Work taking the p

[ThePerkyCoralPoet]

I started in November. I work in education in London.

All vital to the context. So, I desperately wanted to leave my work place. I handed my notice in and negotiated early leave as the school asked if I could start sooner. The PGCE trainee at the old school was wanting the role and loved the school. It all worked out fine. Head was happy to facilitate. I left.

Fast forward 2 months, staffing is DIRE here. There have been days where I have run the department 5 staff down. No cover sent in and I’m flapping about on a full teaching day trying to sort their shit out along with my own.

I work with 3 very incompetent teachers. 2 of them are SLT which makes my life even harder because how can a HOD challenge SLT?

I am at my wits end. Today was nearly the end of me. We had a meeting called at the end of the day. The member of SLT showed up late due to their own admission of “getting the goss”, then decided to drag the meeting over the allocated time. I had a PT session booked in which I actually had to cancel and I was very annoyed.

SLT staff member 1 doesn’t want to deal with bad kids so some have come to me. SLT staff member 2 is just very negligent and lazy. Will do the absolute bare minimum if they have to, last week when we ran the lunch time clubs for debating. It’s supposed to be split between me and her. She just sent them all to me.

I have had enough. I’m running around like a headless chicken lately with no staff and no help. And they’re essentially saying they’ll help and don’t bother. I have a meeting with the headteacher who is my line manager at the moment. I need to raise this diplomatically. I have 0 diplomacy at the moment. How do I phrase this? I don’t know who is friends with who either.

Raise it to what purpose? It doesn't sound like anything will change no matter what you say. Isn't just looking for another role more sensible. You made a mistake in taking the job. It happens. Move on.

Your first post is a bit tricky to understand

Are you saying you started your first teaching job in London in November, lasted 2 months in this and left at end December. Started your second job in January and are already ready to leave this one too?

Maybe teaching isn’t the profession for you if so? Or at least not in London. As the common theme here is you not being happy at two different schools in a very short period of time. Were you teaching somewhere else previously and how did you cope with that? If it’s school politics you hate, and you aren’t a NQ (presumably not as you describe yourself as HOD), and need to work in London would supply teaching be better for you?

For the after school meeting called at short notice, could you have said “I have a hard stop at 4.30 as I have a pre existing personal commitment at 5pm” either when the meeting was called or at the start of the meeting when the SLT member turned up late.

Covering activities for SLT would seem like part and parcel of the job. Working with reduced staffing also seems par for the course if my own children’s school experiences are anything to go by - school budgets are very squeezed.

You are doing amazingly! Setting cover is a nightmare- never mind at 8am when you’re at the busiest point of the day setting up, and having to think about so many classes.
did you manage to raise it with the head?