The Forty Sixth Republic - online learning has killed the 'snow day'

[Staffdontblowitnow]

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

@Mistressiggi

They had an education prof on radio Scotland just now - talking about the great catch-up and proposing we have both shorter holidays and longer school days. Hilarious.

Have these people actually met children? They get tired.

They seem to think kids are robots - feed in information, learning happens, whatever time of day or night. I'm not listening to any of it, it's all uninformed bullshit.

Fortunately this point was made. Also a primary teacher saying her class were not significantly behind - another bloke came up with that "£40,000 in lost earnings" quote.
The man I mentioned hasn't been a school teacher, no, at uni level only. Then they get on to targeting it - can you imagine the annoyance of some parents if other pupils were invited in during the summer for extra help and their dc wasn't? It's bad enough with the keyworker sessions.
Going to brave the snow and go to the supermarket. Feel the need to be productive even when it's half term, house is a tip etc etc.

We've got a little bit of snow. It looked like it was snowing properly for a bit this morning, but it only lasted a few minutes.

Dd feels sick and has a headache today. She met a friend on Saturday for an outdoor socially distanced dog walk, so I really hope she hasn't caught something from that. That's literally the only place she's been since Christmas. I've still got my cough from Christmas, which is ages ago now. I've got a covid test to do tomorrow morning for the ipsos mori random testing (is that what the ons use for their data?)

I'm actually in the smile and wave camp now, their proposals don't upset me as I know they would have to pay us and there is no way they would do that.

@Mistressiggi

I'm actually in the smile and wave camp now, their proposals don't upset me as I know they would have to pay us and there is no way they would do that.

I was thinking this, then I read that they’re just moving the weeks to next year, so could try to get around it that way. It wouldn’t help people that are leaving though!

Has it been decided how Scotland (and Wales?) are going back after the February break? I know they’ve said it’s KS1 back in Scotland-but do we know if it’s all year groups at full capacity full time?

Not that it would work with exam results but surely it would be better to move the end of the summer holidays not the start? Otherwise y12 will miss 2 weeks of the year? Not to mention people moving schools etc.
Also, what are we catching up on? All live lessons here so I've got nothing to catch up on. It'll just be two weeks of revision, can imagine the enthusiasm for that when they know they should be on holiday.
I think people forget how tiring learning actually is. It's not the same as just going to work and doing stuff

Shhh... don't tell the bashers... year 12 were doing a timed essay so I've made my dinner for tonight (with yesterday's squashed aubergines) and now I'm having a lunch break!!!!

If they added 2 weeks on to the Summer term that would be a 9 week term. 8 is the most I've ever done and it's horrendous.

If they added 2 weeks on to the Summer term that would be a 9 week term. 8 is the most I've ever done and it's horrendous

It’s not going to happen. I bet they’ve just announced this to make teachers and their unions look bad.

Noe of this is very surprising ,but do read the final paragraph!!

www.theguardian.com/education/2021/feb/08/covid-hits-exam-taking-poorer-pupils-worst-england-study-finds

Btw I told someone who wants to do a PGCE to get her post moved to staffroom because she would get more expertise and traffic so please do go and have a look for her, especially if you know about PGCEs and/or are science specialists.

Test centres are closed across the entire county where my parents are due to the snow- this is going to cause case numbers to be artificially low this week, giving more fuel to the schools open brigade!

If anyone needs to catch up, they could always go back to the lessons we've already posted and, you know, have a go at doing them.

Daily Mail reporting that the NEU are demanding a pay rise for teachers before they will be willing to go back to school.

What's that all about?

I saw that, and have NO idea. I'm a member of NEU too. The DM hates them.

@CallmeAngelina

If anyone needs to catch up, they could always go back to the lessons we've already posted and, you know, have a go at doing them.

Quite.

Like the children/parents demanding more work could actually do the work set first.

Hi everyone, thanks staff.

They're beginning to get results from the surge testing but it takes 7-10 days to sequence the genomes, so there'll be proper stats in a week or so. In time to inform the 22 Feb announcements........

@Appuskidu Has it been decided how Scotland (and Wales?) are going back after the February break? I know they’ve said it’s KS1 back in Scotland-but do we know if it’s all year groups at full capacity full time?

We're on half term this week. One more week of home learning and then P1, P2 and P3 in Scotland are set to come back on the 22nd. This is still to be confirmed and everyone is assuming it's full time.

Hope your half term is going well Dolly! I'm just trying to be productive faced with an overwhelming messy house due to everyone being in it all the fecking time but think tomorrow might be a read-a-book day.
P1-3, no distancing required between them, I suppose could use other staff to split up further but they are doing their own online stuff so wouldn't really work.. distancing for those at secondary who are coming back in but that should only be up to 8% of them.

Half loving not fighting with Teams and half really quite bored @Mistressiggi! Book day sounds lovely

We're really now struggling to staff the kw/vulnerable children, especially as our shielding staff are all in P4-7. We're going to have to make some uncomfortable phone calls to parents and tell them there are no longer spaces.

No significant impact on wellbeing. What despite all the wailing form parents about how mental health is being destroyed? Did suspect that was projection.

My flights are booked for late July and I won't be cancelling them to do 'catch up'. The kids who need to catch up are the kids who haven't done any remote learning and they can do that remotely but asynchronously over the summer if they have any desire to catch up. As someone else said upthread all of my lessons are still there on their google classroom recorded, with resources etc. Fill your boots.

Beginning to feel like end of term now. I spent half an hour doing ridiculous compulsory online H&S training. I'm not sure why I need to know about the advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of ladders but the boxes have been ticked.

We've also been sent about 50 emails of prevent training this term. I'm afraid I've ignored them. How many times can they tell us the same thing and honestly preventing terrorism feels like it's kind of at the bottom of my to do list currently.

Top of the list is pour a gin. At some point I'm going to have to address my gin consumption.

Not sure how I put their instead of there. Please assume all errors are because of auto correct and that I'm not as thick as I might appear to be.

@CallmeAngelina

If anyone needs to catch up, they could always go back to the lessons we've already posted and, you know, have a go at doing them.

Typical lazy teacher - why aren't you doing the work for them? Whilst wiping their noses and cutting up their food for them obviously.

@noblegiraffe

Daily Mail reporting that the NEU are demanding a pay rise for teachers before they will be willing to go back to school.

What's that all about?

I daren't look - how many threads have we got about "bloody greedy teachers" so far?