The Fifty-Sixth Republic - Who is up for a game of TAG?

[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

It seems job centre workers may be taking industrial action due to face to face interviews increasing: www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56795862

Ah, wish I just had to deal with one person at a time ... at a distance ...

Thanks Staff, signing in.

Good luck to everyone going back today. Didn't think I had the fear yesterday until
my head hit the pillow (typical). This week is going to be challenging I reckon as 2 weeks off is a long time for the class.

Re the job centre, surely there's ways to do that safely? must admit my patience for people moaning about going back in the office is very small.

I was awake from 1.30 until after 4. Zonked now 🥱
Thank you to whoever recommended snag. My poorly knee means I can't wear tights so I'm wearing my new chub rub shorts with a summer dress. Apologies to anyone who sees my skanky knee in real life. It's grim.

We went back last Monday. Longest training day EVER where we got talked at for the whole day at top speed.
Minimal time in the classroom to do anything. I felt like I was on the back foot the whole time.

Behaviour was ok. Volume was unbearable.

Hope today goes as well as it can for all returning.

4 hrs sleep. Urgh.

Good luck returnees

Well, as Sam Gamgee says at the end of LOTR, I'm back.
Hoarse after my first day, and thoroughly knackered. Like others, I couldn't sleep so got up at 4.30. this morning and pottered.

Parents conferences on Friday 9.00 - 4.30. At least they're on Teams so I'll be working from home.

We have already been back a week but i have the guilt that i have phoned in sick, headache, aches, snotty nose, tonsils of fire .
Is it just a teacher thing? Although one of the schools I worked in previously was very disapproving of illness absences, but luckily my current one seems to be okay. I guess it's partly because I know in an office style job you could face the day dosed up on paracetamol, whereas teaching you can't. Or in the past when I have i have just been iller for longer.

There is a LOT of coughing going on in this building this morning. The woman downstairs has just rung 119 and booked a covid test. But I’m pretty sure the coughing yesterday was coming from upstairs. Who had a few people round on Friday.

Might be masking and sanitising my way through the communal areas on the way to work.

I give it two weeks before the ONS survey shows alarming rises in infections among school age children. Take care everyone, though I’m sure you are. I feel very privileged to be in the position to take time off until June, and if things look dodgy I’ll stay retired - though I’d rather be in the classroom, part time at least.

You do have to have been spectacularly uncareful to catch covid here. The rate is about 5/100k. There’s only about 8 people in the lower level tier with Covid. I’ve got my fingers crossed they’ve all got something else.

Case in year 11 today. No contacts apparently.

God, bad time for Y11 to be isolating. Hope it’s a lone case!

She has a DSis in year 13 too. If PCR says she is fine she can come back , fingers crossed.

Done in. Stayed an hour to try and sort out more printing and organising in the hopes of only having about an hour’s work to do tomorrow.

I am sick of the sound of my own voice nagging. Seems to be taking a while for some of my year 8s to settle back in and focus.

This term is going to be vile. On top of the anticipated marking workload, moderation, a dual sign off for each piece of work when the fuck will we find time to do that?! we still don’t know what folders of supplementary evidence will be. How is my school this disorganised?! It’ll be a desperate last minute search won’t it?

1st day back, seemed about 24 hours long. I'm struggling to get used to wearing a mask all day again. Even on playground duty they want to get so close, so not taking it off then either. I forgot how much extra you need to project your voice to be heard more than 2 foot away.

Our SLT are inventing paperwork which already exists. Explaining to them that NEA already has forms for authentication is falling on deaf ears.
We have a meeting this week til god knows when to moderate something. God knows what.

You poor teachers....

Stuck on dual carriageway where there’s been a massive collision. My ex has reassured my kids that he “knows an alternative route” and will be with them shortly. I’m not holding my breath. Nice chats with fellow stuckees though.

Well today was OK, behaviour better than I thought it would be to be honest but no doubt it's first day luck. Really feeling for you guys in secondary at the minute.

Now to psyche myself up for a run.... I don't want to!

This week's meeting has been postponed so it now falls in the midst of the exam period. Nice.

And Boris is going to cheer us all up this week by announcing longer days and shorter holidays.

Even if pay increases I don't want to work a longer day. We already work some of the longest hours of professionals and the longest hours of other European teachers.

Are you stuck down here jan? Or was it rule that was down here. Traffic is hideous.

First day back. Vile class was vile, had to deal with several of them bullying another. 3 kids in various classes with broken bones (broken over the holiday, not by me!), 1 child sent home feeling sick. I now know dates for year 11 and 13 assessments, which is fine but just reminds me of how much marking I'll have to do then. And casually dropped into the conversation was "year 12 haven't had a test since October so we'll need to give them a test next week so we've got a current grade for their reports". So next week I'll have 2 sets of year 10 exams and a year 12 test to mark, and I don't even miss any lessons while they're doing the tests/exams (I will need to scribe for the ones who have damaged themselves over the holidays) as well as then writing reports for year 12. I'm utterly exhausted just thinking about how much work in going to have to do over the next few weeks