The Twenty-third Republic - school attendance not great - half term to be renamed circuit break?

[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

My worse one isn't a pupil, it's the father of a pupil - well, parents. We used to find them really creepy, would never be left alone in a room with either of them for parents' evening etc, and even when leaving at the end of the day we'd make sure there were two staff at that end of the school. They hung around the school in a weird way - both turning up to drop off and pick up every day, standing around in the playground. We all felt something was 'up'. Turned out that they were making their son and daughter have sex with each other, and the daughter was charged with bringing home children after they'd collectively groomed them (hence the checking out the children in the playground). Grim.

I've had 'oh fuck', 'oh shit' and 'he's pissing me off' this year, from year 3 children. Parenting is rubbish, so hard to take it out on the children in any formal way. I just shout LANGUAGE at them.

GuyFawkes sorry you are feeling less than great. Definitely see the GP if you are struggling.

Good evening,

Today has been crazy day. Unfortunately from having viewed the moon the other night, I know it's not full moon time for another week!

I do not know what has got into some students, except for a prolonged dose of cover teachers for some lessons and an exceptional sense of self importance.

Today I have been barged by a student - who, full of his own self importance told me he did not and attempted to dominate me (year 8!) I have had hand gel thrown at me and I have seriously doubted whether I am doing the right things with some of my students. Especially after one particularly challenging student got praise in a lesson I wasn't with them (been sanctioned to the nth degree in all lessons I support them despite teachers cutting them a lot of slack). However, discussing this with colleague who had student in that lesson, the praise should have been a consequence and the teacher has written it up wrongly!

But tonight I am going back to some of my books to refresh some tips ready for tomorrow and a dose of new students. I am on my 6th timetable of the term due to additional students coming under our remit.

I think we are all struggling right now.

My situation isn't helped by issues "up the food chain" but I suspect I will be looking for a new school. It's a shame. Where I am has such enormous potential.

One more day until our long weekend. Can't believe we've made it this far tbh.

Genuinely don’t know what to say to this parent and am sick of pastoral keeping on bouncing it back to me.

This is part of the trouble with not having qualified teachers with some seniority rather than unqualified people with no teaching experience or seniority. They genuinely think forwarding every bit of information or email to the individual classroom teachers is doing their jobs and don’t get that unlike them we’re not sitting in a quiet office reading our emails.

Proper head of year would have backed up the teacher, spoken to the student and called the parent explained the school rules and how to avoid getting warnings in future.

Feeling rotten. Can’t believe I’m stressing about a parents stressing over a bloody warning.

The DofE/PHE advice rings a bell. Our Head said she would contact PHE/local PH for one case as she didn’t want to take any chances and wanted early signs logged as well as multiple cases. Maybe it’s that option that’s been taken away. Y’know, it shows a responsible attitude to monitoring at local level, so obviously it’s not going to fit in with the govt plan of saying “move along, nothing to see here!”

Email the hoy, tell them all the steps you've taken, and ask them to call home? Would that work?
Or pass to Hod
Or email the parent avd invite them to sod off.

The PHE had apparently become so busy that they weren't answering the contact line for schools anyway. Though I can't imagine the DfE will be much better on that front.

@MrsHamlet

Email the hoy, tell them all the steps you've taken, and ask them to call home? Would that work? Or pass to Hod Or email the parent avd invite them to sod off.

There is no hoy that’s the trouble. There’s a pastoral team with no classroom experience. My last reply to pastoral was I’m at home sick and don’t want to call parents from home phone and am unsure what else can be said as I’ve already emailed and clarified

The poster on the Numbers thread says PH E get involved when there's two or more linked cases. It was apparently a far less laborious process than trying to get through to PH to report an initial case.

From a private school parent on the thread about those schools running after school clubs, just to make all of us state staff a tad 😯:

"On the contrary, I think you will find that many teachers are less at risk in private schools. My own DC’s private school has put lots of measures in place including hiring extra toilets so each year group has their own. They have reduced the size of every class. They have put in portable hand washing basins. Staff are provided with masks and visors for close up work. The kids have their temperature checked every morning before they are allowed to enter. Parents have to wear masks at drop off and pick up. The dining halls are not in use - the kids eat outside in year groups. Two areas (including an entire playground) are going to have waterproof covers put over them so the kids can be outside even in bad weather. Dance lessons and orchestra practice etc will also take place under this cover so they are resurfacing the playground with a much softer material to allow this to happen. Every child from year 3 upwards has been provided with an iPad so books do not come in and out of school and they can switch quickly to remote learning. After school clubs are only in year groups now and there are no sports fixtures at the moment. Uniform has been relaxed so that no ties and blazers are worn."

Wow Augustbreeze

I'd just assume they were handling it now then, Honey and try not to give it more headspace. We have one non teacher assistant hoy. She's useless and they've never repeated that mistake.

Staggered lunches are a PITA when y7 are doing a test and y11 are outside my window recreating the monkey exhibit at the zoo.

I looked out the window to see who was on duty with them and it was an AHT, so not sure I want to rattle that cage.

Noise levels in school are so tricky with all the doors and windows open!

Email from a parent today. My child's hands are sore from the handwashing. Please can she just use water and no soap from now on.

Er....

Another confirmed case at my school today, but they've only sent home the kids sat directly next to them. Never mind they all mix in between lessons and are all out of their seats messing about and having a chat while waiting for teacher to arrive From the other side of the school

I work in a leafy village COE primary school and a previous pupil of mine was convicted for murder of her own child. Sweet (AN) child when she was in my class, led the wrong way by her partner and neither of them would say who did the deed so they both got locked up for it. Very sad.

It's all heating up now in our area (fairly low rates). According to the stats, positive cases have halved, but that seems to be due to lack of tests.
I have 2 off in my class for 2 weeks - their families were just told on the helpline "there are no tests, you have to isolate".
It won't be long before people start ignoring symptoms if there's no possibility for testing.
Shocking day - a fellow teacher also SI OMG, so had to set everything up for supply along with everything else.

It’s gone over to all non teachers now at ours MrsH. As crap as you’d imagine. Yet we have seemingly endless numbers of assistant heads and deputy heads who seemingly keep themselves busy with things that don’t involve direct contact with kids.

Or sit around coming up with gems like try whole class questioning for low stakes assessment of learning.

I have actually planned some low stakes assessment of learning for tomorrow - I like to call it "a test".

It irks me when people who can't do my job try to tell me how to. I have not actually not tell them to F off. I got a metaphorical head pat from one of the Ahoys this week because I reported something I'd been told which could've been a child protection issue. Not only is that my job which I've been doing for centuries, I trained the bloody ahoy. I know where the bodies are buried, kid!

Absences are ramping up at our place. Only 1 actual confirmed case, so they sent home close contacts, but lots of kids sniffling and coughing their way through the day. Reading other people’s comments makes me realise behaviour in ours isn’t as bad atm as it could be ( has definitely been worse)
Still wiped from all the six period days and extra duties.

Oh the noise is mental. I'm glad it's cooled down a bit though, because my classroom is a greenhouse. Now it'll be a cold greenhouse.

My concern today is - slightly pants teacher. Did very little during lockdown - ie, the bare minimum asked. Did a rubbish job of that quite often, so not asked to do too much. Bad for parents to be able to see shoddy stuff. Loads of complaints from staff running the KW groups (they did the videos) about the state of the PPTs or notebooks. Mental health stuff due to infertility going on last year. Better mental health this year (spent lockdown on long cycle rides as far as I can tell). Still producing shite resources with spelling and grammar mistakes, back in school doing the bare minimum.

At what point do I go in with GET IN LINE? The head did this before I arrived last year, they didn't their increment this year. But this person is already UPS2.

I don't know where to start.

I did three Teams sessions alongside my classes today (audio only with resources sent prior to the session). Only one kid turned up for each apart from am after school revision session. It's quite the faff to organise. I discovered attendees can listen along to audiobooks though, which is handy to know.

@ohthegoats

Start supportive. This person probably knows they aren’t doing well but doesn’t know how to do better. Pushing them harder will only cause them to break- unless this is your aims, which I suspect not.

Work on one clear outcome at a time. So, resources and planning. Help them structure their planning time. Does the department team plan at all? Could they be paired up with someone?

I say al this as someone who was at rock bottom with secondary infertility and school problems. I struggled to keep it all together and changed schools in the end.