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)

Essentially, if teachers' workloads and conditions were ok, they wouldn't be quitting in their thousands, would they? There have been umpteen posts on MN by teachers who have left the profession for another sector and breathed a huge sigh of relief. And some by people who have left their profession to try teaching (because they thought it would be rewarding and have good working hours and holidays for family life) but have then slunk back in horror to their previous career when they realised the mistake they'd made.

Should teachers make themselves available for work 24/7?

My colleague was once emailed by a parent at 11am and had a complaint made to the Head about her lack of response by 7am the following morning!

Based on that, yes, we should be available at all times!

Essentially, if teachers' workloads and conditions were ok, they wouldn't be quitting in their thousands, would they?

Unfortunately, both the general public and the Government think we are slackers generally and that quitting simply means we are not up to it. It's our fault for being useless, not the system's fault for having got well beyond the management of the average adult with responsibilities outside of work. My children's high school in the last 5 years has shifted from having a balanced staff team of older, more experienced staff, some middle-career staff and a smaller number of young staff to being essentially a staff team of under 25s. All around me I see young staff who leave after 5 years or at the point they have children (both men and women). Nothing against younger staff - some of them are amazing - but they all absolutely lack life experience and few are parents.

There are so many other occupations where staff receive perks. Team building events, the chance of bonuses and half day Fridays so that everyone gets to the pub by lunch time! There never seems to be a conversation as to why that's fair/unfair however if you're a teacher, our hours are a constant topic. Teachers are scrutinised on a daily basis. Never alone to just get on with the job. Judgement from all angles. The people having an input on this conversation stating teachers leave at 3 and insinuating it's an easy job have only ever had the pleasure of being taught and will therefore never be able to understand or accept that a 'shopping day' is a very well thought out concept to ensure children get the best from appreciated and empowered teachers.

My dd is a teacher. She has two school age dc. She is never home before 6. Last night it was a Parents evening and it was nearly 10.
She is HoD in a big comp so years 7-13 each with several forms so there are lots of such evenings. She teaches ‘twilight’ classes for exam classes at least twice a week.
A shopping day would be wonderful, she’d use it to catch up on housework. She doesn’t get one though.
I do after school pick ups and her dh is self employed so home before her to cook tea.

There is a thread on AIBU about a poster only getting £10 per person toward their Christmas night out. Lots of posters talking about the fully paid for nights out they get. As far as I can remember no one came on to post “but you don’t work as hard as me! Why should you get a night out!” etc. Possibly because the magic word “teacher” wasn’t mentioned.

1265 contracted hours. What are the additional hours worked if not overtime?

Here:
51.20 A teacher employed full-time must be available to perform such duties at such times and such places as may be specified by the headteacher (or, where the teacher is not assigned to any one school, by the employer or the headteacher of any school in which the teacher may for the time being be required to work as such) for 1265 hours, those hours to be allocated reasonably throughout those days in the school year on which the teacher is required to be available for work
51.21 Paragraph 51.20 applies to a teacher employed part-time, except that the number of hours the teacher must be available for work must be that proportion of 1265 hours which corresponds to the proportion of total remuneration the teacher is entitled to be paid pursuant to paragraphs 36 and 37
51.22 In addition to the hours a teacher is required to be available for work under paragraph 51.20 or 51.21, as the case may be, a teacher must work such reasonable additional hours as may be necessary to enable the effective discharge of the teacher’s professional duties, including in particular planning and preparing courses and lessons; and assessing, monitoring, recording and reporting on the learning needs, progress and achievements of assigned pupils
51.23 The employer must not determine how many of the additional hours referred to in paragraph 51.22 must be worked or when these hours must be worked "

It's not overtime - it's undirected time and the teacher should decide how much he/she needs to do in order to discharge their professional duties - just like lawyers for example.

Personally, I don't have a problem with a 'shopping day' - if the head teacher (not a TA) wants to take over for the day. I love 'snow days' and extra days off school with my dc - but I don't have to go to work myself.

Teachers do get lots of perks:

Long holidays.
Teachers' Pension.
Job security relative to many other professions.
Reasonable expectation of yearly increments.
Flexibility to take work home after school hours.
Free parking on site.
Free lunch in primary schools.
Gifts from parents.
Teachers' discounts - e.g. Apple Laptop discounts, 30% off Hilton Hotel stays for teachers...

And the good news is that postgraduate entrants to primary level ITT were above target last year - with a surplus of around 700 trainees. Now we just need to pay good STEM teachers £10,000 pa more than primary school teachers...

hahahahaha Clavinova "Gifts from parents" are not a prescribed perk of the job.

Many other professions get discounts through work for things like gym, travel etc.

"Job security relative to many other professions."

I don't think so, I think its comparable to other professions, like Medicine or law.

"Reasonable expectation of yearly increments"

Not really, progression is not automatic and many schools are setting targets for progression that mean that its almost impossible. For example 100% of students meeting their minimum expected grade.

Also " In the real world" ( I hate the phrase, its actually a sneaky ad hominem about teachers) if there is a shortage of staff wages and conditions goes up. The fact is that people can be convinced teaching is easy means that they will complain for days about small perk being awarded to teachers.

HTH

You don't know what perk is, is do you, Clavinova?

Informal word for perquisites which are privileges granted to employees in addition to their salaries and benefits (such as medial and pension plans). 'True' perks have little or no cash value or tax implications and may include company car, vacations, reserved parking space, spacious office, private dining and washroom facilities, etc.

Long holidays : Not a perk
Teachers' Pension. Not a perk
Job security relative to many other professions. Not a perk
Reasonable expectation of yearly increment. Not a perk
Flexibility to take work home after school hours. Your'e having a laugh.
Free parking on site Possible perk but nota part of all teachers' jobs, so, er...nota perk.
Free lunch in primary schools For being unduly, so not a perk,
Gifts from parents Not a perk as it is at the parents' discretion

On duty, not unduly.

The free lunches are to make up for the fact that the teacher has to give up part of their lunch, for which they are not paid. But then you did know that a teacher only gets paid for 20 minutes break in a day, due to the directed hours.

Not a perk

Long holidays - not a perk and I work most of them.
Teachers' Pension - not a perk
Job security relative to many other professions - hahahahaha with all the cuts?
Reasonable expectation of yearly increments - not a perk
Flexibility to take work home after school hours - wtf? No. All work must be done in school other than planning
Free parking on site - nope. No car park.
Free lunch in primary schools - nope, not in Wales
Gifts from parents - wine I can't drink and yet another mug? Whoop.
Teachers' discounts - e.g. Apple Laptop discounts, 30% off Hilton Hotel stays for teachers - don't use apple products, don't stay in hotels.

You don't know what perk is, is do you, Clavinova?

Yes, I do know what a perk is - I don't need a dictionary definition.
I was following on from the lists posted by Noble and MaisyPops on page 25 - lots of 'non-perks' in their lists as well. Besides, most teachers would describe the long school holidays as a 'perk of the job' - I can link to The Staffroom if you like? And 'perk' sounded more 'pithy' than 'benefits'.

The fundamental problem behind all these teacher threads is that so many teachers seem convinced that everything they do outside of 'directed time' is unpaid overtime - surely the job description is explained to them when training?

Catpissface
You might find something here instead;

www.teacherperks.co.uk/

Rather ironically - I'm going Christmas shopping soon...

Every teacher thread you are here Clavinova.

Here's a question for you. You keep referring to this clause: "a teacher must work such reasonable additional hours as may be necessary to enable the effective discharge of the teacher’s professional duties, "

However you miss the significance of the term "reasonable'.

If there are so any good perks why are teachers leaving in their thousands?

Free lunch in primary schools.

I have to pay for my lunch in school?

Throwing into the mix that teachers in Scotland have a 35 hour week in our contracts (plus an additional annual 35 hours of training) so everything we do beyond that is indeed unpaid overtime.
If we all stuck to our contract I suspect the schools would grind to a halt.

There is a thread on AIBU about a poster only getting £10 per person toward their Christmas night out. Lots of posters talking about the fully paid for nights out they get. As far as I can remember no one came on to post “but you don’t work as hard as me! Why should you get a night out!” etc. Possibly because the magic word “teacher” wasn’t mentioned.

Yes, I thought that!

I have never ever worked in a primary school where we have been given a free lunch!

Surely a pension isn’t a perk-isn’t it part of your terms and conditions like it is in every other job?

Most teacher pensions are going to be shit though because so many have been forced to go part time to prevent them from having a nervous breakdown-so their pension will be pitiful.

If teaching was so brilliant, there wouldn’t be a retention crisis.

How interesting shopping.

We have a dperatmental night out soon... is anyone funding any of it? Don't be silly.

If teachers receive 20 minutes paid break per day that is 20 minutes more than other professions get. We are not paid for our breaks at all as they are not included in our working hours.