The Nineteenth Republic - DfE guidance issued August Bank Holiday Weekend!

[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.

No DfE muppets allowed

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 wondered, about the 'thermometer is like a gun to the bead' brigade and how many of them let their children play 'shoot 'em up' computer games, particularly those such as fortnite but underage.

Has anyone who teaches primary but has secondary kids been told anything about what to do if the secondary closes but the primary doesn't? As primaries only close at tier 4 I can see this as being an issue for me. I could leave mine for a few days but not really for a week at a time. Do you think they could still go in as keyworker kids? They went in when I was working before the holidays.

Something about that 40 teens on holiday doesn't add up. If it is the Plymouth teens, they have routinely been called the 'Plymouth 30' and were reported as being 18 and 19.
The TUI flight where everyone is quarantining referred to a smaller number of actual positive tests and three different groups of passengers.

We count as keyworkers so I'd assume any secondary age children of primary teachers would be offered a place. I know they were at our secondary during lockdown if their parents were in their own schools.

@Frlrlrubert

We count as keyworkers so I'd assume any secondary age children of primary teachers would be offered a place. I know they were at our secondary during lockdown if their parents were in their own schools.

My secondary school offered keyworker places although it was mainly taken up by Yr 7s and 8s, older years stayed at home.

Gaining some kind of schadenfreude from the university bashing thread.

None of it is quite so vituperative though.

I have dished out my first flower in a while (teacher going to pub). I am starting to call bull-shit on some of these threads. Some of these posters need to get back to work!

I didn’t click and only read the headline but how could tear 7s do sats?

There’s a ton of specialist teaching and cramming with teachers who know their students thoroughly and know sats inside out.

Are we going to get year 6 teachers in to prep them or are secondary teachers just magically meant to download all the knowledge and skills and strategies required to prepare kids?

I was thinking that about exams, salty. I've said yes to November, but I'm not giving up my entire summer to marking. And the loss of gained time will be horrific as well!!

But they can't staff. Their offices aren't safe.

The Times is merrily reporting how shit behaviour will be just as a really persuasive tactic today. Odd.

We had keyworker kids in too, mainly y7s but guess that was because it was late in the year so the y8s were that bit older. It was open to any year though and we had vulnerables including y11 students in. I know one of my lovely y9 students had had a conversation with her mum about keyworker provision and they'd agreed she was responsible enough to be home alone.

@MrsHamlet

I was thinking that about exams, salty. I've said yes to November, but I'm not giving up my entire summer to marking. And the loss of gained time will be horrific as well!!

I bet the pay will stay the same as it has for the last five years

I can’t believe I’m going back tomorrow. I’m not clear on whether I have to arrive in a mask. We’ve moved to masks in corridor and communal areas so I presume we will be wearing them.

There are going to be loads of ‘I don’t want this to be teacher bashing but’ threads today

#solidarity #dontneedthisshit

I have to admit my first thought on the pub crawl thread was ‘don’t have students/ex students as friends on FB tbh. If the kids are all buggering off to Zante I don’t see why the teacher shouldn’t have gone on a pub crawl.

MN has a fair proportion of risk averse, helicopter parents who don’t seem to want their children to feel any negative emotions because they are just kids. I suspect there’s a significant overlap between the parents who want everything back to normal because of kids anxiety and that group. If all you’ve ever done is smoothed over their problems for them it makes sense that just going back to how it was and nothing changing for the kids is the only solution.

I can’t see how the Hokey Cokey of school return that’s going to result from reopening with little mitigation is going to make that better. The two week rota system sounds like a much better idea for the kids, but it’ll be a nightmare for teachers.

Fripp I agree Marsha’s attitude about parents being allowed to care about things that affect them is shit, but it is at least honest. And I should probably admit that my annoyance at it comes from having spent my entire adult life bouncing around between, and falling between the gaps of primary and mental healthcare. I don’t know if I’d be quite so pissed off about it if that wasn’t the case.

Be prepared for the vitriol if you get symptoms and all your front rows have to self-isolate. Not looking forward to that one.

Sorry I'm know I think I've asked this before and it's probably been discussed recently; are you all getting changed when home/ different clothes, changing the kids too?

It's going to be an enormous faff and imo isn't going to minimise risk after one or the other has charged all over the house while I'm sorting the other one.

I'm sorting out mine and the kids clothes and hit a wall!

@Danglingmod

That's a good plan, Neuro - I'd love a many-pocketed apron or workman's coat. Not sure it would class as business dress .

As a science teacher I'd planned to get myself a good lab coat with pockets. Decided against as no practicals this term, but actually might be worth it for the storage! Right, lots to catch up on. I am a night owl, leaving the house at 7:15am is going to kill me on Thursday.

I normally get changed out of school clothes and the kids out of uniform when we get home, so that won’t change. I’m undecided about how often to wash blazers.

Back in June/July, I took to wearing a cross-body handbag, which had tissues, wet-wipes, a doorpad toucher thingy, hand-sanitiser, glasses and my phone in.
Or I have wondered about a bum-bag, but I actually think I'm too vain for that! (Still embarrassed about the frumpy Karrimor hiking sandals I just bought for walking the dog -I will NOT wear them out in public otherwise- but they are SO COMFY).

I believe bum bags are in again...!

@SaltyAndFresh

Be prepared for the vitriol if you get symptoms and all your front rows have to self-isolate. Not looking forward to that one.

God, I’m still so confused about this.

So, if I have symptoms-does the front row (or two in my tiny room) have to self isolate or is that only if I test positive?

I feel sick at the thought of tomorrow. Anxiety through the roof.

Just if you are positive.

@RigaBalsam

I feel sick at the thought of tomorrow. Anxiety through the roof.

Snap.