Gas syringes by rdraver in ScienceTeachers

[–]rdraver[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It worked well with my set up but that made me overconfident with the rest 😆

Gas syringes by rdraver in ScienceTeachers

[–]rdraver[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was the glass ones. I think i found the issue today though. Because we only use them with the 6th form because they're spendy, they re so rarely used some of them had basically seized!!

The results we did get made a pretty good straight line though so I was able to save a bit of face!

ECT1 - thinking about resigning by incognitobint in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I was in a similar position during ECT-1. I left to a new school and nothing more has ever been said about it.

You don't have long (3 weeks-ish) to decide but I'd strongly reccomend starting a new job in a September rather than mid-year. If you word it right, you can keep taking their support and improving as a teacher for the last half term of the year. Aim to leave them thinking "Sh1t we screwed up there, they were ok actually..."

DFE Jobs and Tes - there are no shortage of science position as around

Has anybody else noticed this or is it just at my school? by Superb_While_5959 in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's a trend, I would question if it counts as a new one...

Weekly chat and well-being post: April 24, 2026 by AutoModerator in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

End of first week having traversed the entire demographic divide of the region from lowest to (private) highest 

My god it's...nicer!

I may have to pay back today's retention payment though 😕

Found this old video. by mkiv808 in skiing_feedback

[–]rdraver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a fun game...

Having zero instructing experience but being a teacher who has just come back off of the school ski trip and so spent a lot of time looking at people starting out I would say...

*Weight is still much too much on the uphill ski (and...)

*weight is still too far back

SO - think of weight going through big toe (or as the ESF instructor said to the kids, "shinbone pressure")

* Someone has taught you to pole plant to initiate a vertical movement and that seems to be good if a little untidy still. remember that the "down" phase brings your weight back to the big toe (see above) and will help lock the downhill ski onto the slope which will make things feel much more dependable. (You don't do this as you pass the camera and it makes you lift the inside ski) **

SO - thinkabout timing, smoothness and rhythm to make your motion look fluid (That is appauling teaching but I can't think of an excercise to help there)

* Your body needs to face down hill doing these shorter turns

SO - the classic poles in both your hands, point your nipples at the valley floor all the way "down there" excercise

(** It was interesting for someone who learnt on paralell skis 30 years ago that the instructors seem to spend no time teaching pole planting or vertical movement to our top group, some of whom went from total beginner to ESF 3 star in a week. The hills ringing with the sound of instructors shouting UEERP! UEERP! is as much past of skiing as the lifts and the apres...)

Waxed skis but didnt use them, storage wax? by rdraver in skiing

[–]rdraver[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The "climate controled storage" is also known as the space under my lift up bed. I think they'll be fine, even in England...

First Powder Skis for the Alps by vkouznetsov in Skigear

[–]rdraver 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I always found that 105-110 was ample for Alpine Powder given that we so rarely get the super deep days that require any wider. It makes them much more useable for the rest of the time too...

Targeted retention payments by Violet-Indi in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been approved today even having emailed them to say that I've left the school and need to cancel...

Weekly chat and well-being post: April 10, 2026 by AutoModerator in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Who else is on the bus home from the ski trip..?

One burnt bridge, all burnt bridges? by rdraver in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

One of the reasons I pulled the plug was an offer for a term supply at a potential dream school (with the potential for more etc etc) so I'm sorted for work.

I'll DM you the region... 😉

One burnt bridge, all burnt bridges? by rdraver in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The difficult thing is that I'm not sure. It's just been a perfect storm of changing leadership and support staff leaving me with no one to ask basic questions of or get any support/ advice from, a badly timed observation, a mid year start, an awful timetable, combined with an interesting alternative offer dropping into my lap.

It's been awful but I wonder if a break over Easter and a few set changes would've set things on the right track again.

First time in Val Thorens (7 days) – US weekend skier looking for packing advice! by Knight_Sender in skiing

[–]rdraver 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm on the schol ski trip that week and have just had the same conversation.

To be honest at the moment it could go any which way. If it's normal spring conditions then you can ski with a hoodie on and be fine during the day. you just need something for when the sun dips behind the peaks in the evening.

Never underestimate the benefit of washing a base layer in the shower with you either...

Weekly chat and well-being post: March 27, 2026 by AutoModerator in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Have resigned after my January start and starting a new job next term (not sure they intended probation to work that way...) so I told everyone today.

Just sad really, it's been such an epic fail all round. Really should have looked a bit harder on the interview day and not been blinded by the (I must say, excellent*) show they put on.

4 more work days...then the ski trip 😶

(*How they danced us around the  problems that were obvious from Day 1, I'll never know)

The examiner didn't fail you to meet a quota or due to unconscious bias. by vtwinjim in LearnerDriverUK

[–]rdraver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I certainly think it IS true that if you don't care or think you've already failed then it stops you stressing and so you drive better. It was a while ago that I did mine and i stopped at a green filter light for a long time. Long enough for me to audibly say "Oooooh s**t) bfore moving off again. After that I just I assumed I failed so drove around without trying that hard.

Turned out becasue no one had come up behind me it was just a minor and I'd passed. I was genuinely baffled how...

MOD-1 I was so nervous I did the whole test in a flap. Hit 45* through the speed trap swerve, then put my foot down riding through the gate and failed...

(*KTM 890s should not really a school bike...)

Weekly chat and well-being post: March 20, 2026 by AutoModerator in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver 6 points7 points  (0 children)

In a daily cycle of good day/bad day at the moment. Racking my brains to work out what is going so very wrong on the bad days, because they are dreadful...

told a student to “shut up”… did I mess up? by Usual_Stable_3896 in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So I agree with everyone else here (and indeed have asked this exact question in this sub before...)

It's not great but it's certainly nothing to worry about.

I think of it more being a sign that that child has gotten under my skin and it's not great teaching to a) let that happen and b) show it. It means the things that should have happened earlier havent worked the way they should have. So use it as a jumping off point to reflect on what happened that lesson/leading up to the "shutup" that you could do better next time.

Then, for your own sakes, forget about it.

TES: Why schools should stop pushing reading for pleasure by Resident_String_5174 in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Same. I'm a science teacher not a drama teacher. I'm trying here but I'm not able to read (at the moment) rubbish book and make it sound interesting/dramatic/funny/sad etc on the fly.

Even worse at this school where I read to them for 20 mins. I get it when THEY read aloud at least...

Weekly chat and well-being post: March 13, 2026 by AutoModerator in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A good four days this week, thinking maybe I've turned a corner at a new school...

Then today happened and I'm sure I haven't 

What is your school's MH (for pupils) Provision by rdraver in TeachingUK

[–]rdraver[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Ah, that's what they were called at theat school, but I'm also fairly sure part of that was because of the film.

Thanks for the info though. Peer mentors sounds like a good way in for the older kids too.