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

The Wiki entry on Pimlico ahs been tampered with and makes fun reading!

I hadn't realised how interconnected all these London schools are.

Oak's curriculum is praised in the Report. It is interesting how cobbled together in a rush its evidence feels.

Knowledge rich Academy Trusts : coming to an LA near all of us soon!

The rubbish thing is interesting (I teach Economics so sometimes there are exam questions about it and What Should Be Done). I think there are a few factors. More single use packaging so more potential rubbish, coupled with fewer bin collections (austerity plus well meaning green policies) plus ironically, the drive to more recycling means more boxes of stuff around for bits to fall out of (our local council managed to go 8 weeks between plastics collections after Xmas - we were drowning in the stuff). Plus it is rare these days for an angry old lady to chase you down the street waving something you dropped. It wasn't uncommon in my 70s childhood.

I'm not sure you can disentangle the behaviour from the lack of litter picking tbh.

Yes and it read to me like (at least) attempts to change teachers’ contracts might be coming soon too (it did say that would need meaningful engagement with the unions).

I was that harassed mum trying to deal with husband talking over me at parents evenings. Had separate appts thereafter, although that doesn’t work at secondary (which is something I might take up with our new Head of pastoral* when they arrive.) Luckily he’s now stopped bothering with such things.

If it’s the person i’ve seen two SLT members showing around at length, the new pastoral head/DH is black and female, which will be very interesting! Although our senr teams are quite balanced re gender they’re not good on race.

hmm just got to the 4-6pm stabbings bit. Does he not think stabbers might just reschedule to a later time slot? Are stabbers working split shifts that only free them up to stab between 4 and 6?

Some of it I find myself nodding along to and then some of it comes across as nonsense.

Anyone can change anything on wiki @Piggywaspushed

oh, I know! I know someone who write his own!

Ooh can we write our own wiki entry? Presumably not allowed to add your own obscure self to their index.

Too dark and cold for stabbing after 6 plus mum has tea on the table honey

I read the bit about contracts. It said holidays needed to be preserved but then mentioned unions which made me concerned.

@TheHoneyBadger

hmm just got to the 4-6pm stabbings bit. Does he not think stabbers might just reschedule to a later time slot? Are stabbers working split shifts that only free them up to stab between 4 and 6?

Some of it I find myself nodding along to and then some of it comes across as nonsense.

Absolutely honey. Surely more kids leaving school at 6pm - who will often still be walking home alone or with friends - is MORE dangerous??

In fact the whole road/neighbourhood safety hasn’t been considered at all with the “longer days” debate.

Seen that the PM’s race adviser has resigned (apparently prior to the report publication but I guess he knew what was likely to be in it!)?

Sorry to get my feminist literature it on but it all comes from the ‘Eve’ complex. When have to behave like men to be taken seriously, yet men despise those qualities in women and then they feel they are justified in their behaviour towards women in an attempts to reclaim dominance.

And breathe.

*women not When

I'm onto the lofty quotes and abstractions section now and the inevitable additional 100 things 'schools should teach'. Could we take anything off the curriculum at any point or shall we just add more and more and pretend it's some kind of tardis?

Perhaps the curriculum has it's own version of magic tape that transcends the bounds of space and time and the need for resources and staffing? What shall we do with this problem? Stick it on the national curriculum, that'll sort it. It'll be potholes next.

Sorry. Facetious is my new middle name.

I'm onto the lofty quotes and abstractions section now hmm and the inevitable additional 100 things 'schools should teach

I hate this. Especially when it basically amounts to overhauling society. Cause schools are able to do that simply through a few 1 hour PSHE lessons.

@WhenSheWasBad

I'm onto the lofty quotes and abstractions section now hmm and the inevitable additional 100 things 'schools should teach

I hate this. Especially when it basically amounts to overhauling society. Cause schools are able to do that simply through a few 1 hour PSHE lessons.

Oh yes.

One of my personal hates.

This is getting worse:

www.politicshome.com/news/article/academic-disgusted-at-being-named-as-adviser-in-race-report-and-accuses-downing-street-of-manipulating-him
It is one of those things : Boris was all proud, The trumpets were out and then they just squeaked.

Michael Spicer is as ever reliably amusing-

twitter.com/MrMichaelSpicer/status/1377203613538398212

In other news, Tom Bennett probably should have stayed out of the Pimlico thing;

twitter.com/tombennett71/status/1377354984480776203

He really is just starting to look like an apologist for the government. He should either call out ineffective leadership and management of behaviour, or, better, keep quiet. Perhaps he just enjoys the attention fight.

I think TB's just noting it's not particularly about ineffective leadership. Rather, a full-on proxy war.

Yikes!

Think the management team came in to impose Govian systems on the school, somewhat brusquely, and faced some opposition from the actual school that pre-existed them.

Throw in a government that is unpopular in London, is hegemonising its power-base (& creating its opponents) by means of culture/identity stuff , a background of popular protest about BLM and VAWAG, the pandemic, and social media ...

Plus the fact that schools - as sites of education - are now one of the few remaining large-scale areas of 'public goods', where people both demand representations of their desires and actually have some chance of having demands realised ...

It's a pretty lively mix.

I have to say, I'm watching it all unfold and just wondering where all this is going.

You can see it as an issue about a particular management team, in a particular school. Or you can see it alongside the phenomenon of various issues (religion/cultural identity, racism, sexual violence) all being played out in a hybrid terrain of social media and named schools.

I think only time will tell what the 'meaning' of it is.

But ... frankly, I hesitate to think anything about it, let alone write anything.

I think I'm just glad i'm getting to enjoy the Easter break.

Yup, but I think TB should have stayed out of it. It should speak volumes to him that most of the people vocally supporting his group seem to ahve rather far right views... plus, he appears to demonise the kids who had the rather splendid wheeze of protesting by sitting down in the playground at the end of the school day. These days, Tom sees everything as misbehaviour. Some of what he says about hairstyles is (deliberately?) naive and it was v disingenuous of him to post the amended regulations.

Vocally supporting his tweet that should say!

It feels like these schools impose 'discipline' with rather inflexible, sometimes tone deaf rules and union flags. Reminiscent of the sick buckets at the schol in Norfolk!

If he bothered to find out a bit more, he would know it was to do with way more than the hairstyles.

I didn't like his comment on flying pickets either...

I have to say cat, I think you have a more nuanced and intelligent understanding of it than Mr B!

Aaaand I'm done!! Happy Easter!