Weekly Flylady Thread 2nd February 2009

serena

greenbee!!

The parcel arrived safely today, and I'm really looking forward to starting the books! But obviously not until I've done the lists for today and yesterday;)
Please pm details so I can send postage, and thank you again.

lil_me

Our kids were out playing in the snow today, well DS2s school as was the senior school, I was a bit suprised with all the fuss they made a few years ago about snow etc but really pleased as they seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

vivw, walking distance, he lived 6 or 7 miles away and walked in, was a small village school and he lived near town, same distance my Dad used to walk to work every day (we only had a car after my Dad stopped working) I suppose it depends what people class as walking distance aswell. Being a village which regularly had bad snow surrounding (drifts as deep as our car several times in the years we lived there) I think he felt it important that they had staff who were willing to come in whatever the weather. DS2s school I think we have 3 teachers who live more than 4 miles away, headteacher lives down the road from the school and has been there for 20 odd years, 2 LSAs live a little while away, the rest are quite local. One teacher was off today because her daughters school was closed but they managed to cover it.

Considering how bad the snow effected the region I am impressed only 5 schools closed according to the BBC list!

Triker

pigpen wrote: »

but most of the parents I know had to stay home because the teachers didn't go in to work so the children missed a valuable days teaching.. they should live closer to their place of employment.. same as everyone else.. That would save fuel therefore money and carbon emissions.. noone should be allowed to live further away from their place of employment than 3 miles.. half an hours walk is plenty.. and good exercise!!

I rather snottily told a teacher at school I wished I could afford to live in a little satellite village where the house prices were £300k+ (she was whining about pay/children/driving to work etc.. silly me thought people went into teaching to enlighten children)

I missed a college session tonight due to the snow.. what snow???.. it's almost all gone.. there was only a sprinkling up here anyway..

You, madam, are on the wind up .......stoppit, Mrs Controversial, you're just spoiling for an argument!!!:rotfl:

BTW it was really bad where I work, much more than a few miles away, I had no choice I was relocated there!! Plus you know what area I have to cover .

vivw_2

Flylady_Flower wrote: »

We were saying the same today - used to have to walk to school in all sorts - only time we got a day off was if the heating broke or it flooded - didn't even get teacher training days - they did that in the school hols... We were hard done by eh! :rotfl:

In our day, there were occasional days and the teachers got them off too.[ I'm in my fifties] Now the pupils get the day off and the teachers have to work. The school holidays are already used to catch up on marking and prep that there aren't enough hours in the day for, especially with all the ever changing government initiatives.
Today I spent time preparing work and also answering emails about all the pupils that need mentoring because they are in danger of not passing their GCSEs.

AnW'sMum

likklegibbon wrote: »

Wonder if Miss A has built her snowman yet?

Hi Guys

Had a CBA day here school was open so we slipped and slid our way there in wellies. A & W were really excited, stuck a pair of Daddy's socks on over their own socks to give a bit of extra warmth, knew they would come in useful

Since getting back from school Miss A did indeed build her snowman, W did not brave the cold quite as long but he did build the head Miss A was out there until it went dark. When she did come in her cheeks were bright red.

Both tucked up in bed now (cubs was cancelled) hope we don't get too much snow until the tooth fairy has been, Miss A lost another tooth today.

Cazzie hugs for you and your friend and her family. Being there at such a tough time will really be appreciated.

Soappie what a fantastic job and for a bargain too, well done :T oooo thanks for the flowers and bottle, we should share a celebratory drink

Carlsberggal thanks for sharing the pics, looks like everyone had a great day

Valli wrote: »

ah ha - she wants a keen local ironer's help methinks! Now who:rolleyes:

It sure as eggs is eggs won't be me she is thinking of :rotfl::rotfl:

Indigo how did you get on with the tangle teaser?

vivw_2

pigpen wrote: »

but most of the parents I know had to stay home because the teachers didn't go in to work so the children missed a valuable days teaching.. they should live closer to their place of employment.. same as everyone else.. That would save fuel therefore money and carbon emissions.. noone should be allowed to live further away from their place of employment than 3 miles.. half an hours walk is plenty.. and good exercise!!

I rather snottily told a teacher at school I wished I could afford to live in a little satellite village where the house prices were £300k+ (she was whining about pay/children/driving to work etc.. silly me thought people went into teaching to enlighten children)

I missed a college session tonight due to the snow.. what snow???.. it's almost all gone.. there was only a sprinkling up here anyway..

We can't get teachers.......
I have had to interview people in Canada and Australia on the phone because we couldn't get an English teacher. I have interviewed all kinds of agency teaching staff [ many of whom could just about speak English and I needed them to teach English at secondary level] just so that I can get someone in front of a class.
What would happen if I also had to say they must live near the school?
I have never in my life been able to walk 3 miles in half an hour let alone now as a 50+ woman with asthma and other health problems

Mudbath

AnW'smum - don't worry about the toothfairy - the council asign her her own snow plough (i'm sure Pigpen will now blame children with wobbly teeth on the state of the roads!!!)

Flying - i've just bunged the dog blankets in the washing machine...they hummed! xx

Valli

where's the BBC list?
I wish I could AFFORD to live in the village I teach in - I live on a mixed private/council estate in town - not a posh village with (wait for it) a Michelin starred restaurant...

greenbee

soappie - I can highly recommend epsom salt (magnesium sulphate) baths for aches & pains caused by using muscles that are usually left to their own devices! If you haven't used them before, start with a cupful, as they can wipe you out. They work by osmosis, replacing sodium in cells with magnesium.

serena - don't worry about the postage. I'm still working on the 'pay it forward' principle, so enjoy the books, and I'm sure you'll have an opportunity to do something for someone else soon!

Have emptied DW and put stuff away, emptied TD and put stuff away, had supper, dusted/dewebbed the kitchen, and am now trying to decide how to spend the next hour or so before heading off to bed...

On the schools thing, I went to boarding school from the age of 10 (I expect Valli will make some comment about being posh... but there wasn't much option at the time), and we used to get snowed in to school :eek: Luckily there were enough resident staff to keep us all occupied, but quite often they had to get extra help in the kitchens from the village as the staff couldn't get in. The food was always better then, as they had to make everything from scratch!

We closed two offices today, and they are likely to be closed tomorrow. The majority of people based there can work from home, so it doesn't cause a major issue, but I think the concern is that people will get snowed in/have difficulty getting home driving in bad conditions in the dark. I guess that's why some schools closed at lunchtime.

I'm sure there is a minimum staff/pupil ratio, and I'm sure there is lots of debate, but there is a practical solution in this kind of situation (other than sending everyone round to Pigpen's house), which is to ask teachers, volunteers and children to go to their nearest school to avoid unnecessary travel, and to have some kind of general classes that can be taught to mixed age groups available (downloadable maybe?!) for these occasions. OK, so someone may miss out on GCSE physics because their local school is a primary school, but they may learn more about social responsiblity/community etc (and possibly how to cook...;) ).... anyway, just an idea, I can see that there will be endless debate on this!

toottifrootti

well done chunters - I am sure DD will come to love sleeping in her own room - you have to promise not to take it over with the ironing again!!!!LOL!
mudbath have done 62 pieces of paper and rubbish and its in the wheelie bin- brrrrrrhhh its cold out there but no more snow yet. I got beach walk, cherry lemonade, lotus blossom and sheer gardenia! they were 85p each is that reasonable?
toots xx