Staff Room!!!

moomin, what is the AST paperwork like?

My school want me to do it next year

good luck with the SAT application.

Do you ladies ever have those days where no matter how organised all your lessons are they just don't seem to work as they should?

Hello - only just seen this. Am secondary English, working 3 days pw at moment. Have previously been 2nd in dept and acting HoD and KS3 co-ordinator and NQT mentor most recently. Am back to standard scale at moment as moved schools to escape Pig ex-Head and be nearer to the dds. But am in process of applying to be AST at moment and will be increasing hours in Sept probably. No guarantee will get this job, esp as have just moved authorities too so that might count against me maybe? Keen for promotion soon though.

I totally agree about the statements. Over 65% of our pupils are on the SEN register but only 4 of them have statements. Two of those should be at special schools but because their parents have refused, the Local Authority says we have to keep them.

We have only 4 Statements out of 700 kids - IME the Local Authority are only writing them for kids with medical needs or really severe SEN. And yes, we're definitely seeing a lot of kids in mainstream who wouldve been in special schools in the past. I'm all in favour of inclusion, but we need the money to go with it!!

sorry, that was a [durr] moment from me!

How many of the 45% are statemented?

Our SENCO comments that those who do come to us with a statement would have gone to a special school 5 years ago.

MB - we have too. Less statements but more seem to be SA or SA+ compared to the year before

45% is a heck of a work load for you.

We have around 20% on ours.

have you found that the number of children with statemnts on entry to secondary is falling? We have.

Hi, Fizzbuzz,

Came back in November for 3 weeks, have just done another 3, with 2 more to go before half term. Then 2 or 3 weeks back in france and back again for 10 days or so a month until work runs out.

Forgotten how truly knackering it is to teach. I also feel sorry for the kids in the school I'm in at the moment - they are fab, but I see some of them 2 or 3 times a day out of 5 periods, so the quality of their education must be lacking.

I had a Y10 group in science today - reasonably bright, but incredibly demotivated as they had 2 staff changes last term and their current teacher is on long term sick, so they've seen a succession of cover or supply staff. They say they do nothing but copy work off the board, or read and answer qs. It's sad seeing them going off the boil, neither challenged nor interested, and I'm sure it creates problems for other lessons to have bored and frustrated kids trooping into their classrooms.

Lovely to see you're still alive and kicking, FB. Stick with it!!! (any choice?!)

xx

Just after break and just before lunch.

they are (mostly) lovable rogues, but they have their moments

alfiesbabe

My pet hate today : kids that smirk

Remind them of the task - they smirk
Explain something to them - they smirk
Ask them to turn round & stop talking - they smirk
Teacher tells them off - they smirk
Teacher then takes them outside and gives them a good telling off about their attitude - TA Smirks

Oh crikey! I hope they are better than our 10/7, who are truly hideous: what time of day is that lesson?

I hope they don't come calling.

I have checked the Ofsted time table and the only lesson that they can inspect of mine is with 10/7 (7 out of 8!)

Oh deepest joy.

Whizz, as SENCO I'm redirecting you to support fizzbuzz in DT, ok??!!

Whizz. I have to cope with kids in DT with ADHD, and NO support. Have never had any support in DT, and they use knives, spray glue, scissors, all sorts of stuff..

That's how I looked whizzz - out of my depth and rather afraid!! This class are brilliant - many fear them due to the fact that they are a handful. They believed Juliet deserved a "good slappin'" whenwe studied the text. Gotta love 'em.
Wouldn't attempt the hormone chat MB. I dare you...

The teacher just stood there.....looking very out of his depth & rather afraid

I had to teach y10 about sex hormones, so had to say the words penis, testicles, breasts and periods.

the were all amazingly sensible about it TBH!

excellent Whizzz - can picture it now

I have 'parents Day' - no teaching, just truth telling
I made a very bad error today. Instead of telling my Year 10 that Wordsworth was born in the Lake District...I told them the name of the town. It was double entendre lesson with much sniggering and play on words. I wish he'd been born in Settle - not Cockermouth.

My scariest part of the day was supporting a pupil with ADHD in DT when he needed to use a Stanley knife and was ricocheting
alarmingly round the room with it...

Hi Slayerette - fingers crossed here for you.

I have had a full teaching day plus a meeting which I had to chair, after school, and have been bunged up with a cold so feeling sorry for myself. AND the electricity went in my classroom for two hours - so I had to teach with no lights, no computer, no heating.

Sitting here now trying to muster up the enthusiasm to do some planning and/or coursework marking but really just want to go to bed with a hot toddy!!

Tomorrow I have double Yr 10 last two periods btw...