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

@rainingcats - Welcome!

@RigaBalsam Now that is a very good point!

I'm 49 (50 in 6 weeks) and am on brown and blue puffers x3 and montelukast but it's actually my autoimmune bollox i'm worried about - if I get something "new" it can flare up my hashimotos something awful. I do get the flu jab.

I've had about 3 days off over a decade, but yes you're right - i'll be dead of my underlying condition!

I think I might make a will (I got a kit in the last lockdown - needs doing anyway) and write an angry piece to be read to the media in the event of. Will teachers be getting the massive 6k compensation nhs workers do? Probably not. We're just babysitting after all.

SmileEachDay - have pm'd you - thanks.

Welcome newcomers!

Gluing in worksheets - omg! I have some that can't fold a piece of paper in half. Some can't glue straight. But the very worst are those who sodding origami them! LUMPS of folded worksheet do my head in!

Oh Riven that’s a blast from the past Monkey.

the glueing in worksheets. I just do it myself now it’s an impossible task.

Infection figures now - which will have more results added over next few days - will reflect infections from last week of term but also effects of tier changes on ?19th and then 23rd.

There are too many variables at the moment (and esp when effect of Christmas mixing comes online) to draw conclusions really. Wish the government wasn't having to make decisions now.

Apparently tier changes to be announced tomorrow.

I sellotape now... awesome big heavy whopper of a sellotape holder.

I got folders for my bottom set year 10 and just got them to put everything in there. I hole punched. Not got them in Jan! Brand new timetable :P

I've got folders for A4 arithmetic and grammar. I hole punch them in advance. I watch some of them POKE THE HOLES IN ON THE WRONG SIDE even though there are holes there already.

Worse still are those who pretend to be sticking them in but don't so then they all fall out when you mark.

I get irrationally angry when they write on the wrong side of A4 paper. Holes go on the left, idiot!!!!!

You have the BBC news talking about how the NHS is close to becoming overwhelmed. Then you have the next headline saying that children will administer their own tests with remote support from the army. What is going on?!

Worse still are those who pretend to be sticking them in but don't so then they all fall out when you mark.

Oh good grief yes. I’ve got a few of those. Plus the ones that skip 25 blank pages before sticking in their work, seemingly with an industrial strength glue.

Welcome to cantkeepawayforever and rainingcats. I don't post often but this thread helps to keep me sane.

I've not done a lot of planning since Christmas - feel as if my head is spinning with all of the changes, leaks and hints in the media. I did, however, rearrange the seating plan for my Y8s (rage-induced) last week. Maybe won't have the opportunity to put it into action for a while! I'm planning on sending requests to our photocopying assistant in time for next Monday and post booklets out on Tuesday. We're back in on Wednesday.

I remember Riven, she wrote so eloquently about her dd.

DEAR GOD the page skippers! It utterly boils my piss when I find that. I become quite irrational. I have been known to rip the page out, guillotine (the page - not the child) and stick it in properly.

Right- I am.clearly an idiot and haven't worked out how to respond to a name in a post. Please tell me. Imagine i'm your nan and explain it simpy.

Does everyone else have the experience that even if you trim a worksheet so that it fits into the exercise book, the children will still always trim it a bit more?

Worse still are those who pretend to be sticking them in but don't so then they all fall out when you mark

I do random book shakes. My Y10s will occasionally say “Umm miss is it ok if the booklet you gave us falls out when you do the thing”. They grass each other up too “Miss EachDay! Shake Leo’s book!!”

mobile.twitter.com/independentsage?lang=en

• iSAGE making emergency statement tomorrow. BBC also carrying lots of quotes from scientists about how crucial things are at this point. Yet media (Independent/Sun) only seem to know about possible increase in tier4 areas tomorrow plus a tier 5 which won't be directly called that. Plus maybe another week's delay in term starting for some.

@phlebasconsidered

DEAR GOD the page skippers! It utterly boils my piss when I find that. I become quite irrational. I have been known to rip the page out, guillotine (the page - not the child) and stick it in properly.

Right- I am.clearly an idiot and haven't worked out how to respond to a name in a post. Please tell me. Imagine i'm your nan and explain it simpy.

I label the pages 'Page missed' when marking, with a tiny blob of highlighter at the top of the page.

Then when they say 'I've finished my book', I make them go back and fill in all the missed pages from the beginning - and woe betide them if they skip any which have been highlighted.....

@DreamingofBrie

Does everyone else have the experience that even if you trim a worksheet so that it fits into the exercise book, the children will still always trim it a bit more?

No, but I do have the experience that even if you trim it so it will fit onto the page, they will ALWAYS stick it EITHER so that at least one side is sticking out OR it's stuck across the spine of the book so the book doesn't close properly.

Or both.....

Phleb. (That was just a change text to bold guess you know how to do that?)

@phlebasconsidered is achieved by typing the ampersand, which should bring up a list of recent posters, followed by everyone else on the thread. You can type (in this case) @p so you get the choice of you, piggy, etc. Click on the name in the list you need.

I remember when I discovered this. Game changer!

But then so went back and changed something...
Phleb

@DreamingofBrie

Does everyone else have the experience that even if you trim a worksheet so that it fits into the exercise book, the children will still always trim it a bit more?

Oh yes! This really annoys me - you don’t need to trim it - look around at least five have scissors in hand trimming it more!!!

One positive of COVID has been the removal of any shared resources like glue sticks from classrooms (hardly any of my students bring a pen never mind a glue stick with them) and the discovery of printing on sticker paper - just peel and stick in!

Oh

And sometimes MN randomly changes yr bold/italic/crossthrough, which is really annoying especially in this case!

Let's try again:

@phlebasconsidered

@DreamingofBrie

Does everyone else have the experience that even if you trim a worksheet so that it fits into the exercise book, the children will still always trim it a bit more?

Yes. It boils my piss.