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'm in my 40s, UPS3 and on the SMT but not a DH, and I fear the day I'm viewed as expensive and disposable by the HT.

The HT and I are v similar in the way we view a lot of things and the way we work, and I would say I'm one of the staff who 'has her ear' due partly to being on the SMT, so my major worry would have been if they moved on and were replaced by a new, younger head.

However, our HT, a couple of years ago, made a faux pas that put her name in the local press. All blown over and relatively minor, but it's one of the first things you'd find about them if you'd googled their name, and it does mean that their school-hopping days to improve their career and maybe jump to working for the local authority, are probably well and truly over.

@MrsHamlet

I am beyond appalled at what we're doing with y11 and 13. It goes against everything I value and is an insult to my professionalism and the work of the students. I feel sick.

What are you doing? I apologise if I have missed it.

One tiny part of lit, twice. One Lang paper, twice. That's it. They get their y10 assessments marked up by one grade. There is time to do more but we're not going to.
I am ashamed that my subject has been reduced to this.

So we are doing 6 tasks for each subject. Kids can have a go on the first day they have over night to think about it and then go back and try again the next day.

They have decided not to revise as they are going to go back the next day after memorising the questions.

@MrsHamlet

One tiny part of lit, twice. One Lang paper, twice. That's it. They get their y10 assessments marked up by one grade. There is time to do more but we're not going to. I am ashamed that my subject has been reduced to this.

Is that then worth 2 GCSEs?

It is. Apparently.
But it's not, is it?

I think we’re going to offer some kind of transition lessons using Y12 teachers. Eg I might teach a transition a-level class for those doing it at a-level. We might do some of that remotely and some face 2 face. Not entirely sure how it’s going to work - assume will be voluntary if they aren’t coming to us after Y11. Who knows. Every school is going to do it differently. Why the fuck has this plan B not been in place since September? I feel we will do it fairly for our students tbf. I just hope they do sort out proper transition lessons for them and it isn’t some kind of fudged badly planned waste of time...

We're doing mini exams (but we have to cal them assessments ), 3 per subject spread over 6 weeks. The first is diagnostic (AKA, a mock!), the second two give the final grade..... I think, obvs am not a teacher so haven't seen full detail. 60-90 mins, they're told the topic(s) beforehand.

First round is the week before Easter and the topics for every subject have been published.

So sorry about the bubble bursting already MrsH
Self isolating is awful and I think many people who have not had to do it, don’t get how hard it is to not even be able to leave to go for a walk.

Piggy -I found out this week that three quarters of my Yr 12 form tested positive alone (they are not currently testing as still within 90 period), in the last week of December term.

I had an extended form time on the last day with them as well-had no idea and wasn’t informed re isolating magic tape. Only told in email to all that all of year 12 had to self isolate past Christmas, a week later.
I was in a cramped form room for 2 hours with 19 of my form who had Covid that day and never knew! So strange to think about.
I think we have about 400 odd pupils who are not currently testing due to being within 90 day period. Large school though. School is in London so must have been the Kent variant.

It's @HarrietDVane who's isolating I think, commiserations to her.

Is it technically because the contact tracing expectation of Heads was only until Christmas Eve, that you weren't informed? Even so....

Getting my H’s mixed up! Sorry!!!!

Really sorry to hear your self isolating already Harriet

Anyone here a secondary teacher in Wales who might know anything about the subject 'Skills challenge'?

I have a question and don't know whether it's worth getting in contact with DD's school to ask it.

Thanks everyone - I suspect it will happen to all of us before long. I think tomorrow will feel quite weird as everyone else will be at work/school - I can't remember when I was last alone in the house! At least I have good coffee and unlimited bathroom access, I suppose.

I was alone in the house this morning, I highly recommend it!

I haven't been alone in the house for more than 20 minutes in well over a year now. It's rare enough in normal times, but in covid times it was non existent. I'm a little bit envious of that but of self-isolation, but I don't think it's worth the rest of it.

I am wearing a mask when teaching because I cannot be 2m from my front row. The front row that I didn’t have to isolate for when they had covid.

We have to wear masks when teaching. It has not stopped me talking a lot, but I'm not sure anyone can actually hear me.

They're not laughing at my jokes, so clearly not. 😁

I wear one unless I have a HI student in the room, then I don't when at the front despite the 2m thing. We have been given visors and I am allowed to wear a mask if I wanted. But I know how much I'm struggling to hear being HI so I feel the benefit from lip reading for those students outweighs the risk.

No easy answers.

Anyone finding the CAG process an absolute nightmare. Even making the plans is proving difficult. Feels so so much more difficult than last year. There's been radio silence almost on twitter about it. Are we all just too overwhelmed to process it all?

Yay. 4 days in and I test positive!

Oh no @StanfordPines !!! Picked up by LFT?

Stanford I hope you have as mild a dose as possible

The Government may as well make a weekly TV show of it and award GCSE grades based on a lottery principle. At least it would stop schools being judged on their grades.

Oh no Stanford! I hope you don't get the worst of it!

stanford I’m so sorry. Hope it is a mild dose.