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

It just contradicts what unions publish - which makes you think what's the point of unions sitting their in ivory towers saying tlr must come with allocated time and if a part timer takes a full responsibility they should be paid in full not pro rata if none of that actually happens in practice and teachers accept that it doesn't happen?

I feel a bit like we've sold ourselves and each down the river where we've agreed to some things becoming the norm. Are there genuinely HODs out there who don't get additional NCT? To me that's outrageous but if people are taking roles saying yes that's fine then it will of course become standard practice.

NEU has a whole section on tlr and a subsection on part timers and tlr and the difference between a job share of a tlr and a single part timer taking on the whole responsibility. It presents time as a fixed rule and the part time bit (full responsibility = full tlr pay) more in a 'good practice' tone.

Can't help but think no wonder we have shittier working conditions if people are agreeing to run departments without any additional nct. That's crazy.

Are there genuinely HODs out there who don't get additional NCT?

I really hope that doesn’t happen.

Apparently so upthread. It's made me feel like maybe my school is correct and I am meant to take on loads of extra work in order to get threshold and I'm crazy for thinking you should get reduced contact time if you take on a responsibility that is clearly going to need a lot of school day time to fulfil

Seems like somewhere during my career break teachers did the professional equivalent of the 'surrendered wives' movement.

No one in my school had a TLR without time. Even if they get one mid year, time is found including the AHOY with the 6 frees they're entitled to suddenly getting 4 more because the others are light

Before having my second child I was second in dept. I had one extra non contact period a week. 🎉 🙄

I don’t know there are HoDs without time - but there are definitely teachers at my school with responsibilities without extra time. Second in some departments I think. I agree it isn’t right - maybe I’m not explaining well. I’m just explaining the actual ‘rules’. The problem is that I think lots of young, fairly inexperienced teachers will take up those posts and work all the hours in the world for promotion or whatever and like everything else we generally just all get on and do it whatever the situation is. There isn’t support from members when the unions have tried to change things in the past (not sure they’ve tried to change the right things in the right way).

Every year as union rep I get asked about this and time allocations. It’s all about ‘adequate’ time - there is no rule. I ask them to list their responsibilities and how much time it takes a week and then take that back to discussions - so that either their responsibilities are reduced in line with the time they have or so that they are then allocated the time.

I think though that any TLR role can’t count towards UPS? As that is supposed to be for stuff you do above and beyond your role and a TLR would be something you are paid for and part of your role. Again not saying it is right but I think that schools now see threshold as a way to get staff to do a fuck load of work, on top of their normal role, to go through. At my school you have to do something ‘whole-school’ and it has to be for 6 terms before you apply. It’s a joke tbh. Just getting as much as they can out of already stretched to the limit teachers.

At my school you have to do something ‘whole-school’ and it has to be for 6 terms before you apply

My school strongly advise you to roll out something you are already doing excellently across your dept and then school “if appropriate”. That seems very sensible to me.

We have so many whole school roles now that I can't think there's much left for people to do! It's actually got a bit silly!

Bloody hell! 6 terms of "whole school" stuff before you can go through threshold! What sort of stuff counts? I don't think I've ever done anything that would count as "whole school", although I did run a residential every year for 6 years so maybe that would have counted. I made it through threshold before that though.

I'm ever so glad I don't have to navigate this stuff now. I'm old and I'm expensive, so I think I'll stick where I am until it's time to retire in 20+ years

I am behind on the thread a bit. Creativity in writing is dipping imo. I judge 500 words and loads of the stories submitted don't have a plot. They mostly seem to be a random collection of fronted adverbials, expanded noun phrases, prepositions phrases, modal verbs, a good variety of punctuation etc but no plot that makes sense. The children seem to have learnt that succeeding at writing is churning out grammar but have no idea whether it makes sense. Sad really.

*prepositional

Fun poll for you all: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4062477-Gavin-Williamson-Secretary-of-State-for-Education-should-resign?watched=1

Oooh noble you big stirrer, you 😂

Hmmm, wonder if anyone will jump and say that as @noble thinks Gavlar is incompetent then all schools must shut?

*jump on

I really do think you should see someone about your anxiety (/hatred of children), though, Noble...

If noble succeeds in her stated mission to close all school around the world, can we keep the staffroom open please?

If noble succeeds in her stated mission to close all school around the world, can we keep the staffroom open please?

Brilliant

I don’t think she’d allow it Hamlet. I heard she wants to actually make any reference to teaching, schools or children illegal.

😱she wants to make children illegal????

Report her or MNHQ immediately!

*to, even

What if we just get drunk then???

I think that sounds fair Hamlet

she wants to make children illegal????

It’s one of several layers to my campaign.

On the surface I’m looking like I want schools to be made safer.

Behind that is my cunning plan to close schools

Even deeper is my make children illegal initiative

Deepest: Michael Gove for PM

@MrsHamlet

If noble succeeds in her stated mission to close all school around the world, can we keep the staffroom open please?

🎉 🍸 👏