The Twentieth Republic - all back and its time to bubble bubble ...

[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, especially if you have not used the hand gel. Close the door quietly on your way out and put your mask on.

I had those slidey boards. Loved them! The awe when you rolled it over to produce a ready drawn diagram. And the obligatory child drawn cock or swear word. Sometimes an arrow pointing at you saying something insulting. I had one with squares, lines and blank.

Despite all the tech now I still do my best teaching with flipchart paper or just paper and a visualiser.

@CallmeAngelina

It was 20 minutes after the end of break that we actually got on with some work this morning. Same after lunch. So much curriculum time will be missed, but I suppose not as much as them not being in school at all!

Same here. I’ve resigned myself to not being able to use the full hour of every lesson, due to being told I have to clean the keyboards and other equipment between every lesson. I’ve just ordered out of my own pocket, latex gloves to protect my hands. I don’t want to go back to the peeling red hands I had before 20th March

@phlebasconsidered

I had those slidey boards. Loved them! The awe when you rolled it over to produce a ready drawn diagram. And the obligatory child drawn cock or swear word. Sometimes an arrow pointing at you saying something insulting. I had one with squares, lines and blank.

Despite all the tech now I still do my best teaching with flipchart paper or just paper and a visualiser.

I've got a roller whiteboard. I love it when I have time to prep the other side for a big reveal.

callme it's completely understandable to have a cry about how shit this all is. I cried about dd being miserable, which I wouldn't normally do. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't have been miserable though.

We're a bus school. We have 21 buses, which arrive in 2/3 waves. They've got a plan, which is first wave kids go directly to the bus and get on. Second wave kids line up in their "bus bubbles" on the playground, and as each bus arrives the staff on duty (never SLT, me today) send that line to get onto the bus. We only had 2 yeargroups today and the mingling between the lines was ridiculous. To be fair to the kids, the lines are too close together anyway. And if it rains, they are going to get very, very wet as there's no shelter on the playground, and some of the second wave kids could be there for about 20 minutes.

I've got a roller board. Love it. Every so often there is a giant penis that reveals itself as I roll the board round, but it just brings a little hilarity and chaos into my otherwise boring but informative lesson.

At my last school I had a roller board.
I miss it so much

Oh, I came in to say the same things tonight.

By the time we've taken into account the weird staggering of the day, the faff around hand washing and so on, we've got 3 and a half ish teaching hours a day.

9.00 - 10.15
11.00 - 12.00
1.00 - 2.30

That's maths, writing... reading, spelling/phonics. What about everything else? I also have two stupid 45 minute slots for PE, in which I'm not allowed to use any equipment apart from a skipping rope (children have one each). One at 9am Monday morning, the other at 1.45 Thursday afternoon. Stupid.

And how do I teach phase 3 letters and sounds to 5 children, phase 5 letters and sounds to 9 children, and normal year 3/4 spelling rules to the other 10? Without a TA?

This catch up isn't going to work, and I've heard a lot of stuff about teachers not getting a break all day. I hope there isn't a mass exodus of teaching staff at Christmas, but I can't help thinking it's going to happen.

This catch up isn't going to work, and I've heard a lot of stuff about teachers not getting a break all day. I hope there isn't a mass exodus of teaching staff at Christmas, but I can't help thinking it's going to happen.

I'd leave if I could find anything that wasn't almost as risky for half the pay. That isn't going to happen so I'll probably have to hang on. At least I can look forward to receiving sick pay

@CallmeAngelina you’re not alone. I’ve been all positive at work and practical and supportive of newer, less experience staff. But have cried at home - it’s not the job I know. I know I’ll make the teaching work as best I can - no idea how I’m ever going to work/get my non-teaching bits of my job done in school. I’m hoping it will fall into place a few weeks in... I want to resign and leave this term, but I don’t want to let everyone down either.

Also I’ve had to get varifocals so now I feel old, a it sea sick and have a headache along with PMT so that’s all worked out well for me 🤣🤣🤣🤦‍♀️

My day has got even longer the kids are in 8.20 to 3.30 only an hour and 15 break. No form time. Extra long lessons.

for everyone who is struggling.

The more I stew on it the more I'm really pissed off about my y11 group staying together. I feel like about 4 of them are going to really ruin it for the rest. And though I can never say it (and in normal years would never think it), today I was thinking 'Why did you come back? Why come in and fuck about for 6 months and ruin other people's chance to get what they deserve?'

I’m so tired and my feet hurt so much.

Really hope things calm down a bit cause I can’t keep up this pace till half term.

There’s almost no masks in school. I popped into a shop on my way home and had to dash back out when I saw all the other shoppers in masks. Being in school has made me really negligent.

I have enjoyed being back with the kids and colleagues, however, I am feeling rather stressed and tired tonight

I have bottom set Y10 and bottom set Y11. Both nice groups but the pace of lessons has been so slow this week. We are not allowed to give out paper and can only use e-versions of textbooks.

So, I can't give them copies of tables/exam questions to annotate etc. We weren't able to do booklets of resources. So, with questions I am getting them to answer in full sentences but exam questions are difficult (I teach science -lots of tick box/diagrams) and draw tables but it takes them so long Not their fault at all -they are trying but they are slow writers. I am panicking about keeping them engaged and covering the content we need to cover and ensuring they actually retain some knowledge and practise exam questions.

Feeling low tonight

The most recalcitrant boy I've ever taught sat quietly and did some great work today. Long may it continue. I really hope this has given some of them a lasting push (I'll take the rose-tinted specs of next week).

@PumpkinPie2016

I have enjoyed being back with the kids and colleagues, however, I am feeling rather stressed and tired tonight

I have bottom set Y10 and bottom set Y11. Both nice groups but the pace of lessons has been so slow this week. We are not allowed to give out paper and can only use e-versions of textbooks.

So, I can't give them copies of tables/exam questions to annotate etc. We weren't able to do booklets of resources. So, with questions I am getting them to answer in full sentences but exam questions are difficult (I teach science -lots of tick box/diagrams) and draw tables but it takes them so long Not their fault at all -they are trying but they are slow writers. I am panicking about keeping them engaged and covering the content we need to cover and ensuring they actually retain some knowledge and practise exam questions.

Feeling low tonight

Our school has said we can give out photocopied worksheets if they have been stored for 48 hours in a plastic wallet. Teacher only touches the plastic to tip the sheets onto a desk, one student hands the paper out to others after sanitising hands. A complete palaver given that we are then all breathing the same air for an hour, but if you ignore airborne transmission it is a good system.

Bit different from our 'get on the bus; sit where you like. Meh.' approach...

Our buses are just the usual cram 'em in, send 'em off job. No surprise there. Our head has also said that all masks must come off at the school gate.

If they thought they could get a Trust bonus point from it they would also say the Earth was flat.

StaffAssociation - I saw on another thread that your school is temperature checking everyone? How are you doing it? How big is the school?

I'm sorry to hear that some of us are feeling low after being in this week. It's all strange and not very nice.

To all of you who predicted we'd have threads complaining about the lack of measures in school - you were right! Although a bit of a hollow victory, sadly.

My first day with the kids is Monday. As they're SEN, I can guarantee I won't be standing at the front the whole lesson. I really feel for my support staff who were vulnerable and are now expected in to work in close proximity to the children all day every day.

Last week I completely forgot for several minutes about the pandemic. I was eating in a cafe in a shop and, when I finished eating, walked into the shop pay without putting my mask back on. It took me some minutes before I remembered. I can absolutely see how I'm going to forget social distancing when in front of the kids. I just really hope I don't pass anything on to them or the other staff.

I can absolutely see how I'm going to forget social distancing when in front of the kids.

It's impossible. You can't teach primary or SEND children from any sort of distance.

I've got a sore throat tonight, I'm hoping it's just over-speaking!!

phleb if it weren't for the fact that my school is not a MAT , I would swear you were at my school.

I hope there isn't a mass exodus of teaching staff at Christmas

I do supply for 1-2 days a week to make up my money a bit...I got an email from an agency yesterday trying to recruit a full time, supply to permanent for the right candidate, head of department. Jobs come up all the time but never seen anything quite like that before. I am aware of fellow supply friend in a job till Xmas and another was offered a temp to perm position in another school. Unheard of in September- usually takes till half term to get going.

Oh blimey, @ohthegoats, what are you going to do about your throat?

So many arsehole academies and leaders! They're like identikit villans, these trust managers. They're probably cloned somewhere in a DFE office. You probably do have the same head as me!