The Forty Second Republic - Lockdown 3 online learning struggles continue

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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

No mention of actual concrete plans for what to move when, no.

If they wanted to extend the end of this academic year and shorten the school holiday they'd have to announce longer Feb half term or Easter while cases are still high. And futher annoy parents who do actually want us to provide remote learning.

They'd be steaming if it worked like last year when they wanted us to work a week into the school holiday and then have 2 weeks holiday in the next Autumn term. That was all attempted to be pushed through last minute when they announced we were going back, all years on a rota, for July and they wanted us in for the full month.

Nicely sidestepping any complications that would cause with people's contracts. Although last time, in our authority it was the contracts for people on term-time pay that scuppered them as they are def only contracted to work very fixed terms and the prospect of no kitchen staff, cleaning staff or TAs was not good, nor was there magic money to find to pay them all.

I would be so annoyed if I was in Wales I started working today at 8.30 and finished up at 9.30 tonight.

How’s Wales going with its non-exam exams? Has it got anything good Ofqual could learn from?

I had something booked for the first week of the summer hols last year. As did a lot of people. I was part of a webinar thing and the minister was asked what would happen for people who had uk holidays booked for the week they suddenly wanted us to go to work for.

After being slightly sarcastic at how lovely the prospect of a holiday would be for someone (neatly ignoring that we could travel for that then) they did agree that people who had holidays booked would be allowed to take them.

No idea who would have been asked to cover in our absence (as I'm sure I wasn't the only one with a uk break booked that week) and then it was a moot point anyway.

The last I heard from my HT was that secondaries were meeting last week to discuss the fact that they might even be unable to go ahead with the planned assessments that were to be externally set and marked but administered in school due to the schools being closed currently on top of any time lost isolating. The assessments were brought forward to begin after half term I think, when they thought that they could keep schools limping along, with the aim that they could be pushed back if needed to I suppose.

So it's all up in the air. Nothing to learn I think.

@DrMadelineMaxwell

Welsh minister for education mentioned several times in her briefing about wanting to work with schools about... being flexible re how to make returning to school safer - good perhaps even considering rotas - good and looking at how to move school holidays to extend the year and create scope for catch up - very bad.

Much frothing by parents on social media about how we slackers should be forced to work through our holidays. Again. It's like March all over again, except this time it's more time face to face in school with the kw kids, more pupil engagement online and no lifting of the curriculum.

They also failed to note that last year's proposed additional week to be added on to the school year while the cases were still low would have been paid back by a 2 week half term in Oct. I doubt they are considering that this won't be additional weeks learning.

I'm sooo cross that the fact that we are still working is being overlooked. I'm concerned we will be expected to work through our half term (again). And def pissed off at the thought that they will mess with contracts etc and make us be in the classroom in the summer when we will (as parents and kids will) deserve to actually be able to start clawing back some semblance of normality when cases drop again into the summer.

After the expectations put on us this term, which IMO are probably more work for a lot of people than teaching in school, the idea we should also work in the holidays (presumably for free?) is insane.

Hopefully the unions will ensure it is a no-go, or else we can all just phone in sick on mass.

@HerdyGerdy I'm so sorry to hear about your inlaws, how are they today?

Re changing school holidays; I can't see that happening in England though I don't know how different it's been in wales.

Eg sen schools are pretty much fully open where they can be. There's no way they'd accept that.

Also the number of heads and staff generally leaving the profession is huge. We know of an awful lot of heads taking early retirement or quitting locally. The holidays will be needed.

I also can imagine some parents would refuse.

(I too favour the 4 week summer hol with longer half term hols!)

Was talking to a nurse friend who's parents are drs and one is a research dr at Oxford. And dr sibling married to a teacher in London. (So they always seem to have a good handle on the reality of the situation!)

Realistically regarding the way the vax programme works plus new variant, the coming summer will be similar to last summer restriction wise. And next autumn winter may see some restrictions at times. But summer 2022 could be "back to normal." Let's hope a fuck ton of lessons have been learned from this winter.

Sorry that's a horribly depressing post!

I personally feel like I need to be prepared though.

Having a toddler and being stuck at home all day in the bad weather is akin to what I imagine being trapped in a cage with an angry snake is like.

I’ll take my 6 weeks in the summer thanks, when I can unleash her outside without Mummmmeeee I’m cold/wet/muddy whined on repeat.

I kind of thought that was the deal with teaching - you accept the 12 hour days, weekend work and low pay in exchange for long breaks in nice(ish) weather?

Nail on head there turner.

Also, children don't always actively learn thought being pumped full on "knowledge." Amazing things can happen from other activities such as dance, music, drama, art, pe. Holiday clubs could provide more interesting types of "catch up." And less screen time. Memorable research on the impact of drama lessons on maths attainment for example.

Literally the only reason I've thought I'd prefer the 4 wk summer hol idea is that the rest of the year all the hols bar easter seem to be taken up with working solidly, as well as weekends, and recovering from coughs and colds all winter. Usually burnt out by end of November. Longer autumn and spring half terms give a bit of an ability to pace a little.

I think ALL the catch up funds should go on providing extra curriculars and holiday sport/art/drama/music/outdoor activities for children whose families can't afford them. Just how think how much more confident and resilient some children would be if they were given the opportunities afforded to many other children. We would definitely see that translate into results in the classroom.

Abso fucking lutely.

I'm going to restrict all my MNing to this thread only.
Getting annoyed by all the people saying "Aw just send them in to school" when they say their kids "won't" do any schoolwork at home.

Is it today the Viner/Harries meeting that will prove schools are safe and must open tomorrow is happening?!!

@Appuskidu 👍

@RandomGrammarPun

I think ALL the catch up funds should go on providing extra curriculars and holiday sport/art/drama/music/outdoor activities for children whose families can't afford them. Just how think how much more confident and resilient some children would be if they were given the opportunities afforded to many other children. We would definitely see that translate into results in the classroom.

That would be amazing.

Prior to teaching, I worked as a riding instructor for a while (among other jobs) and at one stage we had funding from Sport England to enable students who otherwise wouldn't get the chance to ride to do so.

We worked with local secondary schools and targeted kids, and a lot of them got a huge amount out of it!

Schemes like that are so important IMO.

Just had This Morning on in the background - got the rage with Julia Fucking Hartley-Brewer.

Reckon she must be one of our U4T sympathiser "friends" on here.

Apparently it's down to the unions that schools are closed (and she expects them to put a spanner in the works for opening them at Easter) and she peddled, once again, that there is no evidence to say that schools aren't safe or that teachers are at risk! She conceded that children can contribute to spread in the community, but nothing to suggest they're spreading it TO the wider population, as opposed to bringing it back in! [rage]

What tosh has she come out with now?

Hopefully they had someone on who knows what they are talking about to challenge her and her purpose was to be the voice of the uninformed who needed educating?

I think, if I were a primary school teacher with a class stuffed with kids, I would also be really really pissed off at the 'oh you're entitled to a school place so send them in' threads.

entitled because the government rules are stupid
And just because you can doesn't mean you should.

I actually think this title should be ‘Stress and depression rises with lockdowns’

This is something that will affect everyone-we are in pandemic, nothing is normal, it is obviously going to be different and stressful for everyone.

Many teachers are also parents! Stupid headline.

In a few years (or less) JHB will be viewed through the same lens as Katie Hopkins and these mainstream programmes will be embarrassed that they gave her a platform.