Teacher leaving due to bullying SLT

Hey that’s what disabled children and parents are dealing with day in and day out for years and years , maybe she saw you as a threat giving all the new changes and she threw you under the bus like all the send kids that are being home schooled !! This is my opinion and does not reflect on anyone in particular just the whole broken system I have experienced over the past few decades ! It takes a special type of person to make lives a complete misery ! Chosen for their expertise no doubt

Op I would really recommend some counseling as you go through this. What you are experiencing is bullying and it’s traumatic (ex teacher who has witnessed this exact situation several times). You need some support to help you. I’m sorry for you. It’s an awful situation. please put yourself first 🌷
Will you go on sick?

Sadly this situation is common in schools. Bullying is not only an issue among the students, it’s everywhere from the top down. One of the reasons I got out myself (& took my children out too).

Just send it and wait for union response. Things will calm then.

HTs and SLT will manipulate any situation if they want to get rid of a teacher.
Many teachers are bullied out and if they refuse to go they will be put on formal capability and fired.

I have seen it far to many times with no responsibility placed on the HT or SLT for their actions.

www.heraldscotland.com/news/14930647.bad-teachers-14-sacked-scotland-three-years-competence-grounds/

Probably why they use the other routes. Can imagine loads of reasons for this.

Off hand I think of two cases of teachers (one of them a Head) actually being sacked. Usually 'They' get you to leave by undermining your confidence, making unreasonable demands and making you ill. My doctor was very sympathetic because he said he had seen it many times.

The op seemed worried about being sacked. Seems very rare for a teacher to get sacked in Scotland. Naturally, people go off sick, leave the industry or move jobs, like in every other industry where you don’t gel with the managerial culture or whatnot.

My colleague's GP only signed her off for two weeks, no more, despite not being able to stop crying when she went back to see them. She was managed out by SLT. Her life in school was made hell and she said she'd rather be dead. It was awful to see. I experienced something similar but nowhere near as extreme. But we both found union advice to be slow. They were overwhelmed in my London borough as there were so, so many older more experienced teachers being pushed out at that time across various schools. Best thing I ever did was leave teaching. And the biggest regret of my life is ever entering the profession in the first place.

My advice is to get signed off for as long as possible.

I haven’t read any of the comments so I apologise if this has already been mentioned.
Also, please delete if I am not allowed to recommend other sites.
Please look into ‘life after teaching’ on Facebook, it has over 100,000 members and their support is invaluable to teaching staff.
If you are struggling in education in any way, as you are, I would highly highly recommend it.

I think when things become more formal, union involved or going to court you might find there are no witnesses. It's one thing for SLT to persuade staff to lie and blame you when it's being dealt with by school. People are less likely to lie when it's a formal outside agency.
I agree though, go off sick and take time to decide what you want to do. There will be other jobs where you can use your skills.
I'm so sad to read about OP and other teachers saying they are being treated so badly, no wonder there's a crisis with no teachers if this is how they are treated.
I lost a lot of respect for SLT at DDs school when a teacher (absolutely brilliant teacher, who everyone wanted for their child's teacher) killed himself rather than return to school after the summer. Later it came out that he was badly bullied by SLT. You obviously don't want to let things get that bad, so go off sick.

There's so many schools like this. They appear to be run by people with sociopathic traits and seem to take pleasure in bullying people out of jobs. My husband worked in schools for years but finally left to work in FE a few years ago. They value his teaching skills unlike schools.

Speak to your union, they can help with your options. Happened to me and I was given a "pay out" to leave (I'm disabled and they'd basically discriminated against that- they paid me so I didn't sue basically. Wouldn't even have known that it was an option had I not had union support).

The pay out gave me some breathing space and 6yrs on I'm a SENCO in an alternative provision and it's the happiest I've ever been in a school, but I'd never have thought this was the job for me, but as others have said it's transferable skills.

Good luck.

In this type of situation, if you feel you’re being targeted I would acquaint myself with the grievance policy and what constitutes bullying and harassment. I would document every instance with date/ time/ location// witnesses/ impact on you / other evidence in your favour.

On a basic level I’d use email to reflect back your understanding of interactions and remain super professional and positive even when they’ve been a dickhead. These make it hard to manage you out. Don’t be afraid to say that you can’t accept that you did something you didn’t do but you will ensure that you follow X Y or Z policy in future as you normally do. Use ChatGPT if necessary.

It’s never ok to be shouted at and I’d be surprised
if you were the only one who has been shouted at…find them casually without it looking like you’re leading a witch-hunt.

Sometimes (group) grievances can bring about positive change.

And I would look for another job.

I would get some counselling til I found a new job. Money well spent anyway or if have a friend who is a head then get their informal support. You might just need coaching on how to stick up for yourself and gather evidence so that you can’t be trampled over by stressed out colleagues.

Teachers get 'managed out'. Usually they're bullied until they go off sick and leave.

I'm glad you've decided this @Teachergoing. You are doing the right thing.

Not true. They can be sacked if a particular senior person just doesn't happen to like you , it happened to me and has happened to many others. Just search the teacher capability threads to see how performance management is weaponised against teachers to force them out - particularly more experienced teachers who are expensive.

Teachers don’t get sacked do they? Unless gross incompetence. Speak to the union. Maybe a grievance or solution focussed meeting due to you losing confidence in them. Would a side says move work better?

Call your union and ask for casework assistance

GP's will sometimes sign off for a month in the first instance if you tell them you are feeling under a lot of work placed stress and being bullied at work and it makes you feel low of mood and harder to concentrate. A month off might make you feel better. If you feel stressed go to your GP first, then speak to your union.

It's common to manage out Heads of Department who are long serving and those past the P6 threshold. I worked at a school where 4 different P6+ staff were managed out including one who retired early and all replaced with NQT's or teachers with 1 or 2 years experience. It's terrible to think good teachers are treated like this after years of service, and often towards the end of their careers, but it happens.

I echo everything said by PPs;please get in touch with your union at first light tomorrow.

After a while,your absence will trigger a meeting with OH. The doctors in OH have sadly seen all this before but their written report after your consultation will be an important piece of evidence of the state that you've been left in and will highlight that reasonable adjustments have not been made.

I wish you all the best.Look after yourself🤗

I think this is an unfair trope though. Every SLT member in my school (including my head) has been promoted because they are genuinely good at their job (including teaching classes, infact my head does regularly teach!). You’ll find management in every sector who have been promoted for the wrong reasons, but schools are not full of these, and I don’t think peddling that is helpful at all. The OP needs support but also realistic responses and there are lovely schools out there. Yes, some of us have had bad experiences, but you can recover your career!