To think the teachers resent me?

[ThisMonkeysGoneToAldi]

I work at lunchtimes only, minimum wage, I used to teach but like this role as it fits around school drop offs/pick ups.
At various times we need to line children up, gather them together to put sun hats on etc. Many staff let them run/scream to do this. But I prefer to get them walking rather than running, sing songs or read a quick story which keeps them calm. One girl can get extremely upset when it’s noisy, but LOVES songs. I get really bad vibes off the SLT when I do this but I’m sure it’s the right thing to do? One v sweet member of staff said ‘you get them sitting beautifully’ and TBH, I think I do?? But the leaders there really don’t like me!!

As a teacher it's really bloody irritating when lunchtime staff do this when they should be burning off energy. It really does get on my nerves to have someone sit them all down in the classroom they've just been in all morning and read a story which I do multiple times a day anyway anyway. Playtime is for playing and running.

You haven't actually given any specific examples of why you think they 'resent' you. Not talking to you in the staff room? Cat's bum face? Why are you so convinced they don't like you? And is the teacher the classes teacher or someone who just watches from the corridor?

I can almost guarantee you it's not that deep. It could potentially be that the teacher wants to read them a story after lunch and you're cutting in to the precious little time that young children can sit on the carpet for without becoming fidgety and needing a break. It could that their class is a hideous mess and they are a little miffed theirs isn't like that. Its most likely though that you don't occupy their thoughts that much but that you come across a little smug, which you do on here. Don't overthink it though. If your line manager likes what you're doing that's the end of it.

They're probably thinking, just take them out to bloody play and stop making such a show of it! Playgrounds are noisy, it's fine!

SLT really should be explaining the importance of free play at lunchtime and suggesting some games or activities you can do with them to manage their behaviour/ engage in other ways. It doesn't always need to be quiet and controlled and some children (boys!) need to be a bit wild for that 30 minutes of playing.

Sounds like you are ‘organising’ the children at a time when they are supposed to be a little more free. Kids have enough time in the day when they need to sit, listen, pay attention, work. If you are surreptitiously ’stealing’ some of their relaxation time it can knock on to the kids’ attention span for the remainder of the day.
Be careful you aren’t overstepping and leaving teachers with a more difficult afternoon of behaviour to manage.

Wow that was a huge leap from what I said. If it matters to you I am on the lowest pay scale in my line of work, perfectly happy there, it suits my lifestyle and the pay is decent. Some higher up management are chatty and friendly, others can't bear to sit at the same table as us lower pay grades and yes it is the pay grade not the person because they don't actually know any of us individually. It is just the way that some people are and I was suggesting that perhaps the SMT in the OP's school think the same way.

Agree with your comment, other than the 'boys' bit - I live near a primary school and honestly, the girls run and scream as much as the boys! In fact they probably scream slightly more, on average.

I think you need to look at this logically. Logically, it’s extremely unlikely that they would ‘resent’ you for, in your view, managing the children well. That just wouldn’t make sense, as it’s something that would make their lives easier. So if there is any bad feeling towards you, the likelihood is there’s another reason.
This could be that actually, the way you manage the children doesn’t make their lives easier. A lot of PPs have made a good point that 5 mins sitting on the carpet listening to a story with you is potentially impacting on the amount of quiet/concentrating time they get from the children in the afternoon.
They could be finding your attitude a bit smug and superior. Being entirely honest that is how you come across on this thread, so it may well be something that is evident in real life too.
They could just be nasty people, which obviously can’t be discounted as some people just aren’t very pleasant.
Obviously it’s impossible for us strangers to know exactly why they’re treating you as they are, but as an observer it feels like your reasoning for it is probably the least likely.

This is another good point. @ThisMonkeysGoneToAldi did you agree this approach with anyone or take it upon yourself?

I'm a retired teacher. You're an asset to the school! Keep doing what you're doing. Please remember that people (and SLT, despite the staffroom gossip, are human) are imperfect; a common failing is to express jealousy in strange ways when they see someone doing their job well.

Judging a situation from vibes and feelings is always a gamble. Their negative demeanour may be completely unrelated to you. Easiest thing is to ask for some professional feedback on how you’re doing in the role. If you don’t want to do that I would go with no news is good news. It’s their job to raise if they want you to carry out a task differently, if they haven’t done this then the default is to assume they are happy with the way you do things.

It depends on whether you’re making a big display of how wonderful you are.

I don’t understand how reading the children a story can possibly be necessary. Are you sure you’re not just doing it because you yourself enjoy it, and as a demonstration of how "superior" you are to other MDSAs? Lunchtime is the time when children need to be free to run around and make a noise. Sitting quietly listening to stories is what they often do in the rest of the day; lunchtime should be different.

Do you stop - mid-story if necessary - as soon as the teacher arrives, or do you make the teacher stand and wait for you to finish?

You are obviously skilled at handling children but tbh I can understand why some might find this stuff performative if it holds them up. But I don’t understand why you think SLT members "resent" you. Are you implying that you think they’re envious?

I work in a primary school and i'm part of SLT.
In the nicest possible way, OP Midday Supervisors don't tend to hit my radar unless one of them comes to me with a safeguarding issue, or there are concerns about their professional conduct. I know thier names and I will smile and say hello if I walk past them on my way into a meeting, but I simply don't have much opportunity or reason to interact with them on a day to day basis. It's not about hierarchy or me thinking I'm superior or anything like that, our paths just don't cross that much. If LT literally blank you when they see you that's unacceptable in my view, and probably says a lot about the culture of the school. If they're not stopping to chat it's probably just that they don't have time and have a million things on their mind, but blatant rudeness isn't ok and I wouldn't want to work in an environment where it was normalised or tolerated. Reliable Midday Supervisors are like gold dust right now, so hard to recruit because the hours are awkward and the pay is shocking. I'm sure if you wanted to move on to a friendlier environment another school would snap you up.

I agree with a pp, your post does seem to imply that Teaching staff are jealous of your skills and relationships with the children. No one here knows you or sees you at work, so we won't be able to determine whether this is likely, whether it's just your perception that you're being 'sent to coventry' or whether you're possibly doing something else to rub people up the wrong way. In your shoes, I'd be tempted to ask the class Teacher, in a calm and professional way "have I done anything to upset you?" Sometimes its best to clear the air rather than speculate.

This and all the other posters who have responded similarly. Some schools are toxic not worth your health entering into those shit holes.

It just sounds altogether weird. Why are you sitting them down to read stories? Surely that isn't what you're supposed to be doing?

It sounds like you're grandstanding a bit to be honest

She did say they get out a lot quicker than the other class. The op sounds like a safe pair of hands they leave quietly and walk calmly to the playground.

I had an accident at school because the teacher wasn't watching and being diligent. The rest of the school day was spent in A and E.

Not a leap at all! You literally said "why would SLT chat to you? They are several pay grades above you now"

I do the exact same job as you in a First school (Foundation to Year 4), and our SLT wouldn't give two hoots, as long as the children are behaving and are where they're supposed to be!! You are a member of staff, it doesn't matter if you're a teacher or a cleaner, you should all be treated equally (unfortunately that doesn't happen in all schools!). Why do you think the SLT don't like you? I don't see any reason why, from what you've said. Surely if they thought you were doing something they didn't like/approve of, they'd have a quiet word?

This has made me think!

I was a secondary school teacher who re-trained for primary quite late and then worked as a classroom assistant (due to commitments with ailing elderly relatives - I didn't want the horrendous hours and responsibilities teachers have at that point in my life). I tried to be super-sensitive to my role and that of the teachers I worked with.

But I had no idea I wasn't supposed to talk to people higher up the ladder?!! Surely no-one thinks like that any more? I don't mean things I would discuss with my teacher - but on a casual, social level. I was older, most of the SLT were younger than me and I just speak to anyone and treat everyone the same (not impressed by hierarchies!!).

I think you might be struggling at being in a reduced role. (I would have the same problem). I used to teach and when my kids would were at primary school I’d do PTA stuff and view it more intensely than warranted because you can’t take the teacher out of yourself.

Kindly, you have no idea what they are thinking. You are making assumptions. You could be way, way off.

The only way you’d know is if someone says something directly to you.

I agree with this. I interned at a school for a year while doing my social work degree (in the states) and I think this notion of the necessary free for all is bizarre. At line up, at recess, and at lunch (for example) children need a lot of help channeling their energy appropriately. Singing, marching, hopping, skipping are sll good ways of moving them through space to get out of doors. Reading a book to them, time permitting, is a great thing to do if the process is stalled by another teacher not getting her class ready.

What are you expecting them to do? Come and congratulate you continuously? They probably have other things on their mind.

They may just have more things they need to talk about with the full time staff? I think if you want to be treated like a teaching colleague you need to go back to being a teaching colleague?

I think you are making this into a big thing because it gives you some professional self esteem. But for every child who likes the orderly calm method there will be others who would rather have a little longer to tear about and be wild. It isn't a better /worse method it's just different

I'm not a hierarchical person. I happily chat to everyone in my team and value them all. But the reality is that I need to spend a lot more time having discussions with my team leaders than I do with the members of their teams, so we are much closer. Not because of "hierarchy" but just due to the reality of our roles.

Sorry but this is entirely in your head. If you are a teacher with QTS then it is not going togo away whatever job you have. Do as you hink you should do, take no notice. If you were not treating the children properly you would soon know about it.

If there is nothing you’re doing that’s wrong, then I suggest ignoring it entirely. Not everyone is going to like us as individuals all the time or at all and it’s ok.

The kids sound really well taken care of and probably love being around you. They are the ones that matter and it sounds like you’re doing an amazing job.