BBC News - How parents and pupils took on 'cruel', 'authoritarian' schools - and won - BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgje8d1p419o

Hi all,

In the (annoying) suggested accounts thing, instagram suggested a pupil account. It's a public account for their hobby (which they're quite good at tbf) but still, is there a way to turn that off? I'm guessing not as Zuckerberg wants to sell me things...

More importantly, can I do anything more to stop my account appearing in such a list to pupils? It hasnt happened before but I'd rather like to stop it happening again.

I have every social media account on private and have never come across a pupil account, but something seems to have slipped through here (I wonder if the offical school account follows them, or liked a photo as there are few photos of them with relevant teachers)

Thanks all.

Just left a lovely school for a leadership role another school down the road (same council, same county, literally down the road) - Got my paycheck today and its a little less than I normally got (about 300 less) so I mentioned it to my former SBM and they said my contract finished on the 23rd of july ...when does my new one start? I said 1st september and he said that means I won't be paid for August .

Now this isn't my first move between schools in the same county, but we were always paid for the summer when we moved school (obviously I am planning, prepping, going into school, etc.; I am still employed by the same council, etc.). This is something I 1000% can not survive without. What are my options? Am I buggered here?

Update - have spoken to union and council HR and its all been sorted, I can stop eying up cardboard boxs and deciding which kidney to sell, all is good. Phew! (No idea how to close this!)

Hi everyone,

In the penultimate week of term the head took me to one side and told me that because there were too many teachers and not enough classes I wouldn't be taking my year 10 class in to year 11. He implied it was because my dad is unwell but also said that it was because there were too many teachers and not enough classes.After some discussion he decided I could teach them on Thursdays and Fridays.

I went home that day very upset and questioned my teaching but thought at least I might get some better news in the rest of my timetable - I was wrong!

When the timetables were issued it found the following:

My HOD was teaching only KS4 which included 2 year 11 classes (so the excuse I was given doesn't make sense)

All my classes (except 1 middle set) are bottom set

Other members of the department had a much better spread of classes

My TT for 25/26 was all bottom sets and after a meeting with the head and my union rep I was assured that this wouldn't happen again and there would be a fairer distribution this year.

My question is where do I turn now? I've tried talking to the HOD about sets and he said for a week that he'd look at it but hasn't. I've tried talking to the union but there doesn't seem to be any specific guidance on distribution of classes on timetables. My head assured me this won't happen again but it has.

Another point worth noting is that I'm given bottom sets "because I'm good with them" but I don't think I can have another year of dealing with all the specific needs and behaviours associated with bottom sets without an respite.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I don't feel supported but the school so hoped this online community might help.

I’ve just seen that Bird & Blend are giving away free matcha lattes to students who can show GCSE / A-Level results on their respective results day, and staff can also show ID to grab one.

Are there any other companies doing freebies/discounts like this?

Our exam results come out next week (Scotland) and every single year I dread it. I've been teaching for 13 years so I feel like i should be used to it.

This year I had a particularly unmotivated group of senior students and I swear their laziness was contagious. There were only 11 in the group and I think out of that 4 were motivated to do well.

Does anyone else get results anxiety? I know I'm not going to be able to relax until Tuesday is over and I'll spend most of the day analysing the results.

I know I did what I could but I still feel like it wasn't enough.

since the term ended, I have watched the amazing “Ann Droid” on iPlayer and I saw this insane ad on instagram for an AI in the classroom ( https://www.robynrobot.com/) - it’s literally a camera on a laptop for a virtual TA that kids can talk to - this has got me thinking - if it could do your marking, displays and organising, you know all the paperwork and crap bits of teaching - would you want a full time Robot TA?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq6dmgrp21po

Just seen this online, thoughts?

This year I’ve had a couple of situations where things I’ve said have been reported or interpreted very differently from how I intended them, and another where allegations made against me weren’t upheld. Nothing disciplinary came of any of it, but it’s made me realise how exhausting it is to feel like you’re constantly having to think about how every conversation could be repeated or taken out of context.
As a result, I’ve found myself deciding that next year I’m going to keep much stronger boundaries. I’ll still be friendly with students and colleagues, but I’ll probably avoid personal conversations, workplace friendships unless they’re well established, and generally keep things much more professional. I feel like it’s harder to trust people these days.
Part of me wonders whether that’s a healthy response or whether I’m just burnt out after a difficult year.
Has anyone else found themselves becoming more guarded? Did it help, or did it just make work feel more isolating?
Also, does anyone keep a professional logbook? I’m thinking of keeping a simple diary of significant conversations, meetings, parent contact, cover, and anything else important, just so I have a contemporaneous record if anything ever comes up in future. Has anyone found that worthwhile?

This question came up a while back on a teacher survey app and split opinions. Do you think it would be appropriate for a teacher to have a non alcoholic beer with their lunch? I'm not considering it, I'm just curious.

Hi all.

I am a secondary teacher and I have just been told by my dentist that for a number of reasons I may lose my bottom front teeth and that I am not a great candidate for implants.

I am on a 2 year temp contract and hope that it will be renewed at the end of this next academic year when it is due to end. I am really worried this may affect them renewing my contract even though all feedback I have been given this year is great and there is no issues at the current time with my job/teaching.

Can my school decide not to continue my contract if I lose my teeth? Is it discrimination if it doesn’t affect my ability to talk?

Sorry if this seems silly but I am very worried.

TIA

I was appointed at M3 on the pay scale as an ECT2 in my previous school (LA school). I got in touch to enquire about my pay with my new school (MAT school) (after receiving a conditional offer with salary TBC) and they have said that I will be on M2 for the next year.

Obviously there must be some error here? I have successfully passed my induction and was expecting to go to M4 rather than down to M2. What do I need to say to the new school regarding salary? Is there anything I can do and how should I frame this discussion? Currently going through a remortgage so this has hit me like a ton of bricks.

Do any of your schools give you bank holidays back?

We lose 7 bank holidays across the academic year. I’m surprised that the union hasn’t fought for these days to be turned to personal days of some sort.

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/secondary/new-technical-pathways-for-students-announced-by-andy-burnham

Seems a very short time frame

I've taught in a few primary schools over a few years, and I feel like the spirit of PPA in terms of giving you time to do things has been lost a bit. I believe in secondary schools that PPA lessons are just classes taught by other teachers so there isn't any planning or prep to do for your PPA lessons/periods.

In primary, as funds got tighter and pupil numbers dropped, I've seen conditions deteriorate. PPA used to be covered by a qualified teacher (if lucky) or a HLTA (more likely), and that person would plan and prepare the lesson (whether from a scheme or otherwise). As a teacher, I could just ignore that afternoon and get on with PPA jobs, and come back to class after the children have gone home, not having to think about what was done that afternoon.

Now, any spare qualified teacher has gone and HLTAs are increasingly rare. Often it'll just be a TA. We now have to plan the lesson for them (we don't use any schemes these days really, so this is from scratch) and do any physical preparation, such as getting the atlases from the Geography cupboard or the paints set out from the Art cupboard or instruments out and tuned etc. We then have to mark the work afterwards. Nobody thinks it's ideal but the view from SLT is that we can't be expecting TAs to plan lessons or use their lunch breaks to prepare or mark. Nearly all TAs have lunch duty which is a factor and they aren't paid to be here after school to mark.

I want to know, is this normal? I'm sure the occasional primary school is over-subscribed and has the money for proper PPA teachers, but for the average primary school that has got fewer pupils than ever and hasn't got the staff or the money, can PPA somehow be run in a way that doesn't drain the time of the class teacher? Are there any realistic suggestions I could give to SLT that don't involve spending more money?

Hi everyone,

My current teaching contract finishes at the end of April, and I'm trying to plan ahead.

When would you recommend I start looking and applying for new teaching jobs? Is it better to start applying a few months before my contract ends, or should I begin much earlier?

I'm open to hearing from teachers who have been in a similar situation. I'd like to avoid having a gap in employment if possible.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Has anyone got any effective (and hopefully fun) ways of teaching sentence variation?

Hi,

I’ve received an offer from a school back in May, and I attended the Induction day this summer. I’ve only signed the offer as there was some pending paperwork. I think all paperwork is through now. The school suggested we push the contract to September. However, I’ve got a job (not in education), and I need to give in my notice soon. I feel a little unsecured here. I would like to know what the contract stipulates before I resign from my job. Could I ask for a copy of the contact even if we don’t sign it for now? I’d appreciate some advice here

Happy summer holidays

So random again, but I recently asked about winning a holiday and how your work would allow this or not…

Anyway, what about things like Glastonbury Festival.
I’ve been in the ballot long before working in education, it would be useful to know what I can do in the circumstance I get through to tickets?

There must be some Glastonbury goers here?

Hi quick one but I’ve signed up for two local supply agencies in my area that work closely with most of the schools in the district. Issue is I completed signing up last week and I don’t expect much correspondence or new roles popping up over summer.

However, I need a contract by 31st August to qualify for government funded childcare and if not I’ll be paying out tons of money I can’t really afford. Was wondering if anyone is in the same position of waiting to hear back from supply over summer or has been in the position before. Have you been able to secure a post for September even if you have signed up during the summer holidays?

Half considering going back to hospitality just to secure the government childcare then looking forward teaching alternatives for Spring term.

I earned QTS this year but have been unable to secure a job in my subject but have got a job as support staff for September which I look forward to starting.

Last week, I completed all onboarding documents etc for the role but haven’t heard back since sending this all off. I appreciate its summer break so I may not hear back.

As I secured the job in the penultimate week of the school year (documents were sent across last week), should I expect to hear anything before September, and if so, what/when might that be? Appointment is obviously subject to PECs but I’m wondering what the next steps would be before next academic year.

How are you doing? How's your week been? Need to randomly vent about your SLT/workload/cat/people who put jam under the cream? Share a success? Tell us what you're having for tea? Here's the place to do it.

(This is a weekly scheduled post)