The Twenty-first Republic - All back but for how long? Why is Big Gav still in post?

[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.

And I've just discovered I'm on break duty once a week. Which is news to me as all the teachers keep telling me they only volunteer to do duty because they get paid it. I assume they mean lunch duty.

I didn't my name on last weeks email so didn't go! 😳

Absolutely all staff in our school are having to do a break duty as there are now so many breaks! I'm not sure this is sensible, using some staff who normally have very little to do with the kids......

Most of the primaries I know have every teacher on every break duty.

We went swimming yesterday and they took all of our temperatures, as well as there being hardly anyone allowed in the pool. It felt really safe. Ah well, back to normality tomorrow!

Sorry I should have said, secondary, therefore many support staff with for eg, an accounts background, etc

@minisoksmakehardwork

And I've just discovered I'm on break duty once a week. Which is news to me as all the teachers keep telling me they only volunteer to do duty because they get paid it. I assume they mean lunch duty.

I didn't my name on last weeks email so didn't go! 😳

Break duty is expected. Lunch duty gets paid for unless you are SLT in which case you maybe expected to do lunch duties on a daily basis for free. (Been there, done that, got the tee shirt)

We don't have break now. What we do have is mindless walking the site during lesson time duty. That's fun.

@MrsHamlet does 'we' mean SLT?

UNISON says it'll back any member who walks out because of H&S concerns (not sure how realistic that is?):

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/uk-heading-winter-discontent-unless-22675021?utmsource=facebook.com&utmmmedium=social&utmcampaign=sharebar&fbclid=IwAR37mlgYYR3hC5O5fYqj-CfRmHICQy88YZt2csebtBkgA73jP2p_nTm16qE

From past experience in another public sector I wouldn’t trust UNISON to have my back, I’m afraid.

I'm not on SLT, August 😂. After the week some of them have had, I'm delighted by that!!!
Everyone who has extra non contact due to the Covid timetable is on the marching about timetable. There is no morning break at all so we go from 8.45-12.30 straight through. The kids have a scheduled loo break between 9 and 10.30 but it's useless for staff. If I see someone doing the wee dance on my marching about duty, I'll stand in for them. I'm also not averse to making cups of tea for people, although we're really not allowed them in the classrooms. One of my colleagues brought everyone in the block a cuppa last Thursday afternoon. He's never been so popular!!!

Class teachers don’t do break duty in Scotland. I think that would be the last straw for me tbh. Our SLT and TAs do it.

Sorry couldn't quite remember @MrsHamlet , sorry to accuse you thus!

My paypacket and my timetable say not SLT. Everyone else who has my combination of roles locally is SLT. I've been conned!!!

Miiiiss, please can I have a house point for Maths Miss?

I just posted something involving actual Maths of my own (sort of anyway) on the Daily Numbers thread, where the very clever people hang out. Scary!

August here's your house point. ⭐
I have no idea if your maths is correct, as I haven't looked yet, but I'm giving you a housepoint for bravery.

For the second time in a few days, I'll say it: I wish you were my school @MrsHamlet ! Thanks

(Struts off like a Y7 in a September when they are allowed to take messages etc)

Whole year group isolating now for 2 weeks from tomorrow

Anyone else spot the poster on one of the threads bemoaning the struggle to get a test who said they had all three of the symptoms needed to test and/or self isolate, but because they didn't manage to get tested in the last three or so days, and had seen the symptoms settle down, had decided to say fuck it and go back to work tomorrow? Beggars belief. And it will be what we will be up against with parents who struggle and see the symptoms not persist.

So @Cracklefraggle did you get that email today? Hope no one's too poorly.

Are SLT monitoring school emails OOO in case a parent notifies a positive test result? In our secondary parents haven't been given one email address or phone number to use, so I'd say that's not possible for us. (Might suggest it??) Parents might choose to email the Head, Reception, general office@ email address, a form tutor, HoY, "that nice Art teacher", the list is endless!

And is it correct that school don't close a bubble before consultation with PHE, every time?

Sorry was thinking OOO meant out of [h]ours rather than out of office, .....
It's a good thing I'm super-good at the Maths really, isn't it 😂 )

I’ve had a break duty smacked bang in the middle of trapped time on my part time timetable. Knowing the timetabling guy and the exchanges we’ve had it feels totally deliberate. On one week it falls in the midst of a chaotic full day when those 20mins might have saved my sanity. On the other it falls in the middle of what should be a free.

Full timers get 50 mins of duty per fortnight I get 40 mins at 0.4fte. Complaining about this sort of thing makes you a selfish awkward non team player but the way my timetable is this year makes close to half my time in school unpaid

Yup, email from HT today. As far as I know PHE consulted - test came back yesterday. That's 3 so far.

Email provided for parents on website and it gets checked regularly.

I felt awful for saying no to my hod to coming in an hour and a half early to meet with her but reality was that timetabling that day already had me stuck in school for 4 hrs for 2 lessons of teaching and I was already due to hang around another hour on top to be there for the start of a department meeting.

Her point was that’s the only free we have at the same tiime and I had to point out actually that’s not a free for me I’m just not employed or paid at that time.

Sounds fair enough @TheHoneyBadger .

Off to check school letters about where parents should forward test results to....