The Fifty-second Republic - Beware of Education’s ides of March

[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 non-staff as it attracts the wrong sort of crowd.

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. Do not sit on the chairs and do wear a mask.

I took 5 mins to register for LFT but now I have an account it's really quick.

We've not been given set days. Sunday would make sense from an arranging cover pov, you'd have longer!

We test Sunday and Wednesday evenings. I think it's technically supposed to be Monday and Thursday mornings but that's not hugely practical...

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

I don't mind the idea of longer days, if post 1pm they are taught only by specialists. I'm thinking primary. 8.30 - 12.30 core subjects, afternoons from 1 - 4 all the arts and sports - taught by people who know what they are doing. If a teacher wants to do the afternoons, they can too and get paid more. Otherwise teachers not allowed to leave the school grounds, can do PPA, can do 1-1s with individuals (but not regular intervention, that's not the point of the afternoons). No one takes any work home.

I’d be ok with that, too.

Isn’t that pretty much what happens in China-teachers do the morning and then prep in the afternoons?

And everyone's been told to test those days, even part time. I was working at home Thursday and Friday so the Wednesday test seemed a bit silly but I am a rule follower.

@AFallingStar I work same days as you. I’m thinking Sunday means I’m good to go for work and weds means they’ll isolate any contacts at work if positive if that makes sense.... if it picked anything up...

Sunday and Wednesday here too. We were told for cover, even if part time. We are to message the Head if Positive , which seems a little intrusive but it’s a small school and maybe she’s basing that on the woeful Positive rate so reckons she won’t be troubled much by WhatsApping Covid suffering staff

I'm about to be slaughtered elsewhere but maybe I deserve it. I'm honestly beginning to feel teachers are hated here because people don't want to know how shit schools are. In countries where schools are well funded, classes small etc teachers are respected. Here we're those terrible cognitive dissonance creators who risk making them feel uncomfortable about the conditions their kids are learning in.

@TheHoneyBadger

I'm about to be slaughtered elsewhere but maybe I deserve it. I'm honestly beginning to feel teachers are hated here because people don't want to know how shit schools are. In countries where schools are well funded, classes small etc teachers are respected. Here we're those terrible cognitive dissonance creators who risk making them feel uncomfortable about the conditions their kids are learning in.

My sister in law, after 6 years teaching in the UK fucked off to Italy for 5 years and the only reason she came back to UK was because he uni lecturer offered to oaf for her PHD and a position in his department at the Uni.

We're supposed to test Sunday and weds too. I wonder if anyone will notice that I haven't...

her pay

Honey you don’t need the additional mental load of trolls and asshats ‘out there’.
The vast majority of parents respect what we do and mostly, how we do it.
Lumping all teachers together on the basis of a bad experience is as ridiculous as me saying all vets are shite because of one that missed a vital symptom once, or that all supermarket cashiers are useless and miserable because of one that was, once.
More posters out there now who need to hit out at Authority because of the last year taking away any feelings of power they may have had. They really are not worth bothering with. You’re fueling an inadequate’s unfounded sense of grievance or a troll’s need for attention.

@MrsHamlet

We're supposed to test Sunday and weds too. I wonder if anyone will notice that I haven't...

There’s no internal spreadsheet in my school, so they wouldn’t know if I had or not. No cross reference with the result logging site either afaik. We’re operating a system of No News Is Good News as far as LFTs go.

Me and partner have been talking about this.

Most people now who are slagging off teachers went through school in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Do you remember teachers in the 80s? Lots and lots of total arseholes. Humiliating children was standard. We're all tarred with this brush. My partner's dad is deaf in one ear due to being smacked by a teacher in the 60s. He doesn't have much of a positive opinion of teachers!

Doesn't matter how different it is now, we're all affected by our time at school.

I'm about to be slaughtered elsewhere but maybe I deserve it. I'm honestly beginning to feel teachers are hated here because people don't want to know how shit schools are

I think you have a fair point. I’m actually pretty happy to be filmed and have parents see it. They’ve been watching me teach over lockdown anyway.
Then they will get to see just how awful a small number of pupils behaviour is. And SLT might actually have to do something about it.

saucery we're supposed to text the covid phone with our result. There are about 150 staff so I can't see them doing much with the info

We're testing in 2 different batches, sun & wed or Sat & Tues (which I do) Makes sense as cover can be sorted before Monday and contacts isolated.

When I think a lot of parents would be surprised how their children act at school too if lessons were videoed.

Currently fighting Sunday anxiety (have been all day), thankfully crochet and books have helped. Not so much worried about the virus (resigned to it by now) but behaviour and needs of the children. I'm a TA in a tough class so will be having to help certain children cope in the classroom before learning is an option.

Imperial Professor of Digital Computation concludes that the false negative rate of LFTs is 100% (ie all positive results are false positives!). I don't understand the Maths but some of you will:

https://constantinides.net/2021/03/07/false-negatives-and-false-positives/amp/?twitterrimpression=true

Oh God, Most of my students did so much more in an average lockdown lesson that they do in a school lesson!! And got more feedback!

My children went to state school so I'm an expert on state schools 🙄

Whatever.

We need far more retired (ie can't lose their jobs) teachers to go on supply in state schools with hidden cameras.

@motherrunner thank you so much for your help. It was fab!. I have sent off something very rough to my mentor. Also had a major panic about the state of my evidence file, printed out some papers to read in the vain hope of ever starting this damn essay and then had another mini breakdown about the whole job / interview thing. I'm just so scared.

And now having the fear. What if I can't teach a whole class? I mean I did before xmas but what if I've forgotten how?

The fear happens to us all. You're definitely a real teacher 🤣

TheHoneyBadger

You are getting an unfair slating on that thread.

@MrsHamlet

The fear happens to us all. You're definitely a real teacher 🤣

Definitely! I'm feeling the fear tonight after so long with only half a class. I get the fear after every summer holiday as well!

I might just write that in my evidence folder.
"I'm definitely a real teacher. @MrsHamlet says so. So just let me have the tick in the box please and I'll be on my way".

I presume this isn’t your Bob, @MrsHamlet!