Teacher leaving due to bullying SLT

[Teachergoing]

I just want to tell people. I have no one to tell.

SLT have been very sneakiky bringing me down over the last few years, and finally I've cracked.
A member of SLT was rude, shouted at me and just generally unprofessional. They blamed me for something they had never told me not to do (something pretty minute with little effect on anything).
I complained about the manner of SLT and was basically told it was all my fault, that I misread the situation because of 'how my brain works' (they know I'm autistic).They invented witnesses and made up stuff.

There's nothing I can do. I can't see how my union could help here. They have 'witnesses' and all SLT just defend each other and back each other up.

So, as I can't imagine working for these people any longer, I'm going to leave ... I will miss the children and my TAs desperately but I cannot stay somewhere I feel has put a target on my head.

I will not be applying for any other teaching jobs. Maybe a TA in the future when I've recovered from this, as currently I'm all over the place.

There, thanks for reading. Just wanted that off my chest.

The union will make sure that correct disciplinary procedure have been followed. So for instance you should have been given notice of a disciplinary meeting. Should have been able to have a member of your union present. Should have been able to record it as part of the allowances made for your autism.

Shouting at you in a classroom on your own with no notice is bullying. If you left as a result of this that might well open them up to constructive dismissal.

You should have a clear set accommodations made for you autism on record at the school and any 'management' which falls outside this is discrimination.

If you don't have these accomodations in place then the school is guilty of disability discrimination.

You very very much need to talk to your union because you might not need to go off sick with stress but perhaps refuse to work in a hostile environment.

Also if they believe your disability caused the problem then it is their failure to make appropriate accomodations that is the liability here.

I agree with @FoxRedPuppy the accusation that things happened because your brain works differently really alarmed me OP. Please please please raise this with your union, this is very ableist and inappropriate.

On a wider point (and not really a top priority for you right now) if they can say that to you, what’s stopping them saying it to a child.

Remember that its not you its them.

At this point your only allegiance is to yourself and to put your physical and mental wellbeing first.

Go off sick with Work related stress and see what your Union has to say,

Re the witnesses, if the union takes this up, the witnesses will have to be produced. This opens up CCTV in corridors etc.

@Teachergoing take a breath.

You have rights.

Even if you don't want to work there, protect yourself first.

Autism is a trade union issue
Autism is an issue for trade unions, because:

Most autistic people can work, including in ‘normal’ (whatever that may
mean!) workplaces.

Please, look at this site

My doctor said he could have signed me off for the 3 months I needed to get my TP but wanted to see me more frequently as he was concerned. I think he thought I'd harm myself but I wasn't going to I just couldn't leave the house or stop crying for the first few weeks it was that bad. The Union said I should rescind the notice I had already given and get full sick pay for 6 months but I couldn't do it. I didn't start to feel myself again until I was free of them. I had been at that school for 27 years and the new HT completely undermined my confidence in less than half a term. I saw the old HT and she couldn't believe what had happened.

I'm sorry - it's awful.

It's happened to people I know. A husband and wife - both teachers.

I never understand why SLT do this. It may save money, but it's so hard to fill roles now. Unless, of course, flogging NQTs for a couple of years and then replacing them is their business modell. But NQTs are so hit and miss, especially with how teaching is now, even if they are cheap.

When I finally quit, my HT advertised my post for a lower job-sizing point, even though the school roll had increased.

I've been gone 6 years. I've had 6 replacements. The HT is now gone, but the lower wage that he set is still there. People are being asked to do too much for not enough money. I don't want to out myself, but Scottish teachers will get this.

Our middle managers had to run faculties. Unusually, I was qualified to run all the departments in my faculty. (In my day, you could come out of teaching college dual qualified and I added to my qualifications later.) My HT dealt with me by cutting my management time and making my job impossible.

When I was replaced, my successors got their management time back, but the increase in school roll meant that there were more pupils and teachers to manage. On top of that, if they'd compared notes with other middle managers with smaller faculties, they'd have discovered that the other middle managers were paid more. (The jobs were all re-sized during my last term. Because I was "retiring", I was excluded from the process, so the SLT took the opportunity to downgrade the position.)

In addition to the above, my successors were not qualified to manage all the departments in my faculty and would have found the job much more difficult. (The SLT attitude was that you were merely managing and they expected the class teachers to do management tasks that they weren't paid for. Most of the staff in my faculty weren't daft enough to do that. I never asked them to do work outwith their remit.)

I think that is what they do and hope to mould the NQTs to their will. The HT that bullied me out only stayed two years and moved on to better things.

I’m sorry you’ve found yourself in this position. FWIW, in the right school the job isn’t toxic like this. I was bullied by a member of our staff (not SLT) and they backed me up 100% and resolved the issue. Our SLT are great mostly (no one’s perfect!) and it makes all the difference.

My advice would be to think carefully about your next move; don’t burn any bridges. You absolutely can leave if you think that’s best, but try to do it on good terms. Think of it as a blip that won’t affect your career whatsoever!

See your GP and get signed off for stress related to bullying.

This happened to me many years ago and I'm so sorry, it really did a number on me and ended up with PTSD.

You do need to speak to union as others have said, they can negotiate an agreed reference and also give you advice if you want to take a case to early conciliation and possibly tribunal. I'm a union rep now in a different job and I think you'd have a case. Go on ACAS website as well and look at your options.

A lot of the experienced strong teachers are being bullied out their jobs at the moment. It’s been going on for a while. You’re not alone

I've decided that I WILL speak to the union, tomorrow. I'm definitely going to leave but I've been looking at my finances and it would be better if I could just hold on a bit longer and save up more of a safety cushion.

It's just so rubbish. Somebody asked up the thread what I actually did, and I don't want give details but basically I was accused by SLT of doing something I didn't actually do. And they've found witnesses to say I did do it. Which is all ridiculous because I know I didn't do it!

It's different with stress lovely.
They understand that mental health takes time to heal and the focus is on wellbeing services these days, rather than a magic pill.
See if they can offer you some talking therapies, CBT is good for getting things straightened out in your head and helping you to formulate a plan to change things.
This takes time. I've known colleagues be off for months but if it gets you into a better frame of mind and helps you to regain your confidence and rehab you back to your role (in a different environment), then it's so worth it.

There are some brilliant Facebook groups re leaving teaching, very supportive.

Whereabouts did this happen? If it was in school surely there is cctv showing no witnesses? Or if it was in a classroom it would show that no one else entered or left that room at the time when it happened. That all depends on whether the footage is still available though.

I was sorry to hear you are having problems. As an ex Union rep in a different profession I would advise getting in touch with your Union. Thinking ahead would you be able to be a personal tutor or online teacher. Being a supply teacher could be a way forward. If you do go on sickness leave with stress all you have to do when you need your next sick note is advise your doctor that you don't feel any better. It is quite likely he will cover you for say a month or so at a time .All the best and you deserve some time away. Work place bullying is the worst as people should be able to like going into work. Feeling full of dread about it is no way to be .I think it is not acceptable to be bullied by the SLT and you never know other colleagues could well be in the same position .I wish you all the best. It sounds like some time away from the place would do you a world of good..

In my classroom, unfortunately there isn't any CCTV down that area of school... There are big windows to the corridor though and I could see one person briefly approach the class and then back off when they saw what was happening. So I don't know who these other witnesses are. I certainly didn't see them.

Definitely talk to your union. They might be able to help.
I know someone who ended up getting a large payout because of SLT bullying.

I was bullied in my NQT year by the parallel class teacher, another teacher who wanted my class instead of covering classes and teaching a specific subject, and the headteacher.
I didn't take it up with my union but I left at the end of the year.
It was hell.
They were constantly doing that thing of not telling me things and then blaming and me and saying "oh dear, you forgot AGAIN".
Until I insisted on a brief meeting each morning, made notes in my notebook and then the parallel class teacher couldn't tell lies about what she had and hadn't said. That was advice I got from the woman who came in from the LEA to observe all NQTs once during the year - she'd read in the notes about me that I'd "regularly forgets to do things she has been told to do".

It's so sad reading everyone's stories in this thread. What is wrong with the leaders in these schools?!

I'm afraid I was accused of stuff I didn't do too. I hope your union is supportive. Mine was.

I’m so sorry this is happening to you. The reference to your autism screams disability discrimination to me but it depends how much fight you have in you, if this will impact your mental health negatively in fighting it if they manage to swing it their way, and also how much you need a good reference for whatever you want to do next (which they will hopefully give if you go quietly as they want).

it’s so wrong, and there are good SLT out there, but you have to really look for them! Good luck! ❤️

Can you speak with union quoting Equality Act 2010 as autism is recognised as a disability under it and you are being discriminated against (comment about misreading situation)? Since they are aware of your diagnosis - what reasonable accomodations did they offer and put in place?