The Fortieth Republic - Schools are safe but they are vectors so go online

[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

@Piggywaspushed

Gav mentioned knowledeg curriculum in parliament. He won't know what it is but it is what he wants us all to do, all of us, in every subject. Because Gove and Gibb told him. Not sure who told them!

He was doing so well at uniting edutwitter until then.

I have only started tweeting since this schools chaos started - as all the data and evidence and research seems to be linked on there, so it makes it easier to find.
I am a very evidence-based decision maker!

Talking about feeling like a dinosaur though - I am the second oldest member of my department.... And i do not have a TLR or anything.

Whole class feedback does feel like the obvious way to go with online learning. Not sure how well it would go down with parents who think everything should be marked ‘properly’ though.

I don’t really think the pontification from Williamson are helpful to anyone- I’m sure he hasn’t a clue about what he is saying. Firstly, kids cannot be glued to digital platforms all day. It will soon emerge this is detrimental to their health. You would think that would be obvious given research into kids gaming for lengthy stretches. They need to move away from the screen and do stuff. Positive feedback for at effects is crucial if they are to stay engaged. You cannot and should not expect to achieve the same standards you achieve in class. Anyone thinking you can lives in cloud cuckoo land!! Try to give kids opportunities to be creative, present things in different ways. Last time I managed to get some making animations, films, posters. I must admit that the Greeks topic yielded fantastic practical stuff and all those myths led to great re-enactments, shields, helmets and catapults. Actually, in this sense they gained so much more. I was blessed by the fact 90% of parents wholeheartedly supported this. Some even starred in their film shows. The kids wrote the scripts!! We were also blessed by fine weather and kids went out. Boy they did loads for their “Battle of Marathon” PE challenge. This time conditions are not so great but if we get snow don’t miss that opportunity to creativity. Bollocks to all the crap the DfE is churning out. Trust me the parents will not be happy with kids on live lessons all day with Primary - utterly stupid. One or two at most. I’m off sick at the moment but have this to go back into. I know exactly how I intend to play this one out. Trust your instincts. Spend your energy devising creative approaches rather than lengthy marking, feedback and talking to screens. Good luck all.

@EnemyOfEducationNo1 me either! I was a deputy HOD in secondary, took time out for kids, returned to primary, took a pay cut, now stuck at M6 perpetually as there is no money. Was categorically told i'd have to move to get UPS.

I'm an old, poor dinosaur. But one who gets better results than the others.

Fucking hell. HT wants to discuss monitoring of remote learning with me. For which I have to go to school. Fuck sake.

@MrsHamlet

Fucking hell. HT wants to discuss monitoring of remote learning with me. For which I have to go to school. Fuck sake.

Fuck them. Really just fuck them and the DfE and fucking Ofsted. Get them all actually in schools teaching/babysitting small groups - then they might have actually helped one iota in this crisis.

I am so pissed off.
I can tell you know who isn't doing it as we've been directed.
I can tell you who won't mark a single thing.
I can tell you who will freak out if you say you're "dropping in"
And I don't need to travel an hour to go and have that conversation.

Can you tell them that?

I've had to break the rules.
My husband could not totally keep the 4yo away as he has to try to do some work, plus help the other 2 with their school work, so he just kept interrupting my live lessons.
So I've been "naughty" and made a childcare bubble with another mum - mine go to hers for a day, then all to mine for a day (and no live teaching other than to register), then swap around.
I'm sure my neighbours will dob me in though. But none of us see anyone else or break the rules in any other way - so it's this or I take unpaid leave. Which would be fine by me but would leave my pupils in the lurch

I thought childcare bubbles were still allowed!

And I don't need to travel an hour to go and have that conversation.

Surely that could be a teams meeting?

made a childcare bubble with another mum

I think we might do the same. See how we go next week.

@noblegiraffe

And I don't need to travel an hour to go and have that conversation.

Surely that could be a teams meeting?

It absolutely could. But the head really wants us in school and this is his way of getting me in. I get it. I have a TLR and more non contact time than I should have so I should be doing more. That's fine. But why do I need to go in to do this? I'm way more productive at home.

I think making a childcare bubble with another parent is totally understandable.

Sat waiting for Y9 to complete their independent task. I get so, so bored waiting in silence!

(Trying desperately to find the fuses I've had since I was a student and know I've seen quite recently..... until I find them, no possibility of my main heater working.
So cold but none of the promised snow. Not fair!)

Oh the kids will get more infected outside of the controlled school environment

@PumpkinPie2016

I think making a childcare bubble with another parent is totally understandable.

Sat waiting for Y9 to complete their independent task. I get so, so bored waiting in silence!

I mute myself and play the radio while they do independent tasks (and try to prep next week) Hate the silence!

Thanks to everyone who said childcare bubbles were allowed - I feel better now!

@noblegiraffe

Oh the kids will get more infected outside of the controlled school environment

I think our reality and others' reality are totally unconnected sometimes.

Thanks noble, I knew you would find this and post it today!

Rate for age 35-49 also seems to be coming down.

Rate for age 35-49 also seems to be coming down.

Parents - not getting infected because their kids aren't in school. Strange hey....

I thought that too.

Here's all of them. I also thought that about the parent age group. No sign of massive increases due to Christmas mixing which is good but still some time to wait to be sure.

School closures have had a huge impact. Will be interesting to see what happens now they're partially closed.