TES Community

[Scumble]

Where the dickens has it gone? Is it gone gone? Has it been renamed and I just can't find it?

Oh coffeekid! I remember you! I'll out myself (don't think it really matters as it's been so long since I posted, and I namechange here monthly) as tangerinecat. Hello to all you other people too.

Really interested in a new online space. I used to use TES a lot, then The Change happened and Opinion went. I liked Opinion, even though I didn't know what people were on about sometimes (especially Jude in one of his verbose moods). Plus - and I'm aware this is very shallow - I didn't like my post count / likes, whatever, being zero when I'd felt such a big part of the community.

One of the things I really liked about TES was the avatars - much easier to know who was writing than remembering usernames.

From what Neededabreak has said, I wonder if the new venture will have room for things such as Workplace Dilemmas and Personal?
It sounds as if it will be more focused on 'professional' issues, rather than needing help or just wanting to chat.

I used to use the TES forums a lot before the Great Change. I remember coffee kid and Lily of the field and serendipity.. I love sooty and noble giraffe are both on here. I used my actual name over there (or something close to it) so not going to say who I was!
Sad loss to me when it all became unusable - those who persevered and sorted that must feel the same now it’s vanished.

@stamfordbridge

From what Neededabreak has said, I wonder if the new venture will have room for things such as Workplace Dilemmas and Personal? It sounds as if it will be more focused on 'professional' issues, rather than needing help or just wanting to chat.

Good question footie fan? ;) A workplace dilemma type forum is essential in my view since that is where we often gained the most support from each others experiences as our careers progressed, as for Personal in principle again it seems like a good idea although it depends if you are referring to an Opinion style Personal or a Personal Personal... I think you know what I mean and of course the Edu news is also key though I am pretty sure there are lots of opportunities to discuss wider non educational news issues elsewhere while I am aware that we don't want to attract trolling type behaviour which would as I've said would be less likely in a closed network as the aims and objectives of the forum being exclusively for teachers/former teachers/educationalists and what those needs are as distinct from wider SM forums like this place for example... that said there is little point asking for your opinions if they aren't given some serious consideration.

What were the most useful/interesting parts of personal for you and what would you like it to look like in a new network? A staffroom perhaps?

'Personal' for me, as a retired teacher, living alone, was a chance to debate, to agree, to laugh, to inform and be informed about a whole range of things. They did not need to have an education focus, though sometimes they did.

If you don't talk to many people in a day - especially now - a forum such as Personal becomes part of your social life. There may be other places to discuss non-educational issues, but the closing of Community has just destroyed many relationships. It needs restoring in some way.

If trolling is an issue, then admin need to be more proactive in dealing with it. Mumsnet -despite being a bigger and more open forum - seems able to do so. It wasn't unusual for trolls posting on both sites to be banned by Mumsnet whilst TES did nothing.

I wish there was a "like" button on this site, I wanted to like the posts that said they enjoyed the art thread on Tes. Thanks! I do love an art thread - there were some amazing crafty types posting. I bought a beautiful fisherman-style baby jumper from Jubilee for my niece (who I've barely seen for almost a year - so gutted about that. She'll be ancient by the time I see her again and no doubt has forgotten me)
Heartfelt sympathies to everyone in a rubbish place right now - life is HARD for a lot of people, and a seemingly small thing (well, not so small really) like removing Tes Personal, can be quite a crushing blow if you're already feeling fragile. Thanks for giving us info, Needabreak.

@ilovesooty

I've just emailed them a link to this thread requesting further information and explaining how upset people are.

Definitely worth a try. Hope they answer you.

I don’t think they can be that bothered about the upset caused though or some notice/explanation would have been given on the site before they shut it down. Especially if it was planned as it says on the page you reach when trying to access Community.

@PriscillaChinchilla

I wish there was a "like" button on this site, I wanted to like the posts that said they enjoyed the art thread on Tes. Thanks! I do love an art thread - there were some amazing crafty types posting. I bought a beautiful fisherman-style baby jumper from Jubilee for my niece (who I've barely seen for almost a year - so gutted about that. She'll be ancient by the time I see her again and no doubt has forgotten me) Heartfelt sympathies to everyone in a rubbish place right now - life is HARD for a lot of people, and a seemingly small thing (well, not so small really) like removing Tes Personal, can be quite a crushing blow if you're already feeling fragile. Thanks for giving us info, Needabreak.

I agree about life being harder for many right now. There were a couple of regular posters who made it clear that they are feeling emotionally fragile at the moment and that TES personal was a great source of comfort & connection for them during these troubled times.

Hi Tessers! So glad to have found this ... have been checking TES community several times a day since Christmas Eve. I'm a regular poster (and lurker, even more so) - feel lost without the site. Can't believe it might not return. Not using the same name here. Enjoy the rest of the festive time and happy new year to you all ... fingers crossed we will be back in our comfort zone on TES before long.

Hi, I used to be a big lurker on tes before the big change, which coincided with having kids then I sidled over here. The first ever Post I made on tes or indeed the Internet was when my dog died and all the tessers were lovely about it. It's just not nearly as busy as it used to be.

Hey!

I've come along to find out what's happening re TES Community.

I reckon it's no longer a viable concern. That's why I am giving up on it after thirteen years. I did stop posting for about six weeks and was due to return to TES Personal on 31st December but, came back a little sooner with the idea I would eventually stop posting altogether.

I suppose it's a bit like being a mum really. New mums come along and then more new mums and pretty soon, you're just an old has-been mum.

Now, I am a sixty year old male with no wife or kids and absolutely no interest in furthering our miserable species but, for present purposes, I identify as a mum.

So hello, my name is Jude Fawley and I am a mum.
(cake recipes and knitting patterns to follow).

Hello there to all other TES people.

Haven't I been telling you all for years: TES Community is on its knees? Even its spellchecker is American English. If that ever happened here you'd all be moms and dealing with diapers.

Happy New Year to everyone be they either a mum or a former poster on TES Community.

Right! Where are my imaginary kids. I have eight you know. I've been prolific.

@Foxyloxy1plus1 of course it was Gardening Leaves. I blame my stressed teacher-brain for not being about to remember.

Someone else asked about FB forums. I think the KS3 one came up as a suggested group so I asked to join. Then when GCSEs were reformed, a lot of us moved to Eduqas so we joined their group. It's pretty active and the files have some amazing resources. I much prefer using those to the TES ones where you have to pay for many only to realise that you need to spend ages amending them or (worse) correcting errors.

Hello fellowTessers, I'm wondering what's going on too.

@MumJudeFawley

Hey!

I've come along to find out what's happening re TES Community.

I reckon it's no longer a viable concern. That's why I am giving up on it after thirteen years. I did stop posting for about six weeks and was due to return to TES Personal on 31st December but, came back a little sooner with the idea I would eventually stop posting altogether.

I suppose it's a bit like being a mum really. New mums come along and then more new mums and pretty soon, you're just an old has-been mum.

Now, I am a sixty year old male with no wife or kids and absolutely no interest in furthering our miserable species but, for present purposes, I identify as a mum.

So hello, my name is Jude Fawley and I am a mum.
(cake recipes and knitting patterns to follow).

Hello there to all other TES people.

Haven't I been telling you all for years: TES Community is on its knees? Even its spellchecker is American English. If that ever happened here you'd all be moms and dealing with diapers.

Happy New Year to everyone be they either a mum or a former poster on TES Community.

Right! Where are my imaginary kids. I have eight you know. I've been prolific.

Don’t leave us Jude. Especially now you’ve got 8 virtual kids, you’ll definitely need Dunty’s problem page expertise .

@Scumble

Oh coffeekid! I remember you! I'll out myself (don't think it really matters as it's been so long since I posted, and I namechange here monthly) as tangerinecat. Hello to all you other people too.

Really interested in a new online space. I used to use TES a lot, then The Change happened and Opinion went. I liked Opinion, even though I didn't know what people were on about sometimes (especially Jude in one of his verbose moods). Plus - and I'm aware this is very shallow - I didn't like my post count / likes, whatever, being zero when I'd felt such a big part of the community.

One of the things I really liked about TES was the avatars - much easier to know who was writing than remembering usernames.

Yes. Glancing at poster’s Avatars does make life much easier. All our TES ones will be stuck in their Christmas versions maybe forever now. If they still exist of course.

I miss the old tes board and was one if those who used it less after it was changed. Much less easy to navigate. It was ine reason I looked for a different forum and found mnet.

What I find interesting is the removal if the Community link at the top of the page. Would they have pulled that if it was just down for maintenance? Seems like they want people to forget about it.

I remember many of you from before The Change, including you @Scumble tangerinecat. I was Mermaid, although mostly lurked.

As @Bebinn said "Yes. Glancing at poster’s Avatars does make life much easier. All our TES ones will be stuck in their Christmas versions maybe forever now. If they still exist of course."

I was thinking that too. We are not lost in the virtual world wearing our Xmas clothes!

I keep wanting to like posts or quote bits of posts but it does seem possible or maybe I have not figured out how to do it.

I see CK and Jude have found the thread. Do we know who is who yet?

I'm Catmother,obviously. I got my name here a few years back when some posters had left/been banned and a thread was started on MN. I had not been back since.

I meant now lost,not not lost! Is there not an edit facility on here?

It’s lovely to hear from some familiar names. It’s like bumping into long lost friends you’ve lost touch with.
@Neededabreak it’s good to hear you’re thinking of setting up an alternative. I’ve used a variety of the threads over the course of time. I loved the EYFS forum years ago. Workplace dilemmas was a real source of help and advice through difficult times.I now regularly use personal and retirement. I love the variety in personal and if you could allow something like that it would be greatly appreciated.

@Littlejackhorner1

It’s lovely to hear from some familiar names. It’s like bumping into long lost friends you’ve lost touch with. *@Neededabreak* it’s good to hear you’re thinking of setting up an alternative. I’ve used a variety of the threads over the course of time. I loved the EYFS forum years ago. Workplace dilemmas was a real source of help and advice through difficult times.I now regularly use personal and retirement. I love the variety in personal and if you could allow something like that it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks LittleJack, thats really useful, EYFS came to mind last night so I added it to the list as I had forgotten but thanks for the heads up.

I was just PMing someone about Personal because from what I can recall it was invaluable but the key concerns usually came about when discussing extreme views, politics, and sometimes religion. These themes seemed to often cause offence so I am trying to figure out a way to ensure it doesn't reoccur within a new network that is a closed member only group, stays within legislation, allows discussion but not offence... it is a fine balancing act, I will look into a report button that immediately removes posts pending MOD review and a way to discourage those behaviours but keep things user friendly, useful and professional.

Don’t leave Jude, I have always loved your rants and ramblings. I think you suit being a mum - it will be the making of you!

No reply from TES yet.

Jude it's lovely to see you again. Don't go!

I participated in a few Tes threads regularly- My Horrible Day being the main one but I lurked and occasionally posted on lots of other threads including Well, well, well and How are you doing? I hope Lara, Pepper, Peakster, Ian, Dunty, Jesmond, Sparklepig etc find their way here. I used another name on TEs so won’t be recognised here even though this name is slightly related to my TEs name.

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