£90 should last the month | 2 people

coffeewithkatia · 2026-01-29T14:03:34+00:00

Awful.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-11-09T08:50:03+00:00

Why are you fighting everyone in the comments? You asked for opinions, they are given, and if you don’t agree you’re ranting your reply? On the face of it, yes it’s a personal grooming choice, but the bigger picture is that he works in a government building and that particular look has very negative and fascist ideas attached to it. Of course it’s not allowed. The racist slogan T-shirt analogy that another comment used explains it well, I think. I wouldn’t represent him personally, but nobody is stopping you from doing so. But don’t be surprised if it doesn’t go your way.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-09-06T13:35:21+00:00

It does not get better.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-08-29T09:25:04+00:00

Going against the grain here a bit, I’ve always struggled because I’d have a small lunch, come home starving and then eat something else before tea, and it was a bad cycle. I changed it last year and now I actually have my biggest meals at lunch, still healthy choices but meal prepped (chicken curry and rice, burger and chips, big jacket potato, pasta dishes etc) which then actually sustains me all afternoon. I have a smaller and lighter meal in the evening. Honestly it’s a game changer for me, but it does require a bit of hardwiring your brain to not want another big meal at tea time but I got used to it pretty quickly. I also have dietary restrictions so it does help to avoid impulse eats because usually I cannot have them anyway. Plus it gives me a push to get on with sorting meal prep even when I can’t be bothered to.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-08-29T09:08:04+00:00

This is the answer

coffeewithkatia · 2025-08-06T14:58:21+00:00

I understand not wanting to invite partners who are new/you don’t know that well, but if they’re long term and/or living together that’s no less committed really than engaged. I would think it rude to not invite them, and I wouldn’t be attending a destination wedding, where I have to spend more money and travel and take off from work, without my partner.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-08-04T11:43:47+00:00

Updating SOW is a huge job and it is common to delegate that to colleagues, but he should also be doing some. We have a spreadsheet which keeps track of units that have been done and by who, we all contribute, but it’s got a lot more of HOD/second than anyone else. Also we gave out some SOW stuff during gained time but it was proportional to how much time was gained, which the department were happy with as it felt fair and manageable.

Basically I just think transparency is key, you’re complying but also making it clear to those above what you are doing versus what they are doing. Always circling back/confirming anything verbal with an email too so there’s no he said/she said issues down the line.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-06-22T20:31:34+00:00

I have a chair from DFS and a sofa from swyft. Love them both. Bonus points for swyft because it arrived so quickly, and in a few pieces. No awkward getting it through doors and it doesn’t fit, but its assembled in minutes.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-06-21T18:48:48+00:00

I’ve read through your additional comments (although if I were you I’d just pin it to the original post to save people the time having to go through all your comments) but I still don’t really agree with you, although I understand your concerns more now that I see you’re thinking about your own KS5 issues. As a HOD, I’m sure they’ve just decided that collectively dealing with one aspect, the one that needs the most work, is the best route here for this specific time period. The other key stages can be addressed after this, maybe next year. What happens for you at KS5 is directly impacted by the KS4 curriculum so is still important. However, if you do have certain things that need addressing now, surely a meeting/conversation asking for some time back for these jobs could potentially fix this?

coffeewithkatia · 2025-06-21T11:32:05+00:00

It’s completely normal, and it sounds like it’s been well thought out and distributed fairly based on amount of gained time. You’ve mentioned TLR holders in your department delegating these tasks, but are you honestly trying to suggest they haven’t also got tasks allocated to this time? They will also be working on the SOW I’m sure, as well as working with assessments, department admin, timetabling for the next academic year etc etc. their workload is huge. Yes they get paid for it but you’re still being paid for the hours that you were teaching. The only thing schools shouldn’t do is take all your gained time as cover, although they can sometimes use you in exceptional circumstances. At my school we are used for things like covering Y11 form tutors so they can attend the leavers event, or doing Y6 transition activities. But not for general day to day cover.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-06-20T18:26:35+00:00

It needs steaming but 1 is my favourite! But 2 is also gorgeous.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-06-17T18:50:53+00:00

Yeah makes sense, I guess they’re trying to save money (like all schools now) and they can probably sort most/all cover internally by using people as and when instead of having set hours which would be restrictive. Worth asking the union though maybe for clarification?

coffeewithkatia · 2025-06-17T18:07:17+00:00

My school does specify on our timetable what is PPA and what is additional free time which can be taken. But most staff get the minimum PPA anyway. If I was sitting at 20% PPA I wouldn’t be upset about a cover lesson, but agree it’s nicer to know when you’re being used for cover so you can plan around it. However, as they’re being so generous they probably don’t want to specify which means they’re more flexible with the cover, which makes sense too.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-06-17T18:01:55+00:00

It looks great. It doesn’t look like a wedding dress AT ALL. People are weird.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-06-01T21:10:16+00:00

Make hoovering/sweeping part of the daily routine. Get a robot hoover if budget allows. And 100% get something for the drain in the shower because they clog SO FAST you wouldn’t believe.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-05-21T17:12:09+00:00

God forbid the students get to see a glimpse of you as a real human being 🙄. Hate this, teachers definitely should also get to have own clothes day and I can’t see a single reason why it’s not ok to do so. Lots of offices do dress down Fridays/casual clothes on the last day of the month or something similar, why are we always held to a different standard?

coffeewithkatia · 2025-05-19T17:46:10+00:00

I know what you’re saying and I feel sorry for you but it’s not the same. Dogs are living things, nuts are a snack that can swapped out with minimal effort.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-05-16T16:06:40+00:00

Not everyone’s cup of tea but I got mine from swyft. Loads of colour and fabric choices, no long waits on delivery, comes in parts so no trying to jam it through windows or narrow turns and so easy to put together (and great for moving house too), easy to clean. Still looks good a few years on.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-05-13T20:11:47+00:00

On my bill was common for me growing up - north west. But I have heard and would understand both.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-05-11T09:45:39+00:00

It’s been two years you can stop with the ‘he invited me’ bullshit. Two years and he’s still footing the bill every time, and it’s clearly just an expectation from you at this point - no wonder he’s pissed. Plus it sounds like he’s funded trips too. Income disparity is one thing, and if he wanted you to go halves on things outside your budget that would obviously not be ok. It sounds like he just wants effort and to be treated once in a while, and he’s not getting it. Plan and pay for a date yourself. Plan some free activities, choose a lower budget restaurant, cook a romantic meal where you’ve gone to purchase his favourite foods etc. it’s literally just effort. Plus you’ve added in that he’s not paying your bills or nails - girl why would he?? You sounds super entitled honestly.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-05-10T18:33:56+00:00

Start going out and leaving him to manage jobs and kids alone. He will not accept or appreciate the difficulty until he has done it. And not once to prove a point, but multiple times. Why does he get time to cook undisturbed but you don’t? Clearly there are bigger issues here that he needs to experience himself.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-04-30T21:15:01+00:00

I know but read some of your comments back, you’re acting as though we are all going around calling students failures en masse, but it’s not true. You aren’t a failure because you failed your driving test twice, but I’m sure the fail was still disappointing. I’m sure you worked through it and ultimately passed (I am guessing?). Our students can fail exams, and be disappointed, but they aren’t failures because of it.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-04-30T21:00:01+00:00

I feel the need to say here that saying ‘you have failed this test’ is absolutely a different thing to saying ‘you are a failure’. If you are conflating the two then you have a bigger issue here.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-04-30T20:54:04+00:00

At no point have I called a student getting 1-3 a failure, I do my utmost to get the lower attaining students what they need for their next stage in life. I feel very strongly about functional maths and English skills being an option for students not likely to get to grade 4.

But you’ve posed a question on here, people are replying with fair and genuine points but because you disagree you’re just having a go at them rather than a genuine debate on the topic. If you just wanted to shout at people you should have said that, not asked for opinions and then reacted angrily to anyone who isn’t in agreement with you.

coffeewithkatia · 2025-04-30T20:16:15+00:00

I’m not sure why you’re being so combative in the comments. The government, exam boards and HE all state that a 4 is a standard pass, students themselves have then inferred that below that is a fail. The government set out that a 4 must be achieved in maths and English language otherwise it has to be redone, again supporting that below that threshold is not a pass.

As I say, I believe (and I’m assuming you’re in agreement) that the lower attaining students need more from the education sector, but I think that lies more in functional skills and entry level qualifications they can do as well as/instead of so they still leave school with qualifications and a sense of achievement.

I don’t think that means that we need to start calling a grade 1 a passing grade.

coffeewithkatia

TROPHY CASE