The Fifty Ninth Republic - May Half Term beckons

[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 for school staff to let off steam.

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. Finally, upload your covid test results twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Marking book work has made no difference to progress this year. I hope SLT realise. We previously had to tick and flick to "tick their boxes".

I have NO MARKING left to go. Since the end of April I have either marked of moderated just over 350 assignments. I am done... until next term.

I left the premises at 20 to 4 today! INSET tomorrow on report writing, but we can work from home. My otherwise lovely class were high as flipping kites this afternoon. Tried to wear them out with a particularly energetic PE lesson on the field, but it didn't work.
Going to drink gin tonight as if it were Friday.

Envious of your INSET Ange.

I’ve spent this week thinking it’s a day ahead so in my mind today is Friday. It should be Friday and it’s unacceptable that it’s still only Thursday.

Oh god I think it might be a non-uniform day tomorrow.

Another person with an inset here, am so glad to have that day without the children. We all need a break from each other.

@noblegiraffe

Envious of your INSET Ange.

I’ve spent this week thinking it’s a day ahead so in my mind today is Friday. It should be Friday and it’s unacceptable that it’s still only Thursday.

Oh god I think it might be a non-uniform day tomorrow.

Me too. I even got as far as filling in Friday's register this morning. I was gutted to discover it's still Thursday.

Meeting tomorrow to decide on the grades for year 13, then year 11 and 13 leave at lunchtime.

We've got report writing inset on the first Monday back after half term.

I'm envious of the inset given over to report writing. We have inset tomorrow, with an actual trainer coming to deliver for the morning but only to the SMT, which I am. Everyone else gets classroom time, but we have training instead 're the school dev plan etc.
We have been promised a half day of training and an early finish though, which is good as I'm then
packing the car up fri night and taking dd2 down south for the week. Dd1 is catching a train to join us there.

Could so do with an INSET for report writing as we have a deadline for Years 7 to 9 written reports second week back after half term and I teach 9 classes of 30+

But I am grateful they are going to give us an INSET day ( swapped from one back in Jan) to do the final paperwork/admin for the TAGs in June. We’ve started already treasury tagging all the exams together to make our ‘buckets’ and been moderating all week so hopefully, we’ll just be in a position to record all the grade descriptor evidence and double/triple check the data.

One more day. Oh the sweetness that it’s end of half term tomorrow and the sun might be shining!

Hello all! One more day to go. I am envious of those of you with INSET days tomorrow, but we do have one on the first day of the new term, ostensibly for reports but I plan to blitz the classroom and do some lovely new displays instead (sorry, Piggy and other haters!) as I've finished reports as far as I can.

I wish we were going away for half term!

God I am so jealous of inset people!! One of my kids is off tomorrow, so unfair 🤣

I have a full teaching day and duties. Yuck.

I need to be part time. I'm going to see if I can spend the next 6 months living on a salary of 0.8, while still contributing the same to our family funds.

Everyone else at my level in my school is 0.8, so can't see it being an issue. Maybe.

Very jealous of inset people too! Reports done over here though, now just got 54/72 medium term plans left to write for the subjects that I lead, thanks to our curriculum redesign.

On the plus side, am jabbed. Should have worn tighter clothes though, as had to reiterate several times that I am actually pregnant so please only give me the jab I’m allowed.

44 sodding mile round trip too. My sister is getting hers next week, a week before her due date, and will have a 68 mile round trip for hers!

This Oak Academy story seems outrageous schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-oak-bosses-bid-for-41m-payday/

I don't quite understand what's going on though. Nationalising it wasn't well-received. But they say they want to keep it free? How would that work? Advertising?

By running it as a charitable trust by the look of it. But one they haven't sourced funding for yet. And presumably if they don't find the funding, then it just dies.

That article is a bit disjointed and all over the place though.

I hope Oak keeps going. As an NQT I’ve found it so useful for CPD.

Just unlurking to wish everybody a lovely break - especially to those who have had plans spoiled. I love reading your chat and the on going spirit of camaraderie: long may it last!

I hope it keeps going. It isn’t perfect and isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it does have it’s uses.

The question is whether it is going to have enough uses to make the cost of running it the way they want to worthwhile.

That sounds very concerning re Oak and money.....

This article was below it in Schoolsweek, interesting details about what’s happened at various schools which have partially or fully closed in the last week. For which they have to have DfE permission:

schoolsweek.co.uk/covid-schools-close-sites-after-surge-in-indian-variant/

Oak is tricky because it will cost money to run/maintain. Leaving the resources as they are costs, nevermind any ongoing stuff. But I don't understand enough about it to know if they're trying to unfairly gain, or acting in a socially responsible fashion.

Absolutely LOADS of year 12 and 10 off today. A couple of cases have given the all the jitters and I reckon they are staying at home today so that they don't get a call to SI over half term...

We are talking 5% attendance in some classes where there have been a few contacts.

Don’t blame them in the slightest.

They should be closing year groups where there are cases of the Indian variant not sticking to the old crappy ineffective process.

Yeah, I'll be gutted if DS gets a call today. he ahs somehow managed to lurch through this half term unscathed. I's like 'Lost' at his school.

My school is slight parental over reaction because it is far fewer cases than we had when year 12 were all sent home. Two in one year groups, and one in the other!

Our year 11 year team have been phoning SI students today to try to sort out catch up online assessments. A fair few weren't in...

@MrsDanvers123

Just unlurking to wish everybody a lovely break - especially to those who have had plans spoiled. I love reading your chat and the on going spirit of camaraderie: long may it last!

And you too, MrsDanvers!

I'm home now, going to change into comfy clothes and mark my y8 tests. Ds has a friend visiting after school, he's very excited .

Happy half term everyone!

I’m racing home, collecting the kids and then we’re off camping. By 6pm I should be sitting overlooking the Malvern Hills with a chilled glass of wine!