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

Oh and I'm also drowning under marking and reports. I could honestly cry tonight.

Oh herdy, hope you feel better soon.
Tough day here, cried on my TA (not cried for YEARS), Then pissed myself (full bladder, break duty, sneezed).
Finished w 2 pupils having a punch up in class. Nice.
I would like to 'be kind to myself' this eve, but huge marking pile and days due in tomorrow so.....

Data. Not days

schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-told-they-will-be-on-call-until-christmas-eve-for-track-and-trace/?f

Ffs. That is an outrage.

By our lady, piggy! That report. And this bit's noteworthy:

The department has also reportedly said that routine contact tracing in relation to Covid cases attending educational settings “should be seen as an important activity but not one that requires an urgent response by schools during the holiday period”.

So it's only the spread of the virus within schools they're worried about, not in the community??

That's a point piggy, if one of my pupils tests positive as the holidays start and they email the school after term's finished, will I be told before January?

Apparently so by 'school admin'...

Sorry you are having shot days herdy sansa and roberts

It’s so fucking tough at the moment. I’m now in survive till Christmas mode.

@Piggywaspushed

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-told-they-will-be-on-call-until-christmas-eve-for-track-and-trace/?f

Ffs. That is an outrage.

That’s horrific. Poor head teachers.

Must be an absolute nightmare for them right now.

@WhyNotMe40

I like mixed ability in KS3 up to a point. If they can't read more than "see spot run" then they need to be in a different set, otherwise, great At KS4 they need sets though as I would just turn the lower ability massively off science if I even exposed them to what I expect higher ability students to do. It would just confuse them.

We have mixed ability right through. Although we do take the very bottom 15 and put them in their own class. I was trying to explain rearranging the kinetic energy formula today to a class ranging from optimistic grade 4 prediction up to grade 9. Completely infuriating

@Piggywaspushed

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-told-they-will-be-on-call-until-christmas-eve-for-track-and-trace/?f

Ffs. That is an outrage.

This is ridiculous. Many staff already gave up Easter and May half term this year.

Ultimately, it will lead to more burnt out staff (especially SLT) and that will really damage schools.

*Poor head teachers.

Must be an absolute nightmare for them right now.*

Can't remember where but I'm sure I saw a stat that said that 50% of head teachers want to, or are considering quitting.

Thanks for the well wishes. I've had a chronic pain management appointment this evening and she focused on supporting my stress levels today without even asking so I must have looked awful lol. I'm just going to hunker down and survive until Christmas. It's awful that it's shit for so many of us.

There is also what is basically an Us4them thread on the corona board. I'd recommend avoiding...! I shan't name in case I get told off!

Our SLT haven't been involved in the contact tracing at all. That's all been done by the admin staff. So will it be the admin staff who have to be on call over the holidays? They definitely don't earn enough for that!!

Our SLT have been focusing on kids wearing coats today. As in, telling them to take them off, even though the policy communicated to staff was that the kids can wear coats at our discretion. They seem to think that if some of the kids can cope without a coat then they all should. But some kids are sitting next to a radiator and others are sitting next to an open window!! In one corner of my room there are 4 open windows and it gets bloody cold in that corner!!! But the head comes and stands in the doorway (close to the radiator, miles away from the windows) and declares it warm enough for no coats. The kids are freezing!!!

Fb post from a soft play saying they are fine for with tier 3 people going!!

They seem to think that if some of the kids can cope without a coat then they all should.

Idiots. My boy wears t-shirt and shorts in the depths of winter. Doesn't mean that everyone should follow his lead.

I bet SLT are male. There was research that shows that women need a higher room temperature than men to be comfortable.

Really sorry to hear more of you coming down with this bastard virus, or struggling with school in general. It truly is shit at the moment.

I think there's some kind of competition between the kids (by which I mean boys, mainly) to see who's hard enough to go through the entire winter wearing shorts and no coat.

I'll join the crying brigade. Very disturbing incident with a ks3 pupil. Still very shaken now about it. Being a female member of staff in school is tricky sometimes.

Oh god Herc I'm so sorry. Are you getting proper support at school?

Hugs to you Herc, I hope that your school dealt with this appropriately and more importantly that you felt cared for.

Hope you're ok x

Not yet noble. I've flagged it with SLT and safeguarding lead, hoping for something tomorrow....
I hate how we're forced to tolerate things that would never be acceptable in any other public place. I'd phone the police if what happened to me today happened in public.

On the plus side I have cake!

Thank you all. Flowers, gin and light punches (non contact) coming your way.

Hope you’re ok Herc and you’re supported properly tomorrow.