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

Here’s to all the fab Sencos and TAs

Absolutely!

I'm really struggling not to swear at @CraftyGin and her sneering at state school teachers.

The lack of physical teacher presence is going to have a huge negative impact on behaviour. Sitting alongside, looming over, crouching in between desks - all parts of the toolkit taken out of play.
However, the impact on work rate and quality will be just as devastating. I’m always jotting down sentence stems etc for my weakest in their books. A quick classroom stalk reveals which students are staring at a blank page and need ‘reminders’.
I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that ‘teaching from the front’ will result in one whole lot of teenagers doing an absolute bare minimum of work, if any at all.

You are all most welcome to our latest sounding off-board. I will not go back to the angry thread as it makes me very angry and I think has been invaded by U4T and the DfE supporters.

It is going to be bedlam. I think we can only be comforted by those already back, lots of us have INSET this week but the first full days.

God knows whats going to happen. The campaign for schools to be back is everywhere - TV, radio, newspapers, internet. It must be costing a fortune.

The campaign for schools to be back is everywhere - TV, radio, newspapers, internet. It must be costing a fortune.

Shame there's no money for extra cleaning, staffing, soap...

Oh wait... there was that ever so generous pay rise as a fuck thank you

What I don't understand is that if some of these posters genuinely believed these things of teachers and schools then surely they couldn't ever want their child to be left in a classroom. In fact, I'd go further than that. If you are intentionally sending your child into a place you truly think is terrible in order to spend all day with people who you honestly believe are disgusting and lazy, that would make you a highly neglectful parent.

They need us more than we need them...

My resolution for this academic year is not to spend my own money on resources. (after all we cant share stuff)

Oh look : another shitshow:

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/29/uk-university-reopenings-risk-covid-public-health-crisis-teaching-union-warns

If everyone was wearing masks, that would then mean that we weren't pinned to the wall at the front and would be able to get a bit closer to the kids, right?

So actually not wearing masks is interfering with education.

Mine too Staff! I refuse to buy things anymore. And the second resolution is to talk quietly. I am going to try to be quieter - with the doors open we can't all be shouting! I always admire quiet teachers. I have a foghorn voice.

I don't like wearing a mask but I would do it if it meant I could run my classroom properly.

From piggy's article
"As students prepare to return, lack of government preparedness means that nation is ‘sleepwalking into a Covid disaster’"

I can't believe that of our government at all. That sounds nothing like them.

God, I mean Fresher's Flu is a thing.

Just reading about this 2 weeks in 2 weeks off for secondary kids in areas with high numbers. Assuming as our area is already high it's going to be getting higher fast

It was the bit at the end where the DfE promised more guidance to universities before the beginning of the term that got me.

My first thought was 'wait - there's another Bank Holiday?'

Delurking to say I'm worried about behaviour too, as I'm starting a new school after a few years supply so I don't have that history of at least knowing some of the faces. Fingers crossed along with my legs til I locate the staff loos!

@hedgehogger1

Just reading about this 2 weeks in 2 weeks off for secondary kids in areas with high numbers. Assuming as our area is already high it's going to be getting higher fast

Any idea if it automatically apply to areas in local lockdown?

Logically I want to say yes, because the reason for the local lockdowns are high cases, but then Leicester went back prior to the new guidance.

applies not apply.

Piggywaspushed

I have just found this on the guardian

www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/22/shortage-of-6000-public-buses-puts-uks-school-return-at-risk

Buses will be a nightmare for sure fripp.

@Ickabog we're not in lockdown, just "an area of intervention" whatever the fuck that means. No one could work out whether the kids had to wear masks or not for a while

[quote hedgehogger1]@Ickabog we're not in lockdown, just "an area of intervention" whatever the fuck that means. No one could work out whether the kids had to wear masks or not for a while [/quote]
I hadn't realised that, I thought you were still in lockdown. Although I shouldn't be surprised, the GOV seem to make it up as they go along.

Can we go on that DfE thread and ask which total bellend is the person who gives quotes for news stories?

You know, the one who always says 'teaching remains a great and popular profession' after a story about how it's not.

So that bus story is basically 'We don't have enough buses' and the DfE response is 'we are confident we have enough buses'.

@phlebasconsidered

Mine too Staff! I refuse to buy things anymore. And the second resolution is to talk quietly. I am going to try to be quieter - with the doors open we can't all be shouting! I always admire quiet teachers. I have a foghorn voice.

We're going to have to close our doors. I'm the quiet teacher sharing a corridor with three foghorns 😂

@noblegiraffe

Can we go on that DfE thread and ask which total bellend is the person who gives quotes for news stories?

You know, the one who always says 'teaching remains a great and popular profession' after a story about how it's not.

So that bus story is basically 'We don't have enough buses' and the DfE response is 'we are confident we have enough buses'.

the OP on the DfE thread gave up quite early on.

@MilesJuppIsMyBitch latest post

"Just updated my handy list again.

'Openly having hobbies and not having the decency to feel ashamed' (I'm paraphrasing), 'teachers need to play their part in society' Moaning', 'crack on', 'snowflakes', 'whining', 'get a grip', 'paid with our money', 'don't live in the real world', 'teachers just love to sodding moan', ‘Thank goodness nurses and doctors carries on without the same fuss.’, ‘our teAchers will close the school again at the drop of a hat.’ ‘If only teachers put as much energy into re-opening schools as they seem to complaining about how unfair it all is on them.’ ‘There has been no particular spreading of COVID in schools and no reason to be concerned ‘ ‘Shit at their jobs (and parents can do it better but we still want teachers to do it even though they’re shit).’ ‘gas lighting.’ ‘Some people just seem to want lockdown to last forever.’ ‘suffering major delusions’, ‘constantly whining about how they have it uniquely difficult.’ ‘refusal to even acknowledge that this has been going on’,
‘dereliction of duty to their pupils’, ‘actively mocking foster parents and vulnerable children’, ‘other people have got it worse so shut-up’,

Also lots around the theme of ‘I’ve been treated really badly at work, so why shouldn’t teachers be?’

I’ve seen at least three more examples of the last one.

Worth adding in full, as a fine example of it’s type:

‘Least they're being given ppe not sure if you've noticed but all the factory workers across the country haven't stopped working either.

And have been working mostly without protections and dying at the highest rate.

Possibly not middle class enough to care about though.’"

I'm finding it really helpful actually, to see the comments depersonalised and put together in a humorous way. A bit like a Dave Gorman Found Poem were he intones the below the line comments of articles and you realise just how ridiculous they all are.

I've tagged Miles in case she wants a biscuit from the staffroom stash which she would be very much welcome to IMO.