The Ninth Republic - stand by for the return of Year 10

[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

If you come with a stick to beat us with then please do so elsewhere and not in the staffroom.

I don't think teachers should be routinely phoning your average kid either. But I do think there should be a weekly message of some sort on whatever platform to set work.
I've not phoned anyone, but my students have had a group email at the beginning of the week, and again at the end, and any work submitted has been personally commented on.

As a tutor, my students have really appreciated when they have got personal feedback from their teachers, it really does give them a boost and an incentive to keep going. It doesn't have to be a phonecall though. Comments on marked work or emails are probably better.

pink, was that you?

If so, have some

@Bea better than an MN biscuit!

my students have had a group email at the beginning of the week, and again at the end

Ah yeah, we write them a letter once a week - on the class webpage. Also I've been reading to them every day - Jackanory style most of the time - so they get to see my face/really bad roots etc, and I sort of 'chat' to them on that. I have read proper class books, but also just some nice picture books that I like or think they'll like.

I need to do an assembly this week, which I've now sorted out doing via Teams, only to be told that we're holding off on the Teams stuff for now as it's too complicated for young children to use. I think that's right, but it means that this is another video message.

Aw my yr1 dd's teacher did weekly story videos as well - all my three absolutely loved them! Just because it was dd's teacher doing them who they knew - they weren't taken so much with the various celebrity storytimes or cbeebies bedtime stories. But absolutely entranced by dd's teacher

Yeah I showed my child the videos done by my own school's EY teachers. Her own teachers didn't do anything, but she knows my lot a bit.

Have you heard Wilshaw on Newsnight? We will want to do twilight, weekend and holiday catch up to do well by our children? The unions might disagree, but government might give schools a bit of extra money to incentivise it! No holiday ever? 😮

Very glad I missed that.

Hahahhahahahahha

Wilshaw really doesn’t like being irrelevant now he’s not head of Ofsted, does he! Silly man.

Total twat of a man. Bullies are generally confident in getting plenty of ‘volunteers’.

Wilshaw can go forth and multiply.

I've taught twilight lessons. Even for sixth form students they're terrible. They just can't concentrate when they know they should be at home. I also found I wasn't as good at teaching the next day as I was over tired.

If it happens, we'll have less time for planning and marking and our normal lessons will be worse than normal. If I'm tired my behaviour management is also worse, if they're tired their behaviour is worse. This will just end up with the teachers who work hard anyway burning out at a faster rate than normal. It's almost like they want all the hard working teachers to leave just so they can get their pound of flesh from the sunbathing brigade.

Whynotme40 I am FE but my DS1 is primary in year 1. We have had nothing but a link on website to oal academy so unfortunately despite the best efforts of so many primary schools it does seem that some have done very little. We have had no contact via phone or email at all. One message on parents app linking oak academy. We actually bought an age 6-8 workbook from Tesco and worked through that while I was on TEAMs next to him. Some of my friends with children in other schools had such lovely work sent through - weekly emails with ideas, prerecorded video and stories being read. My point is there is a high disparity between schools (not the schools fault) due to a lack of consistency put out by government and there will therefore surely be a huge disparity in the amount of meaningful learning taking place in the home

it does seem that some have done very little

That’s a shame; what did the school say when you contacted them about it?

a huge disparity in the amount of meaningful learning taking place in the home

We've only started new learning this term - the whole of last term was revision. We've just tried to teach all of year 3 and 4 fractions remotely.

I don’t buy into a sunbathing brigade. I’m sure they’d love us to fall for it and turn against each other too.

Teachers have done as instructed by their slt and the government told schools to pause the curriculum.

If anything I guess logically speaking the inequality has arisen due to schools ignoring that advice and continuing teaching new content.

I didn't contact them as we were happy enough with what we had bought and the head is unapproachable to say the least. However they have opened up for year 1 in a brilliant way so DS1 is back and loving it. I don't think they didn't set work to be difficult just that he for whatever reason followed the government advice and just linked Oak. If Ds1 had been in an older year I might have got in touch but he is reasonably bright and I knew a few weeks of limited work from home would not impact him.

Oh yes totally agree. Lack of guidance from the government has resulted in the disparity. It should have been clear and detailed.

I am not bashing btw. I am sure if his teacher had been asked to do emails etc. she would have and she would have done a brilliant job. I was just pointing out that in some schools this hasn't happened and unfortunately on the main boards it seems to be parents at these schools that shout loudest

If all schools had followed advice we wouldn’t have the shitshow of parents going we only got links to online resources but my friends kids got lessons and videos etc.

It’s mad to think a 5 or 6 year old needs more than a fiver spent on a maths workbook and reading and writing and basic comprehension practice.

I think with probably good intentions those who’ve gone far above and beyond against guidance have created the rod for all of our backs

We've finally been given a generic email address this week so that kids can send in work - link has been up since last Thursday. Videos have been watched 40+ times, at the end of which we said 'take a picture of it and send it to us' and we'll mark it.

Opened up the email address this morning expecting a massive onslaught... 2 messages.

Ah well...

I really want to see some of their work! I never thought I'd WANT to mark stories written by year 3 children.

But also trying to soldier on has resulted in huge gaps in our own students as some could and some just couldn't, for a variety of reasons.
I almost wish the government had instructed all teachers to be furloughed and education stopped.
At my school we have not taught new content while closed, but done lots of consolidation and revision.

have created the rod for all of our backs

Well, we've created disparity. It would have been easier if they'd just furloughed us all, or cut our salaries. Not ideal, but would have reduced some anger.

Having said that, my partner says that no one outside of education REALLY cares much, and most people are just getting on with a shit situation fairly stoically.