Sorry for the rant below. I am grumpy about work today after one of those weeks.
I work in a mainstream secondary school, working with students with some quite complex needs, some challenging behavioural issues, ASD, ADHD, mental health problems, often from chaotic home lives and having a terrible time at home and school.
Emotionally, it can be a lot to deal with. But, I am very resilient. Any rudeness or anything like that from the students honestly bounces off me and I can always respond with something fairly positive to try to get them back on track with work. I do find hearing some things they tell me very hard, but I can take it as I know I'm the grown up and it's up to me to listen and report when I hear something.
For this job I get paid the princely sum of £900 per month, as it is part time, (meaning full time school hours).
Not that it matters, but I am well educated with a degree in a sensible subject from a uni which is seen as one of the best in the country.
I do this job because I wanted to do something which benefits vulnerable people in society. I don't want to teach secondary.
We are expected to help out in every class, from year 7 Drama and Textiles to Yr 11 Physics and Maths which can be challenging sometimes, like when I have to dig out my knowledge of GCSE algebra, but fine.
Anyway, my line manager is quite a domineering and unhelpful person. I get absolutely no support or guidance. Requests for advice get shrugged off or responded to very slowly as if it's a major inconvenience. That is until I do something (which she decides on any given day is) wrong and then get told off for it. She and her other colleagues spend most days lurking round an office talking to each other about work, so they have great communication in the office. However, it's very cloak and dagger, so the people who are in the classroom, (my colleagues and me), do not get access to any of this information as it is never sent to us.
Most lunchtimes, we get cornered by domineering boss who ruins my precious lunch break droning on about how rich her family is and makes weird, inappropriate comments and thinking she's brilliant. I've been nice and listened to her until now because she is my boss.
However, this is also her opportunity to give us a telling off for whatever she's decided we've done wrong, usually with overly dramatic descriptions of the dire repercussions due to what we supposedly did wrong. Hypothetical repercussions I mean, like; "oh, you left the class because another student who was truant was hanging round outside and being disruptive so you went to speak to him and report it. What if your student had fled from the class? You KNOW she has awful MH problems". No, I actually didn't because you NEVER TOLD ME. Also, I know her and she was happy in class that day. Then the next week it will be "why did you stay in class with your student when you knew another child was truant and hanging round the grounds somewhere? Don't you know that's a terrible risk to the truant child"? Um...what?! I cannot win.
I have decided now to give her absolutely no information about what goes on with my classes, unless there is something serious which directly concerns her, as whatever it is, she will twist it to me having done something wrong. I'll report things which need to be obviously; I'm not an idiot. But to the pastoral team/DSL/head of year team directly.
This seems to be their chosen training method btw. Tell us nothing, gossip amongst themselves in the office and then tell us we're all wrong whatever we do.
I am relatively new to the job (6 months in), but I am so peeved today. I take a lot of shit from students and I put up with it because it's my job and I genuinely care about their welfare, but I will not take it from my boss who jas given me basically zero in terms of help and training, when I'm getting paid a pittance.
Aibu to send off applications for pretty much any other job today? Should I try to communicate to her and her boss (SENCO) what the problem is, or just keep my counsel and find something else (anything else) ASAP? With the nonsense she's given since I started work though, I expect any confrontation would be twisted to make me look silly and her like a wise one who has to deal with the idiots she has to manage, how exasperating 🙄. She isn't. She's just a domineering person who speaks with authority on every subject going.
If it matters, finances are ok in the short - medium term due to an inheritance, savings from my previous work and my OH job. Obviously this job isn't bringing in a proper wage at all, so I think I can do better.
Tl:Dr summary: aibu to think that in a difficult, very low paid job, where my manager is unsupportive and helpful, I need to get out ASAP even though I generally like my job?