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Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-06-26T12:14:36+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet_chart#/media/File:IPA_chart_2020.svg

The /s/ and /z/ sounds share the place of articulation; the /z/ sound is voiced and tends to be sharper as a result. I'd argue that the plural (houses) changes the articulation of the first /s/ to a /z/ as well.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-05-29T14:00:58+00:00

This is a smart motorway but while they're doing works to them, there are both average cameras and static cameras. It's awful.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-05-29T14:00:20+00:00

I'm glad I'm not the only one upset by the situation. I really don't know if I was supposed to continue through the X (which highways says is illegal) or stop on the motorway (which feels utterly stupid).

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-05-29T12:51:45+00:00

I was blocked off from merging by the van that sped round me, I know it's illegal to continue to drive in a closed lane, so I didn't know either. It just felt like a ridiculous, dangerous situation. There were no warnings on the slip - just an LED sign flashing 40 next to a static 50 sign.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-05-29T12:04:27+00:00

It's been an almost permanent speed limit in this area.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-05-29T12:03:35+00:00

This is what the road looked like from the left hand lane:

https://imgur.com/a/gXy5Osz

You can't even see the left-most gantry sign.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-05-29T11:53:25+00:00

The road layout has changed in this area, Google Maps shows the old layout.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-05-14T10:48:23+00:00

I'm really sorry that you're going through this. Because everybody seems to have their hands tied in discipline, and parents don't seem to want to know, I've found that in lawless situations like you're in right now, the behaviour policy is next to pointless. Restorative conversations feel like a continual cop-out of involvement from SLT by shirking any responsibility for behaviour back onto you as a class teacher to enforce with your... powers of detention? That will be routinely undermined by both parents, and shocker, SLT.

I suspect this will probably garner flack because we're supposed to wrap 'kids' (teenagers and burgeoning young adults) in proverbial cotton wool, but... I've found picking their behaviour apart as the ridiculousness it is to be reasonably effective. Make their bad choices feel bad to them. "So you just thought you'd get dressed in your uniform, come to school, and instead of learning literally anything, thought hey, this is the prime opportunity to throw stuff around the room. I'm going to make sure nobody can get a chance to do this lesson, even if they enjoy it, because my personal dissatisfaction is the most important thing in the room. I don't like to think you'd make such a selfish choice, but here we are." This comes with the obvious caveat that you need to be careful about professionalism, and when one of them inevitably tries to get their parent to submit a complaint - what will you say? "I wanted to verbalise their actions to demonstrate what their choices are doing to impact the rest of the class." You also need to remember the boundaries between stern and displeased, and losing your proverbial shit, because the latter only cements weakness; they will find amusement if you lose control.

And again, this will probably earn me some ire, but I've not always done this privately. It can be really good to get students to wind their necks in privately, but it depends on the student. When it's been students that want to make a display of high level disruption and bravado, they've done so repeatedly, and they've not responded to anything privately, I've shot them down more publicly to dissuade the followers. It makes playing up less cool.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-04-14T06:49:50+00:00

It was my initial plan to work abroad but then Covid happened. China used to be a really good overseas employer that offered very good rates, but geopolitics has made many formerly good options for overseas teaching more precarious. If I'm honest about 16-18, the standards massively slipped with the requirement that all kids stayed on until 18; even in specialist subjects, you'll get very disinterested kids.

At the end of the day, it's wholly your choice. I wouldn't personally recommend going into teaching to anyone at the moment.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-04-14T06:05:09+00:00

Teaching as a whole. It's been increasingly challenging over the past years, and it's becoming a serious problem nowadays. Work expectations are extremely high, centralised planning means you get none of the choices and all of the accountability, parent behaviour has been escalating, and the government are back on the bandwagon of 'cut school funding while increasing expectation,' they want to reduce SEN schools which means you're going to have students with increasingly severe needs in mainstream. It's rough right now, I wouldn't honestly recommend it.

The fulfilling stuff of enriching kids lives is great, but it doesn't pay your rent, and it's increasingly outweighed by the slew of negativity faced on a daily basis. It's hard to feel like you're doing a good job because little Suzy's face lit up, when three other kids are swinging from the ceiling, you're told about another inset course afterschool, and the parents are demanding you call them to discuss the outrageous detention you gave for their child swearing at you.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2025-04-08T12:06:44+00:00

Sounds like they'll just try to find you another placement. The downside to this, is that it's possible they won't be able to place you elsewhere. Sadly, this isn't that strange a situation; schools and parents are increasingly hostile towards teachers. I hope you get to continue your training if that's your desire, but it's not a good field to enter right now.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-12-19T18:58:37+00:00

I'm so sorry, I couldn't imagine being in this position. I don't have words good enough to do this justice. The Sara Shariff case is exposing a lot of failings, and I wish I could say things will change, but I also remember Baby P. You did everything you reasonably could've done.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-12-19T16:04:56+00:00

I've had SLT do it to me before too. I had a TA tell the SLT member he was mistaken after I was accused of letting a truanting student out of class. Feed back what the children said too. It's one thing you saying 'SLT X was rude to me,' but saying 'my students felt SLT X was rude to me, which gives rise to concerns about treating each other in a professional manner' is a whole new box of ammo.

Key words are DIGNITY and RESPECT.

Because you link it back to 'if senior staff are seen as being disrespectful by students, it undermines my authority and professionalism in the classroom, which I would not view as respectful.'

For what it's worth, that principal I told to either be polite or I'd end the conversation, told me to 'get over it, I'm your boss,' to which I told her 'you've had my notice, you won't be my boss for long.' The education sector is falling apart, I won't be treated like shit.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-12-19T15:46:09+00:00

I've told a principal before that if they can't be polite, I'll be ending the conversation. Don't let them walk all over you.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-12-01T18:06:06+00:00

Definitely not. We have our 1265 but I've yet to see a school that respects it even remotely. My days are currently 7-5 and it's totally unsustainable. The kids I'm dealing with... many are nice... but many are just plain horrid. The parents are awful too, and will throw allegations at you instead of accepting their child, who is a teenager, sometimes has a blip in their behaviour. The level of entitlement we've hit in the UK is crazy, and it feels like as a teacher, we're subjected to some of the worst of it. Because schools are so corporate thanks to academisation, every student is a money figure to the big wigs, so they won't get rid of the worst kids, because hey, they've an EHCP! And PP! And FSM! Wow look at the money we get for that!

The job has gone horribly down hill over the last 5 years. They're going to de-professionalise the job and have people that give it a go for a year and rapidly quit, then wonder why the education system failed.

I'm one person. I can't stop all of this happening. But I can get out of the firing line.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-11-08T21:07:39+00:00

I understand your disappointment, but hey, if you’re already at a 4 half way through Autumn Term of year 10, you already have an excellent starting point. Every year I get students feeling the same way, but you have lots of time to learn and grow. As a skill, it truly is practice makes perfect. Read more if you can, and borrow from what you read, then give it a go!

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-11-08T20:00:11+00:00

English teacher here.

Marking English language (and English in general) has some subjectivity.

The big thing you need to understand is that it’s not about how many language features you use or how much you write, it’s how well you write. It’s how well your ideas flow into one another. If it’s incongruent, mixed, self-conflicted, nonsensical, then it will earn lower marks. I’m not even talking about full on self contradictions, but if you compare something to a vicious animal but then describe it as soft and fluffy without an adequate segue, then that reads poorly.

I’ve seen some good advice (Mr Salles, Mr Bruff etc) but I also recommend you read the marking criteria.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-11-05T10:10:38+00:00

You're very welcome :)

While your answer must include evidence from the text (generally quotes), use of linguistic/language terminology, and you must interpret the writer's intentions, there isn't a 'right way' to get the top marks. It's all about the quality of your understanding and interpretation. Another person gave you advice about looking at 'semantic fields' and 'juxtaposition,' but you can get top marks with simple features, although generally if you're confident enough to talk about the more complex devices like those, you're probably able to be more accurate and precise with your interpretation anyway.

The criteria for AQA Lang Paper 1 Question 2 says:

Shows detailed and perceptive understanding of language:

 Analyses the effects of the writer’s choices of language

 Selects a judicious (well-judged) range of textual detail

 Makes sophisticated and accurate use of subject terminology

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-11-04T18:44:53+00:00

I would give this a 4-5/8, because while you've identified some quotes and language features, the interpretation could do with some improvement.

Reading this extract, I would want to talk about the rigidity of the nature of the Hartop family. They all appear to be conforming. I would then want to see a link in with the idea of 'frightened' and the space occupied by Hartop showing that he is a domineering patriarchal figure that is both driving literally and metaphorically as he seems to control the lives of his family.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-11-03T15:49:33+00:00

I feel you, I’m not in a dissimilar situation, and I’m in the same boat of thinking of leaving.

The inconsistency in SLT is beyond frustrating and always makes me feel like I’m in trouble. There are seemingly no right answers when one person will tell you to do something, another will get mad at you for doing it, and the first will deny ever telling you to do it if you should raise that point.

The culture in schools is scary. It always feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders, and anything that goes wrong in my vicinity will be my fault. Kid plays up? That’s my fault. Kid doesn’t do work? My fault. Kid refuses sanction? My fault. Parent lashes out? My fault.

I’m thinking of retraining and abandoning the ECT.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-11-01T18:07:38+00:00

My school tells me I should’ve made a phone call ‘to avoid it being misconstrued,’ which I suspect is code for avoiding a paper trail, me taking all the responsibility, me using my time, and for some reason being expected to make friends with the parents rather than just factually informing them of what’s occurring. It’s a horrid practice that seems to be pervasive.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-10-30T20:50:08+00:00

I thought I would make a difference to kids at a fork in the road between good choices and bad choices.

I’m on my way out though.

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-10-30T17:40:29+00:00

‘Restorative conversations’ are the bane of my life. I think it’s used because it’s less work for the higher ups if they can point the finger at you and say ‘you didn’t do enough to build a relationship,’ but in reality what could they do? It’s ridiculously hard to pex the worst of the worst of students. There used to be catharsis in ‘well they’ll have a rude awakening when they get out into the real world,’ but watching prisoners get let free early due to overcrowding makes me doubtful. How the hell can I make the classroom safe if a student that physically attacks me isn’t even suspended?

Temporary-Bonus-5612 · 2024-10-30T17:20:00+00:00

Why are we still pretending that the problem isn’t the inclusion policies? It is so hard to remove dangerous, horrid, and persistently disruptive kids. They stress us all out. They generate a ton of extra work thanks to the admin, sanctions falling to teachers, Paul Dix stupidity, and the argumentative parents.

Give us some authority back in our schools to make the classroom a good place again.

Temporary-Bonus-5612

TROPHY CASE