The Thirty-Fourth Republic - Time to recharge our batteries and make the best of our festive break

[SantaAssociationRepresentitve]

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

Nettle gin is nice. That might be down to the gin though.

The cheese situation in our house is ridiculous. Partner is lactose intolerant, but can stomach sheep cheese to a small degree. Obviously be bloody loves cheese, despite not really being able to eat it. I love cheese and still eat probably a 10th of what he does.

He spent 80 quid on cheese on Saturday. 80 fricking quid.

Ooo nettle gin. I quite fancy some cheese too. I am having some Riga reminds me of corvina.

Saw the Guardian article it seems at odds with the Sky headlines that they will now use these lateral flow on the truckers.
Surely they can't stop isolating for these tests.

Some things I'm wibbly about and I whinge and moan to myself but end up doing and trying not to roll my eyes and huff and puff too loudly but some things are just a hard, no!

Omg that's so me these days. Except I'm not great at not huffing and puffing anymore!

I also find it hard to put into words why something doesn't work. In teaching you learn to rely on your gut instincts so much that I've often been increasingly unable to theorise clear reasons why something doesn't work.

Got myself in a right old twist recently and spent hours researching something (all roads led to big fat nos!) so I could spell it out in simplistic language to people with less experience but a higher managerial role.

I was heartened recently when a teacher from another school agreed with me that a huge amount of very good practise was lost when the tories got in. I feel like that's what I'm having to spell out to younger teachers.

CallmeA - my son's 'dad' tried to get me to eat squirrel. He had a big ethical thing about only eating things he killed himself and that were negative for the environment eg. rabbits, whichever the wrong colour of squirrel is and american crayfish. His ethics strangely didn't extend to having a relationship with his child

I was a late convert to blue cheese and now love it. I'm a big fan of salty and strong flavours so blue cheese works.

I could do my dad a cheese order for his birthday then. He's impossible to buy for and I often end up just getting him foods that he wouldn't be 'allowed' usually because my mum doesn't like him. So seriously strong stilton and disgusting black pudding and tripe etc

Nettle tea is lush.

I know lots of home schoolers who do a lot with nettles. I think they're supposed to be a damn good basic leafy green.

Ah well, if the borders close long term and we are forced to rescind out rocket leafy herby salad bags, we know what to turn to.

I feel like that's what I'm having to spell out to younger teachers Yep. It's hard. I'm not a great teacher and I've had long breaks out but I feel like my training was good and the foundations my practice were built on are solid. And yy to a lot of it being instinct and hard to put into words.

I think as well when you've been round a while you see the same old shite being packaged in a sparkly new buzzword but no different to the last time it was shoved on you. I dunno. I might just be a cynical hag. (That's not self derogatory by the way - there's a lot to be said for the hags role in the world)

They've got a lot of proteins and amino acids as I recall - I'm laughing because I think my nettles and dandelion leaves phase occurred when I was homeschooling No veganism though!

I gave the while family horrendous diarrhoea with my home made nettle soup 😳( made from the best young nettle tips!)

It actually makes a damned good fertiliser. (The soup, not the diarrhoea.)

Nettles do seem to be a homeschooling feature don't they!

Dh would spend £80 on cheese. Easily! He's not lactose intolerant though...

Sainsbury's online doesn't recognise yarg unfortunately. Gave me Marge.

I had a masticating juicer and all sorts. And chickens. Loved having chickens and fresh eggs. Seems like a lifetime ago.

I don't seem to have had any 'fads' in my 40's. Maybe it is age that makes us roll our eyes at recycled education initiatives! Then again my previously very conservative sister whose in her 50's and never even had a problem with fois gras has now gone vegan and given up alcohol and is spouting pretty out there conspiracy theories at me so maybe you get another wave in your 50's?

I'd be so sad to get marg instead of yarg! I'm sure Sainsbury's do it on the cheese counter.
There's a fancy hotel in Grasmere that had "critter fritter" on the tasting menu. That was squirrel.
I'm definitely a hag! Spaced learning I'd all the rage at our place. I didn't have a name for it but I've always done a thing and left it and come back to it. But if it's not on Twitter it's not a thing, according to the shiny new teachers.

Not a fan of squirrel. Definitely loved the crayfish though! That's a ecologically sound protein source that I can get on board with. The issue with the crayfish is that they are a foreign species that cause havoc with the balance in British waterways. Happy to do my bit for the environment and eat them.

I'm sure it was at Le Manoir - I read that Raymond blanc had started breeding crayfish in the pond there in cages but they bred so prolifically that the pond filled up with them and he couldn't serve them up quickly enough. I think they still have some in there but in much more manageable numbers. Tasty!

Oooh, I love it when the conversation turns to cheese! Yarg is one of my favourites, you have good taste @MrsChristmasHamlet. I think I've become a bit lactose intolerant with age, so I have to control myself nowadays (and it's the one thing which is sure to make me fat).

In fact, this came up on my FB memories earlier this week .

I think as well when you've been round a while you see the same old shite being packaged in a sparkly new buzzword but no different to the last time it was shoved on you

I'm 'only' 11 years in and already feel this. So many initiatives and BS ideas being rehashed.

Ha! That will be me still sat at the table on Christmas day Dreaming not intending to eat anything more but hmm maybe just a little bit of a nibble of this one, and just a sliver of that

No cheese banter, sorry, but, has anyone else surprised by this: rates in secondary school children were 2,500 per 100,000 last week... Which means in the worst areas, significantly higher than that

Only cheese I refuse to even try is stinking bishop.

2,500 per 100,000 last week wow! Is that true?

I'm trying to find a source (because the surveillance report isn't out yet and is going to be suppressed anyway, I think?) but it's been reported in a few places that I've read tonight (I think the Times and Sky news or maybe BBC).

Also, weirdly, my local news tonight was reporting no known cases of the new strain in our area, but there's a big blue blob covering us on all the reports elsewhere.

@Jinglingmod

No cheese banter, sorry, but, has anyone else surprised by this: rates in secondary school children were 2,500 per 100,000 last week... Which means in the worst areas, significantly higher than that

Wtf?!

*I think as well when you've been round a while you see the same old shite being packaged in a sparkly new buzzword but no different to the last time it was shoved on you

So much this.

I do/we do/you do for example. What, you mean show them, do it with them then let them have a crack on their own? Is...is that not what we’ve been doing already?

I've seen an awful lot of recycled ideas come through as well. I'm not really interested in all the latest fads, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and it'll work the same as it always has.

My aunt homeschools her DC. She's into nettle soup and wants to start making her own nettle yarn as well.