The Fifty-fourth Republic - Easter holidays anyone?

[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

Even in my uni time it was a very clear class divide between those who had to take any job they could to pay the rent once grants/loans dried up and those who could go home to live at parents expense whilst exploring their options or knew they could immediately apply for masters because it would be paid for. And that was before 9k fees.

That's good to know, Piggy - thank you. I will hunt down the personal statements thread and have a read.

Byline Times strikes again
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/30/gavin-williamson-re-opened-schools-with-no-safety-measures-after-legal-threat-from-parents-lobby-group-usforthem/

Has anyone seen this?
It's from the Byline Times about our mates from U4T.

On the topic of personal statements unis do not give a toss about the fact you were captain of the tiddly winks team in Year 9. I get mine to mention 6th form only stuff that is relevant.

There are far too many people saying that this will be good for your personal statement and this and this. There are kids scrabbling around trying to fit in DofE, Young Enterprise, mentoring, volunteering, learning an instrument, running clubs or going to clubs, part time jobs etc. It is all a pile of bollocks.

Far better to focus on getting good grades, showing an interest in what you want to do at uni with a MOOC course or relevant work exp and maybe one other thing. There is too much pressure on them to do loads of stuff and by the time they get to uni they are exhausted.

• the week before the 2 July guidance and announcement saying schools were opening with just a bitnof sanitiser and "bubbles" in September, U4T got a top US law firm to send a pre-action letter to the government......

@CallmeHendricks

Has anyone seen this? It's from the Byline Times about our mates from U4T.

intimate with the tory party.

Not really Us 4 them meaning the kids but Us 4 the tory party more like

@JanFebAnyMonth

- the week before the 2 July guidance and announcement saying schools were opening with just a bitnof sanitiser and "bubbles" in September, U4T got a top US law firm to send a pre-action letter to the government......

U4T have money (probably from some dodgy PPE contract)

@borntobequiet

The apprenticeship levy is paid by all firms with a payroll of over three million, so naturally they want something back. Hence the proliferation of apprenticeships being used as training schemes by employers. It’s benefiting many people stuck at a certain level of employment as they’re held back by lack of qualifications, having not achieved at school for a variety of reasons. I’ve taught many in their 30s and 40s and even 50s and 60s. It’s a real game changer for them, and they’re lovely to teach. The worst, least supportive and most demanding employers are - guess what - schools. Approx 75% of our apprentices are over 19. I don’t think this aligns with most people’s perception.

All of ours are over school age, or will be. I'm not sure where we have got to in switching over from the previous qualification. Largely because we have a requirement for previous experience. And I think that was put in due to some bad experiences with school leavers. Unlike journalism plenty of opportunities to get that experience on a lower banding and not dependent on who you know.

@JanFebAnyMonth

- the week before the 2 July guidance and announcement saying schools were opening with just a bitnof sanitiser and "bubbles" in September, U4T got a top US law firm to send a pre-action letter to the government......

They sent another 'pre-action' letter to the government last week threatening legal action over masks in secondary classrooms.

What with Molly Kingsley having a weekly spot whining about masks for the Telegraph, they really do seem to have influence and heft entirely disproportionate to their levels of support among, you know, actual parents.

It's such a shame that they don't put their obvious power to sort out things that are really affecting children, like the massive cut in pupil premium funding in schools that the govt just slid through, or the appalling reports of rape culture in schools.

It's like it's not about concern for the kids at all

U4T screenshot that change in the guidance about masks after Easter and until Easter the other day. Let's just say they weren't happy about the original version. Although whoever tweeted it reckoned that 'unbelievably' the DfE changed the wording. I'm not sure they've ever read any guidance on anything by the DfE more than once

I wonder whether Gavin et al would have listened to SAGE more re reopening had the letter not been sent.

After Laura Kuenssberg’s article exposing 7 mistakes the government has made during the last year including Boris’s gung ho “I’ve been shaking everybody’s hand” last March when in fact he’d just been told that if the question was raised he must advise the nation to desist from hand shaking, I wonder.

No they actually can’t have done Rafa!

I was surprised that the DfE had apparently released guidance that was a) before it was due
b) hadn't been leaked to the Sunday Times

There's a definite story behind that masks after Easter slip.

You might be right about the slip, noble. But they so very rarely release anything that is error free and doesn't need changing with 24hrs on any subject that it's just as likely to be cock up.

I think they are still a way off the clusterfuck that was the introduction of the new SATs.

Oh I know the DfE routinely release crap, but the existence of document in which someone had typed that masks will continue after Easter is interesting given that the data isn't supposed to have been reviewed yet.

As if the DfE would be organised enough to have two versions of the guidance ready to go.

So has the decision already been made regardless of the data and they accidentally released it too early? ("But Dave, I thought we agreed yes to masks in the Friday meeting" "Yes BUT DON'T TELL THEM YET")

That would be my assumption if it isn't cock up. There are 2 versions. One to be released and the other to be released as an 'update', but not yet with the guidance on masks to be worn after Easter. Which will presumably need releasing before all the schools who are on holiday this week go back.

How’s everyone feeling? We sent another class home yesterday! That makes a whole year group and 2 classes out. Despite that, and the obscene marking, I am feeling stupidly excited for 3.45 tomorrow! I think it’s hysteria 😆 We have candidates in today for interview (member of my dept leaving), so I had best get my serious face on.

Regarding personal statements, it is so interesting how different it is from the US. When I worked for admissions at my US uni, they definitely wanted to see all the random crap (and yes, having to BE THE BEST at a million different things made my teenage years very stressful). Of course there the majority of courses require you to take a core curriculum set of modules so everyone graduates having studied maths, science, arts and humanities, and social sciences at uni level for a couple of modules. So I guess the idea of being "well rounded" holds more weight to get into uni there. Especially because you can change majors within a uni.

Especially because you can change majors within a uni.

You can here too. Plenty change course within a Uni in the first few weeks. It’s definitely important to have something to write about that’s for sure (the main focus should definitely be wider reading/exploration though). This year, I had four of my CS pupils apply to Oxbridge and the only one who didn’t get called to interview, despite the same grades, was the one who last lockdown did no extra reading/virtual visits/experience or volunteering of any kind, whereas the other two did. His personal statement was very bland as a result.
I’ve learnt that it is very dependent on the university/admissions tutor as to how much weight anything holds but it is definitely easier for the pupil to write their personal statement if they have something to say about themselves at least. Doesn’t have to be DofE or sports for example but no harm if it is. They should explain why something is a good achievement/experience, not just that they have done ‘it’
Of course, some universities/admissions tutors may never read a personal statement either for a variety of reasons!

I was a sixth form tutor for 12 years so I've helped with a lot of personal statements - I spent a lot of time deleting "I am passionate about" and suggesting that they showed their passion instead!
The most interesting one was the student who was applying to a college in the US - they wanted A LOT. Mind you, he got a full scholarship so the angst over the words (he's a comp scientist not given to words) was worth it in the end!

In other news, on the day I booked jab 3 with the trial, my GP offered the NHS vaccine. I'm surprised... but I think we probably have a very young population here.

Workload crazy here. Yesterday I had to give up on the creative stuff for next term - cognitive load says no - and just do all the boring logistics and display shit. Loads of parents not turning up to parents evening Teams appts, then phoning in for another appt. Erm, nooooooooo.

Partner excited that now work is over, shagging might happen instead of falling asleep on the sofa at 8pm. Special kind of tired this term.

Roll on 2.45. Let's see how many we exclude today (another one yesterday). Inset tomorrow, but I can stay at home for that, so yay!

I spent a lot of time deleting "I am passionate about" and suggesting that they showed their passion instead!

Oh yes! The phrases I have always and ever since I was little make me want to chew my own hand off

You can here too.

Yes, although in the US many enter uni without a major. At mine you don't need to declare at all until the middle of your second year. (I'd have missed out on a departmental scholarship if I had waited.) With a few exceptions, you don't apply to a course/major there, just to the uni itself.

Of course it costs $50k+ per year so I'm sure they're super happy for people to enter without a major and spend some time figuring it out!