The Sixteenth Republic - waiting on the GCSE results show!

[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

@MrsHamlet

I'd have to summon SLT. That would take a while!!

Anyone else have a strong feeling that we aren’t going to see some members of SLT for dust in September?! We won’t be able to send children to go and get them either!

Have stupidly got involved in the new school thread. Seem to be some fully paid T4T recruits going strong-I don’t know why I bother!

Here you go
I stocked up on Jaffa cakes yesterday but now you've made me fancy poutine!!

@MrsHamlet

I'd have to summon SLT. That would take a while!!

I am now in a private school and kids tend to be fairly compliant. If I send someone to SLT they go .... (it could be that they know I immediately message SLT to say that Fred is on his way because of xyz)

@cheesecurdsandgravy - welcome back! Toffee vodka got polished ages ago. The Chemistry teachers are now distilling the staffroom alcohol as part of cost-saving measures

There would be apoplexy if we sent a child. If they're about to vomit we're supposed to summon someone who will take them away. But my room is as far from anywhere as it's possible to be, and I refuse to have vomit in my classroom.
Most of ours are fairly compliant most of the time - but I have "the name" coming into y11

If I have to summon SLT to remove a child (suspected Covid or behaviour) they will be on a chair in the corridor (door propped open anyway) until collected, otherwise they cause even more disruption.

I'm a stones throw away from the medical room and they are allowed to take themselves there usually, so for 'feeling sick' I generally send them with a friend and tell the friend to come straight back (well, if I believe them, sometimes if I think they are trying it on I might just put the bin next to them and tell them to let me know if they feel any worse or at all faint or dizzy, we had a bit of a spate of 'poorly' year sevens last year, became a bit of a trend).

Although the whole medical room situation in the 'new normal' remains to be seen, the rules may have changed.

I love it when posters say I know a teacher or my brother and cousin are teachers. I immediately think 'here we go' .... the next statement will be 'I went to school once ..'

@MrsHamlet I don’t ever not fancy Poutine... Thankfully, it’s a lot less readily available here than Québec or I’d be the size of Canada!

@StaffAssociationRepresentative thanks for the welcome, it is nice to be back. I knew you’d have finished that toffee vodka yonks ago, but I brought my own supplies. Shall I be mother?

I am so not ready to brave any board other than this yet. I see things have not calmed down!

@cheesecurdsandgravy since I live in the north, I can get hold of chips, cheese and gravy at will, and no one looks sideways at me. But proper squeaky cheese curds are the dream... must go back to Wisconsin!!!

@cheesecurdsandgravy - no tiny measures thanks!

We are fighters now

I just know that my HT will dismiss it and say that we have no proof so ignore.
Not sure how unpopular I'm willing to make myself.

It only occurred to me today to log onto SISRA and look at my Y13 results again. They’ve pretty much all gone up a grade since last week, so that was nice.

A friend has just started as HoD at an inner London school - after sixth form recruitment today, there was a meeting basically saying make sure you are prepared for closure by half term.

A realistic approach - we should all be prepared I guess.

What is SISRA?

Nooooo.... what you want to do is stick your head in the sand, ostrich style.
I'd really like someone to tell me what they want me to tell the staff about online learning at INSET.

SISRA is a data system where schools upload assessment or exam data and it can generate all sorts of reports and data analysis. Pretty powerful, but I mainly use it for exporting my exam results to a spreadsheet for performance management.

@MrsHamlet your school sounds the same as mine! No child is allowed to leave the room under any circumstances basically ever. Toilets are locked and they have to go and get key during a lesson if absolute emergency. Unless they physically vomit they aren’t supposed to go anywhere. I’m diabetic and am not having that in my room so I call for someone as per the rules but sit them outside in the corridor where I can see them but where they are breathing directly in my face telling me They’ve been up all night vomiting.

I want to know what we tell the kids. My class adapted really well to remote learning because we'd anticipated it and spent time preparing them for it. Do I do that from when we go back (therefore saying it's likely) or take the stance that it's unlikely to happen and don't prepare them?

Argh I’m so pissed off (I’m an NQT).

Just had an email from my mentor. Confirming that the schools policy has always been to give 22 lessons to regular teachers (out of 25). And 21 to NQTs.

I’m freaking out a bit. I need the extra planning time as I’m teaching physics at GCSE level and that’s not my specialty.

@WhenSheWasBad
The guidance is clear: In a relevant school, the headteacher/principal must ensure an NQT has a reduced timetable of no more than 90% of the timetable of the school’s existing teachers on the main pay range to enable them to undertake activities in their induction programme. This is in addition to the timetable reduction in respect of planning, preparation and assessment time (PPA) that all teachers receive. NQTs in independent schools, academies and free schools, BSOs, independent nursery schools and FE colleges must also have a reduced timetable on a comparable basis.
I'm no maths teacher but that's not right. Is it?!

@WhenSheWasBad

Argh I’m so pissed off (I’m an NQT).

Just had an email from my mentor. Confirming that the schools policy has always been to give 22 lessons to regular teachers (out of 25). And 21 to NQTs.

I’m freaking out a bit. I need the extra planning time as I’m teaching physics at GCSE level and that’s not my specialty.

That seems bizarre!

In most primaries I’ve worked in, full time teachers get 1/2 day PPA and NQTs get another 1/2 day release time on top of that-so they get a day out each week.

@Iamnotthe1 our computer science dept have been charged with teaching them to use teams. Year 7 and new year 12 will need to know. But year 12 (except computer scientists) don't have IT lessons. Year 7 do... but not in computer rooms. And mobile devices are banned. It's a work of genius.

Thanks MrsH and Appu

It’s not right is it. I’m genuinely worried I’m not going to cope with the workload and will fuck up my NQT year.

Puts me in a wonderful position of being a pain in the arse at my new school. So much for wanting to make a good impression.

Damn it.

@WhenSheWasBad

Argh I’m so pissed off (I’m an NQT).

Just had an email from my mentor. Confirming that the schools policy has always been to give 22 lessons to regular teachers (out of 25). And 21 to NQTs.

I’m freaking out a bit. I need the extra planning time as I’m teaching physics at GCSE level and that’s not my specialty.

Physics is brilliant! My speciality if you need any help.

Sorry you have 21 lessons. We all have that as basic teachers.

I’m so tired. Can’t believe we’ve only been back a week. We’ve had a few children sent home with symptoms and I have to say I’ve been impressed. They’ve all been tested and had a results text within the same day.

Still no social distancing. So hard to be the first one wearing a mask etc.