Asking too much of teachers?

[DomDoesWotHeWants]

It's looking like masks are going to be a requirement in shops and possibly other indoor venues.

Yet teachers are expected to teach - for hours at a time - in confined, poorly ventilated spaces, with no social distancing. They have been told they do not need PPE. If I was still teaching there is no way I'd go into a room crowded with teenagers and not wear a mask at the moment.

Teachers should be allowed as much protection as possible not thrown under a corona bus because Johnson wants them for child care so their parents can go back to work.

I really can't understand why it's going to be compulsory in shops where meetings are fleeting but not in schools which are crowded and have people crammed in for hours.

Does the right of children to go back to school over rule the rights of of school staff (teaching and ancillary) to be as protected as possible?

This means they should be allowed to wear PPE, if they choose, and secondary children should be wearing masks as happens in some other countries. In some countries younger children also have to wear masks in school.

The safety of teachers has been ignored by Johnson and his chums in their urge to get people back to work and the cry of "back to normal" is taken up by those ignorant of the facts about the virus.

Teachers have been made out to be the bad guys almost from the beginning - as can be seen from many bile infested threads on here. They deserve better.

Is that because staff don't want to? I never do see shopworkers in masks and am always a bit surprised that M and S aren't making them.

All Next staff are in visors.

@RhubarbJelly

If masks are needed in England due to risks of being in a shop for say an hour - being in a school building for at least 7 hours means a mask then!

You can however work in the store for several hours without needing any covering.

Canigooutyet have you got any good links for reading about work to rule? Haven’t heard of it and definitely didn’t know you could request overtime

I googled and had a read. Also came across gove encouraging schools to discipline teachers that work to rule which kind of makes a joke of the idea there are any rules

It's called something else isn't it? The stock phrase is WTR but I think it's called industrial action short of strike action.

I don't remember it ever ending! Not that any9ne ever did it. for fear of incurring wrath and burdening colleagues. My friend who returned to teaching this year noticed changes , though : like everyone now running about like blue arsed flies doing own multiple copying and laminating , and everyone attending lunch meetings and multiple meetings a week. these things did not happen in our school in the halcyon years of about 2003 -2008.And in the early 90s I have no recollection of any meetings really! And , of course, no constant sodding emails...

The Teachers' Workload Agreement does seem a distant - and fond- memory.

I’m not sure what it’s called we always called it work to rule as essentially that’s what you are doing.

Yes overtime can be requested if the school has asked you to work outside your hours. You fill you your bit and get the slt who asked to sign and date. Hand in before cut off date and should be paid. Your school staff office should have a copy.

All these policies should be available to all school staff in paper and digital formats. Some even publish them on their own site.

Staff handbook is usually an eye opener. Although it’s good to regularly give it a once over. Your school should direct you where to find it all. On the server isn’t a reasonable answer if you have a few, they should be able to tell you this.

Same with incidents forms, h&s , child protection etc from all the those specific training. As well as your own copy they should keep them for reference.

Work to rule includes starting and finishing your working hours. I know amazing imagine that, getting out in time.

Others can regard those wtr as being uncaring etc because they don’t want to give up their time/money.

One of my responsible requests as a ta was to do something after school. Doing it or not wouldn’t impact learning. It would have taken me until after midnight to complete. I laughed when I was told my predecessor did it for years and many more.

Vanity stuff to make others seem good. And yes I was asked to volunteer this time with no thought about my prior commitments. The thing didn’t get made and they got over it.

Trying to defend the boundaries of my role last year was a nightmare. I’m changing department with such relief. Former hod was demanding I write schemes of work for the department last summer term despite being a part time non specialist with no gain back time. She looked blank when I mentioned this and irate when I said no. Then came the threats.

I’d returned to teaching after a long break and was stunned at not just ignoring directed time budgets but seemingly ignorance that they even exist. Cf

Wtr is totally impractical as a teacher! A few colleagues at my school do this and in 6 years non have been internally promoted and they are disliked as others have to pick up their slack

It’s not about picking up their slack it’s covering up the issues.

Teachers get offloaded onto by slt. Slt do this because of their own targets. There are bits that’s they try and palm off on others just like teachers do with tas.
I worked to rule most of the time to stop the piss taking. If I had time them of course, if not I would ask them direct what they would like me to pause. They’d wander off in look of someone else, or ring round classrooms, emails etc. Loved when the requests came by email. I still got promotions.

Sometimes I’d volunteer to help out with after school stuff but I also wasn’t falling for the guilt trip that always followed.

We have lives outside of school. I know some slt stay in the building until after 9 etc this is down to them. If they are having issues with their work loads they need to talk to their line manager.

One thing from my experience that was positive when it involves things that could be tricky to talk to the line manager about, we could talk to anyone senior than us, and of course others confidentially.

How are HTS going to convince anyone money is needed for additional cleaning staff now when your doing it because that’s what we all do. Yea create more work for yourself!!

And didn’t classroom helper get introduced to help the teacher by doing the laminating etc not helping with education as they do now?

I totally agree that newer teachers are ignorant of terms and conditions.

How high would you like me to jump? Oh, I can jump so much higher than that!

Newsflash, I spent years jumping through many hoops and still didn't get a lot of those internal promotions.

And some of the laziest men I have ever met did...

You can’t give away tlr at the departmental level to anyone experienced and sensible. I’m pretty skint but taking on a shit ton more work for an extra free and a grand or two per year before tax and pension has zero appeal.

@Piggywaspushed it’s sad when you see this happen. Dedicated people constantly passed over and usually because of daft reasons relating to the interview.
Or worse reshuffle and promos not advertised!!

Still rife in schools, but then In a way makes sense to try and convince your mates and family to pitch in. Like some weird mlm 🤣

Talking of which how many partners and children also pitching in to help parent in education to jump through hoops? I don’t mean they are helping with planning and marking lol, other stuff some staff take one with them to take one for the team.

Over the 3 academies I work in there’s always at least 4-5 pretty experienced internal teachers going for the TLR (Depending on department size!)

That isn't particularly normal. Next you are going to say they don't already all know who is going to get the job...

Although, to be fair you did imply it would be the most biddable hoop jumper rather than the most talented teacher, or leader. Not always the same thing.

Some say hoop jumper others says conscientious and team player

Yes, they do but that isn't what you said earlier and I still don't think those people are the best team leaders, or the most inspiring.

You more or less said promotion was deliberately not given to people who work efficiently within the confines of their contract.

Hang around a bit longer in your career and watch the lazy makes shoot up that well greased pole rainbow. Or maybe you are genuinely lucky and that isn't the case where you work.

Leaders definitely used to be more inspiring back in the day. And people worked hard for them because of this. Every jobsworth I have worked for has caused argument, fracture and dissatisfaction and then has not know how to manage his or her way out of it.

Did you know, random aside!, that conscientious is almost always applied as a positive trait of commendation for women,where it is expected? Men are more often commended for risk taking and being a bit rebellious or rogue.

Area of interest...

I don’t believe WTR and “people who work efficiently within the confines of their contract” are compatible. This isn’t possible.

Also as I work in an academy where 3/4 of the students are eligible for PP and 1/2 have English as an additional language maybe we have to put in a bit more effort to try and ‘close the gap’.

And no I didn’t know that specifically but now you’ve said it I can see that!

@OverTheRainbow88

Over the 3 academies I work in there’s always at least 4-5 pretty experienced internal teachers going for the TLR (Depending on department size!)

Gosh that much internal shuffling going on. Sounds a treat

Yes, sadly our staff turn over is high, which is hard as most of all our kids need consistency: Just after Xmas the school employed 2 math teachers, one met his classes and left that day, the other lasted 3 .

I guess what I find disappointing about this thread is that people are so quick to attack and judge without knowing anything about each other’s circumstances.
Lots of you belittled me for having an a level class of 10, saying I didn’t live in the world, one person said her private school had a bigger class than that, implying it was her fabulous teaching that made the class size. What people didn’t know is that class is one a level class of 3 for my subject, we kept them as a small class of ten as they are all
Highly vulnerable children, one is a young career, the other is a refugee, who on arrival didn’t speak any English, all the class are pupil premium students and all but one have EAL, 6 of which arrived at our school with no English at all between year 8-9.
In September I won’t just be worried about coronavirus, I will be anxiously looking at how the girls in my tutor group are sitting, are they sitting normally or in discomfort.
Do you know why? We spend our summer term subtly trying to find out which country each member of our tutor group is going to, are there any red flags? Should we tell the school police officer, incase their passport needs to be confiscated. If this happens have I saved them from FGM and/or a forced marriage or have I ruined their once in a Lifetime holiday. If the latter I will have lost that families trust for ever. I’m calling spring my tutor group girls trying to find out if they are going anyway.

Last night in bed i suddenly thought I can’t squirt alcohol hand jel on most my kids hands, which was my plan, because most my students are Muslims, and alcohol is haram/forbidden. So that thought scared me on two ways... one I can’t know for sure the hands are clean and secondly if I hadn’t had that thought I could have broken their religious rules.

With wtr if myself and others didn’t sign up to breakfast club rota lost of our kids wouldn’t have a breakfast, I hope you all get the gist.