Teacher lunch hour!

[everychildmatters]

First off, I am glad I left primary teaching last year after 20 years in; things are only getting worse. I feel for the colleagues I left behind.
It is now becoming a common expectation that, for many different reasons, teachers are now being expected to supervise children over the lunch hour.
I used to avoid this by taking the time to which I was entitled but in order to do this I had to physically leave the building - go for a walk etc. In reality of course this was only for about half an hour or so as I wanted to be back in time to prepare my afternoon lessons.
AIBU to think teachers should be entitled to a lunch break?!!

The thing is that those of us who don't teach and have to work through lunch sometimes, have the opportunity to take breaks when they're find that they're able to. It might not be lunchtime, but they'll be some down time. That never happens in teaching because there are always around 30 people in the room that you have to, at the very least, be in control of.

Many of my friends are in demanding roles that take up many working day hours. But (and it's a conversation that we've had, so this comes from them) with it comes a degree of flexibility and the expectation that they can be responsible for their own down time as well. And of course their pay for a role that requires that kind of workload is way above a teacher's.

Agreed.

I'd remind our HT of the Working Time Agreement. He'd say 'Oh, but staff will want to...'

The last straw was when idiot HT unilaterally decided to have a couple of Open Days over a weekend. The only 'volunteers' were the SLT.

There was a theft and vandalism. [Adult former pupils had inscribed their names on whiteboards...in permanent marker.]

No don't leave a child in crisis but if you need to spend an hour looking after a single child then actually you need to escalate that and take them to the head/deputy SLT.
Leave a class unsupervised - you should not be asked to supervise a class over lunch so if you are asked, say no. If they force it on you, force it on them right back. Phone the head and say I'm walking out of this classroom in two mins so someone needs to come now.
Walk out of a meeting - yes absolutely.

By the way, I do know what I'm talking about. I was a teacher for many years, now not a teacher because I got promoted... even though I asserted my rights and stood up for myself (and others)...

Poor teachers.

Hello.
NHS here.
Lunch break you say....

It's not a race to the bottom.

Mid day supervisors are paid to do it, or were when I retired 10 years ago. At least part of teachers' lunch break is spent in the classroom preparing for the afternoon or marking books anyway.

I'm trying not to out myself here, but as a PTC I found myself supervising the dining area one day a week. As I've said above, there was supposed to be a depute with me, but he'd often bugger off have something really important to do.

In one of my last days of teaching, I found myself supervising the open plan dining area whilst simultaneously stopping an assault - no easy feat when you're getting on in years and you're trying to hold back a teenage boy bigger and stronger than you - dealing with 500 kids yelling and cheering, and shouting to the dining staff to phone for backup.

No one should ever be put in that position.

You get an annual salary that is directly comparable to bands 5 & 6 of nhs pay scales. How you manage your annual income is on you as an adult.

If it was a race to the bottom contracted teachers would be nowhere in contention and nor would contracted nhs employees.
Have you seen the t&c of minimum wage social care workers not being paid time to travel between clients or hospital security staff, minimum wage zero hours subcontracted, if they get a false allegations against them (which given the clientele needing security at a&e a fairly realistic risk) they loose their job with no investigation and no rights.

@Periperi2025 Think you may have spectacularly missed the point!

They should get a lunch break, but I would assume half an hour? If they're working 7 hours that's standard in most jobs. Or if working 8 or more hours then 2 half hour breaks so eg 1 around 12 and one around 3 or 3.30.

How many workers at bands 5 and 6 of the NHS pay scales have a level 7 qualification as standard?

I was replying directly to the "race to the bottom" comments.

I think if you want a teacher based discussion on the nuances of your t&c, then AIBU is not the forum for you.

@SpudsAndCarrots Where are these teacher jobs in which a teacher has a 7 hr working school day please? Sounds nice 😀

But you don't need a level 7 to teach, likewise master route to HCP registration isn't a necessity it is just an alternative routes for people who have come into the profession from a different direction. That is a choice, your job is an graduate entry job, as are band 5&6 nhs jobs.

Teachers are the only "profession" that constantly claim to be paid hourly.

You need QTS to teach. Most teachers achieve QTS via a PGCE, which is a level 7 qualification.

To be clear, I have the greatest of respect for the HCPs in NHS bands 5 and 6, but you seem awfully pleased with this comparison that you’ve mentioned several times and I think it’s a false equivalence.

@AgnesMcDoo I'm guessing you don't see teaching as a "profession" then? I don't suppose it is any more now that no formal qualifications are required.

Why do you keep saying this, OP? It is untrue.

@ThanksItHasPockets Unless you're what is called an "unqualified" teacher now. Then you need nothing. There are lots teaching in classrooms now as it saves a huge amount of money.

But that's presumably because they didn't do a undergraduate teaching degree which is an option. A similar option is increasingly available for aspiring hcps who already have an undergraduate degree to do a masters in physio, paramedic science etc. This just compresses there study time down from 3 years to 2 (i think) it doesn't mean they come in at any higher a level on qualification and they still need to complete a two year nqp portfolio, and they would still need to do an additional masters in advanced clinical practice to become an advanced practitioner.
It's great that the option is there for teaching and healthcare, but it doesn't mean you're 'more than' once you start in your profession.

Um yeah? Not really sure what part of this you’re arguing with. Like I said many contacts just say you get a reasonable break and don’t specify the time.

I don’t disagree with anything you are saying,
although we might add that there are plenty of nurses over 40 whose highest qualification is a L5 diploma.

I’m pointing out that if you wish to draw a direct comparison between two sectors, as you have repeatedly done, there should broadly be comparable levels of academic or professional qualifications. Theoretically, a teacher can achieve QTS via a bachelor’s degree. This is rare at primary. It is unheard of and, in practical terms not an option, at secondary.

If it's your intention to support teachers then please stop denigrating us and repeating the myth that qualifications are no longer required. You don't need qualifications to work as an unqualified teacher. UQTs are not covered by STPCD and they are not paid on the same scale. Qualified teachers are highly educated professionals. Please don't conflate the two.