Teachers - notice period is this week to leave at Christmas

[Workyticket]

I'm on a Facebook group for teachers looking to get out

Notice has to be in by the end of this week I believe (I'm FE so different) and there are so many teachers putting theirs in.

I know that @Noblegiraffe is usually the one to start these threads and some people think she exaggerates

We're in the shit people - already in crisis and way more will be gone at Christmas

Email your MP, back teachers striking when they (inevitably) go out and be prepared to start forking out for stationery etc to send your kids into school with.

@XjustagirlX so who does the 'frustrating admin' then? Us office staff that's who. We're already stressed to the max and run off our feet for shit pay. We don't need more work.

I went to secondary in the late eighties/early nineties. Pretty sure the teachers 'worked to rule'. As well as a couple of strikes. So, there were no extras for us kids.

Definitely preferable to having a shortage of teachers.

This was in Scotland before anyone doubts my memory.

People always misunderstand teachers' contracts when they suggest working to rule.

Teachers contracts include that we need to work as many additional hours as required to discharge our professional duties.

So working to rule means doing all the admin crap.

Working to rule means dropping stuff like doing school trips or clubs, and lots of teachers do those because they enjoy them.

I've been in a similar state in my bed (bar short ventures out to feed animals, get soup etc) since we broke up.

Survival mode through the term then - this.

Hope some rest does you good but no, it shouldn't be like this.

@Itstarts its en masse

good luck to all of you leaving without a job to go to - private sector is a whole lot tougher.

I wonder if that 'necessary hours in order to discharge' etc clause means as we see fit though Noble rather than any and every hair brained demand they make for the way they want it done? Surely they'd have to prove you weren't effectively discharging your duties to plan and report etc and do your job effectively rather than just you hadn't done in it in the new time consuming and utterly redundant format they decided would impress ofsted and landed on everyone despite it being massively time consuming and unnecessary?

Genuinely wondering about this.

@Rainydaize

I’ve been living like this for years. I’ve always squared it with myself by looking at the positives - the kids, my lovely colleagues, the good work we do.

But this year I’ve suffered silent health issues (blood pressure and heart). I say ‘silent’ because I haven’t taken a single day off for them, in fear of the workload I’ll come back to if I’m off sick. I’ve just powered through.

But the ‘burn myself into the ground during term time and recover during the holidays’ model I’ve always worked to has stopped working. My physical health is suffering. I’m literally burnt out.

And that has forced me to look at the utter madness of the way I’ve been working. The effect on my mental health, my family, the state of my fucking house!

I have to get out and do something else.

Not true for most teachers. For most of us, it’s resign by 31 October to leave at Christmas, 28 Feb to leave at Easter or 31 May to leave in the summer. If you decide to leave on 1 June, you’re stuck for six months.

Yes, you've picked up on my autocorrect typo. Well done you.

Private sector is not tougher than teaching. Teaching is not tougher than private sector. Individual jobs in individual companies in individual sectors may be tougher or easier than others.

I'm not actually leaving teaching, now or anytime soon. But those I know that have got out are loving the freedom and autonomy they're getting in the private sector.

@Rockbird could you do something similar? Just refuse to do it. Is there a similar shortage of office staff or would the school just sack you?

i fully support the teachers and think they get a really tough deal. We need to value the job as a society and provide decent pay and working conditions.

A serious question: what would make things more bearable for teachers? I’m presuming more money would be nice but wouldn’t suddenly fix things. Is it sheer lack of numbers of staff? Expectations from on high? Behaviour of kids? A bit of everything?

I didn't say she was!

Teachers have three dates to resign by and can only leave at the end of the full term. Eg if they hand notice in at the start of nov they need to stay until Easter, not Feb. Some heads will agree to an early release from contract though.

Im not a teacher but that employment contract clause is in my contract too. Saying that I need to do whatever duties necessary and work extra to get the job done.

Most of my team was made redundant in Covid and now there is a massive employee shortage in the industry.

i refuse to work three peoples jobs. I’ll do what I can in my hours and that means work will take longer to do.

I'm not! My thread title is a bit mis-leading maybe. I'm dyslexic and wasn't sure where to put the apostrophe

Meant "us parents are in the shit because teachers' notice period is open"

I'm also a teacher - worried from both sides!

Admin office peeps - So true of admin though - admin is the “wife work” of any business.

admin people get paid shit wages, get treated like shit but when admin doesn’t get done, everything falls to shit. Admin staff simply aren’t valued

It's the nit picking and micromanaging for me

I've taught for 22 years. I can do it standing on my head and still love it. The GCSE Maths syllabus has changed a bit in recent years but has settled and I k ow it inside out

I know that when I'm teaching % of amounts I'll bring in sales, mortgage deposits etc. I'll also talk about current % from the news.

I'll show my preferred method on the board and correct common misconceptions but know that I'll almost certainly show a more broken down version quietly to the kids who struggle

I'll stretch and challenge with a reverse % question or 2 where appropriate

I'll plan and make a powerpoint and differentiated questions. I'll upload said ppt and word docs to the shared drive that everyone can access

So why then do I need to type out a full page lesson plan with exact questions I'll ask eg
How can I use 10% of 50 to find 5% of 50?

Why is 20% discount then a further 10% discount different to 30% discount?

Argh - any other sector would plan for an hours meeting with a bullet point agenda. I need a 20 slide ppt, 4 differentiated worksheets and a full page lesson plan for a 1 hour lesson (x6 per day)

Most dont
Most teachers even in MATS are on burgundy book conditions

The vast majority of publicly funded schools in England operate according to the provisions of the Burgundy Book - conditions of Service for Teachers in England and Wales which specifies the notice periods for teachers in local authority maintained schools.

Typically, you would be expected to give two months’ notice, and in the summer term three months’ notice, in order to leave your post at the end of the term.

Inclusive of school holidays, broadly speaking, the dates of the three English school terms run from the following dates:

for the autumn term, from 1 September to 31 December;

for the spring term, from 1 January to 30 April; and

for the summer term, from 1 May to 31 August.
Therefore, if you wish to leave your job, you would be expected to give notice by the following dates:

to leave at 31 December, give notice by no later than 31 October;

to leave at 30 April, give notice by no later than 28 February; and

to leave at 31 August, give notice by no later than 31 May.

LOL
different yes, tougher not really.

We have at least another three teachers leaving at Christmas.

This is on top of those that we already couldn't replace.

Many schools have a stop on recruitment too, so even if there were any staff wanting to fill vacancies schools won’t be filling them.

Parents need to look forward to bigger class sizes and reduced subjects on offer

Nah it's not!

I've been teaching twenty years, it's never been like this, nearly everyone I talk to either wants to leave or is!

Sadly education and healthcare is in disarray partly due to financial shortfalls, but also due to relentless targets and bureaucracy. Somehow we've become a nation of league-table watchers. Everything has to be target driving. Boxes need ticking. And this has massively increased the administrative workload. Teachers and doctors aren't trusted to just do their jobs any more. They now have to do their job and prove they're doing their job by ticking boxes and filling in forms. And it's killing them.

✔️ done

27 years service, but God, it's a profession that creates shadows of the youthful entrants that are full of hopes and dreams and passion. Working with the adults and their micromanagement fuelled by fear does that... not the students.

I love teaching, but I have already mourned no longer being a teacher.