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

I have noticed this as well! Majority seem to have had Nursery aged children or younger during the last lockdown. Yet they act as if they are experienced experts in all matters of every Key Stage at school. A lot of the ones on Mumsnet were also furloughed or didn’t have a job so didn’t have to juggle work and kids.

Sorry, that was supposed to include a quote from Piggy as a reply!

The Us brigade very rarely have children older than about 9.

@starrynight19 The kids are handling it better than me at the moment. Maybe a different story this time next week!

Our plan is that different members of the dept will take responsibility for different year groups. Every other lesson will be live but not time live so it will be a prerecorded video or voice over PowerPoint etc.

All of us will assign and monitor the work for all of our classes but only planning and resourcing for one year group.

Are others not doing similar?

That also ensures no classes are being left with their education being reliant on someone really inexperienced or perhaps less than competent or lazy etc.

I'm a bit of a control freak who'd prefer to keep control naturally but I can see the logic and it ensures all kids who engage are covering the same work.

I'd personally also set aside an hour per working day in which kids can book a slot for an online chat if they're struggling or maybe a live q&a on the work set.

That sounds like a great idea Honey. I'm going to suggest that for our department as and when we have to switch. Our problem is the timetable BUT if lessons don't need to be live then that would work brilliantly. Realistically live lessons won't be possible for all members of staff if we are at home as well so narrated ppts will have to be used.

Half term in isolation is tricky here already. Three year old can't understand why he's the only one who can't go anywhere. He's fed up with everything despite me buying far too much crap from amazon and hobby craft. Might sneak out for a walk today.

We've gone to double lessons - so only 3 a day instead of 6. We have to be live on Teams doing the register and "input" for at least the first 20 mins and the last ten, but the rest can be them working independently. Y11 were out last week so I ended up doing about 40 minutes of me leading, then they went off and worked for 20 and then I got them back together for the last bit. Which was fine - except for the ones who didn't turn up.
We're all doing our own - unless we're sick in which case we've got "emergency work" which someone else will set. I've seen the year 10 and 11 stuff and it's dire so I hope I'm not sick!!
I brought my visualiser home on Friday just in case...

We're 3 lessons too. But they are all over the shop in terms of the timing of them. Eg one year 7 class has 4 lessons a week for 3 weeks, then none in the fourth week. There is potential for the timetable to change should we revert to a fully online school.

We have to be available on teams for students after the initial delivery which is fine when teachers are in school. Who knows what will happen if we're WFH. I'm burying my head in the sand because I don't know how I'll manage.

According to our plan, we're in school even if school is shut. I can't understand why, except to make sure we're doing what we've said we will do.

That's what our place have said BUT the Internet connection is crap and this assumes we all have childcare. My 3yo can access KW childcare but 10 month old can't as he's currently with GPs. Lots of other staff don't have childcare if the lockdown rules are the same as before.

We set work centrally at my place too. Different teachers were assigned year groups to set the work (differentiated). We did loom videos over mymaths lessons, youtube videos, mathswatch and so on (god maths teachers have it lucky with so many resources out there). One of the pieces of work per fortnight (weekly for exam classes) would be marked by the class teacher

It made a massive difference to workload. I could spend time putting together really quality provision for my assigned year group knowing that my other classes were taken care of.

As we taught live to timetable during lockdown we will be doing the same again - for when we are isolating (unless sick), when dependents are isolating and when our own classes are isolating. At the end of each day we post materials to Teams for pupils who are isolating. I am exhausted.

DS has just asked if we can go to the park. Going to be a long two weeks.

We can't teach live lessons when in school because the school doesn't have the equipment. My house is better equipped than my school!

If we're at home isolating, we're expected to provide a narrated powerpoint/loom for the cover teacher to show.

If we're at home isolating but not sick, we're expected to do a live lesson over teams!

Same MrsH.

I've been covering 2 classes via teams who are isolating (SLT don't want parents to know how many staff are off) and it has killed me on top of my own workload this week. Determined to have a break this half term but need to do stuff so that I have a decent stab at making it through the first week without a mental breakdown. Bring on Christmas!!

We got 2 webcams per dept. Fine if your dept has 3 members of staff, not fine for 10.

@RigaBalsam He is generally dreadful. A few months ago he shouted at someone who was stating a point very coherently and in a balanced way (can't remember what it was about but got a feeling it was a disability issue). AC was awful. I remember thinking I hope Ofqual get complaints about how he dealt with that afterwards... I was always very meh about him before, but was really shocked. Usually do beige as a presenter. Not surprised he didn't challenge us4ourselves lot the minute anyone says MH they all get scared and their wokeness strangles their voice boxes.

Good grief my desire to tell people to tell some people to fuck themselves is strong this morning! Some crazy posts (elsewhere) on here.
I had to go and check the news after I came on here as I thought with all the talk of computers etc the schools had shut!

@Mistressiggi

Good grief my desire to tell people to tell some people to fuck themselves is strong this morning! Some crazy posts (elsewhere) on here. I had to go and check the news after I came on here as I thought with all the talk of computers etc the schools had shut!

Agree.

There are two school-related threads that will make my blood pressure boil over if I join in. I think I’ll go and watch the rain instead!

Live live lessons all the time is insane imo. How many devices and how much bandwidth and how much quiet physical space would be needed in the home of someone with 3 kids for them to all be live in class?

I think pre recorded makes much more sense and allows teachers to be available to those who need extra input or have been ill and need catch up help or who are failing and need intervention etc. Doing quality lessons for one year group hopefully leaves enough time for all of the other stuff needed.

If they want live all day that makes decent pastoral care, intervention, on site provision for vulnerable kids or kw impossible surely?

Fingers and everything crossed we don't have to close whole schools but if we do the plan needs to be sustainable for everyone

It's not raining here, possibly for the first day this week. (You'd know it was the last day of the holidays wouldn't you??)

Our remote learning plan is that we provide work to the current timetable, with two out of three weekly lessons “delivered” - which can be a live Teams meeting, a recorded video or voiceover with slides. My HOD is also in charge of remote learning and knows that for our department, live lessons are not particularly useful, and also has
two children at home and understands the logistical difficulties, so she’s the one who’s put in the provision for different forms of delivery.

We’ve also all been surveyed about home internet/devices and since September have been supposedly working with a plan for remote learning as a Plan B at all times anyway so overall I’m not too worried if we have to shift to that.

Yay, Smile, you’re here!! Have a biscuit 🍪

Didn’t know this was a thing!! This might stop me getting so wound up on the main boards!!

Thanks noble.