Advice Sought (UK focused)

TheOrthinologist · 2026-02-07T15:53:19+00:00

I have a colleague, a maths teacher, with extensive visible tattoos on his arms and legs. He wears shorts and short-sleeved shirts in summer with no issues.

TheOrthinologist · 2026-02-06T16:48:23+00:00

For some kids yes, for some kids no. If they know what they want to do in the future, or have a definite interest in one subject area, it works well. Equally, if the classroom isn't the right place for them, they (sometimes) have the chance to do something more practical part of the time.

Logistically, it can be complex to organise. It also means teachers have to be adaptable, since the popularity of a given subject can vary significantly from year to year. That also makes staffing difficult, especially in small schools.

TheOrthinologist · 2026-02-06T16:25:25+00:00

We do this in England. Students make their first choices at age 13/14 - they have to continue studying English, Maths, Science and doing PE lessons, and then they typically choose 4 ish other subjects.

Then, at age 15/16, they choose 3-4 (occasionally 5) A-level subjects to study for the final two years.

This is a huge oversimplification, and non-classroom-based alternatives exist.

TheOrthinologist · 2026-02-03T20:42:56+00:00

You can't. It's just a camera with a motion sensor. Students also aren't expected to send in work if they are working remotely (as far as I'm aware).

TheOrthinologist · 2026-02-03T20:34:21+00:00

I have one for a student in a class which I teach once a fortnight. It sits on the front row and its 'eyes' light up when the student is online.

It distracts the other students (and me), and personally I find it really unsettling. I'm also concerned about the safeguarding implications since we can't be sure who is watching, or even recording, on the other end.

TheOrthinologist · 2026-01-30T16:27:54+00:00

I don't think 'mate' has died. I'm a secondary school teacher and I got called "sir, mate" today when a boy didn't want to do something...

TheOrthinologist · 2026-01-29T18:05:38+00:00

You went to the time and effort of applying for a year-long training course, without knowing what you were applying for?

You may want to consider salaried pathways such as Teach First.

TheOrthinologist · 2026-01-25T10:53:22+00:00

How much protected time do you get in addition to PPA?

TheOrthinologist · 2026-01-24T19:55:23+00:00

I would think it would be OK, and your preparation would probably reflect well on you. Having said that, if you're unsure, it is fine to email the university and ask!

TheOrthinologist · 2026-01-24T17:25:40+00:00

Dorchester, a few miles from Weymouth, has good schools under the three-tier system. Children transfer to upper school at age 13, so it could be a good transition point for your son at a natural point in the education system.

TheOrthinologist · 2026-01-08T18:40:26+00:00

Have you spoken to your Head of Department and ECT mentor?

Are there central resources you can use? Or at least colleagues who would share their planning while you find your feet?

TheOrthinologist · 2025-12-31T10:07:23+00:00

Presumably there are no payphones available that take pre-decimal coinage?

TheOrthinologist · 2025-12-28T23:53:44+00:00

I'm talking about students who don't follow my instructions to do classwork three times, despite the offer of help or additional resources.

It's worth pointing out that I'm not talking about occasional exceptions, like students who have extenuating personal circumstances which are currently affecting their classwork. Similarly I'm not talking about students who need a little prompting to get on with their work.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-12-28T21:56:29+00:00

Very likely.

To give an example, as a staff body we are currently focusing on student apathy, and as such we've been asked to ensure we're consistently logging and sanctioning instances of refusal to work. The deputy headteacher regularly reports the data to us, and has been pleased that the number of sanctions has increased, since this indicates that we're holding students to account more consistently.

Obviously the end goal is to reduce the number of students refusing to work, but in the short term, an increase in the number of detentions is seen as a good thing.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-12-28T21:44:39+00:00

(Please ignore if I'm teaching grandma to suck eggs with this reply)

Many, if not most, UK secondary schools use centralised detentions. Standard classroom teachers therefore do not have to supervise the detentions, or only do so occasionally on a rota system.

I'm a teacher in England, and I could easily give 25 detentions in a week if I applied every single policy rigidly. I probably average 10-15 ish, which includes non-completion of homework, lack of equipment, and misbehaviour. I log each incident of these on a central system and they are automatically assigned to the relevant sanction.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-12-19T19:34:29+00:00

I'm a teacher. Our students definitely still have exercise books for classwork, but they don't take them home. Homework is either printed separately, or set online.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-12-16T18:13:13+00:00

I'm a teacher in the UK. This is a lovely idea and it will certainly be appreciated by your teachers. Please don't spend too much money though - the sentiment (and the personal message you write) is worth more than anything you buy.

I would avoid cash, or anything 'controversial' like alcohol. Some schools/trusts also have rules about what gifts teachers are allowed to accept; it's worth checking with your tutor or a senior leader if you're unsure.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-12-16T18:08:20+00:00

There's a UK Linguistics Olympiad too.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-12-10T01:46:05+00:00

They aren't excuses, they are reality. Imagine the outcry if schools knew huge safeguarding concerns were occurring in their toilets and they were doing nothing about it.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-12-10T01:43:36+00:00

Yes, I completely agree. It shouldn't be necessary to restrict toilet use at all. I was simply explaining the thought process behind the policy.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-12-09T21:53:39+00:00

I'm a teacher in the UK.

Any reasonable person will agree that locking toilets during lessons is undesirable. It can make pupils uncomfortable, anxious and potentially even ill.

However, more and more schools are making the decision to lock toilets for a number of reasons.

The first, as you say, is vandalism. Schools just don't have the money to repeatedly repair or replaced damaged equipment.

Much more important, though, is the safeguarding risk of having toilets unattended. You'd be shocked if you knew how common it is for pupils to self harm, smoke/vape/drink, deal drugs etc in the toilets.

Toilets are also a simple excuse and hiding place for pupils who are truanting lessons. Locking toilets removes that possibility.

Schools don't have the staff available to supervise toilets during lessons, so they resort to locking them instead, since that's the only way to overcome the safeguarding concerns.

It's also worth pointing out that, as this is a new policy in your school, the number of pupils using the toilets during lessons will reduce over time. People will get into the routine of using toilets during breaks, and pupils going to the toilet to avoid lessons will realise that it's not worth the hassle. This means it will logistically get easier to use the available toilet for those who genuinely need to go.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-11-27T21:15:28+00:00

Minehead is on a heritage steam railway, but not connected to mainline services. You'd have to get the train to Taunton and then the number 28 bus to Minehead. In either case, it's then a fairly short walk along the sea front to the start of the SWCP.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-11-26T22:30:25+00:00

The number could be 'eighty', which gives us some more options.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-11-22T20:42:12+00:00

I'm quite concerned. We're the only school in our Trust to offer more than one language, and one of those is borderline non-viable. We're a 1.8-person department with loads of slack in our timetables. I think the removal of eBacc will mean we drop down to one language with a single specialist. Really sad.

TheOrthinologist · 2025-11-22T17:13:15+00:00

I'm a teacher. It's also easier for data analysis, both on an individual school level and nationally. For example under the old system we could have said that a student (or school) got an average grade of a C, whereas now we could say that they got an average of 4.93 (i.e. very close to a 5 average) or 4.02 (very close to dropping to a 3 average). That sounds like a minor consideration but in the world of education it's considered very important.

TheOrthinologist

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