Any other teachers just exhausted already?

[Exhaustotron]

Particularly nomadic/'homeless' secondary teachers having to carry a classroom's worth of resources from one bubble to the next?

No base, no desk, staff rooms too small to fit more than 4 people in now.

I haven't felt like this in years. It was bearable up till half term. But I'm rapidly approaching burnout.

Just me?

I'm shattered at the moment too. Also a nomadic secondary bod.

For me, as second in faculty, I am finding supporting staff to be the hardest thing because we're all over the school with no base

Adapting lessons for the current situation is really difficult as well - I teach Science so no practical work is really hard

Everyone I talk to feels the same and it's still 3.5 weeks to Christmas!

I'm not entirely nomadic but I'm cleaning a lot between lessons. It's all such a rush and the kids are always sent in 5 mins early from their 30 min lunch break. I haven't got any positive vibes for my classes I'm afraid.

Me too @PumpkinPie2016. Acids & alkalis in an English room with bottom set y8. How can they be expected to grasp such abstract concepts with no hands-on practical?

The vibe is that the kids now own their areas of the school. No staff have ownership over a particular room now. We go into their territory. Our school is pretty good for behaviour, but it's starting to turn.

Is it 3.5 weeks? I thought it was more...

Shattered in a v small primary - cover every break duty, half of lunch. Fixed a bookcase today in the other part of lunch. Nowhere to go - alone in my bubble as my TA covers lunch too. Children are lovely but quite full on - I have basically a Year 4/6 class with a couple of 5s. Admittedly a small lovely class but I'm trying to do lots for lots of people. Plus deep dives as subject lead across 4 schools, plus some behavioural stuff. Then zoom training meetings everywhere.

@wasgoingmadinthecountry that sounds even worse. How are you managing? It reminds me, I must buy some biscuits/chocolate for my DCs teachers. Or wine? Can't drink wine in school. Chocolate it is.

I just counted. It's 4.5 weeks left here.

I'm Christmas-tired already

Exhausted!

Oh god @Exhaustotron you're right 4.5 weeks must have been wishful thinking on my part.

My NQT said to me today that he is so tired already and all I can say to him is that everyone is in the same boat. He's doing so well but I really feel for the NQTs this year.

Yep.

I concur. End of term tired and 4.5 weeks to go. Staff out, kids out, no let up in workload in terms of marking etc but extra added on. Add being nomadic and I feel burned out too.

I'm not sleeping, I get chesty pains and anxiety feelings.

And I have been through some stressful, stressful times in my life bit never been like this. Closest was how I felt when I had PND. Which is worrying.

We've all got it bad (excuse v bad English - it nearly counts as an idiom) in different ways. Definitely looking for ways to support each other as staff. I really don't think management understand quite how wearing it is to be with children all day every day including break then training/meetings after school. Good thing we can't drink wine in school right now!! :)

We went back to our own classrooms after half term and it definitely made a difference with behaviour and exhaustion. Last half term we were nomadic and I was on my knees (and behaviour was atrocious).

I'm off at the moment as I had covid symptoms, but yes, I am knackered.

The constant changes, the extra rules to enforce, the extra things to remember e.g. setting home learning, cleaning rooms between classes etc, having to quarantine practical equipment between year groups, it is just exhausting me.

Plus cover. And I feel really guilty for being off (even though a member of SLT basically sent me home on Monday evening) because someone has to cover for me now.

@SansaSnark how have your school managed to get people into their own rooms? Do you still have year group bubbles?

I'm exhausted this week, 4 staff are wfh meaning we only have one person to cover ppa for 7 teachers so we're not really getting ppa or it's being cancelled last minute. I'm losing children as they're being taken out for phonics interventions but I don't get told beforehand.

I’m in the same boat as @Exhaustotron. Secondary nomadic teacher with no base entering territories ‘owned’ by students. To avoid leaving kids unsupervised at lesson change times we are teaching in looooong blocks (start of day til break, then break straight through til late lunch) which is wearing us out and taking a massive toll on behaviour.
Setting work for Isolating students isn’t enough. We have to either do a pre recorded lesson (narrated PPT) or let the isolating student join the real lesson virtually. I object to the latter so I’m going to have to Pre record each and every powerpoint lesson as well as actually teach it in person.
4.5 weeks you say?

Pre recorded PPTs is doubling workload. That can't be right? What are the unions saying about it? And the long block reaching sounds awful for all involved.

I've been live-streaming a couple of my lessons for some isolators, which has been working well for now.

I've heard rumours there are schools that have abandoned the nomadic teacher/static bubbles model and gone back to having staff in their own rooms. Anyone with any experience of how they're managing this (and being "COVID secure")

Yes, I too want to hear about schools who have abandoned the nomadic style. I fear we may be sticking to it until everyone is vaccinated.
Unions not kicking off about the pre recordings because it’s a choice. We can have students joining virtually while we are teaching a real class but I’m really not comfortable with it. Teaching is not lecturing. Explanation in a classroom is far from ‘stand up and deliver content’. Some explanation will be talking at the kids, but a lot will be a sort of organic process of Q and A/ short tasks with feedback - and then using their responses either to iron out misunderstanding or to make building blocks for better thinking. This is not a process audible to a kid at home and I don’t want to abandon that way of learning. So I’m choosing to crack on with the kids in front of me and deliver to the kids at home in a way that is conducive to the remote situation.
I can’t keep this up for long though. Churning out voiceovers at an alarming rate but even so, it’s time lost. No time for marking, that’s for sure.

@likeafishneedsabike narrated PowerPoints definitely take far longer. We now have mic/camera in every room and pupils can join live on teams. I have used it this week and it has been ok -I set the meeting so they can't move on and can't unmute themselves.

Two Y11s came back from isolating on Thursday- they have done none of the work set and didn't bother joining this week's live lessons. Same for their other subjects. Does make you wonder why we bother

I've been tired and extra grumpy this week because I have an infection in the gum around one of my wisdom teeth. Finally managed to see the dentist after school on Thursday so have antibiotics now. Forced myself out for a run this morning which has done me good!

I really hope those antibiotics work @PumpkinPie2016
And yes, the irony is that we are all turning ourselves inside out creating provision for isolating students only for them to do bugger all. Some notable exceptions of parents who are clearly busting a gut at home to keep their kids up to date, but radio silence from isolators on the whole. It’s all quite hard at the moment.

Not a teacher but run the inclusion room where kids are sent off they get sent out of class and I’m stick a fork in me because I’m done!

@Feministicon, I bet you are.

If your place is anything like mine, the bubble system means kid rule the roost and the behaviour systems are at breaking point.

We've almost made it to 3.5 weeks...

Although an ITT coordinator I spoke to today said Boris was closing schools a week early. I think she might have been confused though. She's exhausted too.

Yep, I had to send kids away on Friday as my room was full, one alone teacher sent out 9 students from their class.

Wow, that teacher must've been having a really bad day. Are SLT following up and supporting?

@Exhaustotron

Wow, that teacher must've been having a really bad day. Are SLT following up and supporting?

I’m not sure, I know she reported it to the year head so I hope so.

Hope so, and by extension that that supports you too.

@Exhaustotron

Hope so, and by extension that that supports you too.

It does, I feel for all school staff at the moment just such a perfect storm of issues