The Twenty-Eight Republic - Lockdown Light

[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 booze is stashed - Thirsty Tuesdays, Fizz Fridays now in operation.

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

Hi hi. What a bonkers week. Half my department has been isolating so we’ve had a number of “interesting” cover teachers in

Also, have you seen this www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-spielman-schools-sending-pupils-home-too-readily ? What on earth are ofsted playing at? 🤬

Can you give examples of "interesting"?

Ofsted are just being typically clueless. It's almost expected

Please don’t take the piss out of supply. I know some supply is next to useless but I did it to help manage a particularly difficult few years in my life where responsibility for exam classes was way too much to manage on top of everything else and it is so disheartening to read comments by colleagues. Unless you’ve done it, you have no idea of the difficulties, the stepping into the unknown 5 times a day, no names, no idea of personalities, whether or not people are sitting in the correct seating plan, frequently with inadequate or absent cover work, quirky classroom numbering systems, incorrect timetables, classes who have moved but no one has updated the timetable, a HoD who ignores you and SLT who literally run past the class you’re in. I loved the challenge of supply and I learnt loads, I am confident I could cope anywhere now. But if I’d been an NQT who had struggled to get a job, or someone who had been pushed out of a job and my nerves had been shot, it really would have been a different issue. There is a lot that can be done by permanent staff to make ‘interesting’ supply do a better job but so many teachers just dismiss supply as useless and unimportant.

And supply in particular have had a shit time this uear

I was supply for 3 years. But did meet some "interesting" ones. Some people are just interesting! Whether they are supply or not is just how you encountered them

So so tired of it all. My class were dreadful yesterday. Topped off the day with an irate mother saying her DD has to go to the toilet whenever she wants (minimum of 3 times per lesson and at the same time as any of her friends). And she will just tell her to walk out of the room and go if she needs.

Fuck off!

EnoughNowStop, to you. One of the most enjoyable things about teaching is the relationships you build with pupils and colleagues over time and for that reason I've a lot of respect for supply teachers who don't have this.

My PGCE teacher spoke about always being on the periphery during placements, as you're not there for long. Being an outsider is something that I really struggle with, although it's easier now I know how to recognise all of the negative reactions I have when this is happening to me.

Sorry for the Fail link but this is what they’re going with this morning

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8923255/Britons-told-self-quarantine-two-weeks-January.html

This suggests you can see your family at Xmas but you have to self isolate for 2 weeks in January. Does that mean anyone with a job where you can’t wfh in January, can’t see their family!

Aw HoneyBadger not meaning to imply you are doing things wrongly, I just feel sad/angry to see someone working so hard.
We don't have a marking policy. We sometimes have book scrutinies, maybe once a year.
Your unions need to look into workload more - I'm a rep and I have regular discussions with management about what works and what doesn't. Can't win all the battles obviously! But if something cannot theoretically be done in our 35 hours they have to change it.
(I don't know any who only work 35 hours though, it always takes longer - but the theoretical limit keeps things in check a bit).

There's my red line, right there Appuskidu. I'm not going to be told I'm safe to go to school every day but if I see my mum at Christmas, I'm not safe after that. That's given me the proper rage.

Thanks for that Mail article @Appuskidu, it's actually got really interesting and positive ideas from Sage and SPI-B further down about how we might all be enabled to get through this/ community communications etc.

That’ll go down equally well with the nhs staff if it’s true.

I can see pressure being put on workers not to see family so they don’t have to quarantine.

@noblegiraffe

I can see pressure being put on workers not to see family so they don’t have to quarantine.

That was what I thought all the way through reading it!

Please don’t take the piss out of supply

I mean, I reserve the right to take the piss out of anyone who behaves in a way that deserves it but ok.

I’ve done supply. I was being lighthearted.

Have a lush weekend all.

How will it affect children though? There’s a lot of kids in the world and people tend to want to see them at Christmas.

Or can they do whatever and see whoever and still go back to school on the 4th Jan, ‘cos, you know-‘kids don’t get it bad’...

Nobody’s going to do it are they? They’re going to see their family and then carry on as normal.

It people won’t get a test in case it’s positive and they have to self isolate, this plan isn’t going to work.

I'm putting my hand up for "not going to do it". I don't actually care if that makes me selfish. I need to see my mum. I know my dad won't be allowed to see me, but I need a mum hug.

Also smile - are you West Country? We don't hear "lush" much round these northern parts 🤣

We saw what happened with students when they travelled around the country.

I’ve seen my mum and dad once this year though because of covid. I’m not sure I’m willing to skip seeing them at Christmas on top of that.

There is a lot that can be done by permanent staff to make ‘interesting’ supply do a better job but so many teachers just dismiss supply as useless and unimportant

And you know what? I did do a considerable amount to try and support the supply teachers in my department this week. Referring to them as “interesting” here doesn’t in any way suggest I left them to flounder. Every single PPA I had this week was used up doing just that.

Sheesh.

I’m possibly too knackered and grumpy for the internet today.

No you're all right it can't be enforced and v few will do it, and schools.....

I think the only route the govt can take re Christmas AND Hannukah, is to give very clear warnings that unless R is below 1 and hospitals have (defined) capacity by the end of November, we will NOT be able to meet in December.

But then ensure that employers aren't forcing people into unsafe/non-isolating situations, schools are safer, T &T works. None of which is going to happen on a click of the fingers.

If I want to see mine I’m going to have to quarantine for 2 weeks before. It’s not likely to happen, but I’m buggered if I’m going to self isolate for 2 weeks after as well.

I'm filing that proposal under no way! Will the kids stick to it? I think not.

If I can't isolate for 2 weeks BEFORE Christmas I can't see my parents. I'm too much of a risk to them. They are staying at home from now, so they can't possibly be a risk to me. But they are ECV and I am terrified that if I see them I will give it to my dad, who is not likely to survive if he catches it.

I was thinking the same this week about walking if I have such bad behaviour to deal with as well as the risks. I don't want to be ill, I don't know how my family would cope if I got long covid, or even if I needed to be in hospital for a while. Yet I'm putting myself at that risk daily, in order to teach teen-agers who don't actually want to learn anything. I do teach some who want to learn, but there's one class in particular, that I teach 4 times a week, and they will literally do anything they can to stop anyone from learning anything. They know I can't do very much about it either, as detentions are discouraged and internal exclusion isn't happening this year. It's crap!!