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

For UPS we have to write about/evidence each of the criteria

Urgh.

Indeed. Urgh.

I had to do similar hence the lovely person helping me! Happy to send mine over if that would help?

Yeah that would be great thanks Herc.

For reasons I'm not sure about we don't return tomorrow but on Tuesday, and it always makes such a difference not to have the Sunday dread! (Monday dread is never quite as bad).
Hope the day is as pleasant as it can be for those dreading

When I went through the threshold I'm sure I was supposed to have all sorts of evidence, but my hod pulled me to one side the day after the governors had approved me to go through and said "you didn't apply to go through threshold so I did it for you, but now you need to sign this" and handed me my application completed with quotes from various observations and appraisals. I was gobsmacked, as I hadn't even thought about it (I was having a tough time that year so didn't have the headspace to even think about it). I never really liked that hod, and I didn't think he liked me either, but that was one thing he really did brilliantly.

Thought Jan might be interested in a slightly geeky article about Bayes' Theorem (it's not obscure) and false positives www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/18/obscure-maths-bayes-theorem-reliability-covid-lateral-flow-tests-probability

That's reminded me of this article from years ago.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28166019

Just checking in after a thread furlough of exhaustion from last week's return to school TAG frenzy aka:

All HoDs :'You want us to do what now? Why? How? When? '
Various SLT :'Yes, By Weds/Friday/now/yesterday please. TIA'

'Oh, and we are going to wipe all your laptops so if you could also replan all your lessons for four hours so that you don't need any IT whatsoever, that'd be grand. And back all your stuff up. Print everything at home and use home WiFi for backing everything up. But still come to a meeting or three, and do all the aforementioned by Tuesday/yesterday/Sunday during LoD. And huge and humble thanks to all the administrative staff who we have bullied into producing all the endless lists and stuff for you to complete . But huge and public thanks to them all anyway. Now shut up and get on with your work.'

'Another little thing -If you could please not call all the exams exams, and please not stress the students out. But please do make sure you go through in fine detail all the revision and assessment materials. FGS don't go through the materials, though. Although you know what the materials are and they know where the materials are you must not tell them you know what you know. Even if you don't know, you must not tell them you know/don't know.'

'Just one more thing. It has come to light that some of you are complaining of confusion . Please do not share your confusion with students and make them feel you don't know what they know , or that you know what they also know or don't know'

'Yes, this does include the fact that they may -or may not- be in school til late June. SLT have no idea how you know what we know and haven't told you that you should always ahve known yet. Further details will follow about June on June 2nd.'

'Staff wellbeing is very important to us here at Transparency High.'

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/19241295.family-make-appeal-find-missing-county-durham-teacher-darren-blyth/?fbclid=IwAR0km6zDOtFNf_BYZX0rb3kM4cwWaZZ22BVa01hpWWcve0NJFV-vzie9wgU

This is so sad

@chocolateisavegetable

I really, really don't want to go back tomorrow I'm definitely going to be looking for a non-school job. Luckily I'm a TA rather than a teacher, so don't need to worry about resignation deadlines. Good luck to everyone going back tomorrow.

Know how you feel. I want to work, I have always earned my own money and that isn’t going to stop now, but me and TAing might just be over after this year. It will have to be something where I can never be forced into an unsafe environment again, though.

Thanks noble, but that article is utterly unintelligible to me. (Can we just go in a corner for a few mins on the road trip and you can take me through it?)

piggy, you made me laugh. Not sure you and your colleagues are though. Am guessing it’s a bit like this in our place, maybe everywhere......

Ain't that the truth, Piggy
I am DREADING this term but eating bacon naan and drinking marmelade mimosas with mother is helping. For now, at least.

@Piggywaspushed Your post reminded me of the episode of ‘Friends’ ... ‘but that don’t know that we know that they know we know’

Oh MrsH. Ask her if she wants to adopt me.

Piggy what a nightmare. I’ve just remotely told the slt man who does timetabling to fuck off.

He was talking about beginning to look at time tabling for next year and discussing our needs with hods but apparently we had to be told to, “remember we can’t all have top sets or the biggest classroom”. Patronising tosser.

Mummy MrsHamlet will anyone who wants adopting. She bought me Lego to play with too 😂

saucery

He was talking about beginning to look at time tabling for next year and discussing our needs with hods but apparently we had to be told to, “remember we can’t all have top sets or the biggest classroom”

The ones who say that are the ones who did exactly that themselves, I find!

I have no words Piggy apart from just nodding in complete agreement and understanding in that. What has it come to!?!!

Our timetabler actually brags about never teaching on Friday afternoon!

@MrsHamlet

Our timetabler actually brags about never teaching on Friday afternoon!

Ours brags the exact opposite. In the 15 years I've been at the school he's only ever had a free on Friday afternoon once, and even then he apologised to the rest of the department who were teaching then and said he just couldn't work it out any other way. He is incredibly fair in the way he develops the timetable. He never has any classes lower than set 2 though. Lots of A Level, Maths and Further Maths, and a couple of set 1 or 2 lower down the school.

chocolate and saucery, . Hope that you're ok and that the next half term is a kind one for you.

Piggy, but also . My poor lovely boss is shaking her head at all of the bizarre and confusing messages from parents, SLT etc. I'm thinking if buying her a "WTAF" teacher stamp as an end of year gift.

I've just been for lunch at a lovely village pub, so nice to have a bit of normality. Found my Stats notes from last year so contemplating an afternoon nap instead of work 😴.

Yeah, I’m fine, Dreaming. Just jaded!
I have a relative who started a whole new career in her 50s, from volunteering 2 hours a week. Might look at what volunteering opportunities there are in the community depending on the Covid situation in a few months.
I don’t need to be tied to school hours from May when DS finishes. World’s my oyster, I suppose!