The fourteenth republic - watching Scotland and ever changing DfE guidelines

[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

I'm just SO fed up now with hearing about low transmission in schools. I haven't seen anything based on the UK model of full (often Victorian) schools, large class sizes and the full complement of staff in attendance. I'd love nothing more than for Gav to be right, but how can he possibly know at this stage?

THIS IS WHAT TEACHERS ARE DEMANDING

twitter.com/quicktake/status/1292691397938741248?s=21

“Nicola Sturgeon says decisions re exam results were taken "with the right intentions", but concerns about having results seen as being as valid as in other years "perhaps led us to think too much about the overall system and not enough about the individual pupil"”

What exactly can they do about it? Bump all the disadvantaged kids and not the others? Bump up everybody and basically say ‘passes are meaningless this year’?

Scotland is more socialist than England so I might see them bumping up the disadvantaged kids for the illusion of fair treatment.

England will most likely take the stance that the integrity of qualifications must be preserved.

But they must be shitting themselves at Ofqual.

God-am dreading results day. I have one in y13 and one in y11. Luckily, they both seem oblivious to it at the moment. I’m hoping universities will be flexible?!

BigChoc from the numbers thread does occasionally invade to challenge their stats. They don't like that one bit.

I was just thinking that nearly every single teacher I work with actually has school aged children You'd think our level of insight and knowledge would be accepted! I tend to find the ones without children less cautious.

Carrie Gracie, who I normally like, was quite aggressive to Geoff Barton this morning on BBC.

[quote noblegiraffe]THIS IS WHAT TEACHERS ARE DEMANDING

twitter.com/quicktake/status/1292691397938741248?s=21[/quote]

I an sure those of us in the numbers thread have noticed the invasion of a likely suspect. She is not a baiter but she likes to tell us where we are going wrong. One poster tried to ban discussion about schools, as if data and schools don't go hand in hand ( mainly because none of it is new, which is rather the point) . That generally is a good thread which stamps right down on any profession bashing. Politicians excepted.

@noblegiraffe

I love a Premier Inn breakfast. I’d be up for that on the taxpayers money.

Costa Coffee in with the breakfast price at Premier Inns - I'd be there!

My brother is a police officer and spent 3 months living in police accommodation to protect his wife who was recovering from lung problems. I'm so thankful he could do that, yet it's not the norm amongst public sector workers to have this option. I really hate the narrative that teachers who are vulnerable or living with vulnerable people are told to go to work out resign. Would they have said that to my police officer brother if he couldn't live elsewhere? Would they heck.

're the results. I do understand people who want to preserve stats. On the other hand, I don't see for one year why they couldn't say ( without school evidence) no one ought to fail . Like someone said on Twitter, jeez why does that really matter? It's one year and the bottom grade isn't much less shit : cut these kids some slack! How you can fail someone for a qualification they didn't have a chance to sit is really beyond me. It us easier to fail in Scotland at Nat 5 any way and you can see why those students are bemused. They had never failed anything in the run up!

Apparently there were only 10 students whose grades went down by two in Scotland. So, the Art boy was one,can't the girl who failed French another. But surely the whole cohort would be adjusted by two at a certain level, since they said they would never change rank order?

Katherine, I actually think they would. They don't like any one public sector or furloughed.WFH , though, is fine : unless a teacher.

(NC, to match the month, my 15 yr old grabbed my phone and did it and I can't be bovvered to change it back!)

I actually thought the suggestion of a schools data thread wasn't a bad one, although there wouldn't be much to put on it at the moment.... certainly re UK schools.

And how do you protect any thread from the bashers? (Or badgers 🦡 as autocorrect just had it!)

@Piggywaspushed

Katherine, I actually think they would. They don't like any one public sector or furloughed.WFH , though, is fine : unless a teacher.

Perhaps. Maybe I just see the continuous vitriol to teachers rather than any to other public sector workers. Usually it ebbs and flows towards other jobs.

I'm just fed up now. We'll go back in September like we're supposed to and it'll seem like a victory for U4T or T4U or whatever they're called. I just really hope that it doesn't take the illness and perhaps deaths of colleagues for people to realise what they've asked for.

U4T are expecting schools to go back as normal and for nothing to happen. Because the pandemic is a hoax.

And then everyone will realise we’ve been had.

I think real bashers would get bored on a numbers thread july august and I think a child data thread would be drive us mad because U4T have research and Tweeting profs that they have literally instructed their disciples to use. That Alasdair Munro is their poster boy.
It really is like Victorian missionaries or Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses being sent on missions to cleanse us all. The U4T website is like their Watchtower.

Yes there was one near the end of the scared thread who seemed to think everything would go back to normal in September. It was genuinely bizarre and worrying, I've never met a mindset like it.

Appu, I own a year 11 child so am around for virtual handholding!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-53719477

Interesting twitter thread on teachers vs unions vs media. The majority seem to agree that the media portrayal of the unions request is stoking the divisions - which we knew, but it’s nice to see it out in the wild.

mobile.twitter.com/mr_sullens/status/1292761902947409922

@Piggywaspushed

Appu, I own a year 11 child so am around for virtual handholding!

Thank you! When the schools closed, the Y11s were told it would all be fine and everyone would be given a place in the sixth form, but now all the emails coming out from the head are giving details of who they need to contact to discuss options with if you didn’t get the grades!

I’m probably more worried about the Y13 and university though as that’s sooner (that’s worried vomiting, not envy!).

I totally understand appu. Very stressful.

I note the person who started that thread is a young male.

I also note he can't spell.

But he's a warm body in a classroom

That just reminded me of Blackadder ! ' Soon to be fine bodies of young men'

Indeed - let’s hope he’s not an English teacher! Don’t even get me started on young male warm bodies (some of whom seem determined to pass their jobs on to me despite me only getting about one third of their pay I have become incredibly good at saying no and apparently now my reputation is “scary”. Yep, works for me.

They really are running with the children cant spread it. Theyve opened the soft plays in Wales..

Long read but very interesting

www.hepi.ac.uk/2020/08/10/a-levels-2020-what-students-and-parents-need-to-know/

Had an email from union today saying we should have been given a risk assessment if we have underlying conditions or in third trimester etc and pro formats for emailing heads to request them if not.

I already feel like I’ve got a target on my head for switching departments and having to chase up my service not being recorded with the pension service. Think I might be too scared to annoy them even more but I’m asthmatic and obese and should have had one I think?