THE FIFIETH REPUBLIC!

[StaffRepFeistyClub]

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.

Do not give the staffroom password to others 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.

Depends what you're aiming for - my first DH job was all about curriculum design/management, now it's teaching and learning. What's the whole school focus you're interested in?

app.senecalearning.com/courses/add?Price=Free&Age+Group=Teacher+CPD

Some good ones there - cognitive science, dual coding, metacognition and so on.

Read a few books and try some things out?

I've just read Retrieval Practice by Kate Jones - a good start, things to try out that you can then evaluate and share with colleagues.

Closing the Vocab Gap - again as above - things you can try that you can evaluate and feedback on.

I think that doing your own research, trying stuff out and maybe doing a slot in your staff meetings etc, are really good evidence of taking the initiative with ongoing CPD.

If you're interested in curriculum, then Mary Myatt's last book is good.

You need an extra large glass of wine from me for that response mrsh. What's the benefit? Err having an exam specialist in the core department of English who can advise on how best to prep kids for exam success and inform ks4 curriculum development? Why would that benefit need explanation

Fingers crossed they at least do nice chips, piggy

Today was the day I’ve been dreading. Doing DS’s back to school haircut. End of last proper lockdown I was so glad to see the back of doing home haircuts. When November lockdown loomed I made sure both DS and DH went to the barbers as late as possible so it would last.

They both have incredibly thick hair and now the living room is covered in it. I feel itchy.

No , they don't noble. There is already a branch in a nearby village.

This lovely quaint village we moved to is a wee bit shitholey tbh!

@cantkeepawayforever

OK, advice needed. Jobhunting, alongside many other things. Primary, looking for a job with a bit more (so assistant head / deputy type roles)

The job ads I have been reading specify 'substantial ongoing CPD'. Well, one of the reasons for moving is because I am 'stuck'. I am not considered for CPD because I'm just 'can'tkeep who is very good in their classroom role and subject role but there's no need or reason to develop any further'.

I obviously do the basics - safeguarding, SEN type things - and the whole school training - e.g. external INSET on priority subjects. Also deliver CPD to colleagues on my subject.

It got me wondering whether there was something that I could be doing online, that might help? I could be more active in local networks for the subject I lead - that's on the 'to do' list - but what else?

@cantkeepawayforever, have a look at La Sally Education (Complete Maths), they do these virtual conferences a few times a year for a fiver at the moment. There are seminars across Primary and Secondary. I did one last year and found it really interesting. Also did a free in-person course with Mark McCourt about Mastery in Mathematics. Worth checking their page out.

La Salle, damn autocorrect.

cantkeep If you were interested in EAL cpd, The Bell Foundation usually has a lot of free webinars

monkeytennis brilliant news about your ds, you both definitely deserve lots of happy moments after how tough this year has been

Villages can be pretty shitholey. I'm worse than a newcomer because I grew up here then went off doing all sorts around the world and had the audacity to come back.

Longer list needed! You lot are GOOD!

Oooh, thank you @TaxTheRatFarms - we have a high proportion of EAL learners so these will be useful.

If you’re not on Twitter it’s really great for bits of CPD - increasingly people are releasing webinars around specific areas of teaching.

Dc2 slipped over in a stream on fri, getting soaked today has diarrhoea. But actually im hoping it's from eating some green bananas? Anyones kids get that?

(It says weils would take a week or 2.)

I know covid could be 1 day but does seem very quick and unlikely given her split seconds in the water and its in a woods etc. I obviously scrubbed her with soap in the shower on return but she had to walk back for 20mins wet.

Online safeguarding training is just one of the signs that / ways in which schools are not adequately equipped to perform the safeguarding role foisted upon them.

I strongly believe safeguarding should always be taught face to face. It's about deep stuff, human emotions and relationships, it can trigger stuff for people, it's (obvs) sensitive.

My dc would invariably be sick if they spent too much time in the water in our local woods. Especially if they'd got some in their mouths.

I had a full week cpd course with accommodation and food and cover paid for back when I was rqt - 1999 or thereabouts. Can you imagine that now?! DH had a week in Athens for IB training, about 13 years ago. Now I’m lucky if they remember to put me in a group for in-house ‘training’ (or how to suck eggs by someone I probably used to teach)

honey I've an advantage that I've known the head a long time (although my hod was my not very good mentor as a trainee) and he knows my hod is a misogynist.
There are two of us who examine and we both have TLRs outside the dept. He shares my irritation about the way we're both ignored.

@CarrieBlue 😂 that last sentence. So true.

Tbh I hate pedagogy type CPD anyway -absolutely no interest in it only in my subject really and of the 4 I've been on only one was good. One good CPD since 1995. Jesus.

DH went on a weekend one quite early in his career (about 4 years in) as he was being primed for SLT at that point. I think he's been on a similar number of external CPDs as me.

Hmm she said none in mouth but may have in eyes. Her face didnt seem wet. But her hair was.
It's annoying as im aware of weils and quite careful. But this kid keeps falling in stuff. (A pond, seaside rock pool etc). She moves very quickly.

Jan I agree to some extent. But the face to face safeguarding training we get from the LA is not good. It's someone reading a ppt which could be done online. It covers the legal side of safeguarding fine. The emotional and sensitive side, no one really tells us how to deal with that. This would be great training.

I am the knob who has to stand and the front and teach everyone to suck eggs. I hate it. And there's always someone who thinks the patently obvious thing is a work of genius, which is just as bad.
Model answers.... what a good idea!

At least online training has got rid of shit like post it notes and everyone writing on big bits of paper. I used to hate that crap, and where did that paper go....... Straight into the bin!

I don't think while school CPD is an effective use of CPD time in most cases. Fine for legal stuff, software training and procedural changes. For anything pedagogical being in departments and looking at something specific is best. I don't want to know how structured writing works in history because my students never do structured writing.

MrsHamlet

We started a model of mini CPD slots - talking heads style. So 3 specific focuses - 1 person gives input for 10 mins, then there’s a 10 mins for departments to discuss how it would work in a subject specific way.
It’s really good - the egg sucking presenter only has to do 10 mins, and the immediacy of applying it to your subject works really well.

Brill way of doing CPD online also.

Today was the day I’ve been dreading. Doing DS’s back to school haircut. End of last proper lockdown I was so glad to see the back of doing home haircuts. When November lockdown loomed I made sure both DS and DH went to the barbers as late as possible so it would last

I do DP’s hair anyway, because he’s too tight to go to the barbers. Grade 4 all over.

Except, last weekend I was distractedly trying to read a message from a batshit pushy parent on Seesaw while setting the clippers up. He’s ended up with grade 1 all over and has spent the last week wearing hats all day to cover up his now obvious receding hairline 😂

I haven't been sent on any courses since I went part time like 12 years ago. Mummy track.

I go to the researchED national conference every September but that's mainly because I go with a mate who lives in London (the science consultant guy) and it's a good chance to catch up with him and bitch about people like Didau and OldAndrew.

Really good free CPD is the MrBartonMaths podcast. It started as maths-based but he's got a section that's for everybody, where he interviews people like Daisy Christodoulou, Dylan Wiliam, Nick Rose, Piggy's favourite Lucy Crehan of Cleverlands and my favourite Tom Bennett, government Behaviour Tsar (and lovely Scottish accent).

mrbartonmaths.com/podcast/#everybody

Maths ones are here, if you're maths teacher they're really interesting, including one about how maths GCSEs are written: mrbartonmaths.com/podcast/#maths

Warning though, they are really long. Like 2-3 hours. Good for long car journeys if we ever get to drive anywhere ever again.

He’s ended up with grade 1 all over

Omg I checked the clippers over and over and over to avoid this!

Whole school CPD is shit for maths teachers. I bloody hate wasting my time listening to stuff about writing frames or improving writing through written feedback.