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

@namechangedyetagain

for you all still to make it to half term. I am completely in awe of teachers. I'm 5 weeks into my course and have no idea how you do it. I had what can only be described as a sobfest yesterday. Something placement wise happened, I'm tired, I'm not sleeping, I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know how to plan, I don't know how to assess, I have an essay due and tons of paperwork to complete. It just got too much and I don't know if this is normal or if I'm just not teacher material.

Today been slightly better but I feel so tired. I have a constant headache and feel hungover sadly not. And all the time that I feel rubbish I'm not working hard enough and so feeling further behind. Hoping for sleep soon.

Like I say. You're all amazing

Look after yourself namechange. PGCE was one of the hardest years of my life but I'm still here 6 years later.

I can so relate to all you've said. I had a colleague on the course (late 40s gentleman) who quit at this stage - he's the gentlest soul and chose not to continue going against his values when faced with rude children.

I said it further upthread - most years since my NQT, I've only really felt as if I'm "flying" at around February.

God report the post if you don’t think it’s within the rules but fgs can we not set on each other? It’s shit enough at the moment without that.

name when I did my PGCE the tutor said that every one of us would hit The Wall at some point where we would cry and wonder what the fuck we were doing and whether it was all worth it.

And we would make the choice to give up or keep going.

I kept going.

@WhyNotMe40 I’ve just gone to look - I honestly think there was nothing wrong with your post, and you certainly aren’t deluded. I also didn’t think you saying you were upset here was an issue. It wasn’t a thread about a thread?

We’ve discussed enough other threads, including those started by noble some of us at various times and I haven’t seen that as a problem ever 🤷‍♀️

End of half term is tricky, everyone is tired, this whole situation is overwhelmingly shit for everyone. I’m not sure any rules need checking. I have found this republic more helpful thanks any if you will ever know if I’m honest.

I’m off to bed now - last day teaching for us tomorrow... nearly there.

@ohthegoats that sounds horrific. Hope you have a safer day tomorrow!

I agree I hoped MN would clarify the guidelines but it’s just been deleted. So sorry about that. I am just conscious it’s shit for everyone and it’s important for us to have a space to vent but it’s also important parents can ask for support. Especially when they are just worried mums like we all are

@noblegiraffe

God report the post if you don’t think it’s within the rules but fgs can we not set on each other? It’s shit enough at the moment without that.

Absolutely!

There are worse things happening at the end of the day.

How many of you are still relying on GPs for childcare? I can't bring myself to do it any more. I have two classes off, two massively depleted and have just found out a front row has had to go due to contact in another class. I really can't ask over 70s to look after my DCs but I don't know what else to do.

@SaltyAndFresh

How many of you are still relying on GPs for childcare? I can't bring myself to do it any more. I have two classes off, two massively depleted and have just found out a front row has had to go due to contact in another class. I really can't ask over 70s to look after my DCs but I don't know what else to do.

Yes. We live with then too. My dad takes my dd to school and picks her up. I do worry.

@noblegiraffe

name when I did my PGCE the tutor said that every one of us would hit The Wall at some point where we would cry and wonder what the fuck we were doing and whether it was all worth it.

And we would make the choice to give up or keep going.

I kept going.

I hit the wall on my 2nd PGCE placement. Unfortunately some of the students had seen me crying and it felt as if the entire Y11 spent the next week laughing at me in the corridors at school. It was truly shit. Why they give a trainee bottom set Y11 I'll never know.

name we've all been there. Crying, sobbing mess during your first teaching placement is absolutely a right of passage. Now you pick yourself up, try hard to learn as much as you can, and get better at it until the next time something reduces you to tears. The teachers who never did that on their PGCE (or other teacher training) are cold, heartless bastards with no soul.

Dreaming I was given bottom set year 11 on my first teaching placement too. 3 weeks in, one of them was arrested for armed robbery!!!!!! I cried that day, just from the "what if" thoughts, as I'd told him off regularly and then walked to the bus stop through his part of the city (far removed from my sheltered little suburb).

God, my first PGCE observation by my tutor was a bottom set year 11 team teach with my placement partner when we'd never taught that class beyond a starter. It was awful.

Urgh. Bottom set year 11.

I’m an NQT and I’ve got the bottom sets. They are bloody hard work. I’ve been lucky with them went in crazy strict with them from the start but still have appalling lessons.

There’s a teach 1st trainee who teaches them as well. They are vile to her, constantly goading her and shouting out personal insults. It’s looks like a real pack mentality.

@namechangedyetagain as I tell all my students, if you don't have a good sob regularly throughout your PGCE you're not doing it properly! It is a rite of passage!

I hit The Wall on my PGCE when I overheard a girl (deliberately loudly) hoping that I would fall down the stairs and kill myself. Went home and broke down. It was a Friday, luckily. Went back in on Monday giving a little bit less of a shit.

@MsAwesomeDragon

name we've all been there. Crying, sobbing mess during your first teaching placement is absolutely a right of passage. Now you pick yourself up, try hard to learn as much as you can, and get better at it until the next time something reduces you to tears. The teachers who never did that on their PGCE (or other teacher training) are cold, heartless bastards with no soul.

Ouch - though it's not the first time I've been called that. Vulcan and android feature often too 😂

Everyone does have a hard time in their training / NQT year etc. This is particularly true if you're coming from achieving success in a previous field because you really do expect to be better than you are. Forgive yourself for being new and inexperienced.

@Iamnotthe1 so true about having come from a previous successful career. I really hated the talked down at atmosphere of one my uni tutors when I did my pgce.

With thanks to someone on BRTUS (gosh, my autocorrect knows that acronym now!!!)

^Epidemiologist Professor John Edmunds on BBC PM today.

"EVIDENCE IS EMERGING THAT SECONDARY SCHOOLS ARE MORE OF A RISK THAN WE THOUGHT THEY WERE"

39mins 30 seconds in^

(The whole discussion, which starts a few mins before, is good):
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000nl83?fbclid=IwAR0y_GmgOzhOGjWPslCHluUNmExR2QvkP3VeuC6lwZwvSFQQdz-4lv7jxuE

@WhenSheWasBad

Urgh. Bottom set year 11.

I’m an NQT and I’ve got the bottom sets. They are bloody hard work. I’ve been lucky with them went in crazy strict with them from the start but still have appalling lessons.

There’s a teach 1st trainee who teaches them as well. They are vile to her, constantly goading her and shouting out personal insults. It’s looks like a real pack mentality.

Ugh, my bottom set 11s this year are exactly like that. They nearly broke me today. Luckily I only teach them 3 a fortnight and the HoD and Second teach them as well and they are just as bad with them.

The boys are obliviously loud, do literally nothing unless I'm constantly at them, and the girls are properly nasty, repeating what I've just said and giggling, etc.

Being strict with them doesn't work at the moment because we have no effective sanctions. They don't give a shit if they end up in time out, and SLT have made it clear we're not to escalate to removal unless it's really really serious.

We're getting detentions back after half term. Maybe losing break and lunch will make them think twice. I doubt it though.

Anyone seen the lovely d of e advert saying schools are safe because...

It includes reducing class sizes as a measure that's been taken to make things safe...

I have bottom set y11 and y10. My 11's are not the nasty kind but the sleepy kind. They are just so lazy. I have to banter them down to work.
My y10s are worse, still really immature, can't shut up for one second. Constantly disrupting. I am winning over the main players slowly the rest are following suit. They still can't be quiet. Though when I was ill they were all really concerned asked my partner teacher how I was and made me a card.

My worst was age 23 on supply. They threw texts books in the sink turned on the tap. Switched the safety power off in the room. Threw a ' death star' nearly hitting me. Snatched the planner from me pulling my hair and lots more. It was in special measures. I had a break down and never went back. I tried teaching in a better school but was shaking by the point.
I didn't teach again until I was 33.

I often wish I had stuck with it as I would have got through it eventually. It seemed so much easier the second time after being a TA, having my dd and just being older than the kids. So stick with it! I don't shake anymore and have developed so many more skills over time. You will get there.

I was a ok on pgce, which wasn’t a good thing. It just meant I had all that in my NQT year. With a horrific top set who had 32 of some of the most arrogant students ever. One of them started a proper campaign against me, involving his mum and going to the head and all sorts. The head called me in, showed me the letter told me he had called them in and told them I was an excellent teacher and if they didn’t like it to take their children elsewhere. I have NEVER been so grateful to anyone in my life. I wonder how many heads would do that these days though sometimes?

Morning, I hope we are all ok?

Made a ton of cake yesterday which you can all have!

Name I really feel for you; I remember how very hard pgce was too. I think I remember hitting the wall in my second practise and then also during nqt year too.

Feeling like you're shit is also about the fact that you're reflective - teacher who can recognise what went badly don't last long! The trick is to also recognise the good stuff too if you end up doing yourself down endlessly. The work load is definitely tough, even harder during a world wide pandemic. I'd have a chat to your course leader maybe?

Oh I can almost smell your classrooms your place sounds so familiar to my first teaching job - I hope you're ok.