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.

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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

In the second week of a two week half term there will certainly be nothing for schools to get involved with. But there needs to be guidance so people know who to contact.

What a surprise this hasn't been considered.

Why you've done loads. Half term is for sleeping, chilling, watching movies, staying up late etc in my house.

Again you could put whole class questioning and discussion, 5 question peer marked quiz (call it low stakes assessment for buzz word brownie points), t or f (hands up hands down) whatever. Just things that show you they've met learning objectives.

My student sent me a plan for the teaching slot she's doing next week in the proper pro forma for once and which shows she's reflected on feedback. Good progress but next time I'm going to have to explain that typing N/A under the heading of differentiation isn't going to work.

Also there's wraparound care contacts to consider...

I do feel quite despairing today.

But at least my DS (13) has just admitted to regaining his love of Maths this year - the right teacher can make such a difference!

next time I'm going to have to explain that typing N/A under the heading of differentiation isn't going to work.

Sorry, but this made me .

www.independent.co.uk/news/science/coronavirus-r-rate-school-closures-lockdown-lancet-study-b1251617.html

@DreamingofBrie

next time I'm going to have to explain that typing N/A under the heading of differentiation isn't going to work.

Sorry, but this made me .

Made me laugh as well. Anything she doesn't like the look of she types N/A under.

One battle at a time though lol

Just things that show you they've met learning objectives

If you set your LO carefully you can get the kids to RAG rate it at the end of the lesson with a sentence to explain why they were R/A/G. My top set Y10 love this - some of them give themselves homework if they are R 🤣

@DreamingofBrie sorry shouldn't laugh but I couldn't help it! I had a "challenging" trainee a few years back and it was bloody hard work! Thankfully, the NQT I am mentoring this year is an absolute pleasure to work with. Proactive, listens to and acts on advice, keen to learn and to put the cherry on the cake is a genuinely lovely young man.

but next time I'm going to have to explain that typing N/A under the heading of differentiation isn't going to work.

Brilliant!

Mine cannot articulate what they want the children to learn in child friendly language. They're always amazed by how I manage to model things. They're learning fast but it sometimes feels like hard work!

@WhyNotMe40 don’t stress the screens - especially these days. My youngest goes through phases on getting way to much screen time, then I pull it back for a bit until it creeps in again and around we go in circles. It sounds like they get enough outside time - deffo don’t worry!

My kids school just emailed - nursery, reception and Y5 all closed next week. Cases confirmed in nursery and Y5 and reception teachers/TAs identified as close contacts of someone so not enough staff to open those years.

Teacher colleague and friend just tested positive. Is adamant she can only have picked it up at school.

Oh no Piggy and MrsHP.

This term is going to resemble the hokey kokey for being in and out.

My BIL’s school have extended half term by a week - several positive staff and one positive child.

It’s a school for children with complex care needs and SEND so many of the children are very vulnerable.

:( I think that’s a category of children the government haven’t really thought about.

It's made the news here in Wales that a teacher named Angela Stanton from Aaron Taf high school has died from cirinavirus. Very sad news.

@DrMadelineMaxwell

It's made the news here in Wales that a teacher named Angela Stanton from Aaron Taf high school has died from cirinavirus. Very sad news.

Oh no that's awful.

@noblegiraffe

Example: test Saturday, positive result Tuesday, seating plan needed for previous Thursday and Friday.

That has exactly happened at our school. Our difficulty with seating plans is that the blooming tables keep moving. They keep being put in arrangements that give a 2m arc from the front of the room but then they move. I’ve had to say I don’t know where pupils sat on Friday as the tables were nothing like my seating plan and I can’t find my paper copy I quickly drew in the lesson. Add to that the last minute changes I put in when I discover 4 out of 6 in the front row aren’t in and I move a back row student up to the front.

@Hercwasonaroll I fear you may be right Last half term we had a couple of staff who had to have a couple of days off while waiting for test results (all negative thankfully!) Plus one member of staff off for 3 weeks as she had contact with someone who tested positive (not in school) and then tested positive herself.

I am not looking forward to the inevitable disruption this half term - it's the time of year for illnesses generally and then to have the covid situation on top will be even harder to manage. It was like robbing Peter to pay Paul last half term trying to minimise disruption to exam classes!

:( I think that’s a category of children the government haven’t really thought about.

Always forgotten.

@DrMadelineMaxwell

It's made the news here in Wales that a teacher named Angela Stanton from Aaron Taf high school has died from cirinavirus. Very sad news.

My gosh, how sad and awful

To be fair there's quite a lot the government don't appear to have thought about

That poor teacher and her family .

Other than the school's website, I cannot find any reference to the poor teacher's death in nay news outlets or on Twitter.

So, people can keep on denying, I guess.

Poor woman.

I did come across this really sad story, though:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-54146451

I’m glad some families feel able to speak out. They shouldn’t have to and their words will be ignored by most of the media, but we need to hear that these are people, not statistics.

To be fair there's quite a lot the government don't appear to have thought about

You’re right. Easier to list the well considered policies drawn up in consultation with the appropriate experts.

Who wants to start?