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.

Catch up is nonsense. Why suddenly care? We have a system where kids who haven’t mastered basic literacy are pushed on up and through the machine despite not having the foundations that allow them to access what they’re being forced to through and being further and further ‘outside’ of things year on year.

But suddenly corona virus means they care?

Do what’s been needed forever and have highly skilled literacy and other basic skills teachers in school with their own areas and low staff to pupil ratios and take kids off curriculum until they’re able to access that curriculum.

Inclusion has been great for some things but utterly fails kids who get to secondary unable to effectively read and write.

Catch up is nonsense. Why suddenly care? We have a system where kids who haven’t mastered basic literacy are pushed on up and through the machine despite not having the foundations that allow them to access what they’re being forced to through and being further and further ‘outside’ of things year on year.

But suddenly corona virus means they care

They don't care. It's an agenda to direct attention/blame to teachers: oh look a windmill.

Twats.

On another note. I let my dd meet a friend in the local green space. She was only out an hour. She has been struggling. Lectures on SD but we all know any kids.

She has nits! How the heck! Just glad its not corona. It has made me worry though since we live with over 70.

honey you should be education secretary!! Such excellent policies! Of course kids should have to master the basics before we move them onto a curriculum that assumes those basics! It is an absolute travesty that any child can reach secondary school without a basic level of reading and comprehension. My school, like a lot of secondaries, has an excellent learning support department who run huge reading and spelling interventions with the year 7 kids that fall below a certain level. Those kids are taken out of form time and one lesson a week to work intensively on phonics!!! In year 7!! But they need it, and the primary schools can't afford to employ the staff to run these interventions at their level. They know it's necessary, but just haven't got the funds to do it. Those kids are effectively thrown to the wolves, by the government cutting finding to the bones.

Crikey Riga nits!! Dd used to get them on an almost weekly basis, I've really enjoyed not having to comb her hair every few days. You've got to get pretty close to catch nits though haven't you?

Dd is meeting friends this afternoon (socially distanced in the park while us mums sit and have a socially distant chat on our own individual camp chairs with flasks of our own beverages). I'll have to remember to put her hair into a bun, she's had it loose for weeks now.

Has anyone done a FAQ for parents responding to some of the most stupid common suggestions for doing our job better? Marquees, portaloos, village halls, constant Zoom lessons etc? Thinking of drafting something.

Crikey Riga nits!! Dd used to get them on an almost weekly basis, I've really enjoyed not having to comb her hair every few days. You've got to get pretty close to catch nits though haven't you?

That's it. Need another conversation on social distancing.

Disappointed Keir has fallen down the ignorant trap of comparing schools with zoos.

Easy target if you want the focus on social class.

@SecularPanic well volunteered

Ooh a windmill...

My health issues finally get to move on. Arrogant arse of a consultant surgeon who I was supposed to see in March to get results of latest tests and a formal dx and treatment plan has deigned to reply to one of my gps emails. We’ve been chasing him for months.

He was basically saying well of course she has horrible symptoms given the surgery she’s had and he hasn’t bothered to even write to me with biopsy results but my doctor is welcome to discuss them with me. We had a good chat about arseholes with god complexes in which I apologised for my language several times.

But I have a dx and my doctor is allowed to prescribe a treatment. Signed off for 3 weeks to start treatment and experiment with dosage etc then can hopefully go back to work. He’s written pretty much word for word what I’ve requested as accommodations on the medical certificate. I doubt they’ll pay any attention but it’s nice to have back up and yet more paper trail just in case it ends up in constructive dismissal.

Sorry for long me me me post but I’ve been stuck in limbo treatment wise for ages so it’s big news for me

Hope that helps your health situation improve thehoneybadger and that your school takes notice.

@TheHoneyBadger Thank goodness for a Dx and a supportive GP. Hope it all goes well over the next few weeks.

honey I'm so glad you've finally got a dx. A supportive GP is always good, and it's definitely good to have a paper trail of what you need in terms of accommodation for medical issues. I hope the treatment works well for you!

Honey

Thank goodness for Dx

Wonder if they'd be happy having their children in a marquee today

Thanks 🙏

Hoping the marquee rubbish has been dropped now our unusual long run of lovely weather has drawn to a close. Brooding sky and rumbling thunder here.

Oh, a school near us has a wedding yurt already!!

Ooh a wedding yurt. How fancy. How many kids can you fit in it while socially distancing?

No idea : I saw it in the local paper. It looks like it might be very dark!!

They finally removed the AIBU thread from the Coronavirus board. I'm glad they did.
I reported it as well.

I have just reported the 'teacher's union' one as being misleading.

Not read it as feeding a toddler wearing a back pack and practicing gymnurstics but neu recovery plan.

I think at a glance it quietens the screaming hoards!

https://neu.org.uk/media/10911/view?linkid=1&cannid=48a872fddc325a7d4fcd943ee46ba9e7&source=email-our-national-education-recovery-plan&emailreferrer=emaill829075&emailsubject=fyi-formm_value-default-our-national-education-recovery-plan

It's kicking off at my school, as our plans are based on the number of kids who responded to the survey saying they would be in, which put the cohorts we invited in below the magic 25% Surprisingly (or possibly unsurprisingly?) Some pupils have now changed their minds and are coming in when they said they weren't going to. This takes us over the magic 25% of the cohort. So the Union reps are shrieking about this (obviously) and SLT have pretty much just shrugged their shoulders and said "well they're coming in on Monday, not much we can do now"