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

My school seem to be suggesting exams first two/three weeks after Easter then bye to Y11! Or doing some transition timetable remotely... I mean nothing is official so who knows. These exams though have been billed as ‘it’ for them so who knows...

Guy how did you get on today with DS's school?

I'm so tired.

Parent's evenings both remind me of why I do this (eg. actual people, with parents and backgrounds and contexts to their behaviour and achievement and all manner of non school things that 'count') and why it doesn't work - too few adults and too little support and school too far removed from the parents and community.

Probably make me unpopular but I feel like so many teachers are... cold, removed, looking down on the community the community they serve and sadly ime even their colleagues. I honestly struggle to work with teachers. It's rare enough that when I work with someone sound and down to earth and authentic I feel like i've struck gold.

There's so much insecurity hidden behind titles or ... procedures. I don't know.

That's an interesting one, Honey.
We've all done our fair share of defending the profession on here, particularly during Covid closures, but can any of us truly say that we haven't come across any shirking colleagues in our time?
one or two I'm despairing of right now, actually!

I’m sorry rule sounds really tough.

I wish my Year 9s were more mature than normal. Most are lovely but there is a sizeable chunk of plonkers, both boys and girls. They are making life very hard for staff and other pupils.

Honey I think sometimes people become hardened because they know it is impossible to change the whole system.

Or they're knobbers!

We’re having the most trouble with our Year 9s as well When.

Friday tomorrow Rule - nearly there

Exhausted here too. It's been a long week and it's not even Friday I am really struggling to keep my head above water at the moment. Lots of new essentially pointless admin procedures have been introduced with immediate effect and it is ridiculously , unnecessarily complicated. I spent four hours after school, plus my lunch hour just trying to get my head around what I need to do. I think I might be getting too old for this.

I still have 120 books to mark before tomorrow morning. I feel like crying.

Sorry for the self pitying post. Just needed to vent.

Probably make me unpopular but I feel like so many teachers are... cold, removed, looking down on the community the community they serve and sadly ime even their colleagues. I honestly struggle to work with teachers. It's rare enough that when I work with someone sound and down to earth and authentic I feel like i've struck gold.

There's so much insecurity hidden behind titles or ... procedures. I don't know.

I think it’s more likely a system that has beaten them down. You rarely see a brand new teacher not full of enthusiasm. Many factors conspire over the years to dampen that down.

Exhaustion and running on empty is probably the main cause.

I think some, and I wish there were no lurkers but what can you do, just tick the boxes and are good with data etc but actually don't give a fuck about kids, community or society. You see their eyes glaze over when you share something about the background or challenges or bigger picture of a student.

I am not bleeding heart, walkover, keep myself awake all weekend etc but I don't get people who don't give a shit about anyone and aren't willing to give the extra inch or two do this job. I find they're also very defensive and it's the people who do give a shit who come off looking worse.

I can't think of a way to express not a sappy twat who breaks their heart over nonsense but someone who does give a shit about what's going on with kids and is willing to work with/around that to get the best out of them.

I do know the sort of people you mean Honey.

Difficult to explain why because each one has a different reason. One has a very different cultural background to the 'norm' and it shows. One is clearly battered by the system. One is counting down to retirement. One is in a dysfunctional marriage because of his work behaviour. The only common theme is 15+ years teaching...

I also read my posts and go oh look I swear and sound crass etc and wonder if maybe it's a class thing and the gap is widening between teachers and students class wise? Am I 'teacher-like' enough? I'm from a very mixed class background and had to accommodate both sides of the family and my own culture.

Two students tonight had really noticeably young mums but they were super involved and encouraging which personally I've found is a trend with young single mums of my students. I'd hate to think but can't deny that maybe some of my colleagues just see 'chav' or dysfunctional. That also then makes me wonder how my colleagues see me as a single mum working part time?

I'm very well educated and broadly experienced but I don't fit the mould and that serves me well in dealing with parents tbh but I doubt very much the school would see that. Lots of 'performing teacher' stuff. People very reserved and unwilling to invest of themselves or make themselves human and approachable. I note there are some incredibly rude badly behaved middle class kids who get away with murder whilst there are some super motivated considering their background and honest and engaging kids who can't perform middle class who are over sanctioned and underestimated in terms of their ability.

Sorry - very off topic but parent's evening often reminds me of this stuff.

I've spent more time with PIRA papers this week than I have with my own child. Parents evening Monday and Tuesday, so have rammed the bookings for Monday to get an early finish Tuesday.

Today 6 children were just awful - think making noises (loud groans, screams, squeals etc), the whole time

Hats off to you for surviving six of these! I have two, but primary so with them ALLLL day.

X is undiagnosed as of yet but definitely high functioning Aspergers, and so freakishly intelligent that he doesn’t need to listen to an input, which makes it worse as he’s bored (he’s Year 3 but could easily cope in Year 5).

Y is an attention seeking girl who mimics X’s random noises then swears blind that it was X when called out on it. She also does a variety of other disruptive things completely deliberately, which gives me the rage.

When one or the other of those two is not in class, the ENTIRE class mood changes and suddenly everyone can focus again.

So again, hats off to you dealing with six of them. I’d be in a mental institution by now!

@JanFebAnyMonth

Aargh, first world prob, but am about to take part in a live audience event forR4 and don't get the technical details and there's NO way of contacting them!!

(It's a Fair Cop, should anyone be interested!)

Well jel - I love Alfie! Glad there’ll be a new series, and hope you managed to get in!

Give y the attention before she has to seek it. On your terms with praise for what you value. I know it's simplistic but it does tend to work in my experience. Make her stand on her own merits and contributions.

It seems Jan has a more glamorous life than she lets on.

@13luckyblackcats you should train in two consecutive key stages.

@WhenSheWasBad I am sorry - my own year nine got a negative this week for - wait for it- drawing a knob on his pencilcase and showing it to his mate.
So (not) proud. But basically they have all returned as imbeciles.

I made him show me the drawing. It wasn't even a good one. No jizzy bit or hairs on the balls. Slacking.

It was lovely to have something to look forward to this evening - as I said to my boss today, it's the nearest you can get to going out at the moment!

However, I found it quite disappointing really - he wasn't in uniform, as I realise I'd pictured him (in fact he was in a 3 piece suit but without a tie !), he read from a script nearly all the time, he sometimes stumbled and we had to re-record, and took ages, and because of my technical difficulties none of my laughter or whatever was actually being recorded. Also I'd thought we (the audience) might be able to see each other (it was partly on zoom), but we couldn't.

I think I'll still love him when I listen next time, but am not sure.

Bizarrely, I also got an invitation to The NOW Show today, which I couldn't do because of work (I think when I applied for the ticket we didn't know school was returning). That was a shame because I think watching the (virtual?) interaction between the presenters would have been more worthwhile.

Honey - "glamorous life"??? Lmao

I love the now show!

JanFebAnyMonth that's a shame. I saw Alfie at a small local arts centre in February last year trying out new material in the sticks and he was great.

I used to love The Now Show when Marcus Brigstocke and Milton Jones were regulars. Not so much now with the new people

Yes. I imagine he would have been better f2f with an audience instead of in a studio with a couple of technicians and a producer, he could hear us but not see us.

Anyway, have realised there's one element of school which we have, iirc, never mentioned on here and it didn't come up in our Fantasy School: Careers Guidance! Realised this when was chatting to our good but only 2 days a week Careers Officer today, and reading about the report out which says students say they are not well enough prepared for university:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56511313

I think having a 2 day a week careers officer is actually pretty privileged Jan.

I've never heard of even a visiting one at our school.

When I was at school they advised me to be a lawyer but put me in touch with the military somehow who offered me a really interesting scholarship for a levels at a military boarding school, followed by Sandhurst then being paid to do a degree (had to be science, tech or engineering) but you owed however many years of service at the end of it as an officer. It's actually a really good deal and still available but was way too big of a commitment for me and the idea of them owning me for years was scary.

I have a bright year ten who's sure he's going to join the army - I explained this route to him the other day but all nah I'll just join as a squaddie. Going to find the online brochure and send it to him. If you must join the army at least get a free degree out of it I reckon.

I think careers would be an interesting job