Teachers - does this seem likely?

Sounds very usual

Exactly

yet on this thread the fact that the industry in question is teaching, seems to mean it’s perfectly acceptable to respond like the OP’s husband.

Oh and as a pp said, such mystery promotions tend to materialise in April/May to deter you from resigning, then have gone by late June when you've missed all the jobs.

Then he should go and talk to the head. Not difficult.

In every business and in every job it’s always get it in writing. Always.

It happens everywhere but instead of being upset and angry I think your OH has to deal with the issue and talk to the head. Then if they actually do screw him over (because it may look like that now but he doesn’t actually know) he can then tell them professionally to get stuffed.

Yep the same was done to BiL except Head was an idiot and referred to it in several emails etc quite explicitly.

When he (inevitably) hired his mate for the role, the union absolutely took the school to the cleaners and BiL ended up being paid off to the tune of £25k.

I know of three teachers that this has happened too.
In all of the cases it was done to keep the teacher in the school.
In the cases cases that I know about the "position" would appear before the hand in date for resignations and then either just disappear or "budget constraints" would stop the promotion from happening.
One of my friends had this happen 3 times before she caught on to what was happening.
One left immediately.
and the third left as although the school had promised her the post, gave it to another candidate as they were "too good an opportunity to miss".

Eventually the people that miss out the most are the pupils who loose good teachers due to poor management.

n. I would estimate that 99% of us are capable of expressing anger w

well it is a touch more than “expressing anger”

Just cane back to this thread to see how OP was getting on, and I saw this response to my earlier comment.

And while no, I don't suppose 99% of teachers have partners with severe concerns about their mental health, I think it's more common than you might think.

I've taught for decades and am one of the lucky ones in that I have managed to retain my love of it and am now in a school I really like, doing a middle management role I love v

But I had an experience at one school where I was bullied so badly by the head that I had quite a serious mental breakdown - I narrowly avoided hospitalisation.....

I do accept this happens in all sectors. But teaching does seem particularly prone....

OP, if you are still reading, please tell him to jump ship ASAP. One of my best friends has just had to do the same thing - he is an amazing teacher with decades of experience and was about to be put on competency because the headteacher wanted to offer his TLR to one of his cronies......

Unfortunately your poor DH is too late to go in September, but he needs to look to go at Easter. His mental health will almost certainly improve when he knows he has a way out. In the meantime, he should also practice lots of self care, access counselling if he can, possibly even speak to the GP about medication. And he should consider getting signed off for a little while. That isn't always the best course of action for everyone, but it depends really on the level of his stress.

It is good he has you to support him - you sound like a caring partner.

Unfortunately this is all to common. Too many Heads and SLT try to solve managerial issues by making vague verbal promises of "Jam tomorrow" or by flattering people into doing extra work.
" You are so wonderful and capable. Just run this dept without any extra pay or extra status and we'll formalise the promotion in the future,"
"Cover all the exam classes and marking for this absent colleague because you are so organised and we'll give you time back in the summer term"
Never happens.
Just a way of getting free work out of people.
And yes, SLT do fix jobs for their mates. I have seen this many times .
Totally corrupt system at the moment. This didn't happen nearly as much before academisation. Unions can't to anything without any paper trail. Agree with other posters. Either ignore it or look for another job.
Maybe the Op partner told everybody that this was going to happen and the comment he was going to make to the Head is a result of embarrassment he feels because this now won't happen. Wouldn't make that comment though. You might need a reference and you don't need a vendetta

Well it’s not the “sector” as a separate entity that is “back stabby”…

it is the teachers operating within the sector that make it “back stabby”!

100% plausible. The sector is extremely "backstabby".

Are you ok OP?

This can’t be at all nice to live with.

Never in any school I’ve worked at. You might have a conversation where you ask if someone would be willing to take on an opportunity if it came up, to test the water for an internal candidate, but there would always have to be a process. Also sorry but you don’t get jobs with a handshake any more—everything has to be followed up with a letter and formal offer and it’s not yours until you get that. Even if I had a verbal offer for a job I’d applied for I wouldn’t resign formally until I had the letter in hand!

it’s possible he was asked if he would cover the role for the rest of the year? even that should have had a letter to back up the offer. Without anything in writing it’s hard to prove either way.

it sounds to me as though he may have misunderstood, but if he sincerely believes this was done as you say he should contact his union and talk directly to the head with his union rep in the room.

As a HT I have never, ever offered a job without due process. However, I have no doubt it happens.
Has he directly asked the person who offered the job what is happening and when he can expect a contract? If the offerer tries to fudge it, he needs to state that he will be speaking to his union as the offer was made and shaken upon and that he's disappointed in the way this is being handled (more professional than telling the head to 'get fucked' and considering he's missed the notice period, your DH isn't going anywhere).
But without a formal offer and correct process being followed, he doesn't really have much to go on.

I agree with this entirely.

Personally I would not fight it in any sense whatsoever. I would move on with my dignity and self respect in tact. Responding aggressively will only empower the management team and enable them
to justify their behaviour.

Many schools (not all of course) have a very toxic management culture. Decisions are made all the time without consultation or due process.

It's highly likely they've thought about the promotion AFTER talking to your husband about it. And changed their minds so are refusing to engage with him now to avoid further implicating themselves in unethical behaviour.

In his position, I would just look for another job. There will literally be nothing he can do about this and having been in schools with similar underhand and unethical management behaviour can have a hugely detrimental effect on mental health.

No.

But someone else was actually head?

I put that I was "de facto head" with responsibility for overseeing the department.

What did you put on your CV? The role you weren’t given?

Yes similar happened to me, and I've witnessed similar with a colleague.
I was the only staff member in my department and had to oversee the curriculum myself. For context my students had the best gcse grades in the school in my subject, so it's not like I was terrible.

The head was a little more open, saying he didn't want to promote me, but not going so far as saying it was to avoid giving me the payrise. I was the de facto head so I do put that on my CV, but I sure don't teach anymore.

A colleague that same year was ousted from her job when they recruited a new SLT member. His specialist subject happened to be her subject. She was gone quite quickly.

There is plenty in her OP that suggests she wants to clarify whether his reaction is based on normal school behaviours which she calls 'unprofessional' and 'backstabby'. Not her DH.

wow, very different view from me.

It is primarily about how concerned the Op with her “vulnerable” husband’s reaction

I’m shocked that so many people are saying that this sort of thing happens. It sounds appalling and I can’t believe it would happen in a well-run school (or any well-run organisation, for that matter).

My daughter is a teacher. She has been offered a year of year post at her current school, to start in September. Like all promotion opportunities within the school, it was advertised internally. There was no detailed job description or person specification, which I might have expected, but anyone interested had to submit a one page written application and have an interview. She was offered the job a couple of hours after the interview, after the last candidate had been seen.

She hasn’t yet had the formal offer letter with details of her pay, but the staff newsletter contained a paragraph congratulating a number of staff on recent promotions, and her name was on it, so she’s not worried about them changing their minds.

There is plenty in her OP that suggests she wants to clarify whether his reaction is based on normal school behaviours which she calls 'unprofessional' and 'backstabby'. Not her DH.

She says 'they've gone silent on him' and they are 'ignoring him'. 'None of this seems normal' she says.

These are just a few highlights of an OP dominated by her desire to understand their actions.

From this you read the paragraph about his reaction as a signifier of some huge problem with him (form which I infer you probably think he is at the root of any issues at school because he is somehow unstable and unsuitable) . She is worried about him because he is unhappy, as anyone would be. People react in a whole spectrum of ways when unhappy : with lots of men it is anger and angry hyperbolic venting .

Nowhere does she say he is so wild in his behaviour that he isn't fit for work or a marriage- in fact he seems to have been doing a good job at school thus far. The vast majority of her words are a request for clarity.

Anyway, we are both speaking on her behalf which isn't cool, so I shall bow out having established that, yes, this is normal behaviour amongst SLTs in lots of schools.

I do not doubt that some schools treat their staff like this

but his reaction is what the Op is clearly very (and rightfully so) concerned about