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.

Haha - yes, I didn't see your post before I posted mine @WhyNotMe40, furlough would have been good.

But then who would have been hand delivering packed meals for children? MPs?

We've done consolidation in English, new learning in maths. But it's in the timetable to go over this again next year already. We did 2 weeks of fractions, but are now on to time and money etc - things that are easier to do at home, and more inclusive for SEND kids.

I have absolutely hated trying to teach my yr 4 DD how to tell the time. Every time I think she's got it, it just slips from her brain again!

But yes, no solution would have been ideal. It is an impossible situation

Agree with all the points. And yet again it is a lack of consistency from government and the vast differences between different schools, MATs and private provision that have been exposed. We chose Ds1s school because of the "feel", it doesn't have the best value added or says grades but the children are happy and their is a focus on wellbeing. So when we didn't get an all signing and dancing home provision that was on us a bit as we didn't chose it for that. And that is why we haven't complained. Other parents seem to be less forgiving of the school and I feel like a lone voice on the playground sometimes trying to deflect the blame from the lovely teachers who have been amazing as the children return and putting it back on the government where it belongs

Shoelaces were our nemesis. Ds just could not do it.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53049127

Link is bbc article showing lack of engagement in home learning

Honey, I agree, most teachers are just doing what they're told. For all I know my neighbours are on mumsnet saying that lazy cow next door goes for a 2 hour walk everyday and spends the rest of the time lounging on the sofa (they can see me on it from the garden and it's where I work, but from their angle I could very easily be watching TV) but I'm up at 5 working and the walks replacing my time spent on the commute.

Grr that article like most talks about school work , how many pieces of work, how many hours working.

Can someone get it through to them that it is learning we measure not amount of work?

Kids who are doing 2.5hrs of work are likely doing at least as much as in school. We have 5 hours of lessons minus movement time, sitting down getting kit out, register, packing kit up again etc. Not to mention time given over to behaviour management and being distracted by class size, talking etc.

2.5 sounds about right and if they’re focused they could have far more learning/mastery of old learning going on in that time than in 5 hours in lessons.

That is not a surprise about kids on FSM. Maybe if the government had offered some flexibility about who schools bring back, we would be able to help them more. The DofE have really messed this up, or maybe they have been hamstrung by No. 10.

I didn't understand the bit about 'offline ' work : is that deemed better , or worse?

Because offline stuff like worksheets is what the MN crowd complains about.

I also don't credit a survey which takes most of tis findings form headteachers. Mine has certainly never asked me any questions about work output.

Meantime:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53059683

Yes you would have thought that someone would have pointed out that it isn't a 1:1 ratio between hours at school and hours of work.

Plus, shock horror, some kids are only doing an hour. Ds does an hour or so one on one and still learns more than in an average school day with his mental form group.

Why do they think they can measure and compare learning like this? I can name several kids who come to school every day and determinedly learn nothing and do their best to prevent anyone else learning.

Really irked by measuring learning by the number of pieces of work set per day.

What is this Holiday Activities and Food Programme? Is this the big catch up?

I must say I am getting so much less work in to look at now we have started live lessons!

Unpopular maybe but why would there be fsm over summer? To be on fsm no one in the house is working. That group are literally the only ones guaranteed to have had a pay rise with increased personal allowance and housing allowance on universal credit. It’s the working poor who will be more likely struggling on reduced pay.

That's the thing Raab rattled out yesterday!

I guess they think volume is the only thing they can measure. There is huge amounts of lost learning in a school day.

Plus, I'm brave enough to say this on here, they learn very little in the summer term anyway in many year groups!

I hate to agree with grab but it is true. The increase amount put on benefits at the start of lockdown is way more than fsm amount btw. I get some uc as top up on income and even for me it’s gone up a lot.

Piggy I know! In science ks3 we’d be at the end of our topics for the year and filling with “project” work by this point.

Where I lived in the States, the school district provided free school meals for all children in various parks around the city. They would arrive in a truck and the dinner ladies would set up and serve a different meal every day. Adults could pay $3 and have one too. 11 weeks out of the 12. Of course the weather was great too!

@TheHoneyBadger

Unpopular maybe but why would there be fsm over summer? To be on fsm no one in the house is working. That group are literally the only ones guaranteed to have had a pay rise with increased personal allowance and housing allowance on universal credit. It’s the working poor who will be more likely struggling on reduced pay.

I would say it should continue through holidays all the time. I’ve always thought that. I think now if did continue it would take pressure off food banks and community box schemes.

Tadjenny you’ve just reminded me of one particularly skint phase of being a student in London and relying on the Krishna van for lunch every day and sitting in the park eating vegan food surrounded by pigeons

Y1 at my kids primary send pots each week - Maths had the link to white rose video, linked questions and then some related challenge questions which was good. English also was easy to follow (although harder as no video). They allowed kids to take pics of work and upload but no marking just a well done (which was fine as all answers given as went along). They gave folder of extra links and stuff if you wanted but emphasised that one hour in the classroom wouldn’t consist of working at a desk one on one for an hour. Now some Y1 are back they have provided nothing at all for the others. I don’t agree with that - think it would be easy to send out the documents they give those in school to complete at home on the time they aren’t there. BUT he’s only six and it doesn’t matter and so I cba to worry about it.

It was amazing the difference between some schools though. My daughter is Y5 and some her friends at different schools have full days learning via teams, some have a few links and some have in between! Totally agree guidance on this was rubbish.

Can I ask primary teachers - if you’ve opened to Y1 for example would you want them back in? We didn’t send straight away but thinking about it now...

I wouldn’t disagree at another time mrshp. Just that this year is covered by having increased those families cash income via benefits already.

It just shows what a lifesaver it can be, honey and if where there's a will, there's a way. I know 12 weeks is a long holiday though!