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.

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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.

Just checking in with a 🤮 cautionary hillside-drinking tale for when we all saunter up there with our flip flops and blankets and wine
I was at a music festival last year, went to portaloo, they malfunctioned and backflushed. While I was on it. There was screaming.
So basically if we're going to a hill please can someone bring a she-wee?

pink I never go up a hill without a she wee. I do a reasonable amount of walking in normal times and my she wee lives in my walking backpack so I can always have a discreet wee in the wild. Nettles are a lot safer from a distance, as are thistles.

Honey make a fuss!!!! My sister had to teach history to ks4 in her nqt year because the job was a "humanities" teacher. So because she trained to teach geography (with a geology degree, so actually better suited to science) she also had to teach history and RE. This is a huge part of the reason she does not teach any more, and works any low paid job she can get, most recently in hotel housekeeping. Definitely make a fuss!!!! I'm sad to say I'm not sure how much use it will be, we've got a geography teacher who now only teaches science (all 3 sciences), up to double GCSE. It's not good enough, and it's not fair. Unfortunately it's often what schools make teachers do, and this is another reason why we have such a huge retainment problem.

They've been advertised all over my Fb thread recently @pinkrocker, now I know why!

Fav W said yesterday very clearly that schools aren't going to be open over the summer. Therefore the "great catch up" must be going to take place elsewhere, without existing teachers, I would have thought.

Legally, could they make it compulsory for all or certain defined groups of children? Was talking to my kids about it and they said that would be the perfect way to get everyone submitting their best work until the end of term, threaten them with summer school!

Not fair on those who haven't got laptops etc etc though, I know.

Gav(in) W said yesterday ....

@NeurotrashWarrior Thanks. GP appt Monday, Camhs called today to make a telephone assessment appt for next Monday. I thought it would be a lot longer than that.

At least in Wales the minister has been clear that it won't be teachers covering the key worker childcare in the summer hols and no mention of a catch up. In fact, the whole purpose of the four weeks we go back (still unhappy that it's been extended into the summer holidays by a week!) is to check in, get to speak and see our class and to set up new ways of working as this will carry on into September and beyond.

Governor and ex-teacher here. I hope it's okay to pop in and say I am joining you on the hill. If our staff are expected (or even asked) to go in over the summer I will fight this with my bare hands. No one, Gav or anyone else, is taking a well-earned break from our staff.

Honey, sorry if it wasn't clear. It was most definitely not a suck it up post, more of a yes-it's-a-shitshow solidarity comment, sorry if that got lost in translation.

We should be like Scotland and only be allowed to teach our specialism.

That's nice to hear chien ! On MN sometimes , as you may have noted, teacher bashing often begins with 'at my school, where I am the Cahir of Governors'

Yeah honey I probably missed the memo on teaching subjects by not scrolling back through comments. I thought we were just comparing. I teach subjects I am not qualified in because they are obscure and no one my age is! I have also taught MFL because of shortages but I was crap at it and wouldn't want to these days with so much more being expected and scrutinised.

Or chair of governors even...

I did originally think the summer thing might be some nice camps and fun activities but after the last couple of days it looks like teaching. At secondary, you can bet the focus will be on the core (and probably primary too) . I wish Gav (or Fav as I now like to call him!) knew or acknowledged , that unqualified , untrained , non specialised teachers /tutors may well do more harm than good. And who is going to tell them what to teach/provide materials? And why (bigger question!) do they need to 'catch up'?? On what do they need to catch up? It seems it has just been accepted.

This attainment gap will widen further if these summer school become half baked nonsense available to all.

And if it is only core, where does that leave option subjects ?

Checking in.

Thanks and apologies. Bit over sensitive at the minute.

I will be on the hill unless, as I said before, they’re willing to trade working through summer for 6 weeks off in autumn when I can fly away to the sun and sea.

I think my mistake has been to do well and do tons of work preparing for every lesson. Should have just been shit. Like that adage of —men— kids doing a shit job of washing up so you don’t ask them to do it again

I’ve forgotten how to cross out

Great catch up or great cock up? I do wonder...

I think there are going to be large numbers of parents v disappointed, plus large numbers of very miserable children.

Have any other country decided that children need to spend their summer, ‘catching up’?

I doubt the great summer catch up will happen. It will be dropped just like the plans to get all primary kids back before summer hols.

My kids won’t cope with summer schooling. They have actually been putting in the work at home (well most of the time).

Summer school is a terrible idea, the government are just trying to hide the fact they have no plan for September.

I can't believe pfrench has been suspended, although given what goes on over in FWR with random expulsions, it shouldn't surprise me.

I'm not happy to teach over the summer, it hasn't been mentioned in my school. I've taught every lesson I've been timetabled to and marked every piece of work that has come into me. I don't even listen to the daily briefings anymore, too much change and indecision.

All this talk of hills reminds me of when I accompanied Y9 on a week long outward bound, which this current yeargroup will have to miss. We spent the night on top of a mountain and the climb nearly killed me . I asked my Y9 how they felt about missing out and the two who spoke up said they were relieved!

@Appuskidu - this links to an established scheme albeit not well used scheme! If it's secondary based remember secondary schools in Ireland started summer holidays this week or last week(?) and get 12 weeks off (3 main reasons to be a teacher in Ireland are June, July and August 😂 )
So longer holidays may offer some goodwill but imagine there is some payment involved.

*www.rte.ie/news/education/2020/0610/1146580-covid-education/

Let’s hope they don’t try this sort of guilt-tripping shite over here.

Volunteers . What happened to just bloody paying people to work overtime?*

So angry this morning. had just about calmed down from all the re-opening stress and now this - why do they make these announcements before there's actually a plan, meaning we get a week of relentless speculation (and yet more school bashing)

Do MPs think that literally every child lives somewhere urban?

Shadow health sec now banging on about empty buildings. If I was a theatre I'd be crying by now. They want theatres and cinemas to reopen ... not to be repurposed.

appu we are uniquely obsessed with catch up in this country (see also 'catch up' premium) and with goals and targets.

The example of Ireland aside, I think NYC plans to do some summer schools, but they are a thing in the US anyway.

Of course, other countries have returned to school now anyway (and are breaking up in about a week!) because - oh wait- they managed the virus better!!

OK, still seem to be here with this handle.

Summer school idea is clearly ridiculous.

We've seen engagement on online stuff plummet this side of half term. Which is interesting.

Then yesterday my English lead said in a meeting that we all have to study 'archaic language' for our first writing unit in September. HAHA. The book she wants year 3 and 4 to use (the same current year 2 and 3 who haven't been at school for 6 months), is one that I got bored of reading because of the tedious language. She also talked about testing in the first week.

This is where teachers who are promoted too early, can really fuck things up!! A nice picture book is where we're at, surely?

I can't see how summer catch up will work I really can't.
If they offer payment we will be further vilified.
Will parents send their kids? My daughter would absolutely have a ' meltdown'
at this plus it's summer I want to do things.

Would I do one or two days paid? Hmmm possibly but the hill festival sounds much more fun.

If they bring in volunteers I am not so sure that would help the older kids. Supply teachers maybe but they could be taught differently to their usual teacher. Methods change.

I would rather catch up my GCSE Physics class myself not that many would volunteer for this. I could do this from September though.

Will it look like Kumon or something like that. Kids sat silently working through sheets while staff and vi formers potter round if somebody is stuck. Maybe its effective but its a homework club essentially.

It's a worry though! I wish they would inform their plans before the perfunctory grandstanding.

I feel sick at the thought they will make
It compulsory.

Goats glad you are still here.

Drmadeleine -Big hugs to you too. I had similar the other week but not on your scale. It's bloody hard!

I will not volunteer to teach over the summer, even for extra money. I will not volunteer for key worker child cover either.

I've got plans for the summer holidays, that don't involve thinking about school. The good news is that even though Septmeber is going to be a shit storm, my classroom displays etc have been cleared down by a TA who is (voluntarily) currently in school, we've done all medium term planning and learning journeys for subjects for Term 1 and 2 (other than maths), and well.. that's it really. My phase resource rooms are tidy, we'll be on a mission to get library books back (spent thousands on them in Jan and Feb), and make sure that all looks neat, but otherwise I was/am on for a fairly relaxing summer.

Had a colleague on Teams yesterday in tears about having to do this 'online shit for another 5 weeks'. By the holidays we'll need the break.