The Seventeenth Republic - The Pick Your Grade Show continues as we edge towards INSET days.

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. It is meant for school staff only – a sort of room of requirement. Baiters, haters, goaders 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 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
Do not give ‘The Every twat for Themselves mob’ the staffroom password as a number of them are operating in an alternative reality.

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 goad us then that is not allowed in the staffroom. Close the door quietly on your way out

I've been told that I just have to tip the marked books (or paper) out of the special box I'll be given and they have to find their own.
They also have to have their own glue. Because that works so very well with pens.
No circulating. Not that I can if everyone is in a row.
This isn't teaching. It's going to be soul destroying.

I don’t see how we can teach from a box at the front of the class. When I was heavily pregnant with my first I basically couldn’t walk without being in pain so I sat at my desk to teach.
‘I don’t get Q4’
‘Which bit?’
‘This bit’
‘I can’t see what you’re pointing at’
....ofgs just come here and show me.

You can’t help kids if you can’t see their work.

Omg, have just done a quick trawl of FB, Twitter the BBC news app and here and could quite honestly throw up. We are being chucked under a bus here and there’s nothing we can do about it.

And if we say anything-we are just trying to get out of doing a full day’s work.

The photos of temperature checks at the gate are laughable. The press are a bloody piece of persuasive writing for the government.

Kind of comforting to know that 89% of 1600 Mnetters think they are mind-bogglingly incompetent though.

That’s quite a few pissed off parents. Loads of people will know someone fucked over by the results fiasco too.

Yep. The silent lurking majority has spoken.

Yep @appuskidu, me too. I'm on holiday, I'm trying not to read anything, but it's everywhere. I also do need to work a day at least before next Tuesday - might help anxiety.

I'm really concerned about how remote learning needs to be supplied, for whom, under which circs and so on. Workload is going to be insane. I'll have to leave if it's too much for my heed, and I don't really want to leave.

Yep, my take today is to work out some sort of 72 hour system for a lot of my equipment.

Kind of comforting to know that 89% of 1600 Mnetters think they are mind-bogglingly incompetent though

I can’t believe 11% think they have been anything other than a shambles.

What planet is notevenat20 on??? I wonder that about a lot of people, actually

But as you can only get a test if symptomatic, and kids are largely asymptomatic - we actually have bugger all data about how many kids actually caught it in school!

Sorry, wrong thread

I think I’d feel better if I did some work but I literally don’t have a timetable and can’t plan. It means much as usual it’ll be total panic stations and a ton of work next week when I finally do get my timetable (you’d hope) and class lists and desperately need to crack on but will be stuck doing god knows what for inset instead.

Bloody September.

You can’t help kids if you can’t see their work.

Exactly this. Same experience when massively pregnant too.

Notevenat20 must be in private Ed surely? Nothing they say relates to my experience.

huffp.st/5n8MFcn face masks 'not necessary'.

@Medra

If the staff at Kingspark are having to avoid each other as we’ve been advised to do, isn’t it likely that pupils have transmitted the virus to them, considering 17 are infected?

I don't actually think social distancing from other staff is possible in a SEN school. In my limited experience the care needs of the students may need 2 members of staff to be in close contact. Just another thing that was not thought through properly in the guidance.

If I were our repro lady I'd be crying into my photocopier today. It's her first day back (we're not in yet) and staff are not allowed to do our own copying. Poor woman is going to be run even more ragged than normal I fear.

Notevenat20 must be in private Ed surely? Nothing they say relates to my experience.

£50 per class is a particular highlight. I'd love to invite them to take a look at our budget. Unfortunately we don't have an orchard of magical money trees.

FFS my MIL has just touted the chief medical officer bollocks! She retired due to covid and her risk so youd think she would get it.

I'm genuinely anxious plus a friend I saw Saturday is waiting for a test so I guess I have to self isolate till they have a test.

This may possibly out me if anyone I know in RL is in here, but I always teach from my desk as I have scoliosis and often in pain. It doesn’t mean I don’t interact with my pupils though. I always have a chair next to mine and pupils come and sit next to me when they want help etc. My sixth form group sit around me in a small circle. As PP said, you can’t help pupils if you can see what their problem is and often I work through their problem by writing on their work with an example of my own.

@Enoughnowstop

I'm going to have to have a gun sling belt carrying my antiviral

‘I’ve got a pen and a refillable sanitizer bottle on a lanyard and. thought that was organised but I am now off to google ‘gun slinger belt’ to see what I can come up with....a chequered face mask would complete the look!

Oooh refillable sanitizer bottles? Where did you get yours from please? And how does it go onto a lanyard? Sounds useful!!!

@WhyNotMe40

Am a being stupid or overlooking something? You can only get a test if you are symptomatic. Kids are mostly asymptomatic. Teachers, adults, will be the ones who mostly get symptomatic in a school outbreak. More teachers are found positive than kids....

You are definitely not being stupid. I was yelling the same at Twitter at some ungodly hour this morning! Of course the numbers are going to be skewed unless they test the entire “bubble”, which I doubt is happening. And actually can’t be happening because, as you say, you can only get a test if you’re symptomatic.

What a shambles

Will you still be planning to do that in September @motherrunner?

@ineedaholidaynow I’m still planning on sitting at the front. I’m not sure how possible that will be though, I’m not timetabled into my classroom at all and one of the rooms I have been assigned is a science lab! I have no idea how to engage with pupils individually. I would go to them but as I’m actually now going to be on my feet more than usual due to extra duties, I need to limit my standing time in the classroom. I’m thinking to still have my ‘help chair’, wear a visor and deal with complaints if and when they come!

Make sure you know where the gas cut off is then! I find it a bit worrying that schools are sticking any random class in science labs. Hope they are pointing out the few health and safety issues first.

The last I heard our school was investing in Perspex screens. Depending on space and layouts I could potentially have a chair the other side of that where kids could come for closer help but I don’t think we’re supposed to have them move around either are we?

We’re very lucky with the screens if they actually appear. The advice was teachers who want to stay behind them can and those who don’t don’t have to. All this may have changed of course.

Going to turn the laptop on soon to see if there’s any update. Scared