to not want to go in the staff room??

[MrDobalina]

I am volunteering at dds school, to get some experience in order to apply for a PGCE place.

I don't want to go in the staff room! I went home for lunch last week to avoid it

Cant really explain it; its a mixture i think of it being a weird dynamic what with dd being in the school and me being a parent AND being transported back in time to my school days when staff-rooms were terrible places full of teachers that stank of coffee and fags

Can i continue to avoid it without looking like a pratt? or do i just need to woman-up? can i hide behind a magazine?

no no...i have no issues i didn't mean 'social anxiety' like that. i mean i don't think me/someone being anxious over a situation is trivial, even if I/a person doesn't have 'issues'

ive managed to function as a professional for the last 20 odd years, so i am not going to be crippled by anxiety and it wont be a barrier to becoming a teacher, i doubt

isnt it fairly normal to not be confident when taking on a completely different role? particularly in a setting where you are already known, but in another context?

I would think many classrooms would be far more of a challenge than the staff room. That was my concern, that if you are daunted by the staff room, you might struggle with a class full of students. Glad it went OK

I am a teacher and parent helpers are not allowed in our staff room - confidentiality etc. i never get chance to go in the staff room either- neither do any other teachers at our school - it's 8:15-5:15 most days without a break - a brew and a cup a soup whilst I am working in the classroom. It's mad these days....

I think you're overstating this.given you said was fine
professionals vent, it's safe way of destresing
if you can't tolerate that venting about familiar kids then don't volunteer kids school. or learn to abstract and tolerate it

i find the classroom fine redwine i mean there is a lot for me to learn obviously, but i didnt feel uncomfortable about it or worried in the same way i did about the staff room

isnt it fairly normal to not be confident when taking on a completely different role?

Yes normal.

yes,and one generally overcomes as op to her credit did
and next is attitudinal shift in prep for pgde

of course teachers talk about kids.all professionals vent
professional training exposes student to realities of job and how staff freely talk
my point is your ouch factor is as parent/mop you find that teachet banter uncomfortable.through training will be attitudinal shift from parent/mop to prifessional

ok, yes i accept that will have to happen

maybe thats why i am uncomfortable...that shift cant happen/ i dont want it to happen whilst i am in my dcs school...im going to be a parent for longer than i will be a volunteer

i dont think at the stage of being a volunteer, that even really needs to begin to happen; im gaining lots of classroom experience-teaching/behavioural etc etc. i dont need to vent or hear others venting...maybe its ok to save that for when i am in a different school

change schools you're too immersed in being parent
you need to expose self to teaching and teachers to gain experience
IMO as mop/parent you feel too compromised in kid school

as i said, i still think i can learn a lot from being there
but not all there is to learn obviously

Maybe you teach in a bigger school,Ohhelpohnoitsa, if you have an office. If you teach in a small primary school you watch what you say far more -
E.g. the TAs may have their own DCs in the school - it is more of a community.

In my experience, there's sometimes sensitive stuff on staffroom boards about medical info, children from troubled backgrounds etc.
I'd imagine that might be why some schools don't let many people in there. Could be wrong of course.

This thread is four years old!

Sorry, never noticed...

Sorry, never noticed...

[hmm}
Just popped up in Active threads did it?

even

Plenty schools built in between 2012 and now don't actually have staff rooms!

We don't allow volunteers in the staff room, whether they are parents, non parents, WE pupils, etc.

We have some of our confidential information in there such as medical information, etc about key pupils. This is fine when it is just staff, and official visitors - but not others. The room is locked when empty too.

Its also VERY small. There isn't enough room for just the staff themselves, especially at lunch time, so to invite more people in wold cause chaos!

Our volunteers are asked to use the children's kitchen area, or the quiet workroom areas elsewhere in school.

Oops - see it is an old thread!