The Thirty-First Republic - oh the joy of on-line parents evenings

[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

Well they can hardly act offended at you interviewing elsewhere if there's no sign of a job for you with them next year can they? And actually you telling them might result in you getting a hint of what they're truly thinking re contracts, if anything at this stage?

Why would you want to stay long term at a school that is so shit it doesn't give NQTs their NQT time? That doesn't bode well for working conditions in general.

August Not a teen but we didn't get 3yo to isolate from us, nigh on impossible anyway!

why In your position I'd definitely be looking elsewhere. At least your current place may clarify what they want for next year.

That’s a great point august I’ll just be honest and say I need a job in September. Not that there’s anything on the horizon yet.

Herc yeah, with teens like mine the perennial problem is actually getting them to have any contact with you, a little different from the pre-school stage!

I did read that eating together was one of the highest risk activities - although none of us have been self-isolating, we're all keeping apart as much as we can. Dh - ECV, doesn't work. Ds - Uni student, lives at home. Me - in a secondary germ pit every day. We all eat in separate rooms and ds and I use a different bathroom from dh. Also use separate sitting rooms in the evening.

Why would you want to stay long term at a school that is so shit it doesn't give NQTs their NQT time? That doesn't bode well for working conditions in general

It seems to be a trade up of. Nice middle class (ish) area so no massive behaviour issues. But the workload is large. Lots of staff are very happy there and stay for years and years.

Not at all impressed by their attitude to NQT timetabling though. I’ll bet they’ve lost a number a decent NQTs due to that over the years.

Your NQT timetable is statutory though... there's no trade up to be had. What does your appropriate body have to say about that?

What does your appropriate body have to say about that

I doubt they know about it. I haven’t told them and I doubt the school has.

Feel I can’t say anything as school will decide “I’m not a good for for the school” and there will be no job for me in September.

The schools not perfect. No school is and Covid is making everything a thousand times worse. So I don’t want to burn any bridges by making a fuss aka insisting on my right to a sane timetable

School has agreed not to use any of my ppa time for cover though. So that’s one thing.

I remember you saying about your timetable over summer and everyone saying how wrong it was.

August I haven't done anything different at home with ds being a close contact. Maybe because I don't see him as any more at risk from sitting behind and to the side of a positive case than any year 9 at any time in school at this point. It seems like a technicality isolation rather than being any more or less exposed than anyone else in the Petri dish of school.

I've just made him stay home.

I suppose the fact it's only he and I and we both attend the same Petri dish may influence that though? Maybe it's different for you if multiple mega bubbles are involved. Ds and I are in the same mega fucked mega bubble in my mind so 🤷‍♀️

School has agreed not to use any of my ppa time for cover though. So that’s one thing.

It's really not. They can't use your PPA time for anything anyway so they're hardly being generous by not doing a thing they're not allowed to do!

*What does your appropriate body have to say about that

I doubt they know about it. I haven’t told them and I doubt the school has.*

Have you met anyone from the AB? I had my annual check up at the person's house because HT wouldn't let her in in September and part of that was about timetables. Ours are always fine but they did raise a formal concern in the year one NQT had 4 subjects and actually managed to get one taken away.

Have you met anyone from the AB

The what now?

Thanks everyone for listening to me moaning. I get pissed of when people whinge and then refuse to do anything about it. Which makes me a total hypocrite as that’s exactly what I’m doing. Just worried that with Covid no one is going to be moving round and there will be no jobs for me to apply for anyway.

Really appreciate it though.

Sorry - the Appropriate Body. They're the ones who validate your NQT year. Ours is a teaching school; yours might be the local authority.
I have an annual check up at the start of the year, joint obs of all NQTs (not this year!) and then they come in for a review day at the end with all of them... plus the forms go to them and from them to NCTL or whoever it is these days.
The NQTs have had 2 zoom meetings with them this term too.

You're not whinging! Or if you are I must be a way bigger whinger than I realised and everyone on here must be sick of me

Your school sounds like they've taken the piss out of nqts but that doesn't necessarily mean they'd be shit beyond that though I don't get how they're recruiting on fixed term contracts. I'd have thought nqts were needed enough to command permanent contracts. Not heard of them being recruited fixed term.

I was taken on for a part time role in a non specialist subject when I started at this school and even I was given a permanent contract.

@SaltyAF

Anyone else been told they'll have to invigilate mocks this year due to the usual temps being (understandably) unavailable? I wonder what will happen to Covid rates when you put 200+ unmasked year 11s in a gym for two weeks

We always have to invigilator internal exams. They’re in a freezing, gloomy hall this year. We’re also doing more mocks as a dept this year without any gained time. Department is already struggling.

Hiring NQTs on a one year contract is totally normal round my way. A try before you buy thing. Saves having to manage the struggling ones properly.

We've lost some great NQTs because of it. Who wants to prompt NQTs to really think about whether they want to continue in teaching in the middle of one of the toughest years? Stupid idea.

We have three NQTs. One is on a maternity cover for a year - we'd love to keep her but her subject is rather niche! One is planning to leave in the summer (she actually wanted to go at Christmas but I talked her out of that... oh the irony!) The ones who aren't niche have permanent contracts.

@TheHoneyBadger

I suppose the fact it's only he and I and we both attend the same Petri dish may influence that though? Maybe it's different for you if multiple mega bubbles are involved. Ds and I are in the same mega fucked mega bubble in my mind so 🤷‍♀️

We're the same @TheHoneyBadger ..... mega f**ked!

The Sunday feeling is kicking in earlier each week. Had a long talk with DH about leaving. He is on board with me doing it but is worried the job market is going to be so fucked for the next couple of years. His concern isn't financial but that mental health will be an issue for me if I'm stuck at home. Tbh mental health is deteriorating generally atm because of work stress so I don't see it getting any worse. Only way is up frankly.

@Augustbreeze

Can I have opinions please, if you have a term asked to isolate as a contact, would you get them to stay completely apart from the family (presuming no one's vulnerable)?

The NHS advice for close contacts says
try to avoid contact with anyone you live with as much as possible

and I know someone who literally confined her Y10 to his room for 14 days.

My feeling is not to do this. DD tends to stay pretty apart from us anyway and is definitely not a hugger! It would be whether we eat meals (off plates that I will then be washing up etc) together, heather she and her brother sit close if they game together (as he's off too), etc.

Also with all 3 of us being at school together we're all swimming in the same filthy pool anyway.

Suppose I might ask on the Data thread but it's safest and most teen-aware here I think!

My 14 yo yr9 isolated a few weeks ago, he kept to his room or the playroom which we avoided and he had a separate bathroom (well, downstairs toilet!) from the rest of us. He ate separately from us in one or other of ‘his’ rooms after having his plate of food left in the doorway for him and we chatted whilst he was at the top of the stairs, I was at the bottom. I think he went in the garden during the day, but he was on his own whilst we were all at work/school.

We’re a household of four different schools so potentially a lot of people who could have been affected if one of the rest of us caught anything from DS. I’m not sure it would have been as straightforward to isolate from DD yr6. I would be delighted to isolate from the family but then I’m a bit of a hermit at the best of times!

To add, he was desperate for a hug when we reached the 14 day mark

Our y11 mocks are being mostly done in their normal classrooms (except for student who have exam adjustments such as a reader or extra time - they are being accommodated elsewhere with TA support I think). The y11 teachers just go to their normal teaching room at the normal time and invigilate whichever students and whatever paper they are sitting, when lessons change you just wait for the next teacher to turn up before leaving. Seems to have worked okay so far and will limit number that need to isolate when we have more y11 cases.

Reading carries account I realise the fact we live in a 2 up 2 down with one toilet is probably also a factor