I have worked for the same school for 9 years in an admin role. I recently got promoted to a higher grade. The role was new and covers HR, line management and being responsible for cover when staff are absent. Staff absence was dealt with by a member of SLT previously due to the insight they have into the school/classes etc.
I have been in the role for 3 months. All going okay but I haven’t had much support, guidance or mentor support. I am just finding things out in my own and pushing ahead.
The absence cover is very challenging due to the existing process. For example, classes are fighting over staff and making demands on me that are time consuming and not necessary. Mornings are very stressful but class leads are constantly emailing or texting on my work mobile telling me that they don’t want that supply person etc. I have never done cover and I have never worked in class so it’s a challenge for me. I am trying new ways of working to help reduce my workload whilst still providing the right sort of cover that fits the needs of our students but this is becoming impossible. Each year lead wants me to work a different way, they don’t work together as leaders and instead are cherry picking and giving me unreasonable demands. They like me to update a cover spreadsheet even if that absence doesn’t need covering and when I challenge it, it’s so that it reminds them that their staff are off!! I am acting as their PA. The work is now taking me the majority of my day to complete.
We use 9 different supply agencies because that’s how the member of SLT ran it before. She never checked what they were charging the school and dealing with that many agencies is time consuming and means we can’t and never have negotiated on the cost. The school is on its knees financially! I wanted to tackle this and had a plan but this member of SLT is still keeping a foot in and she has made her own agreements with yet another new agency without letting me know. The checking and approving of time sheets takes me hours! She is also meeting with me as she still deals with staffing as a whole. In these meetings she is trying to encourage me to do what she wants with supply. She isn’t offering suggestions, she is manipulating me and the situation. I have considered these suggestions and some I have knocked back. She doesn’t like this even though I can give reasons for why.
So I have been feeding all this back to my manager who has seen the issue with his own eyes. The amount of time I spend on this is now effecting the rest of my work and meeting deadlines.
My boss spoke to me yesterday about it because that member of SLT and the Headteacher have told him to “sort me out”! Apparently it’s all gone to shit since I have been doing the job, I am making mistakes (again I have raised this with my boss because I have made some mistakes but I am new to role, no real support from anyone and just told to get on with it). I can’t meet their HR deadlines, for example, because they are giving me a few days to get job adverts out, get our vetting checks done before they want them in school working! It’s a safeguarding nightmare.
So they want to take the supply work off me and give it to a new lady who works in admin! Nothing wiil change and she will struggle too! My boss told them that it wasnt me, it was the process and how they work. He told them it was not my incompetence. He has been telling SLT for years that there are major issues and he has proposed working practices as he is the Business Manager. He told me that he will be looking at it this week and proposing a business case for staffing and costs. He said that if the spending does not reduce, the school will fail. If they don’t agree, he is taking it to Governors.
I am really upset and angry. I feel like I have been setup to fail. The role is so stressful and I am crying at home about it. What they want me to do is impossible in the hours I work. That member of SLT was even calling me in my private mobile having got my number off the staff database. I had to tell her not to do this which she didn’t like!
I want to ensure I am not the scapegoat here. My plan is to push forward with my plans to make the role more efficient and streamlined for us all whilst focusing on needs. What can I do? I feel they are tarnishing the reputation I have spent 9 years trying to build at this school.