The Forty Fifth Republic - Can I get a hair appointment before the summer term starts?

[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've never heard of Popsy, going to have to investigate. My uniform consists mainly of Peopletree fit and flare dresses with a cardi and tights. I've got one pair of M&S tailored trousers that actually fit properly and my M&S tailored dress. A pair of stout boots for the trousers and an ancient pair of wedges for the dresses, which need replacing soon. I don't think I've bought anything new in the 7 years I've been teaching .

So glad not to have exam classes this year. I need to upskill myself by applying to become an examiner, have never managed to get round to it. So reading what the experienced examiners on this board have to say is really useful.

Never heard of popsy. Are they jersey fabric?

Have just lost half an hour on the popsy website

Morning all.

Don’t worry @JanFebAnyMonth. Individual teachers awarding grades here based in forthcoming mocks and past assessments. We will be having a moderation session to discuss those grades if we find we have say a hundred grades 9s! Pupils have been given an evidence folder and were required to hand in all past assessments so if it goes to appeal we can prove our findings.

It’s funny how dress codes have changed. When I first started teaching I was ‘told off’ for wearing a too that was too much like a t-shirt but now m typical dress is t shirt, skirt and biker boots. Same in the summer but just without tights. I have tattoos and they can be see when I don’t wear my tights of if my T-shirt sleeve is a bit short. DH has a ‘sleeve’ and as a PE teachers it’s regularly on show.

One of my old headteachers would wear the most ridiculous clothing in the summer: tight strapless dresses which started just above her nipples and ended just below her pants. The younger year groups in assemblies could see right up the bottom. Reception would have actually been able to tell you the colour of her underwear.

Men were, however, expressly forbidden from wearing smart shorts or anything other than shirt, tie, trousers.

@9pmcouchnaps I wear the same dresses but without thick wool tights and wear thinner nude tights or bare legs if really hot and if my legs are completely white 🤣

I have the bare legs dilemma in the summer. We have a staff dress code and it's not that prescriptive that it mentions bare legs, but I personally don't feel very professional unless skirt is well below knee.

So, my winter outfit is almost exclusively dress, blazer, tights, flats. Summer outfit, the same but thinner opaques or when it gets really hot, trousers and blouse/smart t-shirt, with flats with barely there socks, mixed in with the occasional long dress or skirt, bare legs and wedge heels.

Open toed shoes are very much not allowed, for H&S as much as anything. You really wouldn't want open shoes in a secondary school corridor scrum.

I have bare legs in the summer, have never felt unprofessional without tights. And I wear sandals too, if I manage to find sandals that fit properly and are smart enough for school. I had a lovely pair from Clarks, but they fell apart last summer so I'm on the hunt again. I'll probably end up wearing the Mary Janes or ballet flats (both from Clarks children's department )

My last school we converted to an academy and we had our contracts rewritten. In the professional conduct annex it specifically forbid any ‘beach wear’. Such a shame as that summer I was all for wearing a bikini and a a rubber ring.

In school I tended to wear fitted skirt suits or trouser suits as I felt if students had to be formally dressed, so should I. In College no suits but definitely “dressed” in dresses, jackets/cardis and loose comfy linens in summer, bare legs if sufficiently tanned (chemicals are your friend here). I don’t feel dressed without earrings. I remember one big department in school where all the younger female teachers turned up one day in bodycon dresses and what can only be termed “fuck me” shoes. I have no idea why this happened, it was totally cringeworthy.
My most useful observation is that the higher a female teacher rises in SLT the more impractical her shoes become. After a couple of years of increasing discomfort, she invests in a soft top Audi TT instead.

@noblegiraffe

One woman routinely flashed fanny in staff briefing

Er....no one else has picked up on this. What?

Was about to say this! I used to work with a truly lovely mid fifties woman who flashed a tremendous amount to me and a young trainee... still horrified years later!

My summer clothes tend to mainly be knee length skirt and chiffon-y type / cotton lawn blouse as well. Currently debating a pair of bright red wide leg trousers though (no rules against them at my school, sorry Harriet!).

I also now have lovely swishy hair again and am about five pounds lighter 😂who knew a hair cut was so important to self esteem?!

My most useful observation is that the higher a female teacher rises in SLT the more impractical her shoes become. After a couple of years of increasing discomfort, she invests in a soft top Audi TT instead.

Haha, absolutely perfect! True.

Was about to say this! I used to work with a truly lovely mid fifties woman who flashed a tremendous amount to me and a young trainee... still horrified years later!

It could be the same woman. I'll never forget sports day

My most useful observation is that the higher a female teacher rises in SLT the more impractical her shoes become. After a couple of years of increasing discomfort, she invests in a soft top Audi TT instead.

YES to this! And the super fitted outfits that are not useful in the classroom 🙄

Hmm, Herc did you teach somewhere in Kent?

No herdy, she must have a twin.

Where are the 40+ size 14 boot wearing females with strong opinions on SLT?

Primary schools have them. Eg, me.

I also now have lovely swishy hair again and am about five pounds lighter 😂who knew a hair cut was so important to self esteem?!.
I can't wait until my appointment. Having neat hair makes me feel so much better too. Mine needs a good 4 or 5 inches off it as it looks like Mr Twit's beard.

There is a head of an outstanding primary near us (teaching school linked to uni, always the one theTV or radio go to for opinions), whose head dresses like she's going to a wedding the whole time. I one bumped into her in Sainsburys, she was dressed like Daisy Duke. Arse completely hanging out of her shorts. All other SLT are young pretty men.

My last school we converted to an academy and we had our contracts rewritten. In the professional conduct annex it specifically forbid any ‘beach wear’.

I remember a Headteacher who use to give us the ‘If you would wear it on St Tropez beach, it’s not allowed’ speech (back in the day when we had whole school morning briefings every day.)

God love her

When we had our own classrooms I often used to wear my flip flops in the room with a pair of black slip on shoes (that were really uncomfortable) under the desk in case any of SLT dropped in. Luckily my room is too far for most people to bother popping to...

I used to work with an Australian teacher who was always barefoot in class in the summer. One of my jobs was to remind her to put her shoes on if she was on playground duty. I very rarely wear a dress in school. If I do, I am invariably given a job that reminds me how impractical they are. I end up covering Reception crawling round the floor, in forest school making dens, up a ladder changing a display or sorting out the stockroom, which involves crawling and ladders.

That's Reception class. I don't generally crawl round the floor in the office!

It's not so much that I think bare legs are unprofessional (and wouldn't judge others it's more: what shoes go with bare legs (or even nude tights)? Opaques or wool tights look cool with flats, but bare legs, dress and flats feels wrong. Bare legs, dress and sandals: fine. It's the curse of no longer being able to wear heels. So, it's why I find trousers easier in the summer, though I prefer dresses or skirts.

(I have a colleague who wears ankle socks with loafers or brogues, like the kids, and I sometimes wish I were brave enough.)

I used to work with an Australian teacher who was always barefoot in class in the summer.

Yes, also me to be honest. Birks are good for slipping on and off. Considering the fire drill alarm happily sends kids in the middle of gymnastics or dance out into the playground in barefeet, I'm not sure the H&S argument would hold.