Yo Ho, A Disney Life for Me - Summer 2020 pre trip

[caitlinsmummy]

Massive hugs Abby. It has become much more serious and I think it's also the fear of the unknown isn't it. I hope today goes OK and tonight's conference will hopefully clarify the exam issues. My friends daughter is in GCSE year and was told they may have to use their mock results.

Given the circumstances come September I'm pretty sure colleges and 6th forms will be lenient with the intake of school leavers.

Take care all of you ❤️ xx

[Goldia]

Well today is the last day I get to see the kids at school. I absolutely love my job and I'm so incredibly sad that I won't be able to see them each day. We have systems set up to talk virtually and of course I'll still be teaching my lessons online, but it won't be the same.

We use words like unprecedented and i don't think until this week we have really understood their gravity and full meaning.

I'm sure there will be some tears again today.

Xx

[Kat11]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Well today is the last day I get to see the kids at school. I absolutely love my job and I'm so incredibly sad that I won't be able to see them each day. We have systems set up to talk virtually and of course I'll still be teaching my lessons online, but it won't be the same.


We use words like unprecedented and i don't think until this week we have really understood their gravity and full meaning.

I'm sure there will be some tears again today.

Xx

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Ohhh Abby I don’t know what to say, this whole situation is just unbelievable and awful! 😫

Lots of love 💕

Kat

[collybird]

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

Love the eating around the world meals, it’s such a fun tradition. I’ve just mentioned it to DH and he’s keen so I’ll have to start nabbing some ideas from you!

Love Kate’s band. I stuck with plain pink last time so I’m really excited to choose one this time.

And yes, I was hoping you’d spot my countdown 😄 it was all Mark’s idea to go back so soon, I was thrilled! Heath will be 9 so once last trip before he’s classed as an adult. Haven’t booked anything yet, waiting to see what April brings with free dining.

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VERY EXCITED to see your countdown.

[collybird]

Abby, I'm thinking of you and Max today.

Lots of my team in work are also having their last day of school today and they are heartbroken and anxious about what the future holds. Alongside the worry of the exams here being cancelled they have also been cheated out of their last term.

Even 'normal' seems like a distant dream at the moment and holidays seem impossible.

Love to everyone.

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Well today is the last day I get to see the kids at school. I absolutely love my job and I'm so incredibly sad that I won't be able to see them each day. We have systems set up to talk virtually and of course I'll still be teaching my lessons online, but it won't be the same.

We use words like unprecedented and i don't think until this week we have really understood their gravity and full meaning.

I'm sure there will be some tears again today.

Xx

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Thinking of you all today. I had tears walking to boys to school, to think this could be the last time I walk Thomas to school as he's year 6 😔 hope your OK xx

[Leelashpurple]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Well today is the last day I get to see the kids at school. I absolutely love my job and I'm so incredibly sad that I won't be able to see them each day. We have systems set up to talk virtually and of course I'll still be teaching my lessons online, but it won't be the same.

We use words like unprecedented and i don't think until this week we have really understood their gravity and full meaning.

I'm sure there will be some tears again today.

Xx

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I cried on our last day with our pupils. Hoping that the coursework they have handed in can be marked to inform their grades.

[MrsSilverStar]

There are no words really - what a shocking time for everyone. Heath burst into tears on his way out of school yesterday and said his teacher had been emotional. I’m crying so much at the moment, it’s all so scary. I feel better now we’re all home together but I still have to work on Mondays and Tuesdays and am now classed as a key worker.

Abby, I’m keeping everything crossed for you that you still get to have your holiday. Hope poor Max and Kate are ok with the school closures.

Colette, your reply to my countdown cheered me up a lot! Thank you - we can still have some Disney fun while this craziness goes on.

Lots of love to everyone. Maybe we should start a Disney virtual viewing group or something? Is everyone signed up to Disney+?

Take care all xxxx

[Goldia]

Thanks so much to you all for your kind words. I think the support, love and kindness we offer eachother is more important than ever at the moment.

For those Dibbers who are only wanting to read about trip planning this is not the post for you, please feel free to click away now. I'm going to be sharing some of my feelings and thoughts from yesterday below and I fully understand if it's not for you.

Yesterday was one of the most bizarre teaching days of my career. We organised a shirt signing event for students and said that we will try our best to organise a prom when we return to school. Saying goodbye to all the children was very hard as I absolutely love teaching and not seeing them every day will be horrid.

Unfortunately, we know many of their families already live below the poverty line. My school have set up a payroll giving system which means we can donate directly each month to the local food bank and try to support those families living nearby who are not as well off as us. I'm so lucky and I know that others are not as fortunate as we are.

As far as working from home goes, we already use an online system for setting homework so this is now going to be used to 'teach' and we can set our daily lessons using this system. Fortunately we are also able to stay in contact with the children as we can send and receive messages using this system. I have already seen some lovely photos of the work my year 8 class submitted yesterday when they were working from home and I've been able to reply to them.

The Government shared some information about how grades will be calculated and the exam boards are starting to get in touch with us as teachers. It seems they will be using prior attainment data (we believe this means the child's most recent externally validated data - for those doing GCSEs this would be their year 6 SATs result, for those taking A Levels this is their GCSE result). This will be used alongside mock grades and teacher predictions. The exam boards and Ofqual will then calculate the grades for each child and then ensure the allocation of grades at each level is similar to previous years. They are hoping to issue results by the end of July. This is another thing that I can't decide if I'm happy or cross about as it means they will all be deprived of having a results day in August. But, of course, that would not have been the same this year if they had decided to stick with the original dates.

The school will remain open for children of key workers to attend. There have been lots of staff at school who have volunteered to support these daily sessions and we are in the fortunate position of being able to set up a rota so that we don't have to have more than a skeleton staff on site each day, less than 10 of us will be required to support. So, my first 'shift' will be in 2 weeks.

We have set up buddy systems to support each other and we will try to hold department meetings using skype at the usual times that we would be meeting so that we can all touch base with eachother.

We also have a fantastic system for reporting any child protection issues and safeguarding concerns, the vulnerable children that we teach have been on all of our minds. Being in touch with them and maintaining regular contact is something that we are taking very seriously.

Yesterday after work I went to Tesco, I haven't shopped in a couple of weeks, goodness that was a shock. Obviously I've seen on the news that the shelves were bare but it's not the same as seeing it. We are fortunate that we have a freezer and store cupboard that is kept well stocked so while we may have some unusual meals over the next few weeks we are certainly not going to starve.

This morning I had the time to see my neighbours who are elderly and offered to share what we have with them. They are worried, but seem to be prepared and at the moment don't need anything.

Max is not sure whether he's cross or relieved that he can't take the exams that he's been working hard for. He's not sure whether it's a good or a bad thing as his mock results were not what he was hoping for, but he knows he didn't revise properly before the mocks and he had been working hard since then, so he's hoping the teachers will take that into account when they do their predictions. He is also wondering what on earth he's going to do for the next 5 months as now he hasn't got to revise. We've said that he should do some work for those subjects he is hoping to take for A Level and I think he is in agreement as he realises that he will get bored pretty quickly otherwise.

For me working from home will be unusual, but I think I will be as busy as ever. While perhaps a few weeks ago some of us were thinking we might be able to read a few books, or do a bit of gardening actually I don't think that is going to be the case. Setting lessons that are accessible without me standing there explaining it all is going to take more time than I had thought. Then reviewing each of the students submitted work and replying to them is not the same as marking their classwork in their books.

This is such a long post and none of it has been about Disney holiday planning. What is going to happen with that is hard to say at this moment in time. I haven't cancelled anything as it still seems so far away. While this time last week I thought maybe there was an outside chance that we would have to cancel, today I'm not so sure. I don't have to pay any balances to Disney until the end of May so I'm not going to do anything other than wait and hope.

Please everyone try and stay safe. That's something that I said to the children yesterday as they were all going home. Some them feel invincible, they're teenagers, of course they do. Some of them were talking about meeting up and I just asked them to remember that school was closing for a reason and to not let it all be for nothing.

Originally Posted by Kat11

Ohhh Abby I don’t know what to say, this whole situation is just unbelievable and awful! 😫

Lots of love 💕

Kat

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You're right the whole thing is unbelievable.

Originally Posted by collybird

Abby, I'm thinking of you and Max today.

Lots of my team in work are also having their last day of school today and they are heartbroken and anxious about what the future holds. Alongside the worry of the exams here being cancelled they have also been cheated out of their last term.

Even 'normal' seems like a distant dream at the moment and holidays seem impossible.

Love to everyone.

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Having the last day of school in March just over half way through the year is so weird. There are lots of mixed emotions about everything. One of the year 11 children said to me yesterday "I'm sure the Government wouldn't be doing it if they didn't think it was absolutely necessary" and he is right, but that broke my heart too, the idea that he was trying to accept the unbelievable. I think I might have preferred it if he were ranting and raving.

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

Thinking of you all today. I had tears walking to boys to school, to think this could be the last time I walk Thomas to school as he's year 6 😔 hope your OK xx

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Poor Thomas, no end of primary production. That's sad. There will be other milestones and I'm sure he will have lots of fond memories from primary school.

There was a year 11 boy yesterday who I said goodbye to. I told him he will always be Robin Hood to me as he was Robin in the year 2 production when Max was King Richard. That was another time that I cried. Although it would be quicker to tell you the times that I haven't cried over the last few days as the tears keep coming.

Originally Posted by Leelashpurple

I cried on our last day with our pupils. Hoping that the coursework they have handed in can be marked to inform their grades.

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I'm keeping everything crossed that the coursework will be taken into account. It was so hard seeing them all walk out the gate for the last time, well last time for a while at least. I've never cried in front of students before and I've apologised profusely to them. I said many times that I wasn't trying to make them worried. I think they understand how much we all care and how much we all want the very best for them. It's going to be hard not seeing them every day isn't it?

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

There are no words really - what a shocking time for everyone. Heath burst into tears on his way out of school yesterday and said his teacher had been emotional. I’m crying so much at the moment, it’s all so scary. I feel better now we’re all home together but I still have to work on Mondays and Tuesdays and am now classed as a key worker.

Abby, I’m keeping everything crossed for you that you still get to have your holiday. Hope poor Max and Kate are ok with the school closures.

Colette, your reply to my countdown cheered me up a lot! Thank you - we can still have some Disney fun while this craziness goes on.

Lots of love to everyone. Maybe we should start a Disney virtual viewing group or something? Is everyone signed up to Disney+?

Take care all xxxx

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Poor Heath, we've all been trying hard not to upset the children as we really don't want them to be worried about anything.

I was wondering if you would be able to work remotely or if you would still need to go to work. I'm sure you will do everything you can to minimise the risk and to stay as safe as you can.

The holiday is something that the kids both hope will only be postponed as opposed to cancelled if it turns out we can't go this year.

I know there is only a finite amount of news I can handle at the moment. It's compulsive but I am limiting myself to the amount I read and watch. You're right we all need a break from it. We haven't signed up for Disney+ but we do have Netflix so that's a good distraction.

[collybird]

Oh Abby, this situation is just so heartbreaking. I can't stop thinking about the vulnerable children who may fly under the radar, the ones who school is a safe haven where they can have their only hot meal.

Poor Max, I think many kids are in the same boat with him regarding mock results (we call them prelims in Scotland), I know my little ones are. They are also pondering what on earth they are going to do for the next 5 months. One of them is 18 next month, he has been planning his birthday for weeks now and was so excited, not only does he have all the worries of the exams, that has been taken away from him now too.

I agree with you on the unusual meals, rather than buying from a list like I usually do I had to think on the spot in the shop and try and work out what I can rustle up with what I was able to buy.

Nik is working from home now, he works for the Tesco Call Centre and it is very upsetting hearing him dealing with all of the vulnerable people who are struggling with things, whether it be they can't get a delivery slot when this is something they rely on, or they can't get what the need in stores.

I have been doing a lot of trip planning this week but despite it being 7 months away it very much feels for me like a 'if we win the lottery' situation at the moment. I am so sorry to everyone whose trips are closer and everything is so unknown.