The Sixty Third Republic - as we glide into staycations the DfE whip up anti-school media storm

[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.

We were able to do ours because we have quite a lot of floating staff and large grounds with a number of entry/exit points. So we had a 45 minute slot for each year group (2x form entry), and instead of there being a gap between each year group's races to wait for other years to do theirs, we did the whole lot kerbam one after the other. The parents were corralled into taped-off pens the other side of the track (max 30 per pen). They came in one gate and left through another before the next lot arrived.

But I think we're one of the very few schools locally that have done this. I've heard of only 3 in the district. But we are very sporty as a school, so the HT was determined to make it happen. And as I said before, the feedback from parents has been lovely - they are all messaging in their thanks and appreciation. It's turned out to be quite an easy vote-winner actually - until the ensuing infection rates soar, at which point we might become Public Enemy no.1

I really hate Gavin.

Wasn’t there talk of his wife being a teacher or a TA? I wonder if her colleagues all hate him, too.

Or maybe she’s an ex-teacher who doesn’t work any more? Maybe she left and they both just hate teachers-that would make more sense!

She is an ex teacher and, get thus, his brother is one too...

Hmm. Wonder why she left.
Mind you, we've all met a particular some teachers here on MN who probably love him.

@Piggywaspushed

She is an ex teacher and, get thus, his brother is one too...

Really-is that properly true?! Is his brother a current teacher or ex? State?

Allegedly she is now a TA

Interesting. I wonder how conversations about government education policy go in that staff room!

Which means she probably is employed by his office, like most of these families seem to be, and listens to readers in the local primary year 1 class.

I'm genuinely not sure how I'm going to get through the next 2 weeks. Have eaten so much chocolate today it's obscene. Sure sign of being on the edge. A colleague went off to look after her isolating child and I nearly cried with envy. This was what lost me my non contact time, which definitely made me go to the toilets for a head in hands moment.

Rule, That sounds simply intolerable. How did you not hand in your notice earlier this term?

££ to finish a house renovation. I am about 75% going to resign for Xmas. If I can go part time at that point, I'll finish the year. Plan is to take a year off from teaching to see what else I can find. Not a year off, just off from teaching.

Nightmare Rule. I've got an awful feeling I'm going to get landed with a load of stuff because colleague has gone off sick again. Already being asked to write her reports for her when I'm drowning in my own work and Friday she is meant to do a whole day pastoral event with her class which I'm expecting to get saddled with when I was hoping to use the time to whizz round the school catching up with kids who I won't get to see before end of term because there's an early finish on the last day and they haven't had assessment feedback.

I'm sick of unreasonable requests but even if I say no I get forced to do them.

I'm so sorry you lost your non contact time.

Honey can you agree to do it but get laid a days work for it? If you think you’re going to end up doing it anyway? That’s is what I’d do as a part timer if I felt I wasn’t able to say no. It goes hand in hand with my “yes of course! Let me know what you’d like me to not do or pass to someone else in order to do that….”

I dont like sports day. But having gone to watch i did realise that dc didnt do the long race and noone noticed.
Having been to pick up dc from after school sports ive also spotted dc crawling about on the pitch.

Iwonder how lack of mitigation in children will aftect the clubs etc. I mean even with vax that too will have cv or cev people and its businesses. So not tied to gov. Tbh if i were a business i would do something so i only had adults as they are likely vaxxed.

Surely if it's in your hosehold that should be an exception and vaxxed and kids should isolate.

Apparently not @HSHorror

Morning all. Slept from 8 - 5.20 and still feel like I could climb back into bed and sleep the day away.

Break up next Friday and just a ball of anxiety - no timetable yet, no idea about our school day, classrooms etc, plus the added stress whether DH, the DCs or I will be asked to isolate. We go away next Sat.

Right moan over. Best get the DCs breakfast.

I think I don't have GCSE next year. Have had a class taken away and bits and bobs of year 9 added I suspect. My timetable is shit; I end up with lots of bits of different classes. Does everyone else have loads of split classes?

And I am still not getting the allocation I was promised when I changed roles several years ago. I teach about 5 more lessons than agreed...

At KS3 we do to try and keep GCSE classes to one teacher who will have them solely and see them through. A level always 2 teachers but that’s for specialism of units.

piggy We do our utmost to avoid splits.

We have a very controversial TT with a new member of staff being given key groups despite HOD never having seen them teach and coming from a school with worse results than ours. HOD and Head not happy with each other!

@Piggywaspushed That sucks. I’m sorry. I would offer the usual ‘be to the Union?’ but we know this shit happens and we’re powerless to it.

Break up next Friday and just a ball of anxiety - no timetable yet, no idea about our school day, classrooms etc, plus the added stress whether DH, the DCs or I will be asked to isolate. We go away next Sat

Me too mother

Can’t wait for next Friday, so busy, so sick of covering other teachers (not their fault they are off) so tired.

Cover is out of control at mo. Yesterday I had a PE cover. Tbf they played bench all lesson and I sat and watched but It’s not like I could get on with anything in the sports hall.

My union is an idea since my HOF seems powerless.

HOF keeps telling me every school in the universe has split groups. I know this isn't true (it's not even true within the school!). It ahas been brought about by an uncontrolled rise in people going part time (sorry part timers!) combined with an increase in hours taught at GCSE and some incompetent timetabling. When we had 5/6 hours a fortnight this didn't happen nearly as much.

I've got two split ks3 classes - one is shared with an absolute slacker. I've got more teaching in my load than ever, and more responsibility.
Gah.