Any part time teachers out there?

[bluejellybean]

AIBU to expect to get paid for parents evenings on days I'm not working? I know I have to attend half of the years INSET's, if I do them all, should I recieve pay for these?

I was not promoted because I was willing to work without pay I was promoted because I am a good teacher who had a total commitment to her job. I was very aware that in comparison my dd had an easy life to these kids, she had two parents who adored her ( well 4 but that is another thread) nice holidays, a nice house etc and these children had very little. School trips, INSETS etc don;t happen that often so my dd was hardly going without.

I suppose I am lucky that i have a job that I adore and I am very aware that not many people have that. I don;t connect the job I do with the wage I get, I would do it for less money or no money if it was needed and my family had food on the table.

Oooh the Burgandy book, I have heard so much about that book, i'll have to dig it out and dust it off I expect! Thanks cascade. Why is it all made so complicated!

Unfortunately BJB thats the nature of the job, when you get to these positions it is very long hours. I taught for ten years full time and I was HOD, but after my second I just didnt want the responsibility at this point in my life, due to the long hours. But it was my choice. I know in five years time Il get back to where i was. I enjoy having no responsibility.

I don't accept as a parent that it's just 'tough luck', islandofsodor. My eldest dc seemed to have loads of part time teachers at one stage, and tbh it made a lot of her learning fragmented and less good than it could have been. I know teachers should be discussing and planning together etc but IME there were distinct disadvantages. If I had been told that in addition to the disadvantages, I would be unable to see the teacher at parents evening, then I would have complained!

Ah, thats really nice twinsetandpearls. We are lucky........well most of the time......ask me again in June when I'm writing reports and making SAT's!

If I could not see a teacher at a parents evening because they worked part time I would be writing to the governers. Not that it would get me anywhere as they do not have to attend.

findtheriver you could have complained but teachers have a right to work part time. The school would have taken your complaint on board but in all honesty they wouldnt have done anything about it.

findtheriver, I think that most job shares work well, they seem to in our school. Sorry that you had such a horrible experience of one, but teachers do have a life too! I agree that you should have been able to see both teachers. I think there are lots of advantages to job shares, twice the anergy, twice the ideas etc. Its not a case of turn up and teach, a great deal of thought, talking and planning together goes on between a job share, its a job share, not part time teaching.

If i couldnt see a teacher on parents evening , what i would do is request another meeting to see the teacher that is convenient for the both of you. Thats what i do if a parent doesnt show for parents evening, I invite them in. (usually a parent of a child who was having a few probs)

www.suffolknut.org.uk/parttimecons.htm

This website seems to explain the pay arrangments for part time teachers, if anyone wants to take a look. Basically its no less favourable than full time etc.

I'm not sure about the 'right' to work part time, cascade. If a school needs to create a part time post, to cover a particular subject or whatever, then that's about meeting the needs of the school. In some cases, teachers return part time afer maternity leave to what is essentially a full time job, so the job then becomes split between various people. And in some cases (not necessarily all) that can have a negative impact on the pupils. I also don't agree that schools don't take parental complaints seriously. IME a good school will be VERY concerned about delivering good quality service to pupils and parents.

findtheriver, this sounds like a secondary school, very different to primary.

yes they dont have to accept your wish to become part time, but a good head teacher will want to keep good staff. Also if a head teacher has already agreed to someone working part time within the school, HT would be on very thin ice with the unions if they refused another teacher. A head teacher will always accomodate and listen to a parents concerns, but they would not demand the teacher be at the parents evening. They would do what i have already said and arrange a suitable and convenient time for the meeting, so that everyone is happy.

Changes to part-time teacher pay and working time arrangements

The STRB?s 16th report made recommendations for developing changes to clarify how pro-rata salaries for part-time teachers should be calculated and working time specified under the School Teachers? Pay and Conditions Document.

The Government intends to implement such changes in the 2008 School Teachers? Pay and Conditions Document, subject to the appropriate statutory processes. This note provides information to employers and teachers who may be affected by the proposed changes so that they have the opportunity to make any necessary preparations.

Why are the changes being made?

To ensure consistency and fairness in the calculation of part-time teacher pay and working time across all employers subject to the School Teachers? Pay and Conditions Document.

When do the changes come into force?

1st September 2008

Who do they apply to?

Teachers employed directly by local authorities or the governing bodies of maintained schools to work under part-time contracts of employment.

What are the changes?

The main change will be the establishment of a clear measure for calculating part-time teachers? pay and working time on the basis of their full-time teacher equivalents for any school in question. This will be achieved by reference to the school?s timetabled teaching week as explained below. Schools will need to review their pay policies in the light of these changes.

How is part-time teachers? pay and working time to be calculated?

Each school will calculate the proportion of time a part-time teacher works against the school?s timetabled teaching week (STTW). The STTW refers to the school session hours that are timetabled for teaching, including PPA time and other non-contact time but excluding;
? break times;
? registration; and
? assemblies.

The STTW of a full-time classroom teacher is to be used as the figure for calculating the percentage of the STTW for a part-time teacher at the school.

For example, if the school day, excluding registration and assembly, runs from 9.00am to 12.15pm and again from 1.15pm to 3.30pm with one 15 minute break in the morning session and one 15 minute break in the afternoon session, the school?s timetabled teaching week would be calculated as; morning session = 3 hours, afternoon session = 2 hours, whole day = 5 hours, STTW = 25 hours.

If a part-time classroom teacher in the example above (including excellent teachers and unqualified teachers) were employed at the school in question for mornings only, working 9.00am to 12.15pm every day, their percentage of the STTW would be calculated as 15 hours per week, 60% of full-time (15/25). Such a part-time teacher on M5 (proposed England and Wales full-time salary rate of £27,939, Sept 2008) working at 60% of full-time would be entitled to a part-time salary of £16,763 (60% of £27.939). The same percentage is used to calculate the ?directed time? hours, so 60% of the 1265 directed time hours of a full-time teacher amounts to 759 hours directed time for the part-time teacher. A straightforward deduction of the ?directed time? hours required for the STTW across the school year (585 hours,or 15 hours per week multiplied by 39 weeks) provides the remaining available ?directed time? for the part-time teacher in the school year (759-585=174 hours).

If a part-time leadership or AST teacher were employed at the school in question for mornings only, working 9.00am to 12.15pm every day, their percentage of the timetabled teaching week would be calculated as 15 hours per week, 60% of full-time (15/25). Such a part-time teacher on L11 (proposed England and Wales full-time salary rate of £45,888, Sept 2008) working at 60% of full ?time would be entitled to a part-time salary of £27,533 (60% of £45,888). Leadership and AST teachers do not come under the provisions for ?directed time?, but any additional non-standard hours they may be required to work should be broadly proportional to their duties.

Implications of changes

Salary safeguarding

For a small number this new method of calculating part-time teachers? pay may result in a fall in salary. In these cases any fall in salary will be safeguarded for up to a maximum three years.

New part-time teacher appointments starting from 1 September 2008

Schools and employers need to be preparing for these proposed changes and must consider the implications of the new method for calculating part-time teachers? pay, and any possible changes to their working time arrangements, when considering and making offers of employment for prospective appointments from 1 September 2008.

Further guidance

Further more detailed guidance is being prepared and will be available before 1 September, subject to the appropriate statutory processes. Updates on this and other teachers? pay and conditions developments can will in due course be posted under ?latest news? on the pay page of teachernet? www.teachernet.gov.uk/pay

Maybe more issues in secondary, yes, though i guess potentially there could be problems in primary if liaison isnt watertight. Schools have to work to a tight budget, and can't pay two jobsharers to have 'overlap time' so I can see that it could be an issue.

Incidentally my own dd is in a class with 2 jobshare teachers this year. If I specifically wanted to see one of them I would request a meeting at a convenient time as others have said.

Part time teachers may be part time for lots of reasons, including the fact they have other jobs at other schools as my dh did.

i think that you should go in for parents' evenings, of course. Parents and children deserve feedback and you are qualified to give it if you have been teaching them. Do you expect to get 0.6 of the holidays since you are part time? Teaching is a great job if you engage with it as fully as you can. Inset is difficult, I've just had some tough childcare decisions to make when we had inset on mon/tues but it's for your professional development and benefit as well as the school. I do go in and have in the past complained about finances but have realised that no-one likes a whinger and so have a new policy of shutting up this year and not turning up but moaning to everyone about how hard it was to do so - i think it will make a nice difference for all around me! So my advice would be stop whingeing, enjoy your job and just get on with it

Fortunately I work on the day of the week when parents evenings fall, otherwise it wouldn't be a matter of not wanting to come in for them but actually physically not being able to. I would have no one to look after my young children in the evening until dh got home from work. Once I'd commuted in that would leave me about 15mins with parents. Parents always have the option of contacting me at school at any point in the year either in person, by phone or email.

I attend inset when its on the days I work and after school meetings are pro rata. I have given up half my salary to work 3 days a week so financially things are tight. I couldn't afford the extra childcare to go into school when I'm meant to be with the children, nor could I get childcare on such an ad hoc basis.

Have to add since going p/t my classes results have increased. Clearly they benefit from having a less harassed teacher

Its not whinging though, its about being treated fairly. if no one ever stood up for working conditions nothing would have been changed in last 100 years. Why do you think they brought in new conditions for sept 2008 as they realised that part time workers were not being treated fairly in some schools. Although as i have stated i do think part time teachers should always go in for parents evening, this is an essential part of the job.

I think the less harassed teacher is a valid one, I have only ever done the job fully to my standards when I worked part time.

It should of course be their results but since I'm held accountable...

Yagabird, you ask if someone working .6 only expects .6 of the holidays. Well they do only get .6 of the holidays. A full-timer gets the full holidays off. A part-timer only gets the days off that they would have been working.

teachers do have a bad reputation and are considered in many circles as being moaning whingers and deservedly - they are, often.
Enjoy your job! Consider yourself lucky for the time that you are able to spend with your children. Be professional and do it as well as you can, particularly with regard to continued professional development and parents' consultations etc. Many parents have no chance to spend the time that you do with their dc's and to have the opportunities that you do to influence the future via the job they do.
There is more to life than money, important though it obviously is. A job well done is satisfaction in itself, surely?