The Sixty-Sixth Republic - Who will be the medal winners on Results Day? Grade inflation predicted again

[Staffholidayclubrep]

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.

Where are all these schools that can fit all pupils outside? My kids go to a one form entry primary but even they could fit all classes on the field!

I mean it's hugely impractical and they know it. It just actually sounds silly. It's a non starter at secondary except for PE and agriculture, and the occasional one off lesson in some other subjects- and the changing rooms will still be an issue there.

Good grief. It's not just cold that makes outdoor lessons impractical. Where am I plugging my computer in? Since we've been made to put everything in a power point, I'd have to rewrite the lot or do swathes of photocopying... still, no need for the government to pay for any improved ventilation.

How are you doing Piggs?

Much better , thanks. Went out yesterday and everything!!

Still no sense of smell

Glad you're a bit better, Piggy.

The cold is actually the least of the issues for teaching outside. Many, many times last year, with windows open all day, it was colder inside our classrooms than outside. Think 9 inside and 11-12 outside. This was true for half of our school - the north facing half - on sunny winter days.

The main issue, on top of resources, seating, no board, is that behaviour goes to shit.

We could fit our entire school outside as we are blessed with loads of playground and field space. Unfortunately, many of our pupils are made of sugar - they must be, considering the complaints we get if they get even slightly wet
Reception and Yr1 do get a lot of time outside, joking apart. Covered area is still parky in winter though!

If we put all our classrooms outside, we'd have to move the kids round the site through the "classrooms". That would be fun.

Given the proportion of parents who send their kids to schoool not appropriately dressed for the weather and then complain, I don’t see this taking off. And i don’t see it being the unions acting that makes it stop.

Well yes, exactly. It's bluster and bullshit.

Glad you are starting to feel a bit better piggy

The update to the so called guidance is just laughable quite frankly. We couldn't fit all kids outside anyway, despite actually having a large site, as we have a lot of pupils.

It may seem like a nice idea in summer but I doubt any one would be up for it on a dark, wet and windy November day

The complaints we had last year when we were keeping windows open were bad enough

My gym went mostly outside for a few months and so did my choir (both using open sided marquees, with proper floors and mats or chairs as appropriate). The main problems were hearing the instructor/director, wind, rain blowing in, insects, a lot of noise in the case of the gym classes (from car park, other classes) and lack of a mains power supply for the keyboard in the case of the choir. That was with a bunch of motivated adults and large suburban premises, plus the organisers were free to buy or hire the equipment they needed.

My school is in the middle of a large city with almost no outside space.

It is a ridiculous suggestion.

@Phineyj Where is your ‘can do’ attitude? Tsk, tsk!

Anyone following the Boardmasters festival covid situation? Schools are about to be carnage again. Really not sure I can face it.

Glad you’re feeling better, Piggy and sorry about your loss of sense of smell/taste, which seems to be more and more common. My family are prone to this even before Covid. It affected my mum and grandparents after other viruses and my sibling after Covid. The key tip (from hospital consultant pre Covid - because they checked for polyps back then) is to take lots of vitamins and train your taste buds by tasting the strongest and ‘unusual’ foods. The strongest, smelliest cheese helped my mum a bit even if it made the fridge stink! I think the earlier you do it, the better.

My classes stopped asking if they could close the windows and doors (and I’m lucky enough to have lots! ). I was very reasonable about uniform though and told them they could wear coats, fleeces, scarves or whatever just as long as they could write. I felt a bit sorry for them in rooms where windows were ventilated but they were told they couldn’t wear non-uniform items or hats.

It’s all very well having the odd story outside under a tree at the end of a long hot day or doing scheduled forest school/den building type activities (which is normally only half the class and had extra staff anyway!) but teaching maths/English/phonics/IT etc outside for any length of time in uniform in the rain, just won’t work! The first school type activities is some explanation and then lots of the kids getting on and doing. Teaching multiple outside lessons would be hell on the voice.

This is interesting as well re boosters-I’m presuming it won’t be teachers.

Teaching outside would be extra fun if Ofsted call....

Thanks bustopher : have been manically smelling pongy soaps and vinegar!

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

Anyone following the Boardmasters festival covid situation? Schools are about to be carnage again. Really not sure I can face it.

Nearly everyone on a sixth form thread I am on has had a DC come back with a positive test...

I’m assuming it was an outdoor festival?

Yup! With LOTS of covid rules re testing etc.

The toilets were apparently disgusting though...

At the end of the day all the snogging and drink sharing and tent sharing will have done it.

Well that’s ok then because there’s no snogging, drink sharing or disgusting toilets in schools.

@noblegiraffe

Well that’s ok then because there’s no snogging, drink sharing or disgusting toilets in schools.

Ahhh, this has made me proud this morning! A boy I used to work with is standing up to the Tin Hats on a local FB page. They have swooped onto an information post about vaccinations for 16+ in the local area with the usual antivaxxer bollocks and he’s waded in to tell them they are wrong and that he will be getting it. He had a really bad start in life, but obviously gained some critical thinking skills along the way. Good on him!

What you doing here on MN, @noble? Haven't you got anything better to be doing today?