The Twenty-ninth Republic - lockdown light continues & good news for Welsh students

[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 staffroom password just in case it attracts the wrong sort

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 come with a stick to goad us then that is not allowed in the staffroom and you will receive a detention

^Is no one else worried about excessive teacher help in wales.
It’s one of the reasons England dropped ca for gcse science, there was widespread excessive teacher “help”^
We were discussing this on the way home. It's potentially a very unlevel way of levelling the playing field

I'd say that the external setting and marking should help, but I worked in Wales before they chucked out the original SATS and....yeah. Massive range in how strictly different schools interpreted what should have been consistent instructions.

I'm happy that I won't have a teen who is raging or stressing about the unfairness of having to prep and take exams after missing goodness how many different weeks worth of school between now and then.

Checking in. Just need to get tomorrow's Y7 lesson together then I'll read the whole thread.

Sounds like lots of busy but not too bad days for most of us and a couple of bad days.

Tomorrow, I am doing Y13 with half on teams and half in the classroom. Hoping all goes well with using my digital pen to write stuff so that everyone can see/hear everything (I hope!).

We shall see!

@Piggywaspushed

appu because the OP had the temerity to mention us as somehow deserving.

To be fair we aren't prioritised for flu jabs so I have no anticipation that we will be for this one. It does make me realise what the rushed out ONS data was about - not heralded because they realised it actually made us look deserving of a vaccine?

I was pissed off with that thread till I saw this. Now I’m pissed off about this instead!

Think I shall go to bed instead

😮

That JHB tweet is disgusting.

I'm not convinced Wales has done a good thing with exams. They've effectively created 100% controlled assessment exams. Looking at our BTEC work, I know the level of input staff have.

Also why would you want classes to sit them early in the spring term? Surely subjects will be pushing for them to be as late as possible. Otherwise cue the complaints 'I've done my assessment, I don't need to be here anymore'. Motivation for those students will be tough.

@Hercwasonaroll

That JHB tweet is disgusting.

I'm not convinced Wales has done a good thing with exams. They've effectively created 100% controlled assessment exams. Looking at our BTEC work, I know the level of input staff have.

Also why would you want classes to sit them early in the spring term? Surely subjects will be pushing for them to be as late as possible. Otherwise cue the complaints 'I've done my assessment, I don't need to be here anymore'. Motivation for those students will be tough.

My colleagues say it sounds worse than just doing a full paper 1. Instead of the 2 papers.

at that JHB tweet. Vile woman

Oh JHB would fit right in on MN wouldn’t she?

I don’t know what opinion to have on cancelling exams (and you know me, I like to have an opinion). I just can’t see any good options for maths. It has to be exams in some form.

And given the scandals with leaked maths papers over recent years, they have to be sat on the same day.

A question for secondary colleagues. (I teach year 1 so have failed already this year by not teaching children to use cutlery while at home with their parents.)

How does cancelling exams help?
Is it because you can concentrate on actually teaching them stuff right to the end rather than teaching them to pass exams?
Doesn’t this rather call the whole idea of exams into question?

Urgh. Awake. Sodding anxiety

@namechangedyetagain snap x

You have important things going on though Monkey. I'm just having wibbles. I'm keeping everything crossed for you

Really must try and sleep and get off MN!

I know that exam boards have been asked to write exams in England too that can be sat 'in the spring'. I think the idea is these become the standardised mocks. What the English gov won't call this until they have to is the actual GCSEs but I think we have the same plans afoot here.

Honestly , I am now about 8 weeks behind in my non core subject at GCSE but swimming in time in English. It's not a level playing field at all and the exam boards should be flagging this and making a fuss to Ofqual. Instead , mine is making vague alterations to coursework, which makes it harder , in fact, and not even providing a new markscheme!

I am a big non fan of 100% exam, teaching to tests etc but it is ingrained in us now and most teachers ahve never known any different. It is almost like we have been indoctrinated ourselves to believe terminal exams are the only way to test achievement - and yet virtually no high flying country has them, they don't 'prepare them for the outside world' and even unis no longer rely solely on exam. We send kids off to HE totally unprepared for the demands of continuous assessments and research requirements. I totally accept maths may be different, although -again- other countries don't just fall back on terminal exams to showcase mathematical ability.

The whole system needs an overhaul.

@namechangedyetagain and @monkeytennis97 hope you both managed to get some sleep.

I didn't sleep all that well. Just couldn't switch off for some reason.

Hoping today is a good day. Two staff isolaters are back today. Not yet sure about the one who is sick or anyone else. Will wait and see.

I don’t know what opinion to have on cancelling exams (and you know me, I like to have an opinion). I just can’t see any good options for maths. It has to be exams in some form.

Pretty much sums it up.

I don't know the answer. I'm not sure there is one that is "fair". (Which avoids the point that exams are never fair, nor is coursework. Society isn't fair).

New name. Took myself off to bed last night to avoid the anxiety. Sleep is good!
Although we know our GCSE-equivalent exams are cancelled, the details of what to do instead are only now starting to be released. Which makes deciding what to actually teach interesting.

Oh, I did wonder how they would manage content?

Is anyone else finding their school informs them about pupil cases but not staff?

We ahve had three student cases at my school : the whole staff was informed about the year 10 and 11 cases, but not about the year 13 one (odd) but not been informed about staff cases. I know of 2 , only because they are my department. I am not sure the department all even know about one of them! Not sure what the school is playing at : it just gets the gossip mill grinding!

Yes piggy. I only know about staff because they tell me via WhatsApp.

Probably technically close contact with one. But to avoid an awkward conversation with the head, having to stay quiet. Staying away from people and masking up as much as possible.

Sending so much strength to you all.

I'm going through a down patch and feel like I'm drowning (not helped by the return of night sweats, insomnia and aching feet.) feel very thick and pointless, so sorry not commenting much.

This lockdown is crap. And not working in many areas.

We can do this. 💪

monkey

Name, so many will be having the same issues. Please don't worry, You can only try your best. The first placement is always v hard!

Sorry to hear that Neuro.
You always strike me as a very wise poster, nowt pointless about you! Hope today is a better day.

to all of you suffering. It is hard at the moment without added work woes.

I'm on the fence about exams being cancelled, but doing it now without a robust plan for what replaces them is a terrible idea.

I don't object to centrally set assessments at all (I think they're called "exams") but I know from moderating controlled assessments, and from my colleagues, that putting the onus on teachers to work in exam conditions in that way won't always work. My class' mock last week was done in exam conditions as we were told to do, but the class over the corridor were being given "useful pointers" at the start. And I know why - we're all afraid of letting the side down or being asked why the results are so bad.
Doing it in house like that is not going to make things fair at all.

At this point I am not surprised that there is no plan for replacing exams.