To be annoyed at my boss (warning teacher whinge)

[wonderstuff]

Directed time!! I have parents eve tomorrow - I teach one pupil in the year group - just 1. I am expected to attend parents eve, sit in a cold hall for 3 and a half hours because it is directed time. This child has not made an appointment to see me, I tried getting hold of his mum today but was unable to. I'm struggling to get childcare. I spoke to my boss, I appologised that actually it seems I may get there half an hour late - I explained that I only have one childs parents to see and that they haven't made an appointment. I have to fill in an official absence request and she is glad I recognise it is directed time and that I will be more organised in future.
When I started teaching directed time was a way of keeping a check on all the extra hours we were expected to do, to help promote a decent work life balance. If on parents evening your last appointment was at 6 - you left at 6! No one expected you to sit twiddling your thumbs for hours because you were contractually obliged to. What other job (or school) would expect this?? Bloody stupid.

Grrr.

[pranma]

YANBU my dd teaches a .5 timetable and has to go to parents evenings even when she has no appointments at all.She is lucky because I babysit but it seems such a waste of time.

[wonderstuff]

Thats what bugs me. My mum looks after my children and she has a governers meeting that night. I explained to my boss I'm loathed to make her late when I won't be doing much. Grr.

[wonderstuff]

We are expected to take along books and computers and use the time constructivly - but there is a reason we don't choose to get work done in a noisy cold hall normally. Bloody impossible to get much done. I be professionals in the private sector don't get this shit. [goes off to look at retraining]

[whathaveiforgottentoday]

YANBU at all. If I don't teach a year group, I don't go and wouldn't be expected to go either (and haven't been expected to go in any of the 4 schools I worked in). My boss (es) would consider it a complete and utter waste of my time. You have my sympathy for having an arse as a boss.

[MrsHerculePoirot]

That is bonkers! I work 0.6 and if parents eve falls on my day off I don't go unless I really want to and I can organise free childcare. Once your appts are over we can also leave at our school. Luckily we seem to be trusted enough to choose when we do our work outside of lessons as professionals. Hope you get it sorted!

[troisgarcons]

Take your marking. Do you lesson plans.

[noblegiraffe]

WTAF. If I don't teach a year group I certainly am not expected to hang around school just for show.

Does this mean if your appointments are done after an hour you can't just go home and have to wait around too?

What an utterly shit head you have that would treat people like this.

[asiatic]

I've heard of a teacher being refused permission to go to the funeral of another teacher,(from the same school, they worked together 20 years) because it was in directed time. She had absolutly nothing what so ever to do for 4 hours, but she had to stay on school premises.

[TheFallenMadonna]

I don't go to parents' evenings where I don't teach that year group.

[wonderstuff]

noblegiraffe I will be there till 8pm, even if this one child's parents don't show (which is likely). I am an SEN teacher so teach very few pupils but have to sit there for hours because it is directed time (and we are not trusted at all by SLT) if we are not at our desks at 5.25 then SLT go hunting for us.

[Tigerstripes]

How odd. Have never heard of having to attend parents' eve when you don't teach those children. We also leave when our last appt is done. I wonder if we are the odd ones and the OP's school is the norm. Hope not!

[ConstanceChatterley]

Seems an odd arrangement, never experienced that as a teacher. I do take work in with me if I have a 'light' parents' evening but we are not asked to and I would not if I had a full parents' evening for fear of seeming too busy and unapproachable. And we can leave once appointments done (though normal practice to stay a little longer just in case).

But if that's the arrangement at your school and it is seen as directed time then I think you are being a little U. If it's seen as directed time then you kind of have to do it - if I didn't have to teach a class as they were in an exam/on a trip or whatever, just because they aren't there doesn't mean I don't have to do some other work/could just go home.

[ConstanceChatterley]

Also - I know parents' evening works on an appointment basis but if it's SEN pupils that you mostly teach then maybe some of them might have had difficulty organising appointments for themselves (massive generalisation I know, but lots of SEN pupils I teach find organising themselves quite challenging). Perhaps the school might want to you to be available for those parents who would like to chat but whose children haven't managed to make appointments?

[TartyMcFarty]

YANBU, but it's not unusual. We teachers can't be trusted to use our professional discretion to direct our own time, you know.

For the last couple of years I have had to attend a careers/FE evening as either a Y10 or Y11 form tutor. In the 2.5 directed hours that I've been there I have spent, perhaps, 10 mins talking to students and parents each time, because only around half turn up, and lets face it, they want to be talking to the FE providers directly.

So what ends up happening is that 20 of us, as well as some middle-managers wander around like spare parts trying to make eye contact with our tutees, give up and the sillier ones among us amuse our tiny minds by playing teacher tag. I could have either been marking, planning or spending time with my family in that time, because lets face it, I have plenty to keep me occupied in keeping on top of the workload. And astonishingly, I can be trusted to do what I'm paid to do.

Unfortunately the school seems to prefer me to wander around aimlessly and pointlessly for an evening instead.

[wonderstuff]

I only teach one child in this year group though CC I have nothing to do with the other 150. If my class were on a school trip I would be redirected.

[ConstanceChatterley]

ah yes sorry wonderstuff I did not read your OP properly, I was just struggling to see why a school would implement such a policy. Are you an academy?

[wonderstuff]

We are - but is a pre-existing policy, I actually think that the academy trust are more reasonable than the school management.

[noblegiraffe]

Has anyone ever challenged the policy and suggested that you would actually get far more work done at home with your laptop than in a cold hall on a small desk with no computer?

I couldn't even do marking because all my markbooks are in Excel. SOW and so on are all electronic. I'd be stumped for things to do.

It's ridiculous that they're so picky about directed time because it assumes you can't be trusted to work and ignores the huge amount of work you no doubt put in in undirected time.

[wonderstuff]

We take laptops - gets super boring when the battery goes though. Stepdad has offered to look after kids now. Just so irritated by the policy (and general attitude of management) that I'm looking elsewhere - but I love our kids, such a shame.

[Hulababy]

That's just daft!

When I taught I only went to parent's evenings for the appointments I had. If I did not teach a year group I did not attend. I only had a few appointments I may have started later or finished later, depending on which appointments were made. Never known a system any different to that tbh!

To have to turn up for 3.5 hours with no appointments is just madness!
What a waste of time. You could be at home getting some work down if nothign else, rather than having to sit around at school.

[neverputasockinatoaster]

I have a 0.6 contract and I am expected to do one out of every 2 parents evenings. We do 4 a year so I choose the most appropriate to do each time. I usually choose the one that falls on my full day. In October it was the late eveing and in March it will be the early evening. I am in Primary though so that might explain the difference.

[Cadsuane]

Had parent night tonight and left about 20min early.
If you don't teach the year group you let the year head know and you don't go.
We have the parents sign in and out with the prefects. Once you have seen the parents who have appointments you can go. If somone does not turn up for the appointment you can check if they have signed in. If they are in the school you are expected to wait but if they have not signed in and you have waited a reasonable time you can go. Some teachers can be very busy and leave late (usually top classes) but most leave on time or early on at least some of the 5 parent nights a year
(tonights was the last one for 11/12- no more till next year )

[chosenone]

That's ridiculous, management like this makes my blood boil. It does nothing for morale at all. Does it work the other way round does everyone walk out the door on the school bell and never give up any free time. I seriously think this type of management will see off so many teachers. If I had to out up with this kind of offensive policy I'd definitely work to rule ( even though we're meant to be doing anyway)

[exoticfruits]

Madness!