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.

Since my breakdown a couple of years ago I am currently not a form tutor - but when I was what you do would have been brilliant 😁
If I get year 7 again next year (was going to be a tutor again in September) I will ask the head of year if they can get them from our feeders

I reported that thread too, at 1am. Mumsnet are going to have to get their bloody act together, and moderate properly. It's simply not good enough allowing this bullying to continue, surely they have some kind of duty of care?

Read that thread this morning before it went. Some people are just arseholes. It reminds me that all too often it becomes clear why a child behaves the way they do, when you meet the parent. Mind you, that's for the good and the bad!

I'm having an unpaid day today so not even bothering with attending staff briefing . Been to the market to stock up on provisions and enjoyed chatting with the stall holders. Younger dcs now pretty self sufficient with learning and older dc has live lessons most of the day. Younger dc have finished most of their work so in booting them into the garden.

Roll on the long weekend!

I don't think they have a duty of care. We're not paying for the service. Yet.

Set my Y8s some work today which has proved a bit challenging. Had quite a few "I am stuck" type emails with no other information. They are getting better at not writing the whole email in the subject, though!

Meanwhile, one of the Y12s I teach has sent me an email saying she is really worried about getting to school on public transport, and will we continue to set online work when schools go back.

Also, in school tomorrow for the bank holiday. They did ask if I was ok with it, and I could have genuinely opted out, but I live on my own and it can actually be quite nice to go into school for a bit of human interaction.

However, it does make it annoying when we're told we're doing fuck all- how many other people (NHS/emergency services aside) will be working tomorrow?

I'm on rota tomorrow too, but it looks like no kids are coming in. I'd rather go into work than be shamed into standing on my driveway waving a union flag and shouting at my neighbours through scone crumbs. Urgh.

Meanwhile, one of the Y12s I teach has sent me an email saying she is really worried about getting to school on public transport, and will we continue to set online work when schools go back.

That says so much. People worry, quite rightly, about the mental health of everyone, including children and teens during lockdown but no one has put much thought into their mental health when we come back.
After having been told endlessly how dangerous it is to see friends etc to suddenly being back on the bus and in the classroom.

However, it does make it annoying when we're told we're doing fuck all

That is the crux of the whole ‘teachers think they work harder than everyone else’ issue. So many people think (and say) that we do fuck all, then when we object, we are somehow proving their point?!

Some of the comments on MN about teachers during this whole lockdown have been vile.

Its the double standard of 'teachers are all moaning fucks' and when you step up to say no we are no moaning, you get accused of moaning.

Its the same with the 'teachers say that they are working harder than everyone else' bullshit that always appears.

riga OCR combined science. Our HOD is pretty obsessed with doing spiral learning. The start of most topics is a recap of where they encountered it last. As I say though most claim they’ve never done it before and it takes a couple of lessons and much memory jogging before they acknowledge ah yeah we might sort of maybe have done something about this last year. I don’t teach top sets, they may be less confused than the ones I teach.

Glad I missed that post. Sounds upsetting.

I don’t think we work harder than everyone else I just think we work a lot harder than is recognised and take on way more responsibility than most jobs commanding a similar salary.

And that responsibility starts from day 1 rather than being gradually eased up over years of promotions and training etc

Absolutely! On my first teaching placement day I remember feeling like a rabbit in the headlights in front of a group of Y6, all I had to do was read out maths questions for the weekly quiz and my voice was up and down, all over the place! And they look at you because in their head you're the teacher and it was a scary moment

Honey Badger science here and spiral curriculum here as well.
I've taught top sets and everything else. I would say you get a lower proportion of top sets who say they've never seen it before, but in a way that makes it harder, because some will have been given mastery work (ie the stuff you are about to cover) while some remember absolutely bugger all.
But at least it makes this online work setting easier as everything they should have at least done some of before, and there is always more detail to look at.
But then you get the ones who feel overwhelmed because you are trying to cater for everyone and they say they can't do it all, despite you saying every week that I don't expect them to be able to do it all - just get as far as they can in the time they have for my subject as it is for revision then extension.

I just asked the coronavirus lot to say in their ideal world how schools would go back.

And that responsibility starts from day 1 rather than being gradually eased up over years of promotions and training etc

I did GTP. Straight in with no warning really!

I did GTP too. My 'class teacher' went out during science in the first week to take a phone call, and sort of never came back!

Whynot- yes I can imagine. We only have top sets and the rest aren’t streamed. The range of ability is vast. Not sure why we don’t further differentiate into more sets.

Like others I can remember my first lesson teaching at placement school. Straight in there with a class of year 10s thinking what if they just don’t listen to me?

I think half of it is that most people have no comprehension of what the classroom is like now and how far it’s come away from being able to say eg read pages 13-14 and answer the questions. I don’t think they comprehend how vast the range of abilities in a class are or how many additional needs we’re trying to cater to or how different the behaviour is now. They base their ideas on their memory of school and can’t grasp just how epic the levels of social change have been over a couple of decades

The other thing I find people don’t get is that there is no down time and it’s full on all on you and your energy all day. I’ve tried to explain by saying remember a day when you went into work despite feeling like shit and just kind of hid behind your computer trying to look busy and went to the toilet a lot? If I hid behind my computer or if I only put 50% effort or energy in things go to shit rapidly with very in your face instant results. It takes a lot of energy in my opinion to be as present and available and “on” as we have to be.

Even Mr cat, who should know the score by now, will occasionally say :"when I was in.school..."
Yes dear, remind me which side of the 90s that was again?

I remember my first lesson in my second placement. I'd observed for a week or two, was supposed to have the actual teacher in the back of this lesson but he went to cover a different lesson, telling me this class would be fine. Bottom set year 9. Two of them had an argument at lunchtime and one comment during my lesson sent it into a physical fight!!! I had no idea what the hell to do, but two other kids held them back while I pushed myself between them (thank God neither of them were willing to hit me!). I put one into the maths office and one into a sixth form lesson and hoped that was the protocol (it had been in my first placement school but nobody had told me about this school yet). The normal teacher at the end of the lesson said "oh yes, I heard you dealing with that but you sounded like you had it under control". I had NOTHING under control at all!!!! I've never had a physical fight in my lesson since then, but it certainly threw me in at the deep end!

Tune out the dickheads on my post in coronavirus, and there are some good ideas for 'getting schools back'.

people don’t get is that there is no down time

Yes. "Why didn't you return my message?" erm, because my phone is in a locker in the staff room, I don't go anywhere near the staff room between 8am and 4.30pm, let alone have time to find my phone and reply to messages.

Dh has occasionally done workshops in schools and also has done tutoring at the local university. He's found it exhausting every time.

In the old days we used to go to the nearby pub for lunch on a Friday lunch time. These days I'm lucky to wolf a sandwich at lunchtime.

One school I worked in was all stairs, big Victorian building. Lost half a stone every September.

Hi, I'm a part time teacher. I need to ask a question.
If you're part time- say work Wed- Fri. Is your school putting you down on the rota to go into school and supervise the key workers/ vulnerable children on days you don't normally work Mon/ Tues?
My school seems to be just timetabling is in willynilly with no regard to days we normally work.
Thanks