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

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

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Y7 aren't being sat on by the bigger kids. They're in their little zone and have their own area at break time. It has definitely affected their attitude, way more cocky.

Oh god yes, year 7 need squashing. The boys are awful, we've had fights, filming of bullying, etc etc.

It's not the end of September yet 😱

Maybe I'm unreasonable but I think the people with the smallest teaching loads need to a) shut up about his busy and stressed they are and b) be prepared to be the guinea pig and try stuff out. We have staff doing three full days of double lessons with no support and no breaks back to back. If they're expected to do something fancy on teams next week, it behoves the leaders to lead rather than instruct.

Must have been in close contact .

My year 7s are a mixture of annoyingly cocky and charmingly childlike, lol. I never know what they're going to be playing when I arrive at school (one bus of 5 kids in my form arrives at 8:15 for a 9am start). One day they were playing teachers so had their whiteboards out and were giving each other maths questions to do (a few of them try any questions left on the board, which is great if it's something like bidmas or negative numbers, not so great when it's A Level mechanics). I describe them as lovely but loud 🤣

Yes MrsH I fully agree!!!! I don't want to be doing things online that SLT haven't tried out before me! Actually, the head and 2 deputies did use teams during lockdown, whereas we weren't really encouraged to go down that route back then.

That's hilarious, MrsAwesome

God... if we waited for SLT to do stuff first, we'd do nothing!!!

It's our groups of bright Aspergers with adhd who aren't coping.

They will spend most of this year simply re learning how to be in school and with each other, how to cope with the word 'no.'

I do feel for the staff in those classes.

Most of the other groups seem relieved and very happy to be back.

I think in our place (re Y7s) it's a combination of they've forgotten how school works/ too long spent on screens in lockdown / they're all on one corridor usually in one room, for every single lesson.

The last point means a) it feels like primary; b) they're not feeling the responsibility of finding rooms, dealing with getting lost, managing lockers; c) they're not bumping up against the Y11s etc - literally and metaphorically - so can still imagine that they're top, not bottom, of the pecking order!!

@Augustbreeze

I think in our place (re Y7s) it's a combination of they've forgotten how school works/ too long spent on screens in lockdown / they're all on one corridor usually in one room, for every single lesson.

The last point means a) it feels like primary; b) they're not feeling the responsibility of finding rooms, dealing with getting lost, managing lockers; c) they're not bumping up against the Y11s etc - literally and metaphorically - so can still imagine that they're top, not bottom, of the pecking order!!

Spot on thinking there,absolutely. DH and I agreed with every point.

All these things you’re saying about secondary are suiting my very young, naive and quiet year 7 DD down to the ground. She has loved her first few weeks and feels so confident. There are 240 in each year group (from a one form entry primary!) so it has still been a big change.
Anyway, not the point of the thread, but thank you secondary teachers!

As the owner of a year 7, I apologise profusely for any trouble he may have caused any of you!

Got our test results today. Ds is negative so we’re all fit to be released back into the wild. My result was an odd one. I’ll copy and paste it here, but do you reckon it’s a bit contradictory?

“Your coronavirus test result is unclear. You’ll need to get another test.

If you have not had coronavirus symptoms, you don’t need to self-isolate. If you have symptoms, self-isolate for 10 days from when symptoms started.

You may return to work on day 11 if you’ve not had a high temperature for 48 hours and feel well. Talk to your employer first.

If someone you live with has tested positive, continue to self-isolate.”

You’ll need to get another test but you don’t need to self isolate?

@MrsHamlet

God... if we waited for SLT to do stuff first, we'd do nothing!!!

I think that's one of the good things about primary. I'm SLT and have a full teaching timetable. Even our deputy is in class every morning and half of the afternoons.

Don't get me wrong, it's a massive time pressure to get things done sometimes but it means that our staff can see us doing and dealing with the same things that they are.

That's really infuriating MrsH. We have a new same day detention on the second warning, so behaviour isn't too bad at the moment. That novelty will wear off though.

Hmm, would it be within the Guidance to organise a sort of weekly Tunnel of Terror, where any Y11 and 10 that wanted to, lined up on two sides of some large outdoor space, and the Y7s were made to walk through it to some undefined vague destination?--

The older ones would be allowed to taunt (a bit), shout, push forward a little (whilst still maintaining SD at ALL times of course!!!) and generally be overbearing??

OK maybe any Y7s that cried or fainted the first time wouldn't have to do it again....

Am sure the parents wouldn't mind! Especially not if any of them went to public school.

I just told my (actually quite reasonable) Y11 dd this idea and she's now texting her friend it! They all seem to have a complete hatred of Y7s....

AugustBreeze

The real gauntlet is getting through the tunnel of year 10 & 11 girls yelling “OMG they’re so CUUUUTE!! Why are they so TIIINNYYY! Look at their little FACES!!!”

I’ve really missed that this year!

tax I can't remember if you have symptoms or not? If you do then you need to get another test, and the rest of your household need to continue isolating until you have a negative result.
If you were only getting a test because your ds had symptoms then you're all clear to be released.

That was the result I got twice back in July, before I finally got a clear negative on the third try.

I think that is a brilliant idea, August

Iamnotthe1 I feel terrible for complaining about SLT because I do see it from the other side too because I share an office with one DHT and am privy to loads of stuff that most staff aren't. I know how hard she works. I know how dreadful some of the things they're dealing with are. I get that it's bloody hard.
But when two of them actively avoid answering their phones/give themselves cushy timetables/don't support staff/openly say that they "don't do" x or y, it makes me angry... especially when they have an office door they can close to have half an hour of peace and a cuppa and others can't.

MsAwsomeDragon No “official” symptoms for me, apart from a throat that felt like I’d been swallowing glass and a desperate need for a large amounts of rum! Throat is better. Still need rum.

I read it as it being ok to go back to work, but it feels odd to be “working while awaiting a test.”

I won’t test again as I don’t have symptoms - it doesn’t feel morally right! Just an shame we had to use 2 instead of 1, but glad it was mine that was unclear and not ds2’s.

None of the SLT teach in my primary Hamlet. I wish they bloody did!

Behaviour is awful in year 6 too. No concentration span, complete loss of manners, all slipped back massively, all very over emotional and needy. Lots of tears and in most a paralysing fear of writing! Some have lost social skills almost completely, others were left to roam around feral and have come back like bloody gang leaders.

Equally, both of my two teens are behaving badly at school with their first negatives. One is being too chatty ( just really pleased to see their friends again and has struggled to make work more important than just talking) and one just can't cope - hates being back, struggling with lessons and the noise and restrictions and has taken to just freezing and doing nothing or leaving the room. His maths teacher isn't a maths teacher either, and he can't understand what they are going on about which isn't helping. He's started to refuse on maths days. Any other year i'd complain but this year it'd just be pissing in the wind. He spent the whole of lockdown outside in nature and it's doing his head in being back inside. He's Aspergers but gets no support being high functioning, average ability and quiet. That might soon change - he's becoming a bolter. Both of them are fretting about the possible impact on my mum. They're good at showering and changing on getting in but I feel for both of them. I am at a bit of a loss really.

@phlebasconsidered
None of the SLT teach in my primary Hamlet. I wish they bloody did!

Really? Are you a really big school? We couldn't afford to have any staff without a teaching load.

Behaviour is awful in year 6 too. No concentration span, complete loss of manners, all slipped back massively, all very over emotional and needy. Lots of tears and in most a paralysing fear of writing! Some have lost social skills almost completely, others were left to roam around feral and have come back like bloody gang leaders.

I'm finding some of these too: concentration is definitely an issue as is writing stamina, emotional maturity and we've had to have a huge push on identifying and eliminating rudeness reinstating manners.

On the plus side, no tears when learning long division this week.

Sounds like you're clear to go back and not test then tax. If you don't have any of the 3 symptoms then you don't need to test (although it does sound like you weren't well).

Phleb that sounds awful for all of you. I wish we had more places with alternative provision. Lots of kids aren't cut out for being inside all the time, and would do so much better if they were outside in nature (most of my feral year 10 for example, who have spent all of lockdown out working on farms).

I can't imagine a primary school with a non teaching SLT. Even the head at our reasonably large secondary teaches 6 lessons a week of top set GCSE and a tiny Alevel class

@TaxTheRatFarms so true, so true!