The Eight Republic - half term over - primaries under pressure- solidarity

[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

@greathat

Happily the surveys of parents at my place has been that we've given them too much work and people can't do it to a timetable as there are family members sharing or kids struggling on phones. So we've had to reduce work and just set it to be completed sometime during the week.

Ours too. We have a high level of deprivation in our school. Real issues with access to equipment and quiet space. Most people on here are in such a bubble, they can't comprehend, hence the 'live teaching' furore.

Yup I've tried to point it out a few times, no one even acknowledges it. Talk about mental health though. Can't think of anything worse than telling kids to sit staring at the screen with high levels of focus for 6 hours to cause stress. I've signed up my ten year old to a couple of online classes and an hour is the best she can do really

Got some posters on the live lesson thread whinging about being ignored and called names by teachers.

Ironic given the last 11 weeks.

One poster (perhaps the most prolifically vociferous pf them all) actually said earlier that she has always been the most supportive of us teachers!!!! I spat my tea out, on reading that.

Its the rewriting of history that annoys me most, but I must be doing something right as I had a post deleted earlier.

Yep. Bitches and bellends. Can't even be arsed to argue today.
Our parents have been asked and they say they want a weekly set of activities uploaded on a Monday that they can get on with at their leisure during the week. We give them links to videos and BBC Bitesize too. Lots of ours asking for paper copies but only about 50% engaging. I write to each of mine via dojo every week and those I don't hear from get a visit.
I don't know who these people on mn are. I hope to god I don't ever come accross any of them in real life. They're arseholes.

Slightly different but I've seen so many times that their child needs to go back because they can't do science/food tech practicals or drama lessons at home.

Our risk assessment says absolutely no practicals whatsoever until SD is abandoned as a concept. It's too risky, they always wander about/share equipment etc.

I'm tempted to point this out but I'm not sure I can be arsed with the fallout.

Beawillalwaysbetopdog

We haven't got as far as practicals yet.

But CLEAPS states that all equipment must be thoroughly clean before the next lesson.

Ha yes bitches and bellends
I have had a lovely day away from all social media and school stuff at the park socially distanced with my friend. It’s done me the world of good. She is a teacher so feeling the same.
I can’t even be bothered to get involved on the numerous threads today.
Waiting to see what Lancs say tomorrow but in school all week anyway with key worker / vulnerable.
So sorry to all those who have had enough. I would like to think that the posters on here aren’t reflective of real life

Fripp - If I remember correctly practicals have to be set up in individual trays distributed before the lesson with no kids present. Which is impossible in lessons that follow on from each other. Our HOD has said flat out no to any practicals. We're not allowed textbooks either and no budget for worksheets so...lecturing from the front it is I guess. I'm going to have to replan everything.

I’m not a parent so I’m not sure of all the arrangements but I believe that apart from some changes to drop off and pick up it’s more or less normal. None of this part time school nonsense

I saw someone on twitter early on saying 'Have you ever taken an online course? You remember the levels of motivation that required? Now multiply it by 6...'

Beawillalwaysbetopdog

that would be mayhem with reduced numbers, god knows how we would cope with a full cohort in.

we can't fripp - SD is not possible with practicals - so many need a sink, or 16 sets of equipment when we only have 4. Guess I'm not being creative enough.

Gravity that's interesting. I've done over a decade in both primary and secondary and I do wonder if now I wouldn't like to teach adult returners. Or prison teaching.

I was lucky enough to attend uni before a maths O level was mandatory. Good job because I never got one, despite 4 A Levels and 2 S Levels. I then spent 8 years post uni in industry. When I idiotically decided to teach I needed to get my maths gcse and my FE evening tutor was wonderful. Completely wiped away any worries. I went from being thick at maths all through school to getting an A. I take so much time to really embed maths now with my class and I actually enjoy calculation and it is because of him. I can remember the first time I felt empowered as an adult learner and it was amazing. My whole school life had been "thick at maths but good at other stuff". And he just said, but what if you are not? I'm just so lucky I got to go to uni anyway. Otherwise i'd have been written off.

@Beawillalwaysbetopdog

we can't fripp - SD is not possible with practicals - so many need a sink, or 16 sets of equipment when we only have 4. Guess I'm not being creative enough.

If only you had a 'can do' attitude! ;)

That's really interesting Phleb. I struggled with maths but scraped a c. Managed to get through the test they made you do for pgce around 2000. But because it was so hard for me I found I made sure I found ways to make it simpler to learn for my pupils at primary level, and became better at maths as a result. I know I'd have been better at maths had I been taught better, as we do now. Interestingly I read an ofsted report when I did my pgce that had found that teachers who had struggled at maths at school made better primary school maths teachers!

At the same time I also suspect thyroid issues affected my skills, mine went flumph around age 19/20 and probably had been a bit rubbish prior to that on and off. I get very bad at problem solving and mental maths when I'm hypo.

Beawillalwaysbetopdog

I'm guessing that you are art?

I am tech, Its a nightmare having to try and figure this out.

They have great cartoons to explain things, 7 year olds like cartoons and engage with them. yes, my son loved it!

The cartoons for literacy are very similar to Nessy cartoons which are great.

I really wanted to get my year 12 to do their field work practical before the holiday. I'd also planned my gained time work to go through the other year 13 required practicals that didn't work well this year. I had a big list of things planned to do. Wish the government would plan ahead and share some ideas!

I'm guessing that you are art?

Nope, I would be as shit as all MN think I am if that was my subject.

But it's not even just us practical subjects - our hist/geog/re are big lovers of active learning and group work, guess they're going to have to replan everything too

I've just gone through my TIO and hidden a load of stuff. Will do me the world of good. (Even better if HQ deleted some of the goadier threads but I've given up on that)

Bea and Tripp I'm food & textiles. No place for practicals with my subject with SD going on, it just can't be done. No idea about September either. Even if I complete CLEAPPS assessments & set workstations out safely I can't get the rooms totally sterilised in the break between classes, I haven't a technician.
Have volunteered to teach absolutely anything else instead, I need my job, I have a mortgage

Mistressiggi

It seems that there are different levels of requirements to get things deleted depending on who you are.

Same Kidneybingo and greatthat

When I mention parent surveys and results leaning to not wanting live lessons following a timetable on lots of threads though, it always gets conveniently ignored (apart from one specific time when a prolific TB eventually just said ‘that they didn’t buy results on surveys like that’)

I’ve given up and staying away from all of those threads now.

@pinkrocker

Bea and Tripp I'm food & textiles. No place for practicals with my subject with SD going on, it just can't be done. No idea about September either. Even if I complete CLEAPPS assessments & set workstations out safely I can't get the rooms totally sterilised in the break between classes, I haven't a technician. Have volunteered to teach absolutely anything else instead, I need my job, I have a mortgage

My Head has already warned me that Computing lessons too might be scrapped or at least, lessons with a computer and to be prepared for that. So so stressful and worrying, eh!?