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The staffroom

Whether you're a permanent teacher, supply teacher or student teacher, you'll find others in the same situation on our Staffroom forum.

Original poster

The Forty Fourth Republic - primaries sort of in, secondaries out, Gormless Gav says two weeks notice

999 replies

Staffdontblowitnow · 26/01/2021 16:19

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
19
EnemyOfEducationNo1 · 27/01/2021 17:14

Who the fuck is talking shite on R4 right now?

Timeturnerplease · 27/01/2021 17:15

Thanks, @HercwasanEnemyofEducation. We don’t have such luxuries as visualisers, so I will have to petition DP for funds from the savings to buy this tablet thing. I shall sell it to him as reducing my workload and therefore the amount of time at the weekend he has to spend on toddler entertainment detail 😂

Will look up that brand if it works on Mac. Thanks.

MrsHerculePoirot · 27/01/2021 17:16

Opticians booked for 5pm tomorrow.... hope not a million £££ again as my sight is pretty bad and I paid so much in August 😱

I love LOVE whiteboard.fi. I’ve bought the basic package so I can then transfer PDF’s to them - hadn’t even though of doing that for exam paper questions 🤦‍♀️ Will deffo do it!

Monkeytennis97 · 27/01/2021 17:21

DH's response to JVT "What lives?"

lonelyplanet · 27/01/2021 17:27

Just listening to the press conference. How on earth do children not transmit to teachers but do take it to their families. What Bullshit. Do they not realise how close and how long we are up close to kids? They haven't got a clue.

Medra · 27/01/2021 17:31

That bloke on radio 4 have me the rage.

Piggywaspushed · 27/01/2021 17:31

Whether kids//teachers get ill or not is actually, as ever, journos missing the point... they need to ask about how disrupted they think schooling will continue to be with the hokey cokey . And what eh plans to do about that.

The whataboutery of teachers catching covid elsewhere I guess JVT would apply to any other job if asked...

Funny how the PHS report DEFINITELY said teachers had an elevated infection rate.

Medra · 27/01/2021 17:32

Gave even

RandomGrammarPun · 27/01/2021 17:35

Get so angry about that supposition.

I haven't been ANYWHERE apart from school and chemist x 2 and PO x 2 since LAST MARCH. Not a single shop or pub or other person's house. At all.

EnemyOfEducationNo1 · 27/01/2021 17:36

@Medra

That bloke on radio 4 have me the rage.
Yes but who was it? Didn't catch his name
lonelyplanet · 27/01/2021 17:40

I constantly feel rage at the moment. Maybe it's just my age! Grin

Cracklefraggle · 27/01/2021 17:46

@Timeturnerplease

Thanks, *@HercwasanEnemyofEducation*. We don’t have such luxuries as visualisers, so I will have to petition DP for funds from the savings to buy this tablet thing. I shall sell it to him as reducing my workload and therefore the amount of time at the weekend he has to spend on toddler entertainment detail 😂

Will look up that brand if it works on Mac. Thanks.

Wacom do work on Mac. Wacom one are reasonable (can get from Argos) or there are usually 2nd hand ones on ebay.
MrsHerculePoirot · 27/01/2021 17:51

@lonelyplanet

I constantly feel rage at the moment. Maybe it's just my age! Grin
And me....
RandomGrammarPun · 27/01/2021 18:01

Oh, me too.

Stepawayfromtheminirolls · 27/01/2021 18:06

If they demanded your first born's blood would the school have to implement it?
(Actually don't suggest that to UFT!)
😂 Not with this HT. The previous one probably would have pitched it to staff and then feigned shock at the outcry! (glad she's gone)

SansaSnark · 27/01/2021 18:09

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55828952

BBC seems to think all school years back at once? Which seems... unrealistic?

We have three weeks between 8th and Easter hols starting. If we have every kid back in at once, those will be three weeks of utter chaos, surely?

We have had 3 staff test positive this term (although one thinks she caught it from her primary aged kids), and had to send a bubble home as a student tested positive. That's more cases than we had in the entirety of last term.

Is there any point in getting kids back in to end up sending large numbers of them home? And the ones sent home could be the ones who really need to be in school...

Monkeytennis97 · 27/01/2021 18:13

@SansaSnark 'hopeful that all schools can go back' .... contingency framework?

Shocked that they are thinking of all back in at once. Mad.

SansaSnark · 27/01/2021 18:14

@Piggywaspushed

Whether kids//teachers get ill or not is actually, as ever, journos missing the point... they need to ask about how disrupted they think schooling will continue to be with the hokey cokey . And what eh plans to do about that.

The whataboutery of teachers catching covid elsewhere I guess JVT would apply to any other job if asked...

Funny how the PHS report DEFINITELY said teachers had an elevated infection rate.

Even if we do catch it elsewhere, it's not like we can avoid going out entirely! I go to the shops, and to the yard to look after my horse, and that's it- but I can't just stop doing those things.

So if I did pick up the virus at the yard or at the supermarket, I
could a) infect my colleagues or students and b) end up off work, which requires organising cover/supply- which was basically impossible last half term!

So we end up with partial closures or large groups of students off school again...

SansaSnark · 27/01/2021 18:17

[quote Monkeytennis97]@SansaSnark 'hopeful that all schools can go back' .... contingency framework?

Shocked that they are thinking of all back in at once. Mad.[/quote]
Hopeful is very weak. I'm hopeful he will realise the madness of this plan.

Having all students in at once feels like a recipe for failure.

Appuskidu · 27/01/2021 18:20

What was said about vaccinating teachers on the Boris show? Have seen another poster on another thread moaning that teachers would be done first but they didn’t say that on the radio?

HercwasanEnemyofEducation · 27/01/2021 18:20

I do think a staggered return will be best. Cue cries from parents that it's not fair, but there aren't may other options.

KS1 makes sense to go back first, they are the most difficult age to educate remotely as they requite so much parental input.

Y11&13 like you all say are 'done'. Some time back for whatever assessment arrangements are put in place. Y10&12 (particularly 12) need to be back ASAP!

Y8 are not engaging well online where I am. Not sure if anyone else is seeing this pattern?

Frlrlrubert · 27/01/2021 18:22

@Stepawayfromtheminirolls

If they demanded your first born's blood would the school have to implement it? (Actually don't suggest that to UFT!) 😂 Not with this HT. The previous one probably would have pitched it to staff and then feigned shock at the outcry! (glad she's gone)
Our SLT would.

Got told off today for having tasks that end on a Sunday - parents have complained that it stresses the kids out. They are the weekly 'lesson' tasks (we're 50% live, so the other 'half' of lessons), with no submission required.

I thought I was being nice letting them spread the load into the weekend, if they wanted to, they could still do it in the week! Whatever, they all finish on a Friday instead now.

I hope no one complains they thought they had til Sunday (to finish a task they don't have to hand in, so a totally arbitrary deadline), and now they are stressed because they have to finish by Friday!

And we make a big thing of teaching kids 'resilience'. I just give up now. I'm not really sure what possesses a parent to actually ring school and complain about something like that, when they could just point out to their child that the alternative to being stressed by it on a Sunday is to do it in the week like you're supposed to anyway.

Monkeytennis97 · 27/01/2021 18:25

@SansaSnark I wasn't really emphasizing the hopeful but more the 'all schools' thinking that they would go to contingency framework again.

Would be crazy to chuck us all back in at once.

Monkeytennis97 · 27/01/2021 18:26

'Safe to begin' also makes me think it'll be contingency framework too.

SansaSnark · 27/01/2021 18:29

[quote Monkeytennis97]@SansaSnark I wasn't really emphasizing the hopeful but more the 'all schools' thinking that they would go to contingency framework again.

Would be crazy to chuck us all back in at once.[/quote]
It would be absolutely mad to chuck us all back in at once. I wonder how many schools would last the week fully open?

FWIW, I think I agree with others- I'd get Y10 and 12 back in first. Y12 especially were abandoned last year and seemed to struggle more than others in September- and Y10 have missed out on a lot.

And getting KS1 back in makes sense, but is tough on infant schools.

For me, Y8 are doing ok-ish, but Y9 are a real concern.