The Thirty-Sixth Republic - New Year approaching, no clear idea of what is happening next week and has Gav been sacked yet?

[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

I feel like the mixing out of school is a bit of a straw man (is that the right phrase?). Yes, they will definitely mix, but it will be in hugely smaller groups and it’s likely to be the same group, who’ve probably seen each other all through the holidays anyway.

Love the song- very talented

I’m dreadful for swearing at work - it’s even worse in college as there’s not the same pressure to watch your language around students. Obviously I don’t crash into a room effing and jeffing but nobody would blink at me saying “you’re bullshitting me” or similar to a student. It’s a bad habit to be in, I know.

'We are going to protect education as much as we can'
This morning, asked about the return of school, Mr Hancock told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The education secretary will be setting out his proposals later today. Clearly we want to protect education as much as possible.
“But the new variant does make it much easier for this disease to transmit. So we are going to protect education as much as we can.”

@KatherineOfGaunt that has made my day!!!! I want to share it far and wide... there is surely someone on here who can make a video to go along with it...!

@DollyMixtureLulus

I feel like the mixing out of school is a bit of a straw man (is that the right phrase?). Yes, they will definitely mix, but it will be in hugely smaller groups and it’s likely to be the same group, who’ve probably seen each other all through the holidays anyway.

I agree.

If it’s a lockdown-as in April time with schools and shops shut, messages everywhere saying STAY AT HOME and leave the house for one walk only, the mixing that teenagers will do will be massively reduced from what they’d be doing in schools?!

I'm slightly giddy as I've just wacked out some more KOs and have discovered I can have the vaccine while BF

My KOs are getting noticeably briefer.

@RigaBalsam

'We are going to protect education as much as we can' This morning, asked about the return of school, Mr Hancock told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The education secretary will be setting out his proposals later today. Clearly we want to protect education as much as possible. “But the new variant does make it much easier for this disease to transmit. So we are going to protect education as much as we can.”

Brilliant, KoG!!

Gleaming - glad you're feeling a bit better today .

Can't - totally with you on that cut off point. It's absolutely boiling my piss to hear people saying that they're sending in their (completely neurotypical and sensible) year 9/10 children "because KW." So, so fucking selfish. I used to spend entire weekends on my own in year 10 equivalent because I had a pt job and my parents wanted to go away for the weekend. I was fine.

Oh yes, the "mixing" thing...I've posted on the main boards re this: the only kids breaking the law and mixing will be the ones who are doing it anyway during schools opening and high tiers not allowing it.

So, no, it won't be worse, it'll be significantly better and safer for the vast majority AND for protecting the NHS. Idiots.

Sitting here organising PowerPoints and all I can hear is my NDN (both in their 60s- one super morbidly obese) squealing and playing with their grandchildren who do not live with them. Tier 4.

This is why we are stuffed.

Am feeling a bit daft - please can someone explain what a knowledge organiser is? Thanks !

I was just about to play Katherine’s video when I saw the title and I have my 5 year old right next to me!
Looking forward to listening to it later!

@OnehorseopenBobsleigh

Am feeling a bit daft - please can someone explain what a knowledge organiser is? Thanks !

I am so glad my school doesn’t make us do KOs but I had to do them in my old school.

They are summary pages for topics with key terms, information etc and where it links into learning, so that pupils can have them.
Basically, writing notes for the pupils instead of the pupils writing their own notes. Only for pupils to put them in a folder, never to be seen again

Sorry if I sound flippant but I just don’t agree with the extra work for teachers that doesn’t necessarily benefit the pupil but makes someone in SLT happy.

All of our planning is based around KOs made by SLT for each subject. We make them for the children to use too - lots of work to make them look pretty and so on, but realistically they are not much use below year 4 I'd say. Most children can't read it all/don't want to read it all - the info is just too much, yet if you put the REAL key information in there, it would be about 3 things, and that wouldn't be seen as good enough.

I'm going to reduce the content of ours this year.

KoG that song is EXCELLENT! It needs sharing far and wide!!

I agree re KW piss takers. However it is really hard to WFH with an under 5. My DH isn't an essential worker, his firm won't furlough him, they expect the same output and we can't afford for him to be unpaid. But he cannot work at his normal level with a 3yo at home (or anywhere near his normal output). He also answers incoming calls so its not like he can shift his hours around. I don't know what the answer is but we're stuffed if nursery isn't open :(

It's looking increasingly like the schools decision is tier based, presumably to appease some Tories. Not sure how that works at all with exams.

Sorry for the sun.

Tier based

Exams have to go now surely. (and I really don't want that to happen!)

They're instruments of torture.

Of absolutely no use whatsoever for pupils in an sen school. They're mainly of use in secondary but again, not all subjects!

I've had to see them as a way to collate key images for the staff to use in powerpoints etc and for their own knowledge in order not to burst a blood vessel over them.

(Sorry, KOs!)

Oooh interesting re primary tier 4. Good.

Key exam years return 11th Jan ‘as planned’

That wasn’t the plan was it? They were supposed to be in next week. Or am I going mad?

Thanks everyone- so they're like summaries of the lessons?
Heaven forbid that the pupils would make their own links!

I literally can’t remember what was definitely planned and what was just a leak about plans any more.

Oh shit. we're shut then.

Just as well I've started recording stuff.

How are we going to maintain the integrity of bubbles if it's KWs/Vs + the need to do lesson vids etc. Do you think they'll sit in their classes?

And OMG, my child at home with her dad....