Sixty-Eighth Republic - still under temporary guardianship…

[MrsHerculePoirot]

In the absence of staff and her fabulous thread titles and witty openers here is a 68th thread. The broom cupboard is overflowing so time for another Republic. Hopefully we hear from staff soon.

Stolen from previous threads…
'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.'

The day after i watched my partner teach which was useful . The trouble is I've not had a full time ta to be released to observe, no one has time or capacity to come and team teach. Everyone's up against it. Covid is making its way through the building, there's staff on LTS and everyone is in fire fighting mode. The reality of the after effects of covid is starting to hit. Throw in some behaviour, some emotionally very wobbly children and lots of safeguarding issues and it feels quite challenging.

Do you have your 10% ppa and your 10% nqt time?

I am @MrsHamlet , though it had been hit and miss.

@namechangedyetagain everyone struggles at points during their first year of teaching and that's without a pandemic. Just hang on in there. We can all tell that you are doing well just be the way you write when you post. It is bloody hard this year. The random gaps, the lack of stamina, the absence amongst children and staff. Try to go easy on yourself. Your school saw you warts and all when you trained and they gave you a job. They believe in you. You are good enough.

Scottish govt funding ventilation improvements for SMEs. Has anything been said about educational settings, Mistress, anyone?

Nothing that's got back to me Jan, I'll have a wee rummage today. I thought our ventilation system was the cold Scottish air billowing through the open windows!

Ugh, why am I such a pushover? Was about to climb into bed for an early night then remembered I'd promised to bake for the children in need bake sale tomorrow. Year 11s sucked me in with "we've heard you're an awesome baker miss..."

@RuleWithAWoodenFoot

Teachers without Covid are struggling to keep going - managing cover, setting work for cover and remote students and generally just starting to collapse.

Yep. So much for my easy week. Luckily we'd planned a stand alone week for anti bullying, so at least foundation subjects aren't getting fucked up as well.

We've got staff off and reports are due - SLT are getting annoyed at the gaps and HoDs are getting told to get them filled. So we're just making up data now to hide the fact we have so many staff off ill?

Oh blessyou Hobnob that is above and beyond.

We've got staff off and reports are due - SLT are getting annoyed at the gaps and HoDs are getting told to get them filled

Life continues as if there’s no Covid. Sigh, so many exhausted teachers.

The ICU consultant's wife has remarried the headteacher of a school that is perfect in every way. If you get what I mean

Possibly in the same MAT as the school where teachers rolled up their sleeves and served lunch then cleaned the toilets.

Just reading another article on ventilation. More comments about flushing the room by opening windows between classes (and then presumably closing most of them). I have seconds from one class leaving to the next arriving. I could do at at break but there's 5 mins gone already or my unpaid time. Primary teachers will very rarely have the room empty.
They keep trying to square the circle or having good ventilation and not being too cold, and I don't think you can. Well not when the ventilation only comes through opening windows.

No. It's back to measuring 10 degrees in my classroom again - and that's with a very mild and sunny November! December and January are going to be fun again.

You’re not wrong Mistress.

My union rep is bloody useless.
Changes to contract? Nothing from him. Constantly being used for cover because the school refuses to acknowledge ‘rarely cover’? Nada.
No heating? Of course, sweet FA.
I am tired, very cold and annoyed at already having been given cover for tomorrow.

Can you contact the area rep instead, Denby? You pay your subs to be supported!

Was about to say the same as noble!
Union reps hold very little ‘power’ and probably equally as worn down as it’s a thankless job with no additional time (am wishing already I didn’t agree to it back in September!)
You can phone you email your regional rep at any time and they definitely hold more clout. In fact, I’ve had to pass on 3 issues to my area one already and it’s only November!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4405224-Schools-told-by-the-DfE-to-buy-air-cleaning-units-to-reduce-covid-spread

NEU reporting that at this week’s routine DfE meeting they were informed that siblings now have to do daily lateral flows if a child is positive???

This is an interesting option going on in Switzerland:

twitter.com/andrew_croxford/status/1461307663141244936?s=20

No sign of CO2 monitors our primary, so thanks for the empty promise Boris

"The UK Health Security Agency has published its weekly COVID-19 surveillance report.
It found case rates in England are currently highest amongst children aged between five and nine years old.
According to the report, there have been around 700 confirmed cases per 100,000 children in that age category"

We've got the CO2 monitors but no-one uses them as they immediately register into the danger area, so what's the point? The windows and doors are open, the only way we can get them to go out of the red is not to have anyone in the room! Umm,

Anyone like to share some suitably Thrive-ish behaviour management strategies? I'm doing a lot of cover in various classes KS2 and I'm meeting the same issues with the same boys. Refusal to stop the low-level stuff, rudeness, defiance. I don't want to let it go as it's affecting the rest of the class, but our behaviour policy is pretty spineless. Give a warning, allow thinking time, restorative conversation, brain break in another class, etc. Just doesn't cut the mustard with these rude boys. Today I stood by the classroom door and said "Out" pointing to the practical area but this is a child who likes attention for any reason. He's too disruptive to ignore and the behaviour isn't low level enough to ignore anyway.
?????

[quote RuleWithAWoodenFoot]This is an interesting option going on in Switzerland:

twitter.com/andrew_croxford/status/1461307663141244936?s=20[/quote]
That’s fascinating and so sensible!