The Seventh Republic - the debate rages on but for some it is half term!

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

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

If you are fed up with cakes and biscuits there is now a cheeseboard on offer

@Mistressiggi

The feasibility of live teaching is that it isn't feasible. It's banned where I work. Equity, resources, privacy, child protection - make sure your head is thinking of all this when looking at how feasible it is. Even if we didn't have a ban, unions here are clear teachers can't be made to do video it is their choice.

Completely agree, I'm hoping he'll reach this conclusion, particularly as our cohort is very varied.

@RigaBalsam

Read in the daily mail three Mother's are wanting to sue the government for school closures and social distancing due to psychological damage.

Wonder if they are mumsnetters?

That's ridiculous. Don't they understand this is an unprecedented pandemic and crisis situation?

If they do sue and win, it'll open the door for others and then the economy will be even more in the shit than it is already.

Was it the mothers who were psychologically damaged by half a term off school or the kids? Trying not to laugh. Are they claiming being with their kids damaged them or being with them damaged their kids?

They are talking about opening on the 29th and extending the summer term by a week in Wales.
So we've worked through April and May school holidays and potentially having our summer holiday cut short by a week.

Joy.
Waiting til wednesday to hear.

Good luck to everyone back in today

What if you're a teacher with kids. Can I claim twice?

I'm doing recorded lessons for my students (full video). Just lower school, so three half hour videos which take about 4 hours or so to actually make (recording/editing/uploading etc) plus about 2/3 hrs to plan the lesson activities to go with them and scan in relevant texts.

This is my choice. School hasn't made me. I'm happy to take the risk (to me) of them being doctored. Not everyone will or should.

My neighbour has building work at the moment and my other neighbour has a gardener in for two full days a week. Both v noisy even with the windows closed. So I record my lessons on the weekend. If we were made to do live lessons, there's no way it would be quiet enough in my house and I know that fewer than 10-20% of the students could access them "live". 60% are accessing the recorded ones.

What would be the point?

Live teaching isn't fair; many parents need to access materials at different times based on their schedules. It would exclusionary.

@DrMadelineMaxwell

They are talking about opening on the 29th and extending the summer term by a week in Wales. So we've worked through April and May school holidays and potentially having our summer holiday cut short by a week.

Joy.
Waiting til wednesday to hear.

This is insane and if it does go ahead, I hope the unions call a strike- cutting holidays after people have already worked Easter and half term just isn't on!

Solidarity with anyone back at school today!

Don't know about Wales but the 1265 ( have I got it right?) hours for England apply. Teachers have worked those hours already.

Though I did say on other threads that teachers were shitting on their own doorsteps by staffing on weekends and holidays.

We (apparently: v little info) go live next week. 1 1/2 hour lessons. I can't even upload a document today because internet is creaking.

We have indeed worked those hours. Theres mention of getting the week back in october and having 2 weeks then. Which would be fine if you are in continuous employment but not if your contract runs to the end of this year.

Of course my daughters old primary has got the film crew in.

The suing thing is ridiculous.

Good luck to anyone in school today. I really hope I don't end up with mandated live teaching, not least because I'm not sure what the fuck I'd actually do in the lessons? None of what I'm currently doing lends itself to what are essentially lectures. It'd be purely for the sake of it. I am looking at making a few videos for my A level class but that's through choice and because I think I can use them next year too.

A colleague and I were discussing September. We think if we're still on reduced teaching in college by then we'll switch to a university model - pack the "knowledge" bit into lecture formats, which would be OK once a week, set all written work remotely, when the teaching bit is done they can do practical work in a workshop style, which we could staff with whoever is available (they don't need much support, just supervision so we'd be OK to sit and mark if we were on a free). We could definitely make it work. But that's in a college, I don't know how a school sixth form will fare.

We must stock up on cake and biscuits and liquor for when the primary school teachers get back from the front line.

They may be super chirpy and positive at first but we must be ready for when the initial glow of seeing the kids and being out of the house wears off. Will ensure we have enough medicinal gin and Valium.

What a. Waste of everyone's time staying open for an.extra week.

Good idea honey badger

Dangling you must be doing it wrong as I've read on a other thread it must be really quick to record a video lesson.
To be honest if I waited for a quiet time to do this it would need to be very late at night when dc are asleep. It just broadens they gap between younger or child free (or child left home) staff and those with children around in the day. If I were richer I suppose I would have a house with a separate study, and super fast WiFi. Again, I'll be seen as the second class teacher.

I don't want to invest in any more home IT support kit. I have spent enough already. It is amazing how much stuff other WFH people have got plus an allowance to buy more. My Head is lovely but he is not going to say no probs Staff you can buy more resources if you need them just keep the receipts and we will refund you.

Yes I really need a better laptop with enough memory not to crash. I know others are buying microphones and visualisers.
I do the usual buying pens and glue sticks but IT stuff is in a different ballpark financially.

Are we getting a new thread staff boss?

I was recording a history lesson between midnight and 1am last night because that was when my house was quiet enough. I'd been planning it/making the powerpoint on and off since 6pm (around cooking dinner, doing bedtime etc).

I've been asked to write a parent version of the 'how to' with MS Teams. This isn't to do live teaching, just to get stuff out to kids and get some stuff back.

I can't work it for myself at all. Erk.

I got cross on the Daily Mail thread. Fuck the Daily Mail.

I was talking to DP about how people in private companies have been sent out office furniture, new IT stuff, and so on, as I was stretching after three hours on a dining chair working at my dressing table (my toiletries and makeup now relegated to a box...the one fucking bit of space I get for myself in the house is now literally a box). Also waiting for my personal, 5 year old laptop to chug into life is painful - I keep eyeing up new ones but that’s spending hundreds of pounds in something just for work! I could borrow one from work (and a chair for that matter) but they’re just as shit, and it’s a massive PITA to get one now.

I keep seeing people say things like “you CAN’T work from home on a dining chair” or while homeschooling kids etc and i feel like, yes you can, we’re asking the majority of teachers to do just that, and yes it’s massively shit! And funnily enough I don’t just let my primary aged kids tell me they’re not going to do work and let them play games all day.

Eagerly awaiting news from the troops

Wow! Just re-reading. Haven't we been through enough. Let's not forget all of this in March when we strike again.