets for schools, CAHMS ,youth services ,sure start, children centres and SS were cut?
Where were you when teachers were buying food for children out of their pockets?
Where were you when teachers bought resources for pupils out of their pockets?
Where were you when budgets were decimated so TA's had to cover and teach whole classes?
Where were you when SEN diagnosis and support became a postcode lottery?
Where were you when councils made up their own rules and hoops to jump through regarding what funding schools can receive for SEND children?
Where were you when the Gvnmt kept changing the goalposts?
Where were you when teachers gave their time for free to offer after school clubs or summer clubs to children?

Where were you when thousands of children have been failed or fell through the cracks due to pressure, budget cuts, massive workloads etc?

Where were you when budget cuts that meant reducing staff and increased class sizes meant unsafe conditions for staff and pupils?

Where were you when it has been said again and again that there's a teacher retention crisis?

Where the hell have you been in the past years?

Too late for summer school etc now.
#solidarity

[NeurotrashWarrior]

Hear hear! Well said staff and cheers for the new thread.

[TheHoneyBadger]

They were sat blaming the teachers.

Had a lovely intro to using google classroom with the head tech guy yesterday. It actually looks great for use in the classroom too for one of those rare occasions I can book chrome books. I wish we used it for homework too as it would have all the homework in one place (still paper for those who don’t have tech but the guy was explaining to me that it all works even on a phone.

Apparently he was campaigning for it to be the main system for homework etc before when they wanted to ditch smhw but the head was smitten with GO for some reason.

Anyway feel fairly confident of being able to muddle through and get better at it with practice.

Met a nice woman from my new department. Feeling pretty positive. In non pandemic times this September would be my best in a long time. School and system I’m totally used to and a subject I’m fairly confident with and by the sounds f it a totally reasonable marking policy.

[tadjennyp]

Sounds really positive honey . My new school uses Edulink but I am hoping we can keep Teams, particularly at GCSE.

[motherrunner]

@StaffAssociationRepresentative

Well I thought this was a great response to those claiming things are fair etc? Did any bashers and baiters e-mail governors, LEAs, DfE, MP, ministers? Probably not ...

*Where were you when SEN schools were forced to shut?
Where were you when the budgets for schools, CAHMS ,youth services ,sure start, children centres and SS were cut?
Where were you when teachers were buying food for children out of their pockets?
Where were you when teachers bought resources for pupils out of their pockets?
Where were you when budgets were decimated so TA's had to cover and teach whole classes?
Where were you when SEN diagnosis and support became a postcode lottery?
Where were you when councils made up their own rules and hoops to jump through regarding what funding schools can receive for SEND children?
Where were you when the Gvnmt kept changing the goalposts?
Where were you when teachers gave their time for free to offer after school clubs or summer clubs to children?

Where were you when thousands of children have been failed or fell through the cracks due to pressure, budget cuts, massive workloads etc?

Where were you when budget cuts that meant reducing staff and increased class sizes meant unsafe conditions for staff and pupils?

Where were you when it has been said again and again that there's a teacher retention crisis?

Where the hell have you been in the past years?*

Too late for summer school etc now.
#solidarity

👏 👏 👏

[Piggywaspushed]

Settling in on DS2's beanbag/my home office with a cup of tea.

Off to 'work' now before moonlighting as a mother and wife later.

[Appuskidu]

Thank you for the new thread. Roll on the holiday.

[Phineyj]

My term has finished (still one more week of doing a crap job educating my primary age child to go - she threatened me with violence for trying to get her to do her Maths yesterday). Just checking in to ask.if we can have some healthy snack options in the Staffroom. Remote teaching has turned me into a heifer! .

[MrsHerculePoirot]

@Phineyj I’m here and I’ve brought carrots, cucumber, apples and humous!

[Saucery]

Only individually wrapped snacks please. The amount of home baking with multiple hands in and out of the Tupperware is driving me insane.
All the splitting up of staff breaks, bubble classrooms where you can’t get help or a break because CAN’T ENTER THE BOOBLE!!!!, wiping the toilets down after every use......
.......but hey, Covid likes home baking and wouldn’t dream of contaminating it 🤦‍♀️ So dive in, everyone, even if I’ve just seen you leave your classroom and come straight into the staffroom and into that Tupperware.

[Saucery]

I am aware this is a Virtual Staffroom but....

[minisoksmakehardwork]

Lol saucery. My dc's primary school were quite happy to take home bakes but not work which children needed to continue their learning whilst in key worker care.

[DreamingofBrie]

Placemarking. Have just taught circle theorems, and tech issues on Teams meant that lots of people were in the lesson but lots couldn't unmute/hear me etc. Gave up directing my questions at specific individuals and just asked for volunteers to shout out if they could tell me something/anything about the question! We got there in the end, but I do get that horrible paranoia that I'm just talking to myself and everyone else has just quietly left the meeting!

I liked that response on the thread about teachers acting as private school tutors too . Also the question that someone asked about whether they really really wanted teachers only to work the hours that they were directed to.

[Saucery]

@minisoksmakehardwork

Lol saucery. My dc's primary school were quite happy to take home bakes but not work which children needed to continue their learning whilst in key worker care.

That’s what I can’t understand, it’s like they just can’t see it. We’re not allowing even a piece of paper between home and school either way, just coats and lunch boxes.
In the words of Alan Bennett I didn’t say anything. I don’t want to be the Fun Sponge Who Got Sponge Banned. But I don’t eat it.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

Meanwhile, in news that will surprise no-one

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-53315702.

Allegedly the customer in the Somerset pub had tested positive before he went. I can’t help thinking that the return to schools plan is rather optimistically relying on all of the public to do the right thing and not act like idiots.

Or as I saw someone put it the other week - it only takes one prick to burst a bubble.

[Piggywaspushed]

But isn't it interesting the media 'frenzy' to report this, and yet almost a repression of the stats on school outbreaks ?

[minisoksmakehardwork]

I didn't mind the not taking it, but the rank hypocrisy.

Admittedly this is a child who has underlying respiratory issues. But this is also a child who allegedly showed no symptoms of COVID and tested positive for antibodies https://www.fenlandcitizen.co.uk/news/liam-s-story-could-help-other-families-9115040/

And after a report last week of a local factory closing with 14 staff testing positive, that number has now been reported as 25. Although I have to go shopping in that town and tbh it is not surprising. People there are being very lax in their social distancing now.

[minisoksmakehardwork]

I didn't mind the not taking it, but the rank hypocrisy.

Admittedly this is a child who has underlying respiratory issues. But this is also a child who allegedly showed no symptoms of COVID and tested positive for antibodies https://www.fenlandcitizen.co.uk/news/liam-s-story-could-help-other-families-9115040/

And after a report last week of a local factory closing with 14 staff testing positive, that number has now been reported as 25. Although I have to go shopping in that town and tbh it is not surprising. People there are being very lax in their social distancing now.

[Piggywaspushed]

That was indeed an excellent question brie. I think it was mistress who posed that corker.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

@Piggywaspushed

But isn't it interesting the media 'frenzy' to report this, and yet almost a repression of the stats on school outbreaks ?

It is. And it isn’t helpful. I think an awful lot of parents are going to be in for a shock when they realise what the consequences of everyone going back normally with year group bubbles are.

It’s come up on another thread but what are the circumstances for closing a bubble vs closing the school. Are they different in terms of number of cases?

[echt]

God, it's all gone tits up here in Victoria, with six more weeks of fairly intense lockdown.

In one sense it's more of the same as I teach remotely anyway, with a supervising teacher in the classroom. Now it means 50% of my students will be back at home with me.

And breathe. We'll get there.

[ChloeDecker]

On no echt so sorry to read that! How awful.

[ohthegoats]

I'm in school doing next year's planning today.

Almost pointless right? I'm just going to focus on term 1. I quite like the maths guidance - idiot proof at primary I think. Fits with the White Rose lesson by lesson plan for the year too, so I think we'll follow that. Lots of revision/revisiting.

Just putting up a display thinking hmm... we're not going to get to this before something goes wrong.

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

@echt - that’s tough. I fear that is what it will be like in the U.K.

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

I think the problem with schools bubbles will be cross contamination. If there are outbreaks in more than one school bubble then the school will have to close surely