sporting observations of my afternoon AND A RANT

Today our school held it's Annual Inter House Sports Competition for KS2

Two words. Night and Mare
 I interrupt this blog to bring you a rant. After reading a thread on the TES website about HLTAs and TAs I had to post something - but realised I was becoming more and more irate - so I chickened out and have just written it here.  I do LOVE my job and I DO love the wages! My boss reads the TES website!
It's TES Connect if anyone wants to go see.
My reserved, very reserved rant....


"As a HLTA/TA3 working under similar conditions to yourself, I wonder what your Union advice was? This thread has some very opinionated people. I am not a ' wannabe ' teacher or 'jumped up' at all. The biggest outcry to be heard at my school is when the teachers have to ( GASP ) miss their precious PPA time due to sporting/whole school activities etc.  They make damned sure they take it at another time - and hey guess what - it's up to us TAs to cover these lessons. ON our own. With no support. ( Usually meaning that our intervention group children miss out on a session) Who is worrying over the quality of education the children are getting in these times?  Not the QUALIFIED teachers, that's for sure!  Maybe this is just my school."


ANYHOO back to the sport. Usually I LOVE this afternoon's activities however this year I had to help the football.

But it did have it's entertaining moments. The children play in mixed teams of about 7 a side. Years 3/4 and 5/6.
Some of the  Year 5/6 boys take their football VERY seriously. The girls, excepting one or two however, do not. Picture the scene.
Muddy pitch. Boys playing furiously down one end of the pitch. I look to the losing side's goalie who is in deep conversation with her two female defenders as they plait her hair! O no....the ball is coming their way....... one girl flaps, one runs away and the goalie just shrugs her shoulders as the ball sails past her into the goal. The boys are angry, poor boys, and I really don't think the teacher ( NOT ME) helps when he suggests
they mix up the teams and use different defenders. Because NO these boys want all the goal scoring glory!
The trouble is with this Sports afternoon is that all the children take part and some of them have no concept of the rules of football, benchball or netball because THEY NEVER PLAY THEM - THE TEACHER WHO ORGANISES WON'T LISTEN to ideas or feedback. Feedback today was - why do we play the same games every year? Why don't we choose totally different games that they ALL enjoy? Like kick rounders - they all LOVE that! Even the hairdressers.
Our school has  two really well attended  after school football training clubs - one by our local team - they play in tournaments and the school league and do very well. The keen kids are interested ergo they go. The rest are NOT!!!! We have a hockey club - why can't we do that instead? My friend and I ran a Skittleball club as an after school activity as we wanted to hark back to our youth - the children LOVED it!
Gosh, I am a bit angry tonight!
Anyway, Y3/4 footballers - the teams off the pitch were showing me their cheerleading tricks ( also an afterschool club) including Joshua - the only boy on the cheerleading team. ( He is also my paper inventor genius - I have yet to tell you about last week's show and tell) . I was worried about Joshua's insistence on showing me how he could almost do the splits. I was willing him not to show me. He did. I paled. He got up. I was alright! On the pitch, the goalie on one team was laid on her front inspecting her nails, the goalie on the other team was taking forever to take the goal kick. He did. STRAIGHT into the face of his team mate. Off we went to get an ice pack! Also the younger children play football like an episode of Benny Hill. They all follow the ball whether they are on the same team or not!
During these shenanigans, the parents  who could be arsed to show up were giving their children sweets and drinks thus pissing off the children of working parents and parents who couldn't be arsed to show up. One parent got a bit arsey when they were told NO they couldn't bring their man eating dog onto the field. I was glad when it was over!
Bit like you'll be now this post is over!