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.

Unison have showed a remarkable lack of ability in ‘holding schools to ransom’ either. They’ve just given advice on questions to ask about how your school is applying the infection control guidance and canvassed opinion about what teachers and support staff are finding worrying about their current working conditions.
Bloody unions, working to support their members in a cohesive, measured way while recognising the effect on children. What are they like?

Great thread from Jonathan Mountstevens (claim to fame; have met him)

twitter.com/MrMountstevens/status/1273391740632924161

Went into school with Y10 yesterday, and it was OK, to be honest. I'm not sure how much they're all getting out of being in school without us doing anything much in the way of teaching. For some of the ones who need a bit of extra encouragement/reassurance, it was probably helpful- for those who've already been working hard at home, it probably wasn't a huge amount of use.

I find the way all these plans come out- in dribs and drabs with bits being leaked to the media- hugely stressful.

I'm going in to teach year 12 this afternoon. I feel a bit twitchy, as if I've forgotten how to teach face to face!! I think it's more that this isn't school as I know it, and I don't know if anyone has already done the rearranging of my classroom to space the desks out or if I need to do that myself. I also need to give out new textbooks but don't know if we've got enough because I've not been in school to check. It's all the unknowns that are making me twitchy. Plus the fact my trousers don't currently fit properly , which is a bit uncomfortable.

I am in tomorrow and totally understand the twitchy, I have forgotten how to teach, issue.

Piggy I've risen to the bait on the numbers thread

They are everywhere !

It's like the end of Invasion of the Bodysnatchers!!

You'll be fine within 5 minutes! Business as usual clicks in quickly.

I find the way all these plans come out- in dribs and drabs with bits being leaked to the media- hugely stressful.

Me too, horrible. And now I've got a meeting this afternoon about using MSTeams again. 7 year olds using Teams, when we've all really struggled. CRY.

Some of the most vociferous posters are private school parents wanting to stir.
They'll go quiet in two weeks.

Hopefully! It has also surprised me though, how many have children in nursery or the lower years of primary school and are still shouting the loudest. That and quite a few are furloughed...
Still, these top notch ‘bolt ons’ will magically solve everything like none of this ever happened.

.....Won’t they?!

There is a woman on LBC a teacher saying that John Hattie had said the missed learning equates to 10 weeks. So people need to get this into perspective.

Only I can't see this anywhere only something about an Australian term. Is anyone aware of this?

Jesus, I have just caught up with Raab's comments belittling BLM and taking a knee.

Would ha not have researched by now here it comes from and not just blithely state it's a Game of Thrones thing?! If anyone needs further educating , it's clearly a private school educated Tory MP.

Enraged.

Jesus, I have just caught up with Raab's comments belittling BLM and taking a knee.

Obviously never heard of a church either. The man is a disgrace.

The numbers thread appears to happily make sweeping judgments on schools opening without recognising wider issues and contexts about which few appear to have much knowledge.

The unions haven't had much welly in this as far as I can tell; I don't know anyone who resisted going back unless it's clearly wildly unsafe.

So we've been phoning our tutor groups to pass on news and things- today's bad news is that prom is officially cancelled. Most parents have been understanding about it, but one has just had a real go at me. It's not my bloody decision!

Seems the only other workforce as pissed off as us at lack of guidance it the hairdressers :

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/hairdressers-ordered-to-be-silent-when-salons-reopen-in-two-weeks-to-prevent-virus-spread/ar-BB15DYyj?ocid=spartanntp_edu

We resisted in my school neuro, mainly because we were all meant to go in when no students were.

The unions backed us, and then in true teachers style, virtually everyone went back anyway...

The John hattie stuff looks at how kids' education was affected after New zealand earthquakes. Whole schools vanished.

It was barely affected.

I'll read the twitter thread later, but it's only been 10 weeks of education or something. I'm just not bothered about it. Am I an awful person? I'm worried about mental health and safeguarding stuff. I'm worried that some kids have been told too much about it and will be extremely anxious - more mental health stuff. But not the academics at all. I know that this is a primary school perspective.

I’ve just looked at The Tutor Trust basic requirements. A in Eng/Maths for secondary and B for Primary? I would not be happy as a parent if my child was given that provision to ‘catch up’.

A student just sent me virtual flowers at the end of a live lesson so that cheered me up :)

Meanwhile another student told me they increase her anxiety so that made me sad.

one has just had a real go at me

What the actual? I mean really. People have had weddings cancelled. There haven't been funerals. But proms should go ahead... haha.

@Piggywaspushed

We resisted in my school neuro, mainly because we were all meant to go in when no students were.

The unions backed us, and then in true teachers style, virtually everyone went back anyway...

🤦‍♀️ We really are our own worst enemies

Yes, if only the MN massive knew exactly how weak, biddable and obedient most 21st century teachers really are !!

This is a tricky one - there are civic duty issues involved, no one is having a straightforward time. I thought it was important that the unions were heard/seen making a fuss, because it felt like everyone was talking about child health, not staff health. We weren't even being mentioned until unions got involved.

I always strike though.

My regional union rep was tweeting earlier that she’s actually in school teaching at the moment.

Our school union rep met with the head with a list of our concerns before re-opening and actually the re-opening was way more cautious than what we would have accepted.

It annoys me that people are saying ‘the unions issued a list of demands that couldn’t be met and schools can’t open because of them’ when the government didn’t meet its own 5 tests for opening schools but opened them anyway.

People need to realise that heads and LAs are making their own individual assessments and decisions based on regional data and particular circumstances and it mostly has bog-all to do with the unions.