To think school heads should be contactable in school holidays

[EloiseMinch]

A secondary head is likely to be on 70k+ and a primary head of 50k+. Those are high salaries for positions of senior management responsibility. AIBU to think they shouldn't just cut off completely in the school holidays?

Maybe some heads really are working in the holidays but I know the head at DC's school definitely doesn't. She is, for example, completely uncontactable from the end of one term to the start of the next.

You are soooooo right OP. Tossers the lot of them, they think just because they have studied hard and got good qualifications and worked a 60 hour week for all their working lives, then undertaken further qualifications in their own time, worked every weekend to the detriment of their own family life, put up with verbal and physical abuse from parents and children, taken kids away on school trips and not slept for a week with anxiety, been vilified by every government since the dark ages , they should be allowed to enjoy their unpaid holiday.

And while we are at it I would like to have my MPs mobile number because they get paid masses and have long holidays, and my gps address and contact details in case I can't be arsed to ring the surgery, and oh yes I'd like personal contact details for my dentist, my bank manager, my solicitor, my MEP, all my local councillors and Sajd Javed. and furthermore I would like it made the law that they have to get back to me within 24 hours with a solution to whatever trivial point I want to make.......

a) The school can raise more funds via the PTA for example to get extra TAs in time for next term. This might help some of the discipline issues as some of the children are taking up all of the teachers' time.

No, PTA money cannot be used for salaries, this has to come out of the main school budget, which are currently being cut rather than increased!

b) Some of the children who have been consistently violent should be going through the school anti-bullying policy with the next step being suspension. This would probably involve talking to the parents.

None of your business what sanctions are applied to other children, only to yours

c) The classes could be mixed up for next term so not all the violent children are in DSes class.

There will be different challenges in different classes, there will also be a reason why the classes are constructed as they are.

Problems solved!

Why would you need to contact the school so desperately in the holidays? Surely whatever it is can wait until term starts.

And as someone who was a Deputy Head until I had DS and DD, YABVU and you sound a bit unhinged.

OP, all the the things you want to discuss with the Head are conversations she will have with her leadership team, not with you. Who the hell do you think you are?

😂😂😂

Just seen your response about what you want them to do. PTA funding for TAs - over the holidays? How? She might send you the class lists to do though

If someone gave me a 50k salary and 13 weeks holiday I'd darn well make sure no one could contact me 😂

Which is a discussion for term term, when PTA are in action.

The PTA are just parents. They are in action all the time.

Firstly, discipline of other children isn't your decision to make. Secondly, they are currently on holidays so right now there is no behaviour to sanction. Thirdly, not your decision.

I just don't get this. Of course it's not my decision but isn't it equally obvious that it is my business to keep DS safe and happy and hence it's my business to ask the school to help with this?

I think it was you on the other thread who asked me about why I thought parents were an issue in teaching OP. Here's a perfect example looking back at you out of the mirror.

Here's a CRAZY idea. If a serious issue arises during the holidays how's about you deal with it? Ya know, as a parent to your own child!?!? Yourself? No?

Oh, but before I go, I can answer your queries right here:
a) No, they couldn't. Just how is the school meant to go through all the steps of employing new TAs over the summer holiday, let alone the PTA raise the funds for it, and anyway, that's not the function of PTA funds.
b) How do you know they're not already?
c) No. It takes a huge amount of time and thought to re-blend classes. And other parents might not agree it's necessary. And there are always endless complaints every time it's done.

PTA funding for TAs - over the holidays? How? She might send you the class lists to do though

The PTA has some funds sitting on account but it also needs some warning to raise more.

I’m a headteacher. I’m contactable through the holidays on the school office email address, which we have a rota for checking, so everyone gets some downtime. We would repsond to any real emergencies and the parent would be contacted ASAP, in the event of a bereavement or other traumatic experience. Otherwise we have a generic ‘we’ll get back to you in the last week of the holiday’ so things can be sorted before term starts.

I never give out my email address. All parent messages come through the office...we can get back to you more quickly that way as four people will check that account. I’m the only person who checks the head@ email and it’s only used for DfE correspondence, HR, and social services stuff, some of which is highly confidential. I don’t want it cluttered up with everything else.

If a message needs to get to me personally and privately, parents can put it in a word doc attachment and put Confidential-Head only in the subject line. I put that in the newsletter quite often so people know that they can get to me only if they need to. It works fairly well. I have one parent that has abused that system several times, and now I ignore her emails to my head@ address. (She phones up, and we say ‘send it to the office’).

All your concerns are for pta and your sons teacher. If it’s as bad as you say why wait until holidays to want to sort it?

None of those can be done during the holiday:

a) The PTA holds events in term time, and part of every TA's interview is a session working with children. Are you genuinely proposing that the school can get the PTA - most of whom will be taking family holidays - to raise the full cost of a TA by events over the next 5 weeks, at no notice, that a post can be advertised and filled without anyone in school?

b) The children are not in school. This conversation can equally well be had in September.

c) No. By this point, all handovers between classes will have been done, all SEN paperwork discussed, all teachers will be in possession of the information that they need about their new class, and all children know which class teacher they will have next year - as presumably they will have had at least 1 transition session. Are you really expecting the headteacher to drag all members of staff for the relevant year group, and the ones who have taught them this year, back in, firstly to create a whole set of new classes (ours went through 5 drafts this year, and that's pretty normal, once you take into account academics, personality, balance of needs, balance of boys and girls, friendship issues etc etc ), and then to re-hand over between every teacher and every new teacher, and then for the new teachers to re-set up everything for a completely different class from the one they were expecting? Just no.

How about the "micro managing" by parents 24/365. Does that have an effect?

Pressed post too soon...

Of course the more reasonable of us knows that a hefty salary usually means hefty working hours so I think we can be pretty sure that she is working for some of that time.

a) No, they couldn't. Just how is the school meant to go through all the steps of employing new TAs over the summer holiday, let alone the PTA raise the funds for it, and anyway, that's not the function of PTA funds.

Is it not possible to advertise for TAs outside of term time?

Head does not have to deal with the PTA during holidays, due to it being work related. Also if you're running a PTA event it's smarter to do that during the year - right now people are on holiday.

I just don't get this. Of course it's not my decision but isn't it equally obvious that it is my business to keep DS safe and happy and hence it's my business to ask the school to help with this?

Because your rights stop where the other child begins. You do not have the power to request that they are sanctioned or put in another class. It's none of your business and is between the kid, the staff and the parents. Very simple concept.

What you can request is that your child is safe, but you get no say in what happens to another child.

a) The school can raise more funds via the PTA for example to get extra TAs in time for next term. This might help some of the discipline issues as some of the children are taking up all of the teachers' time.
b) Some of the children who have been consistently violent should be going through the school anti-bullying policy with the next step being suspension. This would probably involve talking to the parents.
c) The classes could be mixed up for next term so not all the violent children are in DSes class.

a) Schools cannot use money raised by the PTA for staffing, as it isn't a consistent or constant funding stream - surely you know that?

b) That's none of your business and you'd be out of order telling the head this.

c) Who is in what class is for the SLT to decide and not for parents to stick their beaks into.

But OP - if you seriously want the PTA to raise more money, then volunteer and get involved.

Thing is, while you are right that the 13 week thing is a red herring, that doesn't mean that the HT needs to be available to you and other parents during school holidays. You are not the employer, and you don't get to determine her working hours.

In terms of what you want to talk about, the first and second are not things she can sort out over the summer without other staff (and the first is a bit daft I think, how rich is your PTA). And the middle is not something she can discuss with you.

How about the "micro managing" by parents 24/365. Does that have an effect?

Although I appreciate your subtle irony, I don't think whining on MN is micro-managing anyone. Given that parents can't even get hold of her at all the head has managed to avoid this fear quite successfully.

Adding extra staff is not just salary. It's on costs plus training. For one ft LSA = 30K. ish. For one year.

This would require serious fund raising and the school would be liable for the salaries if the pta stopped funding them. It's a ridiculous suggestion.

Given that parents can't even get hold of her at all the head has managed to avoid this fear quite successfully.

And now we all know why!

a) The school can raise more funds via the PTA for example to get extra TAs in time for next term. This might help some of the discipline issues as some of the children are taking up all of the teachers' time.
b) Some of the children who have been consistently violent should be going through the school anti-bullying policy with the next step being suspension. This would probably involve talking to the parents.
c) The classes could be mixed up for next term so not all the violent children are in DSes class.

These don't seem like urgent, just arisen problems? What is your reasoning for not speaking to someone about them in term time?