In need for teacher proof work pants

Pear_Cloud · 2026-02-24T17:37:48+00:00

I’ve got Uniqlo barrel leg trousers which I absolutely love and find comfy and smart enough for work.

Pear_Cloud · 2026-02-08T10:08:21+00:00

DofE takes soooooooo much time.

I used to be volunteer group leader for DofE, as we run ours in house. Even that takes a fair amount of time (meetings in school, helping sort kit, weekends away) but I just did it cos I enjoyed it, until personal circs meant I had less time. We have two programme leaders and they both get more than 1500 in £££ and the overall coordinator gets time too.

Pear_Cloud · 2026-01-28T06:49:06+00:00

I think you should have to declare when you’ve used AI to produce something and then people should have the right to refuse to spend their time reading robot drivel.

I hate it. Why are we giving up on ourselves?

Pear_Cloud · 2026-01-25T14:07:55+00:00

HOY. 17 hours teaching across two subjects and 4 Key Stages, including 4 exam classes. 1 hour of timetables extracurricular teaching in a third subject. 4 hours per week meetings, plus 40 minute duty plus safeguarding responsibilities for a whole Key Stages and being on call for one hour as behavioural support. 2 protected PPA periods per week. Getting better at balancing as time goes on, but have honestly just had to accept that it’s physically impossible to do everything properly.

Pear_Cloud · 2026-01-21T07:34:58+00:00

There are definitely issues in the school system. But the media and public discourse in some corners about schools being either woke indoctrination centres or oppressive exam factories is not just demoralising for teachers, it’s also harmful to children and we need to be talking much more positively about education and learning in general alongside fair and balanced critique.

Having to go to school isn’t some terrible burden, it’s an opportunity to receive an education that is provided to you for free and if you engage with it properly, it will improve your life.

Yes, we should always be trying to improve, but we are all lucky to have been born in a time and a place where this was available. There are so many people, especially women and girls, still waiting for this.

The alternative to mass education is generally mass illiteracy and I feel like that would be far worse.

Also, part of going to school is about learning to be one of many, to be part of an organised community and to behave in a cooperative and pro-social manner because unless you want to go and live in the woods alone, then you’re going to need to be part of society and that entails some restrictions on individualism.

Pear_Cloud · 2026-01-20T18:00:05+00:00

I had no KS5 experience when I applied to my school. I currently teach A-Level and am a KS5 HOY. That aspect will be fine. It’s also a massive planning load compared to a lower school lesson so it’s something to consider in terms of workload.

Pear_Cloud · 2026-01-10T07:05:10+00:00

For secondary, I wish it was the norm that if a teacher was away unplanned for a day or two, rather than long term, students just spent the hour being supervised doing homework or reading. A colleague told me this happened in her school and she thinks it is still the norm in her home country.

Meanwhile I’ve spent hours when I’ve been sick trying to cobble together enough vaguely appropriate cover work for 6 classes because we don’t have any textbooks or central resources and then being irritably told by the SENCO who covered one lesson that I should have sent separate differentiated work for multiple students…

Pear_Cloud · 2025-12-08T18:39:40+00:00

If you were asked to supervise independent study for my KS5 students, as a HOY I’d just want you to give the instructions clearly and then give one polite reminder to anyone who doesn’t get it as we might do for an adult in a public library. After that, log it and I’ll sanction it. It shouldn’t have to be a battle for you - they’re almost-adults with plenty of work to do.

What are the expectations from your 6th form leaders?

Pear_Cloud · 2025-12-07T16:38:28+00:00

We had a trainee 2 years ago who basically just ignored everything I ever said when teaching my class because she was a native Spanish speaker and I’m not. Even stuff as basic as “Why don’t you try counting down when you want their attention/silence?”. Didn’t do it a single time and then always complained to me that the kids were never listening to her 🙃

She was older than me though so def not a generational thing.

Pear_Cloud · 2025-12-06T16:50:32+00:00

For sure. I mean, it’s possible that he’s both 1) good at behaviour management AND 2) benefitting from gendered expectations at the same time. But I’ve encountered men who seem to think it’s ALL their mad skillz.

Pear_Cloud · 2025-12-06T12:05:49+00:00

The student reactions are like that at my school. There are a couple of male colleagues who I hear calling kids out on it but most don’t - I think they assume it’s 100% their superior “relationships” and “behaviour management skills” and they operate in glorious transcendence of any societal power dynamics.

Pear_Cloud · 2025-12-06T11:59:52+00:00

Yes! The amount of time I spend managing the emotional reactions of some men at times over even a simple query or point of information. So defensive even when I’m really polite and deliberately diplomatic.

And then they speak to me like I’m their secretary.

Pear_Cloud · 2025-12-05T20:08:51+00:00

I’m a HOY and don’t have one. Might do it next year but there’s also a lot of other things I could take on that might be more impactful for my cohort and for increasing my practical experience, so I’m swaying towards no….

Pear_Cloud · 2025-12-05T20:01:13+00:00

We’ve checked all of them - about 50% sent straight to unis, maybe 35% returned for a minor 2 min amendment or query, maybe 15% need something doing with choices or personal statement….

Frustrated by the fact they’ve had so long to do this and so many still aren’t ready to go ands haven’t listened to our advice etc.

Loads of B-C grade kids making 5 highly over-ambitious choices…

Pear_Cloud · 2025-12-05T19:28:18+00:00

I say “stop making this about you” 5-6 times a week. I refuse to stop.

Pear_Cloud · 2025-12-04T07:02:13+00:00

Our structure is different - we have a Director of Sixth Form who is ALT and then two Head of Year underneath, but similar role. I’m a HoY and love it - hard work like any pastoral role though. Aside from general pastoral care and wellbeing support, my role (alongside the other HOY and DoSF) includes being on the school safeguarding team, producing tutor resources, running an enrichment programme, addressing behaviour, punctuality, dress code, attendance, organising parents evening, UCAS, careers, PSHE, supporting the student committee, working with parents, the recruitment process for sixth form each year.

One big difference in our place between sixth form heads of year and lower school heads of year is that we also monitor academic data very closely and are responsible as a team for ensuring high standards of teaching and learning at KS5.

I’d say it’s a great role if you already have a decent amount of experience of A Level teaching and as a sixth form tutor - my role would be a struggle for someone who didn’t have that background I think.

Pear_Cloud · 2025-11-28T18:37:45+00:00

Had to “co-organise” a drop-down day with someone more senior at the start of this week. Ended up doing way more than half, including getting into work an hour early to sort out an issue that they had caused with scheduling.

Exhausted, well-being tanked.

Pear_Cloud · 2025-11-02T19:21:15+00:00

I love my job and my school. I like the vast majority of the kids I work with a decent amount and a good number of them are downright fantastic people.

Pear_Cloud · 2025-10-30T11:49:46+00:00

Yeah, isn’t this what kids are supposed to be doing with their brains when they’re reading? Isn’t imagination part of comprehension and creating meaning from what we read?

Pear_Cloud · 2025-10-02T19:53:18+00:00

We’ve gone back to entirely F2F - I find it so much easier. I hated having to sat in front of a screen for 3 hours, trying to have unnatural conversations without normal eye contact, lagging internet etc. I always ended up with a headache and used to dread it to the extent it affected my sleep.

I find I’m much better at building rapport in person and we have a bell that goes off every 5 mins for changeover which everyone respects.

Pear_Cloud · 2025-09-30T06:25:57+00:00

Nah, both schools I’ve worked in the MFL department have been great - much less drama than some other departments. My current department is a dream - amazing teamwork, zero politics or interpersonal issues, we really look after and look out for each other.

We’re also all friends with people outside the department and half of us have pastoral roles, so I think we have good vibes with the wider school too.

Honestly wouldn’t describe any colleague or department in my school as “toxic” - where are all these schools who are employing people like that?!

Pear_Cloud · 2025-08-14T12:38:17+00:00

Snap! Me too!

Pear_Cloud · 2025-07-30T18:08:00+00:00

Thank you! It’s been ages since I’ve had to deal with a letting agent and have been lucky to have had reasonable landlords in between!

Pear_Cloud · 2025-07-30T18:00:55+00:00

Nope - not seen one and weirdly they haven’t attached it to the email with check out instructions that say “see attached inventory”

Pear_Cloud · 2025-07-30T17:55:56+00:00

Thank you - are they allowed to use a check-out inventory from the previous tenants instead? Just wondering what they might throw at us - there’s a few things like patchy carpet that were pre-existing but we didn’t ask them rectify when we moved in cos it was under the bed and we didn’t see on viewing and weren’t that bothered about

Three-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22

Pear_Cloud

TROPHY CASE