The Twelfth Republic - push and glide to the summer break

[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

Mothet is that a 50 lesson a fortnight? You only get 5 frees?

The amount of duties you have to do is ridiculous!

Yes, 5 period day but directed time worked over a 2 week period (Week A and B). Duty time used to be 1 break time duty a week, last year we went to a lunch time duty too. From Sept it’ll be daily morning, break and lunch duty to ensure all ‘bubbles’ are kept apart. I am really hating the word ‘bubble’.

I only have 8 frees a fortnight and I run two departments. Some people are swimming in time so it's always a bone of contention.

@Piggywaspushed Are you my HoD? She has the same too.

No, I don't think so!

Unless you have information about duties that I am not privy to!!

That’s a pity. You speak so much sense on threads!

We all have 8 a fortnight. Seconds have 10 and HoFs have about 20.
I have 9 next year, sure they will fill it with intervention.

5 is not many at all.

I have 2 frees a fortnight.... But I am very part time and actually should only have 1.5 so I'm quids in!
We normally have to do a before school, after school, and break duty all on the same day. I am perimenopausal and am sometimes late for my break duty due to needing to deal with my period. When I was queried on it I quite unabashedly explained to the male SLT. Never been asked again

PPA is unlikely to be honoured once the proverbial hits the fan surely?

High staff absence will make a nonsense of rarely cover.

I'm another HoD. I have 8 frees a fortnight out of 50.

Staff have 6 - so I get an hour a week to do my HoD role...except I have a line manager meeting in one of them, and I'm mentoring an NQT this year in the other.

So, presumably I can do my HoD role in my own time.

Yeah we get an hour a fortnight for ours! 30 years ago that might have been OK, but so much more is expected now that it has become laughable.

My HoD gets 2 hrs for department work.

and although we get 8 Hours for PPA its not really enough time.

Ha, thanks mother!

10% is the bare minimum though. My role comes without a TLR but extra frees instead. I hope they are protected though and I don't have to do shed loads of cover. 🙄

I get a day a week out of class - one for PPA, the other for my management time. I lose management time quite often due to other staff illness and lack of cover.

Was talking to someone at my work today who are saying SLT are completely ignoring the 2m between staff and kids thing as they expect it to be gone by sept. Sigh.

I'm primary. On the SMT due to having a TLR.

I get the usual (for our school) one afternoon a week for PPA. No management time, although when I was acting as dept I got an hour when it could be arranged.

Currently we have to supervise our class during the morning break, eat with them at lunch time and get 30 mins cover for us to be able to be out of class for a bit, from the TA.

What it will be like in Sept when all classes are in but we will have to have staffered lunches and breaks remains to be seen. The guidance for Wales should come out next week, but we don't yet know when next week to start planning things properly.

As a union rep, what really helps us complain about something is having lots of people (even one is useful!) complaining to us. It's hard to bring something up as an issue to management if actually no one has brought it up to us. That is what I find anyway.

I get the minimum 10%. The idea of taking on extra responsibility for 2k a year and only a couple of extra frees has never appealed. Pretty much makes no sense unless you’re intent on speed climbing the ladder which very few achieve.

@Whitestick

As a union rep, what really helps us complain about something is having lots of people (even one is useful!) complaining to us. It's hard to bring something up as an issue to management if actually no one has brought it up to us. That is what I find anyway.

That’s why I’m nagging about speaking up. Emails to head cc’ing school and regional union reps. The only way to not make a name for yourself is rolling over and asking for a tummy tickle. Fuck that

@Whitestick

As a union rep, what really helps us complain about something is having lots of people (even one is useful!) complaining to us. It's hard to bring something up as an issue to management if actually no one has brought it up to us. That is what I find anyway.

I agree, as even if only one person has raised something I can say “it has been raised with me that...”. I don’t have to say how many people or who. Obviously if more than one person raises it then even better. I usually go with a list and the phrase “members have raised the following...”

This is a really interesting article with lots of case studies (and also lots of frustration the children have been left out of nearly all research). It really does look like we are doing the least of any country to keep people safe! Well, that'll be some nice data for the boffins, at least...

www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/school-openings-across-globe-suggest-ways-keep-coronavirus-bay-despite-outbreaks

Just seen was this article on BBC news about the lockdown in Leicester. It focuses on the impact of the schools closing again. Totally misses the point about who ordered the lockdown and why.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-53336197

Ignore rogue ‘was’

Piggy, that's being touted here and there. I note all the pics show face covering.