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I'm sure you can find a better school. Like that Guardian (?) ad says 'Become the most admired person in your department: leave.' This sounds awful and I am at the detailed lesson plans for every lesson thing -- how on earth could anyone do that? I have only ever done that for observed lessons and to be honest I find lessons go better when I don't plan in that level of detail -- it leaves a bit of space to respond to the students' needs on that particular day and the adrenalin makes me try harder

Absolutely not an excuse for bullying, but certainly a reason why some SLTs are wandering the corridors and sticking their noses into classrooms more than they once did.

It's their heads on the block if Ofsted make mountains out of mole hills as sadly they do.

jeepers chaps, honestly TES has to be your new friend, there are plenty of "nice" normal schools out there.

This sounds like our school;

we are observed 6 times a year, if the result is not good or better, you are re-obsreved until it is.
One of our performance mang targets is that 5 out of 6 obs must be good or better.
we have two meetings a week at least.
books/plans taken in weekly.
regular learning walks with no notice.

This has all come about in the last few years,

it is good to hear, there are some normal schools out there.

That is not an excuse for bullying.

I'm sure some SLTs and HTs are awful by nature, but please remember others are breathing down your necks because Ofsted is breathing down theirs.

They can do what they like - as can academies.

Can I ask, do all the rules and regulations apply only to state schools? What if they are independent or a foundation school?

But look at the NAHT's oh-so-helpful advice to its members on that issue:

*There is no requirement that a school shall only hold one after school meeting per week nor that any such meeting shall be limited to a 1 hour duration.
Any refusal to attend a meeting or activity, because it was not on the school calendar, may constitute a breach of contract.*

Bastards

and as for the extra meetings - the NASUWT say this in their action short of strike.

Instruction 10: Members are instructed not to attend any meetings outside school session times which are not within directed time and where there is no published directed time calendar for the academic year which has been agreed with the NASUWT

*Instruction 2: Members should not participate in any form of
management-led classroom observation in any school which refuses to
operate a policy of a limit of a total of three observations for all
purposes within a total time of up to three hours per year.*

You're right, there this ^ in the workload agreement - that would be only for NUT and NASUWT members working to rule though.

The NUT didn't sign up to the workload agreement at all because it included non-teaching staff taking whole classes, and the whole thing was dropped in Sept 2012 anyway. But the advice on 3 observations/3 hours a year is much the same.

In my school we agreed to not more that 3 hours, meaning that we may have more observations but they would rarely add up to an hour each.

I thought the unions agreed to a compromise with the "action short of strike action" the NUT had?

After reading this I am clinging onto my job!

We are only observed 3 times per year.
We stay once per week for staff meeting (anywhere between 1 - 1.5 hours depending on the agenda).
We hand in Lit and Num weekly planning (evaluated) on a Mon for the previous week.
We hand in subject books at different times to the subject leaders to be moderated.
We can leave whenever we like as long as the children have gone and we get things done (some people work better at home).
We leave school for PPA time (due to lack of space in school to work).
All changes to the school policies/practice are discussed and agreed with teaching staff. Our SMT are very good at what they do and are always reasonable and supportive.

There are many good schools with very good Heads, who have common sense. If you love teaching then please try to find a good school, the profession needs passionate teachers to stay.

You can only be obs twice a year. Also you only have to attend 1 after school meeting a week. These are the legal requirements of the work load agreement.

Not true any more, I'm afraid - and as I understand it the unions agreed to that.

nothingbyhalves is completely right you cannot be made to stay after school for 3 nights a week - are they paying you? You can contact your Union from home and speak to them.

We are a bolshy lot too in terms of our rights -

Shall we help you form an escape committee?

This list is unreasonable. You can only be obs twice a year. Also you only have to attend 1 after school meeting a week. These are the legal requirements of the work load agreement. Speak to the union.

Find a new school. I've worked in a horrible environment like that before, and leaving was the best thing I did. No school I've worked in is perfect. It's Sunday night where I am, and I have that nervous feeling in my stomach, despite the fact that I like my school. I think it's because I've got an unannounced observation on the horizon - sigh. It never ends... But some schools are better than others, so just hang in there if you can, apply for all the jobs available, and just remember it's the school you don't like, not the teaching.

Don't know if this is just me, but ever since the recession hit, it feels like schools think it's ok to make things tougher on teachers because of the 'we should just be lucky to have a job in the first place' mentality.

Please don't let your school make you leave the profession altogether. Seriously, get your cv and covering letter sorted and find a new school. I've worked in three in the last ten years and they have all been very different in terms of workload/ethos/nutcase heads.

Good luck.

Unsurprising but unreasonable.
If I were to list all the similar things at my school (also not Academy) I would completely out myself, but I will say that 3 out of 6 senior leadership positions are held by relatives of the Head.
I don;t want to write more as I am currently being bullied and hounded by the Head despite good/excellent results at both GCSE and A Level. I need a new job.

My lovely DHis having similar problems. It really sucks.

The HT treats him like a child who has forgotten to do all their homework, regardless of whether the children are making any progress.

And yes, I'm biased, but I have managed plenty of poor performers in my time, and I would never ask for their meeting plans in advance and then annotated after etc, rather than focus on outcomes....

Sorry you're in this shitty place OP. I hope things improve/you find a better job.

Ha, I know nurses are having a shocking time at the moment too

I know for a fact that at least one of them didn't have to go through the interview process.

I don't really have a problem with the hours that we are meant to stay because I find them useful. My main problem is the bullying and the rest of the oppressive culture. Individually, the majority of staff are lovely. There are just a few members of the SMT that basically have a reign of terror <slight drama queen>

Err - have you not seen the NHS report published this week op? Not sure nursing would be a better option!

My understanding of directed time is that it includes more that teaching time, and therefore it could be reasonable for staff to be directed to stay after the teaching day ends - do you have training sessions or meetings at these times? Do you also know that the family members weren't interviewed - and maybe the clerical role is graded higher than exams officer - do you know what it incorporates?

This said, the rest of your post sounds like it is an oppressive atmosphere, and not a pleasant place to work.

So... I'm pretty certain I'm going to look for something else over half term. Tesco, receptionist, whatever, and hope to god I can find something that starts soon.

Yuk.
I knew I should have trained as a nurse

If I were you I would find out which of your governors chairs the Staffing/Personnel committee (sometimes it's called something like Resources) and email him/her.

I work in a school where there is a fairly militant union presence, so I can't really relate to the culture of fear. It's so wrong, though! Makes me really mad.

I'm sorry you're going through this, OP. Not all schools are like that!

<that's part of the reason I'm posting