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.

Stick to your guns ,honey or they will take the Mick. We get 45/50, HoDs and NQTs 40/50. We all have tutor time for 20 mins, but just in the morning.

Absolutely all staff in our school are having to do a break duty

Same. I do break duty every day. It's shit.

I've had a nice pottering about weekend. Saw my parents in their garden, swam in their pool, cycled into town to the sweet shop... felt really normal. Tomorrow we're going to cop out early and go to the seaside after school. Yay.

@TheHoneyBadger Your timetable sounds horrendous.

We have had an increase in duties, it used to be one day per week.
Now it has gone weird with duties all over the place.

I dont think ours have given a phone number or email, I emailed and had no response.

Still no tests here. I can actually see parents doing as you say. as for eg dc had a temp it didnt last and may have completely gone. so by tomorrow there might just be runny nose...
Most people are just not going to keep kids off and especially as you say with no tests.

One member of staff and one student needing a test this weekend that I know of. Just 150 mile round trip...

@Augustbreeze - there's no 'covid hotline' in any of my dc's schools. Hence me suggesting friend's mum emails her kids form tutor as there is much more chance of them picking it up before they get through to the office on Monday. (Not that I expect they will pick it up over the weekend, but teachers have laptops so will likely see an email in tutor period before the office checks the answer phone, if there is one).

Dc's primary I know would pick up an email to the office outside of school hours, plus being a pta rep previously, I have the secretary's mobile number and know she wouldn't object to a quick text - village primary, very caring staff too.

As for dd1's primary, well if lockdown was anything to go by, dd1 could test positive, recover and be back in school before anyone gets back to us!

I hope you're ok @WhyNotMe40. It's very stressful.

I was wondering about how people contact school OOH or at weekend. We got our email late at night from DS's school but know of nothing at my school. It is no good really people discovering things after a school day begins. Nothing on our website.

I feel so uninformed!

stick to your guns @TheHoneyBadger do not budge on meeting time otherwise you will suddenly start receiving stuff to do during that time 'seeing as you are here could you just ..... cover bottom set Year 9'..

We have the general contact info on the website - but there's also a urgent one which goes to all SLT. Whether they check at the weekend I don't know.
I have the head's mobile number so I'd let him know if I had suspected Covid, as well as my line manager. Protocol is to let the cover manager know by phone so I'd do that too. Wouldn't bother with hod as he doesn't check email outside work time.

We used to do 4 duties per fortnight, 2x20 min break 1x10 min before school and 1x5 min after school, so 55 mins total. Now we're doing 5x30 min breaks, so 150 mins total. SLT and HoD/HoY are doing all before and after school duties (but the aren't allowed to hang about anyway) lunch and after school.

@DrMadelineMaxwell

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.

Yes I spotted that. Not sure why school didn't give one??

Sorry to hear that crackle.

Our HT has been breaking the usual rule of no emails at the wkend and I suspect they're checking main emails.

I think I'd email my son's school? I need to check that protocol actually!

Test complete - now to await results. What is annoying/frustrating is in normal times I would just take a strepstil and carry on .

If I was running a local public health authority I think I'd want Heads to have set up an emergency line/email or something... but it sounds (from on this thread anyway) like not many have done that or even specified a specific point of contact....

When I had to send my DS's negative result I also realised I had no idea to whom it should go. So went for form tutor, pastoral bod responsible for attendance plus cover supervisor re me. No one's acknowledged it, not that that's essential, but one might have thought...

Hope everyone is ok. I'm starting to feel really desperate about doing this job anymore. It was always tough, but now feels too much. What can I do to feel better about it?

I wish I knew. I feel as if I just have to keep going in and doing my best to support my colleagues. I can't teach properly or mark properly and it's just not me... but at least it's not just me, if you see what I mean.

We have a 2 week timetable and a six period day ( lessons are 50 or 55 mins)
As a full time teacher I teach 52/60 lessons, plus tutor time every morning
Heads of subject/ faculty get no tutor Group which saves 20 mins every day and a lot of extra frees.
We have a staggered leaving policy which adds 10 mins every day if you have y10 or 11. Sods law I have y10/11 5/10 days, they were kicking off big style about staying behind last week.

@MrsHamlet

I wish I knew. I feel as if I just have to keep going in and doing my best to support my colleagues. I can't teach properly or mark properly and it's just not me... but at least it's not just me, if you see what I mean.

Thanks. Just feels a bit impossible now.

@Kidneybingo

Hope everyone is ok. I'm starting to feel really desperate about doing this job anymore. It was always tough, but now feels too much. What can I do to feel better about it?

I feel the same. I’m not cut out for this.

It's awful isn't it. I've done it for so long, but I've hit a wall with it. Hoping sleep helps.

Everyone in bed by 10.30. Do it - do it every night this week.

That's going to be my way of getting through it - enough sleep, vit D, vit B, vit C, zinc and lysine. RATTLE.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/13/older-teachers-in-italy-fear-covid-19-risks-as-schools-return

We have to focus on what is in our control - planning and delivering lessons that might not be optimal but are definitely better than the kids being at home on FIFA all day.

We can try to make sure that the rules are followed in school even if we can’t outside of it.

We can be kind to ourselves and cut ourselves some slack because every day that we are in school teaching is a win, regardless of standards right now.

And we can also cut ourselves some slack if we can’t make it in due to isolation or illness. These things will happen because there’s a pandemic on. It’s not our fault.

And we are all definitely doing a better job right now than the government.