The Fourth Republic Rises - 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.

Who knows. We need to see some guidance.

My school (other than me) is two form entry. I guess YR, 1, 6 could have 4 classrooms each and be in groups of 15. That would take 12 teachers out of 14 though, so the quality of remote learning for Y2/3/4/5 would plummet. I think the rest would just have to do Bitesize/ Oak Academy.

Sally: First change: they said wfh if you can, but should go to work if you can't wfh. If possible, travel by car or, even better, walking or bike

That’s not a change. It’s been the same all along minus the strange advice to cycle.

Thanks neuro. Think I’ll take an Irish one.

A lot of people have said on here that their 5/6 year olds have been regressing and distressed. Guess that could be the logic of sending them back. In my opinion though they’re the easiest to home Ed-though probably the hardest to wfh around.

Lots of ifs and maybes so perhaps only if levels are down and testing up. Cynically I think they’re hoping unions make a lot of fuss so that when inevitably it’s not possible to go back in June the public will think it’s teachers fault not that it wasn’t a realistic goal.

They are deliberately leaving lots of gaps and lack of clarity to leave room for assumptions and media insinuations

There are two lots of guidance due today:

1. the government's 50 + page document to be discussed in parliament and explained at the 5pm briefing on TV
2. DfE guidance due 'as soon as possible@ (so in about 2 weeks and 5 days?)

@thehoneybadger, my (sen) 8 year old has regressed let alone younger pupils. I’m baffled by the logic of little ones going back first unless it’s so they can drum new rules about social distancing etc into them while the ‘big kids’ aren’t there to flout them and lead little ones into bad habits.

I’m also intrigued as to how they’re going to manage pupils back with maintaining keyworker provision, especially as that has been just childcare so can imagine the cries of ‘it’s not fair’ when reception aged Billy goes back to learning in class while his year 4 sibling stays in the hall and plays all day...

In my kids primary it will mean moving the childcare pupils at lunchtime as the hall also doubles up for dining. Is catered dining going to be back in or will all pupils be packed lunch, with school dinner pupils being provided a packed lunch by the caterers.

Ah well. I guess I will just continue with my home education into what is ‘hot’ and what is ‘not’ ready to deal with a bunch of truculent teens.

The most reasonable (non childcare) explanation I have seen for R and 1 is that this is where the learning gaps for pupils are the widest and have lifetime implications. sadly, by year 10, learning gaps have either been closed , or been properly cemented. The DfE release mentioned childcare settings , too, so , actually that is probably garbage and it is childcare. Parents will be pissed off (at the wrong people!) if the hours are very staggered and very part time if it is perceived that this is to enable either return to work or proper WFH (which was the reasoning in Denmark). Let's not kid ourselves that this is not employers and business driven. I suspect, being a Tory government, they will tell schools that they are 'leaving it up to each individual school' to come up with a 'model that works for their community' : so that we then get the brunt of complaints/wrath/bashing etc.

I think there will be a push on secondaries (and, I hope SS, too) to get more of the socially vulnerable students in.

Teachers can't win. One minute parents are moaning about schools being closed and they can't work from home with young children around, year 6 need to say goodbye etc and now those children can go back to school it's all well I'm not sending my child in, it's too dangerous, they can't socially distance, they had better not socially distance etc

Can't wait for July when the schools are fully closed, what will the complaints be then?

And, of course, keyworker DCs are entitled to be in full time, so that will also cause upset if non keyworker/EHCP/LAC children are given part time hours...

I'll take one of those coffees off your hands, thank you. Slept until about 2, then awake until 430. Nana nap needed later I think!

I'm feeling more and more annoyed the more I think about going back on the 1st. They are children. They may not get very ill with the virus, but increased interactions with parents cannot be a good thing? Especially when I'm still not allowed to see my mum or my friends. Not to mention who is going to look after my own DC as DH unable to work from home. Anxiety is through the roof this morning and do feel as though our children are being used as guinea pigs.

SLT are having a meeting this morning. But support staff are always the last to know anything so I'll be none the wiser.

Anyhow, lots of talk of unions. Which would you recommend for a student? I'm currently GMB as support staff, but will likely need to change as well as getting my sleep sorted before Sept.

Off to make another coffee to try and get through the morning

I complained to IPSO about the 'Teachers Urged to Sabotage Lessons' article.

Very keen to see the guidance. Hoping it fleshes out some of the issues, particularly schools with half form entry. I imagine 3-tier systems will also be seeing if they've been thought about

Boris is now experiencing life as a teacher..He explains it all, over and over again, with emphasis on key words.

Reaction?

I don't get it.

Working in tents will be great fun in the snow and hailstorm we had yesterday

practicallyperfect the complaint in July will be "Why aren't teachers working through July and August as they've already been off since March doing nothing"

I wouldn’t have minded being on the KW rota in July/August but I won’t now my class are due back.

Reef do I remember you're in an sen school? If so I think it's going to have to be very different for us.

No way can we be open in the Summer holiday now. Presumably holiday clubs will also be allowed to re-open.

"What will the complaints be then?!"
It will be, "why aren't schools open all through the summer holidays when those lazy bastard teachers have been lounging around for months doing nothing!"

As I said on the last thread, we need to know the core reasons for those choices.

Y6 in middle school won't happen. Y5 and y8?

If the aim was to get around 50% of school cohorts back in, how does that work in first schools?

Is it transition? Is it getting the early years used to school? Is it because they're actually lower risk viral load wise? Because, actually, they can do more play based learning? And y6 are just transitioning?

Neuro I run an autism/ complex challenging behaviour resource base. Chn from YR-Y6 split over 2 classes.

Boris is now experiencing life as a teacher..He explains it all, over and over again, with emphasis on key words.

Reaction?

I don't get it.

🤣 🤣 🤣

I wouldn’t have minded being on the KW rota in July/August but I won’t now my class are due back.

Me too.

If we’re back in full time from June 1st, does that mean we don’t need to do the half term rota either?!

If I read one more comment about year 6 deserve their end of school celebrations, chance to say goodbye etc 🤬

I'm a parent of a year 11 - she didn't get to celebrate leaving school or say goodbye to her friends and teachers, neither did the year 13s.

Some parents clearly see school as babysitting and an opportunity for their children to extend their social lives - teaching and learning? That's just an extra.

Do the year 6 parents demanding transition days etc realise the high schools aren't opening so they won't happen - and the teachers there will be busy teaching from home.

If we’re back in full time from June 1st, does that mean we don’t need to do the half term rota either?!

Anyone’s guess!

I can't imagine they will remove KW provision, so I expect to be in over half term.

Wonder how it will work staffing wise? I'm in a 2 form entry junior school

Year 3 1 teacher shielding
Year 4 1 teacher lives with elderly grandparent 1 teacher pregnant and due to go on maternity leave end of summer term
Year 5 we are both ok to work
Year 6 1 teacher shielding

Deputy head shielding

So out of full time teachers we have 4 staff and the head. Not sure we have all our TAs available either as quite a few weren't on the rota for KW childcare.

Staffing logistics are going to mean many schools can't meet this.

And not sure how kw provision will work as we were a hub with our feeder infant school and obviously all their staff will be back in.