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.

Edutwitter can be wonderful, but it really shows in the holidays the people who have nothing better to do.

@Hercisback

Edutwitter can be wonderful, but it really shows in the holidays the people who have nothing better to do.

A colleague got into a lot of trouble last term for something they'd inadvisedly posted on social media.

This just made me proper LOL. Teaching improved because you have a monito! The monitors will make us stop whinging and get on with our jobs? We'll do more catch up if our Co2 is fine??

Education secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Providing all schools with CO2 monitors will help them make sure they have the right balance of measures in place, minimising any potential disruption to education and allowing them to focus on world class lessons and catch up for the children who need it.”

ps , for those who don't know, I was in hospital again... gastro enteritis but had to go on to covid wards. Not great. Worst bit though was 11 1/2 hours sat on various hard chairs in A and E.

Bloody hell, piggy, that sounds grim
Do you think it was the after effects of Covid having another go at your digestive system? Or it’s just thrown everything out of whack and made you more susceptible?

Either or both. I am a person who is prone to sickness anyway and am in a state of high health anxiety so that doesn't help. The official diagnosis on my discharge says covid gastro enteritis.

Of course because I was in hospital they PCRd me.... so no T and T want another 10 days!!

Oh, and my bloods still seem to show anaemia....

Of course because I was in hospital they PCRd me.... so no T and T want another 10 days!!
Oh ffs!

Yes, I am ignoring their texts and assume they will phone me later... I have no doubt bureaucracy will tell them I am a 'new' case. From past experience with my DS , if you ask to speak to a supervisor they never call back.

allowing them to focus on world class lessons

Dear God, these people are programmed to spout garbage every time they open their mouths.

Piggy, that sounds awful. I hope things start to improve soon.
My friend who has now been ill for over a month says it’s messed up his whole system. He had bad D&V too, heart rate is very fast, and he’s having his thyroid investigated. He thinks he’ll be off work for months.

Oh @Piggywaspushed you poor thing, hope you feel better soon x

Been having a bit of a teaching hiatus in the hols trying to have a real break from all things school after last year. Am just starting to get back into things now.

Am definitely glad I've paid no attention to what Gav had been wiffling on about!

Agree about Twitter. I've hardly used it in the hols (again, break!) but from when I have been on at 3am settling the puppy it's madness.

Oh, Piggy, that sounds really rough. Sorry to hear that. I know you have pre-existing gastro issues but it definitely can be Covid related/triggered. A colleague was very poorly last summer with the same.

The description of the colleague who writes about beer and then schools sounds just liek a bloke at my school who is desperately trying to join the echelons of the EduTwitterati.

I have a dept Twitter account. Never post stuff about myself! Occasionally reply to Tweets from others but nothing controversial. I have noticed that one of the well known navel gazing ones only ever acknowledges replies from people (usually male) he knows, even when he asks a direct question to his followers.

Thanks dangling. Now having to SI again... but managed to talk her down to the 26th.

Piggy, don’t go back to school until you feel well. Resting is crucial for anything Covid related (if it is). I hope you are feeling better though.

World class lessons in 3rd world conditions? Yes we are magical.

Agree about not returning to school till you’re truly fighting fit piggy.

Yes, bustopher , we don't start back til 2nd but I may see if I can take those two days off (one is a training day) if I still feel unwell. Emailing Dep head tomorrow.

Piggy that sounds terrible :( make sure you take all the time you need.

Hope you feel better soon @Piggywaspushed. Definitely take your time going back.

Bloody hell Piggy, that sounds awful. What a crappy 'break'.

Regarding my dread issues. I thought quite hard about it on the way home from Cornwall last night. I'm going to sound like Colin in the staff room I'm afraid..

I've had enough of changing edu-wisdom and CPD and the expectation that we should be reading research, or changing everything all the time. I think my school has gone overboard on this stuff. Especially over the last year.

If I hear anything else about cognitive load, or Rosenshine, I might scream.

I was a better teacher of English and maths 10 years ago than I am now. The grammar stuff is dull as shit for year 3 children (and I'm sure for all children, just focusing on my year group), there is no need to teach it apart from to pass tests. Because I have the English lead in my phase, I have to jump through all the hoops with planning and resourcing the dull stuff. Same with maths - white rose YAWN. I want to teach cross curricular - not discrete subjects.

So, it's partly my school that's the issue, and partly all the general stuff go in on in teaching - I just don't see the value in half of it. Especially when it adds so heavily to my workload.

I mentioned this at my PM at the end of term. The head suggested that we dont all need to be follpwing the same planning, or using the same notebooks or whatever. But that means I'd have to plan for my team according to all this bollocks, then do known thing. Why double load myself? And also, they do book scrutiny where all 4 if us have to have exactly the same in the books.

I think it's new job time, back to 1 form entry. As a starter. While I'm looking for a job, which will be loads less money than I'm on now, I'll start organising properly for being part time after Xmas.

That does sound like they are particularly prescriptive about teaching in a way that would drive me mad too. I suppose there's a lot of shared planning at primary which means agreed structures, but checking you've all got the same in your books instead of allowing you to go off-piste implies a lack of trust.

Sorry you've had such a shit holiday, piggy and you're having to isolate again. Definitely don't go back till you're properly well.

Checking they’ve all got exactly the same in their books is madness. And unnecessary.