Anyone else praying to get through this week? On my knees

[EarlyMorningCoffee]

I could type it all out but I think it can be summed up quite neatly by

• SMT

• Nativity

I feel if I can make it to Friday, I can photocopy 30 Christmas workbooks, stick on a film and gibber in a corner.

Brotherly to quote my full sentence ".... aimed at teachers and judge teachers "?

I hadn't thought the title was particularly dramatic and whilst I'm not a teacher I work in a school and imagine many feeling like the OP.

It truly takes a special kind of person to spend 6 hours a day with Other Peoples Children like teachers do ... I'm not offended if those who teach my child need to sound off from time to time

Keep your knickers on love, I didn't need to quote the whole sentence as it wasn't relevant to my answer.
By dramatic I don't mean drama queen, but it was quite a striking title which naturally attracted attention more than other staff room topics might.
I appreciate teachers have hard jobs.
Organising a Nativity made me laugh though.

We are mid way through mocks, the kids are tired. Year 9 have their end of term tests next week. The staff are still slogging through and working hard.

I’m a TA and I love my job, I have nothing but admiration for the teachers and how hard they work. I did over 20 years as a professional in the NHS and that was tough this time of year too. Let’s all be nice to each other and appreciate the brilliant jobs we do for very little respect. Having the worst public sector job isn’t a race anyone wants to win!

I hear you. We did our KS1 nativity show this week: 2 daytime performances and 2 evening performances. The kids were shattered but still had to get on with normal lessons as so much still to cover in Year 2. Then last week SLT inexplicably presented us with some unplanned new form of assessments that in their wisdom they decided to give us unannounced and expect us to complete them immediately. This has been such a long term. Looking forward to everyone having a rest over the holidays, but unfortunately I know the holidays are not a great time for some of my pupils.

Our SLT have decided that this week coming would be the ideal time to do a mock “deep dive” in my subject. Despite the fact that we’ve just marked 10 gazillion year 11, 12 and 13 exams and had to prepare lengthy data reports for meetings about those. And despite the fact that OFSTED said schools shouldn’t do mock deep dives, and we were assured that this wouldn’t happen until after Christmas. I sat in a meeting last week where three normally rational members of staff were quietly crying or near to tears.

I’m almost hoping that we get The Call this week so that SLT will leave us alone for a bit.

I’m not saying we have the only hard job but I’m not remotely interested in the opinions of non teachers, so bore off.

Gosh you're a poppet. Happy Christmas to you Still fully dressed.

@LizzieVereker How on earth is that going to be beneficial to anybody? I would hate to work in your school.

SLT being insane really doesn't help, does it? I had similar this time last year, and was 'that' close to handing in my resignation on the last day of term. Thankfully this year has been quite a lot saner.

@PixieN - I know, it doesn’t benefit anyone, especially not the students. I also hate working at my school now, which is such a shame as it was a good place to work, and in reality I do t think we’ve to much to worry about. It’s just newbie SLTs trying to have an impact 🙄

I’m not a teacher, I work in the NHS and have 2 children at primary. They are very excited about Christmas and have a really busy couple of weeks coming up. I’m going to make Lots of chocolate truffles and give some to my kids teachers for their tea and take some into my ward and eat them with my colleagues because we are all in this together.

Two weeks left for me and I am really tired at the moment.

I'm secondary so no nativity (thank goodness!) But a fair few Christmas things happening in school as well as trying to keep learning going up to the last day.

My Y11/13 classes have done mocks now but I need to finish marking.

I find the last two weeks is always hard because the kids get more and more riled up for the holidays plus loads of bugs going around.

On a separate note - I am not organised for Christmas!

It isn't just that kids go a bit mad at this time of year. They also have a sixth sense that tells them when a teacher is particularly tired, unwell or stressed and they actually play up even more in response.
All jobs feel harder when you are tired or under the weather. Teaching actually becomes objectively harder too because of the way the children respond.

SLT "making an impact" nonsense "initiatives" and the 1984 thought police (you're not meant to openly point out that today's initiatives directly contradict the quality dropped massive initiatives we were working on yesterday, we've always been at war with Eastasia) were actually a big part of the reason I left teaching.

I taught secondary, and even in my few years in a school that had just come out of special measures where the only children in my year 8 bottom set who could read couldn't speak English, the SLT were always more of a problem than anything the children could throw at me. (That was true even when they threw things literally - when poor troubled honestly feral year 8 Danny threw a 2 person table at me it was the lack of any reaction from SLT, who were too busy working on statistical initiatives, that upset me more than the actions of an actually quite sweet but totally overwhelmed and let down little boy).

*quietly dropped initiatives not quality dropped, although they certainly didn't improve the quality of anything meaningful...

I'm not a teacher (I'll fuck off in a minute )

My kids are shattered ! It's such a slog to keep them going until the christmas break.

So I'd just like to say a massive thank you to you all, for all the effort you put into my children at school.

you're nearly there.

@BastardGoDarkly and all other well wishers.. thank you! Also best wishes to all frontline staff in all areas. You are the bees knees x

@notnowmaybelater I identify with everything you say in your post. Roll on Christmas!!!