Teacher wellbeing days for shopping

[ForAMinuteThere]

Nope - this isn't a bash. I saw an article in the Fail about it and wanted to add some support for the teachers of this world.

I am a non teacher. It looks hard. One day off for shopping is a nice gesture.

I expect mixed responses but personally, I think teachers staying sane and feeling worthy can only be a good thing.

(This isn't my first post, have NC)

BoneyBackJefferson
Lower classes doesn't mean less work.

Compare 2 groups on my timetable this year:
Group 1 are able and independnet. They write loads. They fill an exercise book every 6 weeks. Essays are massive and thoughtful. I can use self/peer assessment appropriately and I can set review work for homework. If I mark books I can code mark and then put the code on the board. They can redraft essays from that code. I can set prereading and it will be done. Their mock papers are going to be a massive task but I can set some independent study lessons and do 1-1 intervention during class time. Lessons are quick to plan and resource.

Group 2 - I have a PowerPoint with the date and title in the same place as it has been for over a year. At least twice a week someone asks me if that's the date. Just explaining an essay question takes 15 minutes to make sure we are clear. Even the tiniest difference in wording between explanations is confusing. I now have a set of almost scripted instructions and standard visuals. Every piece of writing requires a full model and differentiated sentence starters for a range of students. Self and peer marking isn't an option and even when the written feedback says 'read the article again and do question 3 again', I'll still get a question 5 mins in saying 'but what am I doing?' Their mock papers will be quick to mark but day to day teaching is probably the most demanding on my timetable.

Group 2 don't have poor behaviour. They are just low ability. Group 2 take more time, which is why I have them. Me taking that group means another colleague can have a group like group 1.

There are staff shortages across many roles and sectors including doctors, nurses, fire fighters, police. None of those vocations get 13 weeks leave a year though.

Everyone deserves a day off, not just teachers but everyone who works hard and has to juggle work life priorities constantly. No one sector holds the monopoly on being busy, short staffed, stressed etc.

Therefore it’s not that I begrudge anyone being offered a day off it’s just that it feels slightly cringey to effectively be saying I’m a teacher and therefore I deserve a Christmas shopping day/ well being day when there have been posts on here from nurses working 12 hour shifts right over the christmas period and posts from servicemen/women in war zones being grateful for their seniors covering guard duty on Christmas Day...just kind of puts it into perspective for me really.

I don't think any teacher thinks the deserve one.

It's a great thing to be offered by your boss though. It's a little thing that makes your job easier.

Dorset you seem to think it should be a race to the bottom.

Teaching is in absolute crisis as a profession. If you don’t think that efforts should be made to retain them because other sectors have it hard too, then I can only assume that you don’t have kids in school and therefore have no skin in the game.

Dorsetdays

If all you have left is sniping then you have nothing left to say.

That's very selective. In particular the service person you quote was all for teachers having a day off! And many people have come form other professions on to here to say that they get perks with their jobs : shopping days, bonuses, paid for meals and so on.

By the way - not immediately relevant but the shortages in nursing nationally are TINY compared to secondary teaching. In some areas of the UK , there are no shortages of nurse, police of firefighters (ignoring for them meantime why this might be cuts). The ONLY part of the UK where there isn't a shortage of secondary teachers is Scotland.

In some parts of the UK 150% more teachers are required than are in post.

Source : 2018 Skills Shortgae audit.

Exactly, everyone deserves these days off.

Nothing to do with a race to the bottom whatsoever as I never said I bedgrudge anyone who does get offered it. Good for you if you do, who wouldn’t accept?

Nor is it sniping to point out that teachers ‘justifying’ it by saying they work long hours, are stressed etc can easily be compared to people working in other professions which some might say are just as/more difficult (and who don’t get a day off at Christmas either nor 13 weeks holiday). So not being selective, simply pointing out that if we’re ‘justifying’ it for any one sector I can think of better examples.

MaisyPops

I know and understand what you are saying (been there done that) but hip is saying that they take the classes with behavioural/discipline issues, this could mean anything.

Its as vague as the majority of the rest of their posts.

Apologies as I am committing the MN sin of not RTFT but it is 23 pages! I have no problem with this at all.

Despite what it might appear on here, I think most teachers are amazing and it is such a difficult job. Incidentally, I’m a HCP, no longer work Christmas but have done my fair share and have a DH who does, and I also teach adults as part of my job. Almost all my colleagues agree that we would never want or be able to be a teacher, particularly secondary.

FFS when will I learn to proof read? I meant I have no problem with teachers / school staff having a shopping day.

The school I work in gives 2 days off, and we cover for each other. ( No agency staff)

Boney
You implied I take all the ‘nice’ classes. I don’t. I said I take bottoms set and/ or classes with discipline issues.
I’m not being vague. Just cautious on a public forum- I don’t want to end up on the daily fail or something.
Should I upload a copy of my pay slip, blue sky objectives and ALPS report so you feel you have enough information to make a judgement?
Does it matter what subject I teach? You’ve not asked any other posters what they teach or stated what you teach.
The teaching profession is in crisis. We should all be honest about our experiences, both positive and negative.

Hiphoray123

Nope, I implied that you cherry picked the classes that gave you the least work outside of the classroom so that you could run to the timings that you supplied.

I haven't made a judgement on your abilities in the classroom, your management or said that you have lied (as others have), and I know what others teach as they have been using their usernames for more than 2 days.

The teaching profession is in crisis. We should all be honest about our experiences, both positive and negative.

Yes we should be honest about our experiences. mine differ from yours, probably because of what we teach and knowing what others teach is important (in these cases) as the workload in different areas can be vastly different or of a different type and gives others the knowledge of the background of our experiences.

By the way--part of reason why the situation is so acute for secondary teaching is because of a weird quirk in the English system.

The plethora of choices and routes we have from age 14 means that teenagers in classes older than this age tend to be in many small classes rather than a few bigger ones--England is actually the only country I can think of where 14-18yos are in smaller classes than the little children at primary school.

So--as a country, we have a choice of: we can either change the way our schools work and reduce choices for kids over 14 (which I don't think would necessarily be good or bad, just a choice about how we want to do things) or we have to accept that we need loads of specialist secondary teachers.

Kokeshi123
You do realise that curriculum choices have already been reduced due to funding cuts, changes in performance measures and lack of staff?
We are already in a situation quite a less academic child might have no access to a vocational level 2 route, so they are forced to do history instead. There really isn't the plethora of choice in many places. Entire departments (usually creative arts) are being wiped out practically.

Also, 32 is a big GCSE class, yet we have quite a lot of classes at that size. I dont really understand why you're comparing secondary class sizes with primary when the sectors and demands are totally different (for a start, primary doesn't cover all the subjects at secondary).

@sonlypuppyfat that's funny! Finished just gone three.. so they just rock up and have the kids and don't do anything else?!

Well, that statistic is made 'true' in Finland, for exmaple, because the avearge class sizes in BOTH sectors are smalller. So, primary class sizes average 18, and secondary averages just under 20.

But, yes, let's make the ansewr to teacher recruitment to make a load of teachers redundant and axe some subjects. That'll work wonders for morale of teachers and the wellbeing of staff and students!

Piggywaspushed
But, yes, let's make the ansewr to teacher recruitment to make a load of teachers redundant and axe some subjects. That'll work wonders for morale of teachers and the wellbeing of staff and students!

This is happening in alot of schools the more vocational subjects are being shutdown and teachers being laid off.

I know! I don't think anyone pretends that that is linked in some way to solving recruitment issues or improving the lot of eitehr students or staff!

They have weekends. What about other more demanding careers? What makes teachers so special?

They have weekends. What about other more demanding careers? What makes teachers so special

The HT of the teachers thinks they're special; he personally covers all their lessons.

The employers of people in these "more demanding careers" are also free to make such gestures of goodwill.

My uncle’s boss gives all his workers a turkey. My dad gets a bonus in his pay packet. My sister gets a Christmas dinner and dance paid for. My mum gets zilch. Same as my brother. I get nothing extra either. Why does anyone care what other people do for their workforce? It wouldn’t matter if teaching was the easiest or the hardest job in the world. All that’s happened is a manager has decided to do something nice for their workers. Why can’t people be happy for them? Some people at Christmas get little extras, others don’t. It would be nice if everyone did but they don’t.

All that’s happened is a manager has decided to do something nice for their workers. Why can’t people be happy for them?

This is so true. Nobody is saying

‘All teachers work harder than everyone else’ (in fact I have never heard a teacher say that. What normally happens is that some twat says, ‘teaching is a such skive as teachers only work 9-3’ and teachers reply saying it’s not true and they work quite hard, only to get a barrage of abuse back)

Nobody is saying

‘All teachers deserve a day for Xmas shopping’

Or

‘All teachers deserve a day off for Christmas shopping but nurses don’t’

Or anything stupid like that. It’s one article saying one head teacher has valued his staff so much that he has given them a wellbeing day which he’s covered himself.

I can’t believe it’s actually got nearly 600 posts!

Do people think he shouldn’t have done it?

And hiphoray has been very good at not saying what they teach. Any guesses?

Art?

Being a HoD and working the hours Hiphoray has stated just does not ring true, as I posted earlier. Go back to the 1990s and you could operate like that, but not these days. Before I retired in July, as HoD I'd have to fit in the following into a working week, on top of my own planning and marking:

• departmental meeting / tutor meeting / middle-leaders meeting / line manager meeting / KS progress meetings

-lesson observations + feedback -book scrutinies + feedback

• dept detention duty + follow-up on non-attendees + emails to parents
• data collection and analysis on a cyclical basis
• response to requests for input into initiatives from SLT
• leading / supporting after-school intervention sessions for GCSE students
• staff appraisal meetings

And that's just a quick round-up off the top of my head; other HoDs could tell me what I've omitted.

We had one departmental colleague who operated along the lines of Hiphoray - arriving late and leaving early. Communication with them was a nightmare as they were never around at the time of day when the rest of us could pause, take a breath and catch up with one another. I found it very frustrating.