The Twenty Fourth Republic - conditions not great and are teachers becoming modern day lepers?

[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 yo

Blimey. I wonder why 5-9 is decreasing? Do you think there is loads of asymptomatic stuff going on? But now the initial colds have settled down, so less testing going on.

I'm not new, I taught half of them last 'year'. I've got a bad combo of challenges.

Sorry I was replying to @winewolfhowls but hadn't refreshed.

Well our sixth formers are the worst for mask wearing at changeover time, all shagging each other and out at parties at the weekend so not surprised by nobles graph

I’m kind of glad you are all saying NQT year is bad for behaviour. Gives me hope things will improve once I’ve been somewhere a few years.

I cried a lot in mine. I've not cried this year yet!! 20 years in... 🤣
My head used to advise staff to make their legend by how they carried themselves around the place as well as the classroom.
I had cause to bellow at a y7 last week. I don't teach anyone below y10. It appears all of y7 now know not to speak to Mrshamlet like that...

Is it Tom Bennett who says “what you tolerate, you condone?”. I always find that a useful mantra when wondering whether to let something slide for an easy life...

More wise words thank you all.

Not been a case in our place yet but the kids are wearing masks in corridors with about 75% compliance which is pretty good really considering all the moaning about it.

Is anyone else still thinking there will actually be the rumoured two week half term? I bet there will be a last minute panicked decision, those daily numbers on the stats thread are starting to get rather high rather quickly.

We're having a two week half term

.... because School decided to change to that plus shorter summer holiday, over a year ago!

Vast majority of cases in my area last week in the 10-19 age range. No student presence in my town so that's schoolkids.

I've got 4 kids in my class who listen, follow instructions, try to work hard, don't hurt other children, leave the room randomly. 4. I feel really sorry for them.
Are you my job share partner @ohthegoats ? That sounds just like my class. Y5. It's so draining.

I had a really interesting experience with a class years ago. In my room for me, they were generally attentive, hardworking and polite. Had to move rooms for a few weeks. They were a different class. Turned out that the standards in the lessons they had in that room were not the same as mine.
I don't tolerate rudeness, inattention or laziness. Students I don't teach think I'm evil. Students I do teach know where the line is but also that I'm flexible on things like deadlines as long as they're not taking the piss. We laugh a lot but I make them work hard. I apparently have scary eyes!!! One of my most used expressions is "no" - kid rocking on chair, talking over me, talking over someone else, day dreaming, messing about, whatever... "no". Doesn't always work - I've a year 10 who has done no homework yet. I can't do anything as detentions aren't happening, and she's one we can't call home for, but I'm logging it all. The hole won't be in my end of the boat.

@RobertsUncle and @ohthegoats that sounds tough

Had a tough day today and I will admit to feeling completely done in which isn't like me.

A Y11 was really, really aggressive towards me when I had the audacity to politely ask him to stop talking so I could explain something it sounds ridiculous but I was really quite unnerved -he's a big lad and I'm a pint sized 5ft 2in tall. My Y11s are a challenging bunch but they have actually been quite good this week and even they were shocked by the incident.

Other lessons were lovely which was nice.

Form period was manic as we had to do something involving laptops in 15 mins so it was a mad dash getting them out before the kids arrived and then getting them all put away before P1.

Was planning to do some work at school but 3 members of my team needed/wanted to sound off/get advice. Absolutely no issue with that but it meant I didn't do anything so had to work when DS was in bed. Loads more I could have done bit got to 9pm and was utterly exhausted so I am now chilling in bed for a bit before sleep.

Hoping tomorrow is slightly calmer!

PHE report shows 352 outbreaks/incidents in 'educational settings'. Some of these will be unis, of course.

Starting to feel like either @RobertsUncle or @ohthegoats might be my class teacher with their assessments of their class. Also y5 and behaviour is a challenge today I nearly cried despite having an ok week.

had a really interesting experience with a class years ago. In my room for me, they were generally attentive, hardworking and polite. Had to move rooms for a few weeks. They were a different class. Turned out that the standards in the lessons they had in that room were not the same as mine

Just because you changed room?! Apologies if I’ve missed the point-it’s been a very long day

@Piggywaspushed I can't see the breakdown of educational settings. Have you spotted it?

Trying to establish why today's PHE report doesn't break educational outbreaks down into settings. Smells fishy.

It isn't there salty. Poster on other thread is wrong!

@WhenSheWasBad

I’m kind of glad you are all saying NQT year is bad for behaviour. Gives me hope things will improve once I’ve been somewhere a few years.

I had the worst relationship with a student ever in my NQT year, her mum was lying in wait for me at parents' evening (early in the year) and tore a strip off me in front of her. You can imagine how her behaviour was after that.

Looking back, I would behave differently if it were now. But what has really made a difference is being in my current school for a few years. The children who have been taught by me (mostly!) have a good relationship with me, so although I'm not the most interesting or innovative teacher, I like to think that they know they will make progress in my class. One of my form said to me yesterday how glad she was to have me as a form tutor again, and I think I needed to hear that.

@GravityFalls

Is it Tom Bennett who says “what you tolerate, you condone?”. I always find that a useful mantra when wondering whether to let something slide for an easy life...

Instead of a starter exercise in the last lesson, I put a list of unacceptable behaviour and the associated sanctions on the board and made my rowdy Y8s copy it into their exercise books in silence. And did a fairly substantial seat shuffle. They were far better behaved, so long may it continue!

It's Sam Strickland

You promote what you permit.

I had a shared Y8 class last year that started dreadfully with me but fine for the other teacher. He had them in his own room and I had them in the room where they’d been taught badly by teacher who ended up leaving, then a string of supplies. They’d definitely learned to associate that room with pissing about for whatever teacher turned up.

I also had another class who were bloody awful when I taught them in an English room because the tables were in groups not rows.

Rooming matters!

I permit nothing

had a really interesting experience with a class years ago. In my room for me, they were generally attentive, hardworking and polite. Had to move rooms for a few weeks. They were a different class. Turned out that the standards in the lessons they had in that room were not the same as mine

Oh god MrsH this is me my year 9s were appalling with me today. I collected their books in my free period. Same room, same class - total difference in behaviour.

It’s hard not to feel like a total failure when others can teach them seemly easily. I’m just telling myself it’s a new teacher thing. It doesn’t help that lots of them really struggle with Science and what we are currently doing is both hard and dull.