The Fifty-Eight Republic - Do no masks mean that Sports Day will take place?

[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

Yy ... we had a year 10 (one lovely, quiet girl, one!) test positive today : symptoms on Saturday . This has led to 71 students having to SI. She does not have 70 friends.

All the same that sounds a lot piggy - does she use the school bus? Wondering if PH are wanting wider range of contacts isolating than “sat next to” etc, have heard a hint of this on Parents Utd.

No I mean the books were probably bought in the 20th century! Large walk in cupboards lend themselves to hoarding

Ah! Get you now. Can’t really cope with C20th being used as a derogatory adjective!

It is a lot, yes jan. Normally it is more like 30. I think it is because she had symptoms on Saturday so they had to go back to Weds or something ,so three days worth of lessons. Plus there is form time, friendship groups.

She walks to school.

@TheHoneyBadger

I am broken. Just left school after spending 2 hours clearing cupboards and lugging and boxing sets of textbooks from the 20th century onwards. Building works and tight deadline for clearing anything we don't want to be binned.

We technically have two males in our department but they're never around when it comes to any work. They are SLT obviously.

Did you find your missing text books? Or was that someone else.

I’ve got my lugging stuff around day planned for Friday. Woo hoo.

Not really looking forward to it but it needs doing.

So very tired, I read the “behaviour” thread. For me the kids behaviour just feels like it’s continually going downhill. Even my usually perfect Year 8 classes are been tricky recently.
Year 11 are an absolute nightmare.

Year 8 are a nightmare. They're a mixture of still really babyish and really (inappropriately) grown up.

Year 8 are a nightmare. One term of normal secondary school wasn't long enough to knock them into shape. They've come back thinking they're better than they are, with an added dose of immaturity. They're our worst behaved year group.

Year 9 seem oddly mature in comparison which is never usually true.

I just want study leave. Can't understand why we don't have it.
Booked a holiday (U.K.) today and now worrying we will need to isolate etc and miss it. Really expensive for a holiday cottage. Can you get insurance against covid/SI?

Year 8 are a nightmare. They're a mixture of still really babyish and really (inappropriately) grown up

They were brilliant, now they aren’t sobs

Year 9 are improving, but they just want to have an argument about everything.

Don’t even get me started on Year 7s.

It’s currently my Year 7s I am struggling most with but to be fair, one form is just wonderful and the three other forms I teach just Won’t. Stop. Talking.
I genuinely cannot even give them a second between me talking and them starting a task before they delve into loud conversations- makes trying to check if they understand the task bloody difficult.
I’ve resorted to primary school ‘team points’ style bribery for merits but even then, I have never met such a generally entitled group of year 7s and I am convinced it is because they are mainly only in their form rooms so feel that they own any space they are in (I do see them in a computer room now finally so not completely that) and they have not met older year groups due to staggered lunches and not walking with them between lessons. They will get a shock in September.

I wonder long term what will happen with the current year 7s and 8s? I mean, they haven't had the 'character building' years of secondary school to knock the cocky out of them. Year 7 and 8 wrecked a large chunk of my life! Some of that would have been to coming into contact with just too many people, girl issues with other tutor groups and so on. If I hadn't had that, who knows!

So, with various schools starting to relax a little re bubbles, at least for specific important events or vital lessons, can I refer back to my (ahem, modesty called for here.... but what the heck....) widely acclaimed Y7 behaviour management programme, involving all older students lining up either side of a playground? If you recall, Y7s then have to make a dash through the middle, whilst being heckled and probably assaulted with contents of lunch boxes/ unwanted items from the canteen. Best if the Y7s are trying to find the Maths block and have been threatened with multiple detentions if they’re late for lessons.

That’ll knock the stuffing out of ‘em.

I’d love to see that with some of the Year 10s. Utterly lovely boys, but they are absolutely massive.

Oh god I've stuffed up totally.
I definitely should have applied for those jobs back in March/April. Dammit. Now I'm stuck for god only knows how long with a lame duck situation.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrggghhh. Rant rant rant.

Email our Head of Y7 tomorrow, cc Pastoral.

There’ll be a Wispa in my pigeonhole before you can say “Catch Up budget preserved and Gav will be proud of our discipline strategy”

Has anyone seen Gav recently? I did read something about Boris considering a reshuffle the other day

I have some giants in year10. One guy can reach up and turn the projector on for me without getting off of his stool

No the textbooks I was looking for last week weren't in any of the cupboards and rooms we cleared today. They mysteriously 'turned up' after I emailed all department staff about them.

I know they didn't turn up from me or the women I work with as we'd all been looking for them at various points and puzzling over where they could have gone. I included the, technically in our department but rarely seen let alone joining in with lugging books about, slt males in the email and then the books reappeared.

Behaviour is mostly fine in all the groups I lead but bit crap in a couple of the groups that I just see for one lesson a fortnight. Had to give a year 8 girl a bollocking today for repeated rudeness which she was denying and arguing back against till I went done the, 'so if I called your Mum now and asked have you taught X that answering back is rude what would she say? If I asked her if she'd taught you if rolling your eyes and pulling faces was rude what would she say? etc.

I'm starting to get a nose for which kids are way more scared of mum than they are of teachers and slt.

Sorry that was terribly written. Over tired.

Dr Deepti was on my local news tonight jan. Data guys would have melted down!

I just gave my dog a chilli after he kept scrounging and scrounging. He is mexican but apparently doesn't like it hot. He amused me by trying to eat it several times before learning his lesson though. I may be evil but it cheered me up.

Did you know there’s new govt guidance for your area piggy??
www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-coronavirus-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do?fbclid=IwAR1E2wLCEyb4eILgyrLB_TZab-cxbf5cmpUgBPZYBstEsbnTZNecI0r9cr8#if-youre-in-an-area-where-the-new-covid-19-variant-is-spreading

The guidance is the same as for everywhere though when you actually read it. No extra restrictions or anything.

Selfishly I'm hoping it doesn't border hop from your shire to our shire Piggy. Is ds still at school?

Yes, DS is but he is sitting in near empty classrooms....

Yes it doesn’t actually state anything new, I t’s just the govt trying to look like they’re doing the right thing.... but interesting that’s it’s been issued.

Yes I know what you mean about it jumping shires honey but remember it’s already been found in Towcester (primary school).