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.

I get the terrible dreads too. Not so bad if I have a free on a Monday. But nearly 30 years of teaching and I still get awful dreads, even if I like my classes.

Hospital staff get it too.

I've got the dreads about not having met any of the year 7s yet (I teach them all) which is daft because it was exactly the same last year and they/I were fine!

Rule That does sound very OTT with checking you all have the same thing in books. We do check the topics are being taught at the same ish time following the SOW, but the content isn't prescribed.

Research has helped get rid of some of the shite from teaching, especially edutainment. However it is making some lessons incredibly dry.

We now have to all teach the same texts at Ks3 and 4, following the same schemes of work. It's dull as fuck. Apparently it will improve outcomes.
Pointing out that the texts we're doing at GCSE get lower marks year on year across the board is just "sour grapes" apparently.
Not sure how I've convinced the board to publish the average marks for each question to prove my point - must be because I'm world class 😂

I wasn’t following the academic year for the last few years but used to get the dread at the end of any leave I booked. It was milder, but it was there. My recurrent dream involved being back at my old school for some obscure reason, not being given a timetable, not being able to find my classroom and not being able to log on to the system. And endless stairs. Pretty full on really!

Oh Mrs , I would proper sulk about that. Awful.

Weirdly I had more dread this year than last year. The awful dreams and the waking up at 3am thinking about reading support groups

@Piggywaspushed

Oh Mrs , I would proper sulk about that. Awful.

Yep. We're now teaching texts based on how long they are, Ffs.

Oh, that's a really sound reason...

I know! Good, innit!?

We're now teaching texts based on how long they are, Ffs.

Step forward Of Mice and Men

It's really weird as a maths teacher listening to English teachers complaining about being told they have to teach the same texts, while we have to teach fractions to Y7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.

Not allowed Of Mice and Men because of the bad words. It's way better to avoid discussing them, apparently.

I mind teaching the same texts less than I mind teaching the same texts because of their length.

We teach specific Shakespeare plays from 7-11 but can choose our own class novels from the ‘year bank’. A-level Lit texts were chosen by the HoD and doubt they’ll ever change.

Math teaching is a different world noble! I presume you can decide how to approach teaching it, though, if you want? Lots of schools now have proscribed SOW for English with exact questions to ask, vocabulary to learn and how to teach entire lesson. It is so deskilling for our trainees who have come from the local free school.

We do get the opposite a bit at our school where the HOD suddenly declares a change in text only a year after teaching a new one. We lack stability...

I presume you can decide how to approach teaching it, though, if you want?

It's becoming more common to have a department approach to topics so that you all teach in the same way. But there is flexibility within this. Some MATs have prescribed ppts etc for maths. No chance would I ever work somewhere like that.

My last school we all had to teach lessons in the same way regardless of dept. Remember ‘the hand’ I spoke about to remind me of the 5 part lesson? I left that year.

Research has helped get rid of some of the shite from teaching, especially edutainment. However it is making some lessons incredibly dry.

Yes, this is exactly it. I'd prefer to choose the research that suits my teaching - ie, to allow me to tweak, rather than feeling forced to do things a certain way. I've never been much for the entertainment side of things - don't like a dress up Roman day or whatever. Still - the stuff I'm having to do is super bloody dry, I'm boring myself. Especially in reading and writing teaching.

In the last year of year 6 SATs I taught ordinary children who got full marks in the writing papers. They were initially taught 'formulaic' stuff, but by Christmas were writing creatively using writing skills becuase they made for good reading, not because they used a subordinating conjunction or whatever. They didn't know what a subordinating conjunction was, and nor did I. Brilliant creative writers who also managed to tick the curriculum skills boxes.

Meh.

TBH, it's the 'meh' bit that worries me most. I wouldn't want someone teaching my child if they thought 'meh' about teaching. You know..

But you’re not meh about the kids and their results weren’t meh. You did right by them and the results were good. It was meh at prescribed bollocks. I definitely want teachers who care more about good useful learning than gove’s bloody tick boxes.

We’re meant to be rebels, teaching is all about subversion. I presume that doesn’t mix well with being slt though unless you find a lot of confidence

If you’re at the point of considering leaving or stepping down anyway why not take some risks and be assertive and do things your way?

Why not less softly softly with dickheads and more hey this isn’t good enough and you need to pull your finger out and do x, y and z or you’re not going to enjoy your appraisal one bit.

It sounds like you’re doing a hell of a lot of work, what about delegating?

Just brainstorming

If you’re at the point of considering leaving or stepping down anyway why not take some risks and be assertive and do things your way?

Yes, this is what I've decided to do - pretty much supported by my Head too. As she put it "I'm not worried about your teaching, you can do it however you like". But I'd still get pulled up on not having the same stuff in my books as someone else.

@AuntLydiasNewHairdo

Went for an outpatients appt this morning. Right inside the door I was asked if anyone I live with has covid/symptoms/been abroad in the last 20 days.

I will be really pissed off if I can’t go to any (socially distanced, fully masked) medical appointments because someone I live with has covid, but I’m just fine to teach maskless every day across the whole school!

Is it the case, I wonder that if DC/DH test positive, we just have ‘the option of’ taking a PCR or will work actually require a negative one before you’re allowed to return?

Sorry to hear you’ve not been well, Piggy-that really sucks. Sending

Sorry to hear you've been so unwell piggy I hope you start to feel better soon!

I always get start of term jitters. No idea why as I like my school. I had a dream last night that I woke up late on the INSET day. I still have 2 weeks of holiday left so it's only going to get worse 😂😂

Never matters how well planned I am, it's always the same!

A-level Lit texts were chosen by the HoD and doubt they’ll ever change.

Our English dept. loved Thomas Hardy. The kids, not so much.

Friends if mine’s child has come back from holiday and since tested positive. They are both double vaxxed and test and trace confirmed they don’t need to isolate at all….. despite living in same household. Obvs they are keeping separate, not sharing bathroom etc… but even so …