The Thirty-Second Republic - Christmas count down - end of term in sight

[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

My DS needs a GP too and is registered at uni. he ahs the small matter of a black and putrid toe.

I ran over a child's fingers today with my wheelie chair. He was behind my chair, despite being told not to be. But still... hate handing children back when they are a bit broken. Oops.

A school local to me in Wales is telling parents they can take kids out next week. Shame the same courtesy can't be extended to school staff. Don't know if they'll expect teachers to set work - there are mocks in January!

Look what I saw on a NASUWT post earlier. Think teacher haterz in the US are off the scale crazy.

All the apostrophes make me feel a bit sick

Also just discovered a friend who works in SS (not a SW) is being vaxed this month. Can't believe we're nowhere on the priority list.

No announcement from my school yet. Not sure if we will do INSET Friday. We finish at 12pm anyway so it's only half day. No actual teaching gets done.

Part of me would like an INSET on Fri as long as we could use the time to do our own planning. I wouldn't even mind being in school to do it. It would mean I could get my first week or so back sorted and have the Christmas holidays completely free.

I will be attempting to sort the first week out over the next week or so as I desperately want to have the holidays work free. Just organised printing of all assessments for next term so that's one job done.

I feel DH and DS have been a bit neglected this term they're very understanding but I do feel guilty so I'd like to spend some real quality time with them over Christmas.

Whereabouts are you, @OytheBumbler ?

@SaltyAF

Also just discovered a friend who works in SS (not a SW) is being vaxed this month. Can't believe we're nowhere on the priority list.

Considering the social workers I have contact with through work are refusing to set foot in school at the moment and want to do everything by Teams, that’s unbelievable!

Oops, and there’s me forgetting who we have in charge of our country at the moment. I meant that’s completely believable.

I hate how school staff have been treated the whole way through this.

Indeed. My friend (who I love dearly and am pleased for) is WFH Why can't I have a vaccine?

@SaltyAF

Indeed. My friend (who I love dearly and am pleased for) is WFH Why can't I have a vaccine?

That does seem somewhat ridiculous (not that you love her, of course!)

It's like we're the Cinderellas all the way through this.

I'm in the NW August.

To be completely honest, I'm hoping for either my bubble to close this week or else for parents to keep their children off next week.

I'm looking at potentially the last Christmas with my Dad. He's late 90's but still challenges my teen ds to push ups and often wins. Since March he's become more insular, he rarely goes out, he's stopped all his clubs. He no longer meets up with the 'oldies' (his words, he's 20 years older than most of them!) They're doing zoom meets but he doesn't like zoom.

I want to give him his present on Christmas Day. We've decided on a safe way to do this. It will all be fucked if ds, dd or I have to isolate. I'm so sad and cross at the way it's all been mismanaged.

My mine manager going for covid test this morning has made me realise how close to Christmas we are if I have to isolate I’ll be gutted. Am going to do everything via teams next week - don’t care if it makes me difficult. Can’t risk it.

I have insisted on attending a meeting remotely (CPD which we could move to that Friday! ) and now have to have 'break out sessions' and put my camera on. So infantilising.

Morning all. May the force be with those of us working today.

It's my busy day where I'm in 4 different zones in a row. Luckily one lesson is just doing an observation. So may be able to squeeze a wee in by disappearing for just 2 minutes? Or is that a no go?

Yes go Honey!

Definitely go, Honey
I may be in line for what my dad calls a "wigging" after telling a head of year in no uncertain terms that I won't be marking the months of work they've just told a child to catch up on over Christmas because that's done and gone and I have quite enough to do. He won't do it anyway, mind you...

Can I have a tiny celebration? Observed lesson for threshold application earlier this week. Graded outstanding . I need to do a couple more this year and put together evidence of meeting the standards, then hopefully the feeling of not being paid enough might start to fade!

Well done, @DreamingofBrie!

Dds high school are going remote learning for a week from Friday to follow the advice from the advisory group despite it not being the official course according to the gov.
At least that's one less person to worry about having to isolate over Christmas for ten days (Wales reducing from 14 to 10 days as of tomorrow).

As have a few other local secondaries.

We won't close our primary. Tho I do wonder what attendance will be like as our cluster high school is remote from next week.

No inset day for us on 18th Babysitting is king.

My son's primary emailed this morning to say they are not doing an INSET on Fri. Children will be in school.

No word from my school yet but I expect we'll be in as normal.

Don't know what attendance will be like next week

Well done @DreamingofBrie

We're not doing inset on Friday either unless the LA makes us. We have actually got an unallocated inset for this academic year anyway, but not going to use it for this. Head says she doesn't mind whatever it means for T&T, and we already know that loads of kids won't be in.

Meanwhile I've had a day of surprise PPA because I can't have it next week. Means I had to do a quick handover to a cover, then try and get my head around next term. Aaagh.