The Twenty-fifth Republic - circuit breaker before/during/after half term

[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 and you will receive a detention

Argh, not MrsH I meant the HoneyBadger

So sorry, did I mention I’m very tired?

I did wonder then if I'd missed something 🤣

for 13

I got 'told off' for sayings during my NQT that no-one would blink at from an experienced teacher. I was and I think it was a case of not-picking because they couldn't work out where I was going wrong (it was sheer newness, our kids don't like change).

But at least it was in private, corridor bollockings are totally unacceptable.

The DfE doc defines open, I'll find it later. Think it's open to at least part of every whole class/year group.

I’ll just put out there that back in 2003 when I did my PCGE, my uni tutor took me aside after a hugely disastrous lesson observation and told me in a comforting tone that just because I was doing a PGCE, it didn’t mean I had to go on to teach...

Luckily he put me in a lovely supportive school for my next placement where I stayed for 13 years,,,it turned into a shithole later but that wasn’t my fault! And now, 4 years after that I’m in pretty much my perfect teaching job, on UPS3 and I never work at evenings or weekends, so I think it’s turned out OK!

I got 'told off' for sayings during my NQT that no-one would blink at from an experienced teacher

I’m not meant to say that a challenging year 8 class are challenging. Must be positive at all times, sigh.

A trainee once asked me if thought he'd ever be a good teacher. I had to concede that I thought he'd never be a teacher. He was diabolically bad. He left soon after. Last time I saw him, he was in computer network somethings and earning a small fortune.

I’m having a bit of a whinge today, to be fair to school I can see where they are coming from. Just sometimes you need to have a good old moan and get it off your chest.

So what are you meant to say? Just so I know before I see my nightmare class on Thursday.

Thanks all, massively appreciate the support and sharing of experience. I will document it and talk to the SD provider. Onwards and upwards.

Thinking of everyone having to self-isolate, with cases in the family and those positive

Erm...the challenging y8s are:

A massive opportunity to really make a difference to young minds? (Bit of a mouthful!)

No, sorry, all out of ideas! I thought challenging was already a euphemism

They’ll be a testament to the transformative power of an inspired educator.

A bunch of gobshites?

I’m so tired. Two of our class teachers had to be tested. I’ve done two days of cover, her duties and my duties.

@Saucery

They’ll be a testament to the transformative power of an inspired educator.

You're good at this!!

Thank you, MrsHamlet My rates are very reasonable - an office with a window that opens, all the hand sanitiser I can eat and absolutely no contact with Yr8

I had to do a cover for y7 today. It was horrible. I'm not suited to that at all.

I'm not very good at euphemisms. The best I can come up with for my challenging year 10 class is that they're twats. I will clarify that there are actually only 4 twats, but in a class of 10 that's rather a large proportion.

We've still not had any more positive cases in school. There are quite a few isolating because family members have tested positive, but none of the kids themselves have had tests come back positive. None of my year 10 twats are isolating, mores the pity.

for anyone isolating, having symptoms or generally having a crap time. It's tough at this time of year in any year, but this year is even more tough than normal.

I've had a headache and been very grumpy all day made a year 10 boy cry it's not covid related though as far as I can tell. I've started low carb bootcamp so it's probably the change in diet for the last couple of days.

for you @13luckyblackcats.
I'm on a scitt and am really lucky with my first placement mentor. Just how does that slt think they're being helpful? Not sure about you, but I'm only in my third week in school. So far I've only taught a starter and a lesson (which i cried after). I am too scared to ask if I'll ever make it as a teacher. I worry that i should have stuck with being a TA

I've gone from very very part time to practically full time.
Knackered.
to everyone who needs it. Sorry not to do individual messages.

13 I think your mentor has been extremely unprofessional. I can't think how on Earth it's good practice to speak to you like that during a lesson at all, not least to listen to your side of it.

Please try not to let this person ruin your course. I do wonder though if the organising institution needs feedback; we have students under Scitt and something else. The mentor is a really good people person and the course organiser has meetings with her.

It's really important imo to have good rapport and a guiding angle as a mentor, especially given the current climate.

Many

name if you've only taught one full lesson is far too early to tell whether you'll be good at it long term or not. I was pretty crap for a good 2 years after qualifying but I kept working at it, moved to a better school, and now I'm "outstanding" apparently. (I'm not, I'm fairly bog standard, I was one described as a "work horse" rather than a "show pony" in an official observation!)

My left shoulder is for crying trainees. That's normal! I miss trainees this year. I feel bereft.

@13luckyblackcats

Erm...the challenging y8s are:

A massive opportunity to really make a difference to young minds? (Bit of a mouthful!)

No, sorry, all out of ideas! I thought challenging was already a euphemism

I've been puzzling over why I dislike teaching my Y8s as much as I do, I've come to the conclusion that it's because I teach them after lunch or last thing 5 lessons out of 6.

A number of them seem so immature, then I remember they have only had two terms in Secondary, really. The ones who didn't do much during lockdown have found it challenging to go back to the full on pace since we started. All in all, challenging. But in that class there are many, many brilliant and hard working children. They are just being drowned out by the shouty, bad-mannered, needy ones at the moment.

Name it's such early days!

Confidence builds slowly in teaching. It's also harder in a way to step up from TA I think. Not sure why; I was a TA myself briefly and its a very different skill. (I'm now pretty crap at being a TA on the occasions I act as as one! Which is surprisingly often.)