The Third Republic - solidarity comrades!

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. 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.

I think I must have led a sheltered teaching life, as the worst I've had is the enraged door slammers and a book thrown at me! The usual lack of personal space coughing and sneezing is par for the course, but I don't think I've had spit balls or students shouting at me from under desks.
I know the class my yr1 dd2 is in has challenging behaviour though - shed always complaining about being kissed on the playground despite her telling the supervisors and child concerned, and they have at least 2 children who throw things and need restraining occasionally. Dd HS been hit and kicked by these children and although I've done the "some people have problems controlling their emotions" talk with her, and trying to get her to have some empathy, I've also had a few words with the teacher when she's been hurt - which I've felt bad about but did needs to know I've got her back.
In the circumstances there is no way I will let her back knowing how uncontrolled some of her classmates are (there are a few) and I've had some chats with DH about handing my notice in by half term so we can properly home educate.
His proposal instead was to use up his annual leave to have the kids on the days I work (luckily I'm part time).
I'm in a quandary!

I'm not criticising dds teacher at all btw. O think she is doing a brilliant job, but the class/year has a very unfortunate number of children with behaviour issues and an even higher number of just vulnerable. Dd1's class is more your bog standard primary, but dd2's class it seems nearly every other child has some sort of issue or difficulty.

Dh thinks we're idiots to.put up.with it and is amazed schools aren't sued more by staff. He's given me list of home working issues (laptop height? Kitchen.table. or bed. Distance from keyboard? Depends who's sharing my table) I think we have it so drilled into.us that it a vocation a privilege to work with young people and that schools are doing what they can, that we suck.it up.

I’ve found my people!

I’m a single parent and a secondary English teacher.

@ThunderThighs123 - welcome! help yourself tea/coffee. Alas Toffee Vodka supplies need to be topped up

#solidarity #bankholidaythisfriday

Yeah my DH works from.home in his own office with screen risers and an ergonomic chair. With sound cancelling headphones.
I'm at the dining room table or kitchen counter fending off the 3 year old desperate to press the keys or use the touch pad, whilst simultaneously home educating 2 primary aged daughters.
Luckily my school have been very understanding and do not want live lessons, but even so I can't make him see the inequality.

I'm awaiting the day that the multitude of 'Will school be open in June?' questions are replaced by a host of complaints about how schools are opening, who they are opening them for and many and varied related issues.

DrMadelineMaxwell similar. I can see primary schools being filled with the children of secondary school teachers, leaving little room for which ever year is supposed to be in school that day. Plus I cant see how we can be expected to teach pupils in school and send work to those at home. It's taken me almost 5 hours today to prepare 1 and a half lessons for a year 12 class and I've still got to add my audio narrative tomorrow.

We run the gamut from the little ones who are in no way suitable for mainstream and are victims of enthusiastic ed pysch’s social experiments,

God this so much. Glad it's not me who isn't all about 100% inclusion. I've seen the value a good sen school can give a child. Inclusion into mainstream is completely possible from an Sen school, but obviously where appropriate.

Some of our pupils dribble. Some also have sensory chews too. We do have annual virus issues sometimes with large numbers of staff off normally.

Winter is going to be fun!

This is another slightly clickbaity headline in that towards the end it says some very very sensible things.

However

a) I cannot imagine anyone I know who has retired rushing back, especially ex leaders who haven't actually taught for a squillion years
b) they are in at risk groups, health and age wise? Which is apparently absolutely FINE if you are an NHS worker or a teacher !?

www.tes.com/news/new-call-retired-teachers-go-schools

Also, this :

schoolsweek.co.uk/83-of-heads-say-inability-to-implement-social-distancing-would-prevent-pupils-return/

So, parents have been surveyed (Parentkind), heads have been surveyed (by both ASCL and NAHT). When do our unions survey our opinions? Or do they think they just know? I am not necessarily suggesting they are doing a terrible job (NEU seems more vocal) but they don't seem to canvass very much.

Tbh heads will need to get this right or risk massive wading in from local union reps and oc health.

I'm now more bothered about cfs tbh as I'm a bit borderline that way anyway. I'm
in a big slt fb group and not many heads are particularly keen on reopening soon.

They've had a lot more requests for children though.

Depends on your head, though, a bit. I work in a school with a very out of touch SLT. they claim to know what we think but they never ask and, frankly, don't know.

Their views are very important to canvass but they are skewed.

Noble knows : this is famously the school leaders who hid the Ofsted staff survey from us!

I'm not in the UK but I larfed my head off at the "volunteer" aspect.

Fuck that for a game of soldiers. It says everything about the low esteem for teachers. The cheek of it.

This will help us to tap into the strong sense of social responsibility amongst those who teach and who have taught, and the desire these individuals have to contribute to a process of social and educational recovery from this pandemic."

Social responsibility?!

Guilt trip, more like?

I don’t know any retired teachers who don’t have an underlying health condition-exacerbated if not caused by teaching)-who would want to spend the next part their retirement back in school, unpaid, increasing their risk of catching COVID.

I did wonder, did they genuinely mean 'volunteer' in the sense of unpaid. Surely they will pay them? You aren't allowed unpaid internships any more, for example.

Students may often be idealists but I don't think, in this day and age, they would do this kind of thing unpaid. Not paying people also reduces the quality and work output... so I assume the payments will come out of the increased PP funding.

I do like the bit at the end about looking at curriculum for 2020/21. That's the first time I have seen an educational body push for that.

Halfon, who is getting quite vocal, is a know of the knobby kind.

True piggy. Our school has seen so many very valuable staff off and leaving due to stress and various unions wading in that they're now completely all about well-being (in their minds, but actually to their credit, are trying); ofsted announcing that they'll be inspecting teacher workload had them in a panic!

I have sent my concerns to my union but I won't hold my breath. I got them in when wewere forcibly academised (and one of the inspectors was a managing director of the Trust we were to be taken over by....) and they did sod all. They're toothless now we're all academised. I keep paying my membership though as, seeing as i'm old and expensive, I fully expect capability the minute my head retires and the ambitious narcissist of a deputy takes over.

My mum is a retired teacher. If she gets it into her head to volunteer to go back I will forcibly hold her down so she can't!!!
She's about to turn 70 and is diabetic, so is in the shielding group, so I think she's sensible enough to realise going back to work with foundation stage children would never work!!! She found it difficult enough when she retired 5 years ago, she'd never get up from one of those tiny chairs now!!!

Nearly got suckered into a thread. Started typing but then deleted.

Posters fail to realise what they want is different to other parents and others thinking a missed 13 weeks will mean we won't have any future doctors.

Anyway Morning all. Too early for an Irish coffee?

I have typed and then deleted a few answers too. Not worth the stress.

Link for NEU Union; tbh anyone can use it as it seems to be a survey/ petition.

actionnetwork.org/forms/open-schools-when-it-is-safe/?link_id=0

Never too early for Irish coffee, I'm tempted by a coffee and cointreau as they kids are screaming under DH's care...

I've strongly suggested outdoor learning all day.

Never too early for Irish coffee, I'm tempted by a coffee and cointreau as they kids are screaming under DH's care...

Sounds like a plan. It is a big Birthday for me tomorrow too so I can use that as an excuse.