AIBU to resent my colleague planning stress leave before term ends?

[BeGladRobin]

Just a bit of a rant really, I am a primary school teacher. My year group partner is an ECT in her 1st year. She's doing a maternity cover and started mid way through the year. She told me this week that in a couple of weeks, she thinks she will go off with work related stress as she is entitled to 5 weeks sickness on full pay. Therefore she will not have to go to work for the last 5 weeks of term and still get full pay throughout the summer holidays.

She is leaving teaching and has told me she is never setting foot in a classroom again. She is massively struggling with work life balance and is working all of the time. She is also really struggling with low level disruption in the classroom. The children keep taking when she is trying to deliver the teaching input and as a result she is lessons behind my class (instead of completing 2 afternoon lessons every day, her class is only completing 1).

She told me that as a result of work stress and she is going to book a holiday abroad while signed off sick. She told me that she "doesn't give a shit" what people think about me anymore. When I questioned her about the children and the effect of them if she goes off sick. She said "she doesn't care" and "they won't die" so its not the end of the world.

Just a bit fed up as we share planning, so that will mean my workload will massively increase. Also she hasn't started 1 single report yet and isn't planning to.

I'd let the stuff with her go but I'd be having a chat with SLT about the impact on you.

Your colleague is clearly feeling unsupported and to be honest, I almost admire her attitude. Why should she have any loyalty to a school that has allowed her to struggle? This was me, but at the other end of my career. I had one year to go before retiring and we had a new Headteacher who made it clear from the off that my face didn't fit (along with another teacher in her late 50s). Just before May half term, we were both told thar we would be put on support plans in September and would ' be gone by Christmas'. She struggled on until the end of term and I was signed off sick. No, I didn't write reports and I couldn't have cared less.

Well, she was a bit daft to tell you but she’s clearly burnt out and disillusioned and not getting the support she deserves, so I get her ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude but if it’s that bad, she should have gone off sick before now. To not even have made a start on reports is really shitty of her but it sounds as if she’s at the end of her rope and she’s putting her health and wellbeing first 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’s a shame the school wasn’t more supportive to avoid this but having worked in an infant school and leaving after thirteen years there, I understand the ‘I couldn’t give a shit anymore’ attitude. I left.

She's leaving in the summer anyway and has missed the cut offs. So she can't.

She'd have had to hand in her notice in in February to leave at Easter and May 31st to leave at the end of August, which she is doing anyway.

Except under extreme circumstances, there are only 3 points in the year you can hand in your notice by and three points when you can leave

Funny how it's the teachers in their 50s with exemplary career records whose faces no longer fit and suddenly require support plans, isn't it..?

YABU. You've said she is "massively struggling with work life balance, is working all the time, is really struggling with low level disruption in the classroom and her class is lessons behind where they should be." That sounds like it could easily make some people extremely stressed.

It's understandable that you're annoyed at the extra workload her leaving will cause, but that's really the SLTs fault. Surely if they gave a shit, they would have noticed she's struggling and tried to offer some support (or started looking for the inevitable replacement)? They should equally understand the extra workload and stress you will be placed under when your colleague does leave, and offer you support before you, too, go off on stress leave.

What? If she was really stressed and it was unmanageable she wouldn’t be planning it in advanced this way. What she’s doing is immoral and selfish.

Whatever the right and wrong is here she's an absolute loon for telling you all this

Don't people keep anything to themselves anymore? Tell the headteacher.

She is silly to word it like she is, and to make it seem like a choice. It sounds more to me like she is actually struggling and hating it, and almost doesn’t want to admit the sick stress is actually real

Just recently just thinks ive heard - at primary school 1 kid was kissing a girl and touching her chest. Another kid pulling kids shorts down.secondary- my kid is being bullied in class, and around school. Teachers ignore... Grojps of girlshaving sexual comments said to them.

This sort of thing really pisses me off. Not your comment, but the fact it happens.

I can pretty much guarantee that the teachers aren't the ones doing nothing through choice but there is so little we can do autonomously and the leadership team are clueless, scared, have their own hands tied...

If we go to the HT with serious behavioural concerns, we generally get one of three responses - asked what we have done to build relationships with the children/asked what we did to cause the behaviour; told to 'monitor' the situation and/or told to tell parents that, "It's being dealt with." When I've asked how it's being dealt with, the response is only ever a very final, "It's being dealt with." It's never dealt with. I've marked my cards by sticking my head above the parapet in this regard.

OP, I'm not surprised she feels as she does. . I've been teaching for 20+ years and, having been to-ing and fro-ing the last 3 years, am finally getting out this summer. Its a hard profession to leave because the good parts - the actual teaching and (most of) the children make it the best job in the world.

The rest of it, however...

I don’t know, I’d guess someone at the end of their tether would say ‘I don’t give a crap, fuck all of it’ which is what she’s doing. Terrible on you though x

If she's an ECT, who is her mentor (or whatever they're called these days - I retired a few years ago)?

I'd give them a heads up about her stress level and the fact that she's falling behind. Personally I wouldn't dob her in regarding her plans, but someone on the staff is responsible for her, and they should be supporting her.

People keep saying to tell the head so they can plan for it. By all means tell them, but isn't 5 weeks to the end of term about a week away in England and Wales, sooner in the rest of the country? It's not like she's told the OP she's going to do it in 6 months time (which also gives me a bit more sympathy for why she thinks she might be able to hold out to then but no longer).

She has. Teaching notice works so that you can only leave at the end of a term.

I think they would very happily terminate her contract rather than pay her for 5 weeks and stress leave and then the summer, obviously that wouldn't be her preferred option! I do know teachers who have had agreed leaving dates not at the end of a term for this kind of reason.

Why on earth has your school allowed a first year ECT to get into such a state in the first place? If she was being properly mentored and supported these issues should have been picked up long before now.
I think the problem here lies firmly at the feet of management.

And then get paid for the summer break ?

There are 2 issues.
Firstly, do you " sprag" to the SLT that this person is going to go off sick?
That's up to you and your personal conscience. A good way round it would be to tell your line manager that X seems to be struggling and might appreciate a quiet word.
The second issue is what your position re planning and marking should your colleague do a runner.
A 5 week contract is considered long term supply and as such, if one supply teacher covered this, their contract via the agency can stipulate taking on the whole role of the teacher, including prep and marking. Whether your school would want to pay the higher rate than is normally associated with this, particularly in the last half term, is another matter.
The point is your SLT shouldn't be passing all the load onto you. They either put their hands in their pockets and pay the appropriate short contract rate or they take on the planning burden themself.
Don't get conned with the " we can't find anybody, the budget is stretched, we haven't got the time to cover" nonsense.
They are the managers and they are paid extra compared to you to manage.
Your workload should not increase. Appropriate compromises without long term supply might include you having a planning day working from home one day a week with supply or SLT covering your class or time of in lieu of extra work at the end of term. ( Yes costly, but that's not your problem)
If you feel intimidated asking for these arrangements, take your union rep with you. You could also ask your Regional Union Rep to go with you.

I disagree. If the stress had actually progressed to the point where she had a nervous breakdown, she may not be capable of seeing how to extract herself from this situation. Just because she's not actually broken yet doesn't mean she's not stressed, been stressed for a sustained period of time and it's become untenable.

Yes, because teachers aren't paid for holidays. The pay for the 39 weeks that they work is divided by twelve, so they get a consistent monthly payment. So the pay that they get for the summer holiday, is for work that they've already done.

@Pepperlee
Teachers are not paid for the summer break, but the salary is split between 12 months. She’d be bloody stupid to walk out before the summer and miss out on 6 weeks of pay.

I agree with those saying she clearly hasn’t been supported by management. I don’t blame her for getting out, she probably has already secured a contract for her new position so won’t give a shit about references or upsetting anyone. She’s not likely to use the school as a reference in the future either. There isn’t much the OP can do, the school sounds awful and telling the head will achieve nothing.

Why is it always the organisation's fault? This teacher is behind yet the OP is not. Surely that shows incompetence of the employee, not the employer?

If I was you OP and it affects you and, more importantly, the children, I would approach it in a way that informs the leadership team without it looking like telling tales. 'I understand X is planning to take leave from X date, what plans are in place to cover this?'

This

So many teachers take off weeks and weeks for stress, its allowed so I guess you can't do anything about it? Have it out with the government for allowing it! Take a few weeks off yourself?