The Forty First Republic - Gav encourages parents to report schools to OFSTED

[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

Iggi whilst we are doing less as part timers it's far off being proportionally eg 0.4 of what our colleagues are doing and never are really.

I for example am responsible for recording and resourcing all remote learning for one year group the same as my full time colleagues. That takes time and we obviously have less ppa time so it becomes extra directed time by default. Just one example. I also note that suddenly it seems expected that I'll attend every meeting and briefing because it doesn't matter if I wouldn't be in school as per my timetable because it's online. Lots otthings add up eg full time colleagues email stuff expecting a quick response forgetting you are not paid for that day etc. Trickier to draw boundaries when online and work is literally in your home.

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation

Had another 2 friends working for NHS vaccinated yesterday. Ones a SALT doing everything online and the other a chiropodist. Feels like they are at less risk than we have been for the whole of last term.

Gingerbread in a mug, please share!

Yeah, I know very few over 80s have been done locally, but a Salt friend working from home has, and an accountant at a pharmacy

Honey if I've understood you correctly, that should work fine?? Have you used your school email to set up the classrooms?

Yes and they all access the classrooms through their school email and password log ins eg they are their google id as well. I don't know if it's because kids are on their phones and being prompted to download the app when they click on their invite

Sorry misunderstood. Yes. I'm in my school google account when I create the chat room and when I type their google classroom name into the add box it synchs and knows all of their email addresses but when they try to join it doesn't recognise them. It may be the phone thing and that the app doesn't recognise our school domain in their email addresses as google accounts? Sorry I'm tech dumb

Thanks Honey
I remember posting last night about looking for a keyboard - I ordered one form Argos just after midnight and it was delivered at 9 this morning

Honey

When you say setting up a room, which aspect of G-Suite is it? Hangouts?

We just use the comments section on the assignment itself - the kids post and respond to each other and I respond if needed. They also use the PM function on that assignment if they need more specific help from me.

I really think we'll be 'back' in some form after Feb half term despite all the panic about Easter. With case numbers and hospital admissions already levelling off I think by half term they'll at least look at getting certain year groups back.

@Iamnotthe1

Honey

When you say setting up a room, which aspect of G-Suite is it? Hangouts?

We just use the comments section on the assignment itself - the kids post and respond to each other and I respond if needed. They also use the PM function on that assignment if they need more specific help from me.

Hangouts. I haven't seen the pm option. Once they've handed something in we can comment on it. Hmm.

@Cantaloupeisland

I really think we'll be 'back' in some form after Feb half term despite all the panic about Easter. With case numbers and hospital admissions already levelling off I think by half term they'll at least look at getting certain year groups back.

I think this too..

Me too.

My kids were all sad at registration. I didn't mention work, we talked about films and tv programmes we've watched, and the did a kids hub drawing together of hot chocolate. One of those days.

I've had more pictures of hot chocolate than I have had of any work!! Bless.

But don't you think that neither Boris nor Gav being prepared to even vaguely commit to opening schools after half term is a clear sign (or as clear as we can hope for from them) that they know it'll be Easter if we're lucky?

I reckon Boris and Gavin won't commit until the last possible minute because of the resignation deadline. If they said now, we'd be back after half term, I reckon you'd get a not insignificant number of teachers (especially the older/more vulnerable) quitting at Easter. Whereas if you only give people a few days to think about it, they are probably less likely to quit?

I do think we will have more kids in school after half term- which is fine if it's done sensibly e.g. a rota system- but they seem very all or nothing re schools.

Case numbers are levelling off, but I think we will continue to see really high hospital admissions for weeks.

@TheHoneyBadger

You should be able to access what the kids are doing before they have handed it in. When you open up what that kid has done (or not done), there should be a panel on the right that says "Private comments". The kids can use that to message you (and vis versa) from the moment the assignment goes live.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55640335

Even a BBC correspondent wonders how the Muppet has survived this long.

@SansaSnark I don't think Gav knows right from left let alone our resignation dates tbh😂

@SantaAssociationRepresentitve

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55640335

Even a BBC correspondent wonders how the Muppet has survived this long.

That article!

What’s needed is a ‘Sage-style group of experts’?!

Like teachers and Head teachers, maybe?!

Yes a key factor will be a fall in hospital admissions particularly ICU. Once pressure starts to fall there schools will be reopening in some format.

Some of my students have been distraught this morning now the Muppet is taking about external mini assessments - is that not an exam? They have gone from in school to lockdowns with bubbles bursting, with exams to no exams and now to mini assessments. Child cruelty - safeguarding

[quote Monkeytennis97]@SansaSnark I don't think Gav knows right from left let alone our resignation dates tbh😂[/quote]
Fair point!

[quote Iamnotthe1]@TheHoneyBadger

You should be able to access what the kids are doing before they have handed it in. When you open up what that kid has done (or not done), there should be a panel on the right that says "Private comments". The kids can use that to message you (and vis versa) from the moment the assignment goes live.[/quote]
Thanks - I don't think they or I get notified if a comment goes in there though. I was hoping for something that would definitely flag my attention with an audible notification or some such.

I've put for now that they can put comments under the assignment and I will remember to regularly check that page throughout the day. Ours are allegedly following the timetable but not really except where they are attending genuinely 'live' lessons (those that do attend) because... reality!

I don't think most of our teenagers are sat for 6 hours at a screen or still following their normal sleeping and wake up routine. I could be biased by my own shit parenting there! But I'm definitely not the only shit parent and far from the shittiest so it's good to put my litmus test around my own shitness maybe

I agree that they wouldn't have a clue about our resignation dates or any clue that the proles might actually quit their jobs as they assume we're all debt slaves (charging 9k a year for uni helped that) and forget some of us are older. I think it's more likely they're wary of saying anything committed anymore because they've done so many bloody u turns.

Loads of schools shut today here because of the snow.
There was a peace on Jeremy Vine this morning about Gav. Literally nobody rates him. They said he was out of his depth and in the wrong job.

Dh keeps shouting through to me if there's anything school related on any of those chat type programmes. I tell him to bugger off.

Saw this comment on another site and thought you'd all appreciate the tone:

Gavin Williamson would be out of his depth in a petri dish.

I can afford to resign without a job to go straight into and/or take a pay cut and I am considering it.

BUT - what if this is all over by summer term/September and I'm doing a job I hate more?