Burnt out teacher!

[Supermummy88]

Good evening everyone,

I just wanted to get some advice from fellow teachers and people from other professions. I think my schedule as head of department is insane and I feel I am on the verge of burning out. I am constantly ill and my migraines are horrendous. I am beginning to hate being in classroom as I am simply too exhausted to teach. Below is my weekly schedule:

Mondays: School have 6th period so don’t finish until 4pm

Tuesday: CPD until 4:30pm

Wednesday: Pastoral meeting 7:50am-8:15am

3:00-4:00pm department meeting

4:00-5:00pm year 11 intervention

Thursday: 7:45-8:15am year 11 intervention

Friday: 7:45-8:15am heads of department meetings with SLT

Do others have similar schedules? I am struggling to juggle everything as I have 2 small children.

Thank you xx

Seems pretty normal to me. Can you go part time maybe?

It sounds like you have a lot on. I'm a teacher and I'm doing the school run to nursery and primary school before going to my school. Some kind of briefing every morning, teaching, meetings, intervention etc... then leave at 4.30 to collect both children. I put them to bed at 7 and then I'm generally working again in the evening. It is bloody hard and some days I question it but ultimately love my job. Helps that DH does a lot as well so we tag team the mornings and evenings. We have a cleaner and get an online food shop to make like a bit easier.

How would that help?

How can meetings start that early? Why so many after schools scheduled for the same week. Lots wrong with that schedule.

As hod you presumably have responsibilities beyond the classroom - analysing exam results, do you get involved with staffing and line management as well?

Being hod of a department can be significant extra work and balancing it with small children is tricky. The hods I know with kids go home, put the kids to bed and then work until 1-2am most nights.

I'm a teacher but in a different country. Having talked to colleagues who used to teach in the UK, I think the system seems to be broken. It's insane the number of hours are expected, a significant number of which are just dealing with paperwork and parents rather than actually teaching. You salaries are also ridiculously low.

I know it's not helpful for you since you have a family etc, but I think young teachers would be mad to stay in the UK. In their shoes I would either leave the UK, or leave teaching.

All that to say that I don't have any practical advice since I teach in a different system, but I don't think you're being at all unreasonable. You are being asked for way too much, for way too little in return.

Mainscale secondary teacher here. Our school day is 8.50-3.40. One meeting a week 4-5. One before school duty 8.15-8.45 a week and a break duty a week. How long have you been teaching? I’ve been teaching 25 years and my school day is pretty much in line with how it has always been (although work load has increased in other areas eg pastoral).

How old are your children? I still have one primary age so the breakfast club and after school club pick up and drop offs aren’t very flexible but my eldest is now in secondary so she lets herself out and in so that’ll make a massive difference when my youngest is there too.

Basically, solidarity! Being a working parent is tough!

That sounds horrendous! I have been HoD for many yrs. We don't have early morning meetings, day finishes at 3.15 (though most work on) and we've directed time until 4.30 one day a week - this is when our meetings are held. They alternate between departmental, pastoral, staff meeting etc. But then again we don't have Ofsted

There are a lot of early morning meetings. Is that entirely necessary? Do you stop for a bit at lunch? You will feel better when Y11 go so start your countdown. I think I remember a few years ago someone saying that school couldn't force staff to have meetings before 8am. Or maybe even before school. Perhaps you could look into that with your union.

Could you step down from being HOD with a view to stepping back up when your children are older. I hope you already have a cleaner a dishwasher and do online weekly shops. Very stressful juggling when children are little.

I think so many people are levaing teaching. It's unsustainable once you have kids in the most part. And exhausting.

Have you looked st the FB group for teachers leaving the profession. It's both great to have solidarity and depressing to see the same repeated stories.

Are you employed under STPCD?

How does that fit with 1265?

Have you got your directed time budget?

If they're working until 1-2am they need to find a new school. That's not normal!

You need to ask for a copy of the directed time calendar and check that all this is accounted for as it seems unlikely. Anything that isn't included on that calendar, you don't have to do.

Where do you work?

You have my utmost sympathy.

For the first time, I am actively looking for roles outside of teaching. It’s just not tenable to continue at this rate.

I stepped down from my responsibility and now I'm a plain old classroom teacher, UPR3. Much happier now but nearly quit the profession. Glad I didn't.

Did you agree to this at the start of the year? This is usually negotiated in April for following year. Paid hours beyond class contact need recorded re meetings, CPD etc. This can't happen without staffs agreement via signing the proposal or the representative body signing it when you have seen it and agreed. Negotiate the hours differently.

No, my school does not have after school CPD and a department meeting every week. We have one after school meeting per week, but not if the same week as a parents' evening. That meeting rotates between CPD, department and pastoral.

It sounds like way too many meetings and you must be over directed time!

In Germany.

That's what i used to have when i worked in a school

My school doesn't officially start until our staff briefing at 8.40am for 10mins. On a Thursday this staff briefing alternates between sageguarding briefing, pastoral meeting and department meeting. We finish every day ar 3.35pm (except Friday we finish at 2.30pm). One afterschool mtg on a Tuesday until 4.50pm.

Are there ways you can trick the system? For example the yr11 intervention between 4-5pm, can this take place during a lunch time instead (my school has to do this as kid's are bused in and we have two lunches as two many kids to do one lunch), or can you create a rota for you team where you take it in turns? We also have some selected Year 11s coming to intervention during their Games lesson for a couple of sessions.

You aren't going to be able to change SLT most likely, but you could propose some changes to support workload for staff, which would include the ridiculous amount of meetings you have to attend.

In the meantime I would look at delegating to staff on a rota to support Year 11 as that helps a bit!

Exactly what I was going to ask! Could be a very easy solution to this if the calc doesn't add up.

Is pastoral and dept on the same day every week? That seems a bit daft having no time at both ends of the day.

Fortunately I now work in a school where there's one morning briefing and one hour after school meeting per week. HoD I think also meet one night a fortnight which seems very reasonable all things considered. Workload is being managed carefully as they want to keep hold of the staff they have collected over the years so they could probably ask for more but then run the risk of people leaving the profession and not being able to replace them.

That sounds awful, especially for the pay you’re likely getting. I used to teach & didn’t have to work such long hours. I still couldn’t wait to get out of teaching.

If it’s affecting your health, you need to leave & find something more sustainable. There’s a whole world out there away from teaching!

7.45! That's insane. I am a teacher and there's no way I could do that. I have a child to drop off at 8.15ish. I know you are promoted but that's a lot of after school activities and meetings.