The Twenty-Sixth Republic -Half Term Horror?

[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

Poland secondaries are already closed (well, online). It was just on R4 and closing the primaries was mentioned.

Nothing involving schools that should be headline news is ever headline news.

People say it’s because there’s nothing to report and that hundreds of thousands of kids having to quarantine and missing school is only of local interest.

Did anyone see independent SAGE pointing out that the govt made it a legal duty for schools to provide remote learning on 22nd Oct and then on 23rd Oct slashed the number of laptops for schools making this unachievable?

@Keepdistance - for zoom I think there is a setting so the person speaking is on the screen - certainly it's how it's worked for our cubs, scouts and exec meetings.

Has anyone seen the gov sample remote lesson plans?! The KS3 maths lesson example is 12 pages long!

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/927013/Maths_remote_education_lesson_plan.pdf

Interesting noble. If this was Russia I’d be worried for the safety of independent SAGE...

Appuskidu

It’s very...erm...detailed....

[quote Appuskidu]Has anyone seen the gov sample remote lesson plans?! The KS3 maths lesson example is 12 pages long!

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/927013/Maths_remote_education_lesson_plan.pdf[/quote]
Jeez - who is the target audience for that? The year 8 or an ofsted inspector?

I've been researching. Part timers should indeed be able to get tlr and if they undertake the whole responsibility they should be paid the full tlr not a pro rata slice and good practice can be to increase their contractual hours to reflect the additional time taken which is what I had hoped.

Whether schools actually know or care about the above is obviously a different matter.

Seems it's also pretty clear that being on UPS shouldn't entail additional responsibility beyond supporting colleagues (but not managing) and contributing to curriculum development. Again though schools level of 'bother' about guidance clearly varies.

I am undertaking additional things just to be deemed worthy of applying for ups.

Moan over.

That lesson plan would be completely lost on anyone intimidated by or inexperienced/ill equipped in technology. This is the point the DfE is missing. Training in use of IT in schools ahs been woeful because of a) expense b) lack of resources mainly due to lack of funding but also lack of need, or evidence IT improves outcomes and c)lack of expertise on the teaching front with training provided by IT geeks not skilled classroom teachers (often with something to sell).

I got absolutely torn apart on another thread by a load of non teachers who thought my very experienced and competent DH was a loser for not being able to use IT.

[quote Appuskidu]Has anyone seen the gov sample remote lesson plans?! The KS3 maths lesson example is 12 pages long!

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/927013/Maths_remote_education_lesson_plan.pdf[/quote]
If that's what they are expecting for every lesson, they can jog on or fire me.
I'd probably be able to prepare maybe 2 lessons worth per day, maximum, on top of my usual workload?
It's my job. I have a life outside of work.

@Piggywaspushed

That lesson plan would be completely lost on anyone intimidated by or inexperienced/ill equipped in technology. This is the point the DfE is missing. Training in use of IT in schools ahs been woeful because of a) expense b) lack of resources mainly due to lack of funding but also lack of need, or evidence IT improves outcomes and c)lack of expertise on the teaching front with training provided by IT geeks not skilled classroom teachers (often with something to sell).

I got absolutely torn apart on another thread by a load of non teachers who thought my very experienced and competent DH was a loser for not being able to use IT.

I saw that Piggy - and it was all comments by people who don't understand how lucky any school is to have a gifted maths teacher. I'm still upset that I may have upset students by asking them to call out marks out of 10 on quick starter recall mini quizzes...

Dear god, that lesson plan 🤣 if NCTEM want to write them all for everyone though, let them crack on!
Re: part timers and TLRs. Head of English, and science, and humanities all part time. Head of maths was until last year. Ks3 English coordinator and ks3 history coordinators both part time.
I don't know if they get the full TLR though.

To everyone who's asked about the teams guide - I'm just checking out a couple of things before I send the updated version!

I have been part time with a full tlr. Didn't get the full allocated time though!

I'm wondering if it's worth applying whynot so I have asked what time allocation it comes with etc. No doubt you're meant to gushingly apply and not even care whether you'll get paid properly or how much time you're being given to do the role in but, meh.

That KS3 lesson plan is, in my very humble opinion, a very long drawn out lesson starter with too much navel-gazing and not enough kids actually doing maths. The task that is set for homework hasn’t been modelled sufficiently to allow them to have a clue where to start. They’ve made the mistake of providing the most difficult task at the time when the pupils have no support. But hey, at least they spent ten minutes of the plenary writing bobbins about how they thought like a mathematician.

If you notice, it covers less stuff than the lesson it is replacing too.

I wouldn’t normally criticise someone else’s work but this is what the DfE have put out, so fair game.

That lesson plan is ridiculous. I can see some of the point to it but seriously, do they have a care for workload?

Also so much of the cold calling and questioning wouldn't work even in live lessons.

But Herc something something google classroom stream all your problems are solved.

It’s assuming very engaged and compliant kids too.

Noble I completely agree. There is no time for actual maths and a lot of, what will end up being, teacher chat but no actual modelling.

The commentary about the Corbett maths man and maintaining positive relationships is a bit . Do people really need to be told that stuff?

This is the sample English lesson. It assumes access to a visualiser and tells students to out hone s away! (what are they accessing the lesson on??)

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/927012/English_lit_remote_education_lesson_plan.pdf

It's Ok but it is very 'dry' and definitely on the knowledge curriculum ideological bent .

I thought I'd learn something innovative but it really shows up, frankly, how English is a subject which suffers in remote learning.

Oak has got rid of much of the god awful early stuff it produced for English : I am guessing too much critical feedback perhaps. Much better stuff now but my school still expects the kids to find it themselves.

Miss, if I put away my phone I can't get on teams.
I'm so glad that it suggests that I might use my finger to point stuff out and use pupil names. No shit, Sherlock.
I despair. If my lessons were that boring, I'd be sleeping through them.

I prefer the KS4 Spanish one : it tells you how to do some of the stuff.

This is the best bit:

How do they get fresh air when they have to straight to the confusing music lesson? Or to a hapless HOY doing an assembly...

Safely. So not by hanging out of a window. Maybe we should ask the dfe for a plan for that too.