Sixty Seventh Republic - under temporary guardianship

[Hercisback]

In the absence of staff and her fabulous thread titles and witty openers here is a 67th thread. The broom cupboard is overflowing so time for another Republic. Hopefully we hear from staff soon.

Stolen from thread 66.
'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.'

It's not really that complicated but Doctor's seem to have zero training in it. In usual times you can go sit and hand them the information and follow the conversation through to the end result. Over the phone, with EAL GP who didn't even know oestrogen gel exists and who runs away claiming she'll call you back but doesn't... it gets complicted.

Thanks Mistress and Born.

I'm worried about switching to tablet form progesterone or mirena because in the past when I took mini pill it sent me crazy but I've tolerated it via patch really well. Don't want oestrogen via tablets because higher risk profile.

Gel just to top up the amount of oestrogen seems logical solution to me.

x post Rule thanks.

I love my Mirena. Periods are now just a bit of light spotting for 2 days a month.

I’m on it for contraception but if/when I need HRT I can just use some oestrogen gel. I’ll already have the progesterone via the Mirena

On an entirely different note, what do we notice about Nadim Zahawi's new team of advisers?

schoolsweek.co.uk/quarter-of-schools-surpass-dfe-contingency-thresholds-requiring-stricter-covid-measures/?fbclid=IwAR2EaNJ4RahgEgk6X24pLSoIHTsKoYrDbXDAWem_YjobQ9_1NDgOBNFZeHw

@noblegiraffe

On an entirely different note, what do we notice about Nadim Zahawi's new team of advisers?

Hmm, now let me see... No one who is likely to be troubled by menopause symptoms, that's for sure.

Hmm, now let me see...
No one who is likely to be troubled by menopause symptoms, that's for sure.

Exactly this! It’s really awful. And they are all so young, able bodied and white too.

And I have noticed most of them have never actually stayed physically in teaching for very long and some not even in state schools at all. How on earth can any of them advise on teacher retention?!

Not impressed with this Ed Sec at all, I have to say!

Also, Will Bickford Smith is listed as a non political role. Don't get your hopes up. He is a founder of Conservative Teachers...

Not impressed with this Ed Sec at all, I have to say!

I think we're all going to become less and less impressed.

One of the problems is that Gove, whilst hated by the profession, is seen as a successful Ed.Sec by the Tories because he did battle with the unions and "lazy teachers" to force through the change he wanted.

I can honestly see Zahawi taking the same approach and if what's been talked about now (scrapping directed time hours, extending the year, forcing all schools to be in a MAT, etc) is going to happen, I think we'll all be striking within 12 months, or at least trying to given that the Tories have made it significantly harder to take industrial action.

Zahawi's current narrative is that he is a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who has made good.

13luckyblackcats are you mainstream or specialist provision?
I'm in mainstream primary and work almost entirely with SEN. I don't always log every incident because if I did, I would spend all day logging incidents . But I'd say anything from 6 upwards, per child. From low-level (refusal to sit on carpet, lying on floor, screaming) to threatening other children with hitting, or hitting me. All in a day's work, and I have the bruises to show for it.

@noblegiraffe

On an entirely different note, what do we notice about Nadim Zahawi's new team of advisers?

Oh FFS.

Public health acknowledge that there is some kind of problem causing people to test pos on LFD but negative on PCR (great!):

mobile.twitter.com/kit_yates_maths/status/1445674420513636356?s=21&fbclid=IwAR1Qfgm1IVgE6-zwv6hYTlw1JzgVoAu_1V70h73jiK4WCiDs0KHzQ6uuA44

I was just coming here to post that Jan, but I’ll placemark instead.

Hi Rafa!

I use the gel and p tablets and they have been brilliant. My gp allows me to adjust the gel dose as necessary. The progesterone doesn't make me weird like the pill did. I had to change gp to get it though. My new gp is menopausal and gave it to me straight away. Old gp was an old bloke.

I have never ever felt this tired or weird and i speak as someone without a thyroid. I walked to the loo earlier and had a nap afterwards. My joints, head and eyeballs hurt and i've got weird blobby toes. I literally can't sit up without feeling exhausted.

Naturally, school have emailed me jobs to do. Fuck.off.

Sorry to hear all that phleb.

Sam freedman currently on R4

(For about a minute)

Any maths or science teachers fancy 3K?

The only new policy announcement in Boris Johnson's speech was a promise to introduce "a levelling up premium of up to £3,000 to send the best maths and science teachers to the places that need them most".

The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg says: "The idea behind the "'levelling up premium' is that people who want to be science teachers would be able to apply early on in their teaching career for extra cash, if they go and teach in an area where the Department for Education believes more science teachers are needed.

"It looks almost identical to a scheme that had already existed where people were able to apply for early payments of £5,000 to be maths teachers, and less in different subjects.

"So we are still awaiting complete clarity, but the suggestion is they are actually reintroducing something the Department for Education got rid of.

"But the government does say a new £60m will be spent on this”.

On another note BJ is going to ‘get social care done’. That doesn’t even make sense.

New teachers are also going to start on 30k.

Can I begin again, obviously doesn’t mean anything to teach for 22 years.

Maths teachers already get danger money for teaching in opportunity areas. One of my colleagues got £2k for moving to Sheffield (and a cheaper cost of living). So that’s already in place?

What happened to that National Teaching programme where teachers would be paid a fortune to move to Great Yarmouth? I think no one applied.

Teach First wanted teachers in disadvantaged areas to have 50% PPA.

Only science and maths then needed,eh? They cannot seem to see the link between literacy and every single subjects and life chance. When will they learn??

Ffs. If new teachers start on that it totally takes the piss out of the rest of us. Even ups 1 in the sticks isn't much bdtter than that.

On another note BJ is going to ‘get social care done’. That doesn’t even make sense

Well he got Brexit done How hard can social care be?

New teachers are also going to start on 30k

I’m in my second year, only on £27,000. To be fair starting teacher salaries are shit. But you are genuinely a better teacher after you’ve been doing the job for 5 years.

I think we need better salaries to recruit decent teachers. I saw some truly shit trainees when I was a trainee.

And improvements to workload and pupil behaviour to keep teachers.