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

Confirmed year 9 case in my school.

I am off today with horrible acid indigestion which ahs kept me awake. It's not like me not to power through but I am exhausted and demoralised tbh.

Rest up piggy. Hope it passes.

I think I'm ready to set boundaries on work. I just reflexively went to turn on my work laptop and actually thought nope this is your day off. I need either for them to increase me to at least 0.6 or to fit in some other proper employment earning at least 6k a year to be mortgageable.

No idea what or where that employment could be but it is going to require me limiting how much extra time I give to school so boundaries are going in.

Do primaries ever need a one day a week person to cover ppa? I'm considering writing to the local primary. When I got this job, because at the time I needed really part time, I approached the head directly offering myself for gaps in timetabling rather than looking at job ads. Wondering if it's worth contacting primary

We have someone who works 3 days a week covering PPA. But we have PPA every other week for a whole day, instead of what most smaller schools do, which is have an afternoon PPA a week. So she covers 6 classes over a fortnight. We then have an HLTA who covers the other 6 classes on those same days because 2/3 form entry.

If that makes sense.

Yeah it makes sense and as I expected it seems to require real flexibility in availability which I don't have. I really don't want to leave my school but only being available Tuesday and Thursday doesn't really fit with an extra job.

Honey is supply in your own school a possibility? I don't want extra days (childcare) but would be easy enough to get them.

Some KS4 boys have just made me cry. I knew this morning that I was at my limit and they’ve just tipped me over the edge with their shitty behaviour and attitude. Have never cried in front of SLT before. They didn’t know what to do 😂

Oh herdy, hope you are OK.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55145313

Interesting that this comes from Ofsted.

Bloody DfE, though,, The BBC might as well just cut and paste their statement form a previous article.

Anyone still up for the fight on other threads , feel free to use this!

I do find it sinister, though, that Ofsted etc often cite the SI 'rules' as the problem. I think we know what the next move will be.

Member of staff now off at my place because of boy in front row testing positive. Her classroom isn't small, so I am surprised. perhaps she confessed to straying from her box.

@HerdyGerdy

Some KS4 boys have just made me cry. I knew this morning that I was at my limit and they’ve just tipped me over the edge with their shitty behaviour and attitude. Have never cried in front of SLT before. They didn’t know what to do 😂

I had a KS4 girl make me cry on my PGCE. It was awful! She loved every minute of provoking me, as well.

Hope that you're feeling better now, HerdyGerdy.

Private girls' schol in our town closed to a year group until their end of term because of tow cases. It's carnage apparently. Lot of the problems caused by buses and sports teams.

So much for the extra magic walls of private schools.

tow =two. Obviously!

@Piggywaspushed

Oh dear carrie. More so than Paul Dix ?

I’ve not seen Dix in person but yep, I’d guess as irritating (albeit from the opposite perspective!)

Friend’s DS on his 4th isolation from yr 8. The system isn’t working for many children and I’m disgusted at so many people pretending it is because their own dc aren’t affected

Honey smaller schools where deputies still take classes often have PPA cover of qualified teachers for those days. My first job back after kids was a 3 day PPA cover covering 1.5 days for the head and 1.5 days for the ks2 /senco lead.

They are like hen's teeth though. Bigger schools just use PE, music peripatetics or TA's. Quite a lot of primaries don't even offer the full 10% of time. I only get 2 hours now and 1.5 for KS lead every two weeks and it's always taken up by other shit.

I have a friend who has just left teaching to work in a recycling plant as an education lead. She gets less pay but about ten years have just dropped off her!

Tom Bennett has a lively accent though.

Lovely....

@Piggywaspushed

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55145313

Interesting that this comes from Ofsted.

Bloody DfE, though,, The BBC might as well just cut and paste their statement form a previous article.

Anyone still up for the fight on other threads , feel free to use this!

I do find it sinister, though, that Ofsted etc often cite the SI 'rules' as the problem. I think we know what the next move will be.

Member of staff now off at my place because of boy in front row testing positive. Her classroom isn't small, so I am surprised. perhaps she confessed to straying from her box.

Ooh, what have the DfE said? Some lovely gem like...

Schools are the best place for children to be...

I hope you're ok herdy. It's horrible when kids make you very with their behaviour, and we're all skirting very close to the edge this year and it doesn't always take much to push us off.

After crying at a colleague last week, the tables have turned and I've been cried at twice today. One colleague lost a family member to covid last night and I was the first person she saw today to be able to tell. I wish I could have given her a huge hug, but she decided it was best not to under the circumstances. It's an awful, horrible illness.

It's at the end of the article, but, basically, yes, that.

"Ooh, what have the DfE said? Some lovely gem like..."

"Schools are the best place for children to be..."

What, you mean almost word for word like that other thread?

@HerdyGerdy

Some KS4 boys have just made me cry. I knew this morning that I was at my limit and they’ve just tipped me over the edge with their shitty behaviour and attitude. Have never cried in front of SLT before. They didn’t know what to do 😂

Hope you are being kind to yourself this evening-bath/drink/chocolate or whatever!

Set to snow in some places later this week : oh goody, snow day threads!!

Hod today offered to take a student out of my class because "you're struggling, and they'll do better with me". Hoy laughed abd said no.
I'm not strugggling, thanks. Student is struggling. That's not the same thing!!!

Sorry to hear others are struggling.

I have a student teacher with me in tutor time 3 days a week. She is off with covid symptoms and has booked a mail order test which means it will be 4 or 5 days til she knows the result.

I know it's probably unavoidable, but I am really worried she will be positive. I want to see my parents at the weekend but don't know what to do if her result isn't back.

We can't social distance in the tutor room and we have a HoH girl in the group so mask wearing is tricky. I'm also worried about the kids who are inevitably going to be exposed if she is positive