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.

I have a mouth guard, piggy. Cost a small fortune from the dentist but I don't wake up with a headache from grinding.

I'm so anxious at the moment. A combination of all of the above (and I'm only part time support staff) and worrying about exactly what DC is going to encounter at uni next week, what support they'll have and the fact they've done nothing academic since March (their own fault). Good luck this week everyone, let's hope we're all still in come Friday.

Morning all. I have a late start today even with having agreed to go in early to meet hod. She’s been clear it’s a one off so it’s ok.

Ds has been sick in the night twice-he took pictures because apparently I never believe he’s ill lol. With photographic evidence I’ve agreed to him staying home. No temperature just knackered from lack of sleep.

Hoping to use the gappy nature of my timetabled day to mark 2 sets of books and sort majority of the rest of the weeks lessons ie plan and resource. I’ve a stupidly gappy day on Wednesday too so will hope to mark more books and aim to have most of next weeks lessons ready.

I did no work at all this weekend. Spreading my hours does mean a disproportionate amount of time in school but the pay off is work free weekends at the minute.

We’ve had no positive tests at school. We get updates telling us number of children awaiting test results, number of negatives etc which is reassuring. I keep saying it but I thank the universe that our old head left. Think this would have been a nightmare with him at the helm.

Depts have now been asked to produce a week of online learning for all year groups in case we have to shut.

DS y9 came home today saying "Shall we take bets on how long til lockdown?" 5 off in his form inc his best friend who apparently is trying to get a test, another 2 friends in his sets, several went to first aid room today!

And it’s begun. Positive case in my school. Yr 12 sent home to isolate.

Another full staff briefing this morning. Nearly 200 people in one room and nothing that couldn't have been emailed out. 6 local secondaries have closed to one or more year groups. No idea how we haven't. Oh and bus duty today so had to get on a bus with 70 teenagers to check seatbelts

Oh and the person I was closest to in briefing has been sent home with temperature

We do need to remember that the ones who've had a positive result, have informed school and are isolating, are the ones we can, in a way, heave sighs of relief over.

It's the ones whose parents haven't spotted symptoms and thought to get a test, haven't tried to get a test, or who've failed to get a test and are not self isolating, who we need to be worrying about....

@hedgehogger1

Another full staff briefing this morning. Nearly 200 people in one room and nothing that couldn't have been emailed out. 6 local secondaries have closed to one or more year groups. No idea how we haven't. Oh and bus duty today so had to get on a bus with 70 teenagers to check seatbelts

That’s appalling!

All quiet at my school, although a couple of staff off for testing.
Cases at DS’s school but they are only contacting close contacts so he isn’t off. They mustn’t be closing whole classes.

5 period day Friday and today and I want to cry! Kept both dc off school - not covid symptoms but both just really rotten with cold, bunged up and headachy. Felt as if they could have gone in but it didn't sit easily with me and I figured they'd just come home feeling even worse, and having infected their classmates too.

Need to cut myself some slack - some lessons are good and enjoyable but I'm finding a new class really challenging - pace isn't correct yet, can't move round and help them, the usual Y7 niggles such as broken pens and equipment, needing water/toilet and a bit of backchat too. I just don't feel as if any of us is enjoying ourselves particularly at the moment!

Not sure if we are suffering from poor attendance - I've had 100% in my classes since we've been back. Partly why I didn't know whether to send mine in today!

One confirmed case here. Close contacts isolating this week (first symptoms appeared last Monday, test Tuesday, results Friday, contact teaching over the weekend). So the contacts of that child have all been in school all last week, if any of them have caught it it'll be all round that yeargroup at least, but that's not school's fault, that's a problem with the test and trace system.

First day in our school of masks being compulsory in corridors. Lots of kids taking them off outside, between buildings, then "forgetting" to put them back on when they go into the next building.

Oh no MsAwesome!

DS2 and I both had tests on Saturday evening, so self-isolating today. Impressed with DS2's school that he slotted straight into live classes, thank you to his teachers! His is back negative but no sign of mine. It'll just be a cough.

I cannot believe you are having whole staff briefing!!

Question for maths teachers. DH teaches maths in a private school, so all quite able. He says he has to circulate all lesson to help them because they need help or are stuck. He does put a mask on but I am not comfortable that he feels he has to do this. It is the only way he knows how to reach maths really. It seems that expectations of in school teaching haven't altered much at his place. He has no tech and couldn't use it if he did. DH is clinically very vulnerable and do his advice is to stringently observe 2m SD.

Any ideas?

One yeargroup sent home after a positive case in the next village in one direction, and the whole (small) school closed in the village in the other direction.

Waiting for it to arrive at ours now...

So so tired. After school meeting seemed to go on forever.

Ds still has no temperature but very snotty and achy so has had ibuprofen. I have headache and congested and about to have painkillers and chill for an hour.

My mum has informed me that the 3 closest schools to mine already have outbreaks (it’s closing in!) and our school has 40 kids awaiting results and some isolating due to a positive test in the household. No positive student or teacher cases yet.

Zero control and no energy to stress about it.

raspberry hope yours comes back negative soon! I'm trying to set up live lessons for any sixth form who are isolating. Today I recorded the explanation I did for the class and put the video and worksheet on Moodle. I'm setting homework on Moodle too, with the aim of getting them used to looking there for work when they're off.

Piggy I use mini-whiteboards a lot to teach maths. And short bursts of independent textbook work. I am finding it difficult to stay in my zone at the front of the room, but I'm adapting pretty quickly, as are the kids. If they need to ask me a question they write their working so far on their whiteboard, then I can tell them where they've gone wrong or give them the next step on my own whiteboard. It does end up louder than normal because I'm having conversations across the room rather than going over to them and talking quietly. It is possible to teach maths without having to circulate constantly, but it does feel incredibly strange!!

No mini whiteboards in his classroom!

I will mention it though....

@Piggywaspushed

I cannot believe you are having whole staff briefing!!

Question for maths teachers. DH teaches maths in a private school, so all quite able. He says he has to circulate all lesson to help them because they need help or are stuck. He does put a mask on but I am not comfortable that he feels he has to do this. It is the only way he knows how to reach maths really. It seems that expectations of in school teaching haven't altered much at his place. He has no tech and couldn't use it if he did. DH is clinically very vulnerable and do his advice is to stringently observe 2m SD.

Any ideas?

I'm finding it easier higher up the school. Afraid I'm doing a lot of textbook work - they tell me which Q and we work through it on the board.

My Y8 are fine to be taught from the front but they are at top set. I find I'm having to circulate a lot with Y7 (we are trying paperless with them and we seem to have a lot of tech teething issues).

Does your dh school use OneNote? I'm using class notebooks so if they upload a photo of their work or ink directly onto OneNote I can see their screen from my computer and work through the question with them.

Ah thanks @MsAwesomeDragon, all our kids have been given mini whiteboards and I, nor my DC, could work out what they're for 😆

No, no technology brie. If he had it, he wouldn't know how to use it!

I’m doing a mix of shouting across the classroom at stuck kids, getting them to bring their book up and put it on a desk at the front then them standing back and having the conversation there, and more modelling on the board, e.g. they do a couple of questions from the worksheet and I do fully worked solutions on the board for them to check instead of just reading out the answers.

I’m also doing little mini tests on paper at the end of a lesson every so often, like exit tickets, and taking them in to mark so I can actually see their work. Takes about ten minutes to mark and flushes out the clueless for support the next lesson.

Think it’s just self discipline piggy. He’s going to have to make them use their words and then respond from the front using the whiteboard.

Different subject but I’m doing tons of questioning and asking people to tell me what they’ve done so far etc which is then good for those who are struggling as it’s repeating what they should have gotten already.

He’s just got to stop going to them and make it work as best he can from the front.

I sent out a cougher today. Ten minutes to the last bell. I wonder if she'll be back tomorrow anyway.

I don't have another PPA or free until Friday now. I might die.

My free today got eaten by double break duty. 30 mins duty, 30 mins free, 30 mins duty. At least I know I can never do cover that lesson.