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)

I think this is a great idea and hopefully a sign that some schools are starting to think of the mental load teachers take on.
Yes other jobs have a mental load but then they should fight for this to be thought about rather than think everyone should be treated like shit.
The company I currently work for has just announced a 'free' day off for all staff and my previous one usually announced this around Xmas and a day off if you moved home.
Also teachers aren't rewarded well for their job of educating the next generation.

piggy if there were a quota then teachers like me who have never asked for time off for anything bar medical appointments would be taking them, so overall requests would probably increase.

@ BoneyBackJefferson -what if the parent has been phoning and phoning to discuss and the teacher never gets back to them?

londonmummy1966

Then there are official channels to go through to complain, in the same way that there are official channels that you could complain about the school in your previous post.

nbole , I am guessing that's the point. Everyone would be entitled. the theory is that reduces overall time off through illness. In theory. Apparently that is the case in schools which do this (have been researching!)

Londonmummy: Having finally got the school to respond to an EdPsych report 6 months after they were sent it (see my other thread....) I don't think that teachers should get shopping days unless all correspondence more than 3 weeks old has been dealt with but perhaps I am just being a bit grumpy tonight...

Tha fault here lies with the SENCO at your DC's school. Not the entire teaching profession in the U.K.

But this is a school thread white and the first rule of a school thread or a thread about teacher pay/conditions is that if any poster has a bad experience then that experience can obviously be extrapolated to the whole profession as a way to prove how easy the job is/how rubbish teachers are/have a dig at holidays/have a go at anything people don't think we should have.

Also needs to be recognised how many teachers do respond to emails, from both parents and students, and return phone calls in their own time ie outside of paid hours.

We've often been out with my son at night or the weekend or during the holiday and he will get an email from a student who has a question about their homework, or recently from a student who went on holiday during term time and was then emailing to get the missed homework.

Yes, it's funny how people go nuts at a Christmas shopping day for teachers, but don't bat an eyelid at Christmas bonuses, freebie Christmas parties, company cars, paid overtime on trips away from home, share schemes, 'improve yourself' schemes for the workforce, end of year bonuses etc etc (all things my DH benefits from) in other jobs?

Maisy You're right.! I stupidly forgot that I am personally responsible for every child's education, health, wellbeing and happiness inside and outside of school whether I teach them or not.
I will try to remember in future!


I’ve worked in private sector and currently in the not for profit sector and haven’t ever come across anyone in a senior role (or any role for that matter) who could just drop 15 days of their own work over a 30-35 working day period to fully cover a colleague. They could pick up one or two key priorities by dropping something lower priority in their role yes but certainly not do a different job altogether!

Dorset as the school in the Daily Fail is named, you email the HT and ask how they manage it.

Here's a link:

www.st-pauls-swanley.kent.sch.uk/page/?title=Contact+Us&pid=2

Do tell us how you get on.

Ha, ha - typical - it's a tiny school and 5 of the 8 teachers are men.

dorset seems to think that covering a teacher represents a full day’s work. It’s more like half a day - that’s why people become supply teachers! (It’s also assuming that it’s a day the teacher would be teaching all day).

Noble. So teachers don’t work a full day then?

Dorset - I imagine what Noble means is that if you do a day's cover for a secondary teacher, all you do is turn up and cover their actual lessons. You don't have to do any lesson planning, marking, pastoral stuff or other admin. So yes, teachers work a full day (and more). Ad hoc supply teachers, not so much. That's why they do it. (That and the lack of accountability for things which are sometimes beyond the teacher's power to control).

I wasn’t suggesting that the HT in this situation would be planning the lessons in advance etc but he’s still working standard school day hours which, from all the posts on here, indicate arriving by 8.00am latest to set up for the day, teaching through till 3-3.30 and then most likely speaking to parents, packing up etc until 4.30-5.

Not a chance would anyone in any of the organisations I’ve worked in be able to cover that x 15 as they simply wouldn’t have the capacity.

Knittink. And we’re not talking about a secondary school here, it’s a primary.

seems to think that covering a teacher represents a full day’s work. It’s more like half a day - that’s why people become supply teachers!

I'm a supply teacher with planning and marking responsibilities. The only difference between me and a 'real' teacher is they get paid for holidays and sickness and I don't. And because I won't be in position in the next academic year, I don't have to worry quite so much about results. I became a supply teacher to rid myself of guilty when it came to feeling other people's children were way more important than my own. But thanks for the professional vote of confidence.

Let me spell this out.

If I worked just the 1265 hours I'm paid for, your kids' books would not get marked. 75% of my lessons would be winged instead of planned. No extra-curricular support would be available. I wouldn't keep my skills up to date.

I would dearly love for someone to either pay me for those extra hours or offer me one day off in return. How lovely for the school whose HT saw this and felt it worth giving something back.

Mynameis. 1,265 hours over 39 working weeks equates to just under a 32.5 hour week. Not sure there are many other professions where that would be classed as full-time which is generally around 39 hours average and I don’t know any professional who doesn’t have to work more than their contracted/paid hours to get the job done.

Maybe part of the problem is that your hours tend to be concentrated into that 39 week period rather than spread over 46 or 47 weeks so it feels much more intense.

On the flip side, because of those concentrated hours you do get the longer holidays whereas the rest of us get 4 or 5 weeks.

Bloody ridiculous idea.

Bloody ridiculous idea.

What is?

One head giving his 8 teachers a wellbeing day by covering their lessons himself?

Or is it ridiculous for any worker in any role to ever receive any sort of bonus or incentive?

Holiday. There’s around 15 members of staff st the school being discussed.