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

The school does not follow the burgundy book. Many staff members are in the same position and are very very over worked. Some have told me that because it’s an academy it’s the ‘trust’ that makes all the decisions about meetings etc

You have so many meetings! I’m a HoD and don’t have anywhere near this many and certainly not at 7:45am. I wouldn’t get there in time, most staff wouldn’t. Plus all the unpaid yr11 revision you’re doing. It’s all too much. Do your school follow the burgundy book? I imagine you could be well over your directed time. Not all schools are like this, would you consider moving?

Then I'm afraid none of my advice is of any use.

Are you in a union? Might be worth having a chat.

Im trying to get out. I wish I'd requalified pre kids!

Ah just seen your update - no burgundy book. That’s the problem.

I'm a bit confused here. Sounds like you have a couple of early starts and then work til 4-5 each day? Is there a lot of evening and weekend work you didn't include in your post?
Those hours seem reasonable to me?

Do you not get used for cover when yr11 leave? And get given tasks to be done in those hours?

I have...
3x morning briefing per week (1x pastoral, 1x whole school, 1x middle managers).
1x weekly department meeting per week where we will be given a task that will need to be completed in our frees that week.
2x yr11 revision sessions (too many to fit in 1).
I have a form and teach 5 out of 6 hours per day. I am a HoD and get 5 hours per week free (but obviously we get the PPA work distributed on a Tuesday in the departmental meeting).

It's relentless at the moment

Yes it's the intensity that is 150% that whole time plus then the prep for that is done in the evening.

Imagine impotent meeting you're presenting for and having them back to back from early morning to 4 and then having to prep for the next ones that evening and then all the other stuff around making sure everyone in your presentation is keeping up and achieving.

Honestly it's crazy. The work to do the work has to be done each evening. We start early and arrive early anyway without more time taken away with meetings

I work in an academy and they chose to adopt the burgundy book. However if yours doesn’t they still need to put in your contract your designated hours and spread over how many days. Get the union involved to check it if you like, it sounds like maybe if your union rep is useless you might be best speaking to a regional rep instead- all can be done in confidence. Either way the school legally has to be clear on how many designated hours they expect of you.

And bubbles. It may seem fine to you (do you teach?)

But teachers are burning out all over and are leaving in droves. Something is seriously wrong in teaching. Criticising teachers when they're all leaving won't help!

No she said she teaches or has meetings until those times. The rest of the job is done after that.

Like a previous poster, your OP looks fine to people outside of teaching - but I'm assuming the issue is all the additional work that you haven't mentioned?

Re-read the OP. She says the early / late meetings she has but doesn’t say if she reaches the rest of the time / has a form / has free periods. I also assume she finishes teaching at about 3 on the days she doesn’t mention so seems very reasonable to me

Ofgs have you never looked at teacher threads?

Imagine prepping for a big meeting. Then imagine those meeting back to front all day.

Now in teaching that prep is done in the evening and at weekends. It doesn't need saying as anyone who knows about teaching knows that you do have to actually prepare for each "big meeting."

And also if you look at all the people leaving teaching it will tell you something is seriously wrong with the profession. Maybe listen and learn. Or look at other threads rather than showing your ignorance with posting here.

I have a form group and have to work after all these meetings for at least 3 hours in the evenings. I have 4 hours PPA a week, 1 hour gets taken up by a line management meeting with SLT.

I’ve recently left teaching - just as a classroom teacher- and reading this thread is bringing back the anxiety I used to feel about having too much to do. It is just insane.

I previously worked for a trust that just didn’t mention directed time - ever. I was the only person who asked about it or seemed to know about it (very young staff) and that in itself can be quite a drama as you are immediately putting your head above the parapet. It’s quite hard to challenge if you are by yourself so it seems to need experienced teachers and/or unions to push back. It’s a bloody nightmare OP I hope you can stand your ground but that becomes an extra ‘to do’ thing…

Going part time in my experience just means unless you protect your part time unpaid days like a hawk, you end up using them to balance out the stuff you are finding tough on working days.

You might think that's OK but also don't forget meetings, CPDs, trainings etc can only be done with all staff together, so where you might think you have planned easier mornings/evenings for yourself by using your days off, you might not have because of someone (let's face it) very often pushing things at you under very short notice and you end up working those hours anyway.

Check with your union, you should only have directed time for 1265 hours, they can't direct you at lunch (although you can volunteer for a paid lunch), certain amounts of time after school hours and an eleven hour gap between parents evenings at and when you are due to start work the next day (eg they can't make you do parents evening to 9pm and expect you to be in a meeting earlier than 8am)

If any of this sounds like they are being dodgy on the duties timings hours, no shame in alerting your union rep or your union directly, or just to check on things, they get these queries all the time and never mind answering them for you

Well, that's the nature of the beast here in the UK, not just in teaching but in most jobs.

Name the country you live in and average salary for a school teacher.

Similar schedule, yes, also in an academy.

We have P6, 1-2 after school meetings a week (usually 2 if it's a parents' evening), morning briefings 3x a week (20min each), daily lunchtime duty even if you're not SLT. There is also a contractual expectation to spend office hours (i.e. 8-5) on site, which is then generally taken as "oh, we can just meet then" time. TLR holders have 1-2 fewer timetabled hours, but because they're unprotected, we're often just used for cover during those times anyway. I managed to insist that one of those hours is a timetabled management meeting, so does become protected.

The last two schools I worked in didn't bother with a directed time budget. Both are haemorrhaging staff.

It really doesn't. We have Curriculum Development Hour once a week after school for an hour and staff briefing 10 minutes before registration once a week. That's it. Occasional focus groups meet at other times but that's voluntary. I'm a HoD of a core subject. We also don't have extra periods on any days either (wouldn't work with school transport).

That is also not normal. And as for being taken for cover when year 11 go. No, not all the time. And if you have something you need to do and contact the cover supervisor she's great at managing that. I will lose some gained time to cover but not much.

Why do you have a line management meeting with SLT every week. What can there be to discuss to fill that time every week.

@RainbowColouredRainbows just spotted you say that you get tasks directed for your PPA- I'm almost certain they can't do that. It's for planning, preparation and assessment for your classes, if what you're being asked to do sits outside that then please run it past your union.

As ever many of the problems seem to be leaders with unacceptable expectations. I bet they moaned when anything like that happened when they were in the classroom but it's amazing how many forget when they get moved up!

I don't do anything before school, and we don't have all those meetings every week (pastoral team only once a term, dept once a fortnight, HODs twice a term. Tbh it's not enough, though).

But I do have something every lunchtime: year 11 revision, KS3 challenge, dept detention, lunch duty, sport. And after school(4-5): dept detention, duty, sport, supervised study. After school meetings, when they happen, and twilight inset run 5-6.

I'm at an independent school, so there's a lot of expectation outside the dept! I also do one term of sports fixtures, and I do DofE. Oh, and we have break duty and breaktime briefings as well.

What's your teaching load? I only teach 35 hrs out of 50.

Not all schools are like this - promise! However, it's bloody tough at the moment.

For those saying it sounds fine: these are student/public facing hours. Here is a standard day for me (also a HOD, also an academy). Please note my directed time starts at 8 30 and registration is 9.25. This week I also have parents eve and 6th form enrolment to do.

Arrive between 7.30 + 8. Check cover for day. Set other staff cover of necessary. Answer teacher queries.
8.30 - 9.25 Y11 intervention.
9.25-9.50 registration
P1 - mentor meeting with trainee (eats into PPA, no allocated time)
P2 lesson
11.30 break, 20 mins
12 - 1.50 double lesson
1.50 - break duty to 2.15
P5 - "PPA" (need to see my students in the inclusion unit)
3.15 - 2nd duty on public bus stop
4.30 - 7.30 parents' eve

ALL of my planning and marking has to be done OUTSIDE of the times above, as I am otherwise engaged. I am lucky in that I have a fully staffed department. In "lesson" I am actively on my feet teaching and circulating.

This is why we have an issue keeping staff in the profession. There is NO TIME.

ETA - I have been up marking y12 essays since 5 30 and am about to leave for work.