Does everyone realise about the 'action short of strike'?

[cricketballs]

Just wondering what those who aren't employed in education know about the action short of strike that is starting from 26th September?

Do you realise that teachers from NASUWT and the NUT will basically be working to the letter of the terms and conditions? Do you have any think it will impact on the general public or just those within education given that the vast majority of instructions from the union are of not putting up with added extras demanded on us by SLT?

Just after opinions.....

These things are not my beef with the government. To be honest, it is not pay and conditions that are grinding me down.

Constant interference, yes. Changing examinations so a late accredited specification has just a one year lifespan, yes. Not knowing at Easter what I should be teaching in September, yes.

Displays, chasing absences - neither here nor there.

I'm in the ATL, so won't be working to rule. I think it will make my job harder though.

I am "the other school staff" (being the only one not in either the NUT or NASUWT) and promise I won't be P*ed off if my colleagues take this action. I really can't see our parents or pupils being affected which is why the unions have chosen this action rather than another strike.

I agree TFM

teacher

Displays are my job Certainly deciding what goes up the walls in your classroom is your job. Putting up backing paper, laminating, stapling things to walls? That's not what you were expensively trained to do, your expensive training could be used to do things that admin staff can't do.

Staff and other meetings that may go on late into the evening are my job They're not part of my job. Timetabled, agenda driven, efficient staff meetings are part of my job. Are yours poorly chaired? Lack of agenda? Inefficient forum for dissemination of information which could be done via email or to a smaller group of people during dedicated leadership time or by taking people off-timetable? Are you sure?

Analysing pupil results is my job Absolutely. Producing analyses on the other hand can be done by anyone with a decent knowledge of Excel.

Providing after school clubs is my job No, it's your choice.

Getting feedback on my teaching, through observations that are as regular as necessary, is my job Once a full term should be perfectly sufficient for any monitoring of a teacher who is not an NQT or undergoing competency procedures. Of course if you request a specific observation for support, then that's up to you.

Chasing up absence is my job No, it really isn't. There is absolutely no need for teachers to be phoning home asking where Little Johnny was yesterday. That's what support staff are for. If Little Johnny is regularly absent from school and it is causing educational issues, then you might wish to liaise with parents or Little Johnny on the matter, but there are other people whose role it is to do the checks, and the EWO is the expert on dealing with truancy.

imho it's going to make naff all difference where I work. fwiw some days I'm out asap because my dc have swimming lesson or whatever, others I'm there til after 6. Flexibility is brilliant.

See TFM I have complete sympathy with that. Pisses me off that every government for the last 20 years seems to have felt the need to change fundamental parts of syllabi or exams every year or more frequently than that and I don't have to teach the things, just try to have some idea what my children will be coming home with. Just as NHS interventions seem to happen on a regular basis and half of them undo the last one.

But as far as I'm concerned a union would be worth something if it engaged on those issues and pushed the Department to work things through properly before introducing them and give appropriate notice of change. ie if it used its position to claim expertise and advise accordingly.

Every time they get on their soapbox about pensions, national pay scales, increments in the midst of a massive recession and exact minutes of lunch breaks they devalue their credibility on those issues.

"Putting up backing paper, laminating, stapling things to walls?" - yes, but those are 5 minute jobs, which come at the end of the much more worthwhile and useful task of planning the display which is my job. By the time I have communicated to another member of staff what I want put where, the thing could be up. Waste of both of our times to spend time communicating which would have got the job done.

"Staff and other meetings that may go on late into the evening..." the late ones are rare, but they are driven by critical events around children or staff, or because of a need to address a particular weakness or issue through training or discussion - all part of my job.

"Analysing pupil results is my job Absolutely. Producing analyses on the other hand can be done by anyone with a decent knowledge of Excel." What's the point of a static analysis done by someone else? The whole point is asking the 'what ifs' and seing what effect different screens and filters have, and creating graphs to communicate it clearly. Getting someone else to produce a print-out is about as much use as a chocolate teapot, you need the live Excel stuff to do proper analysis.

"Providing after school clubs is my job" My job is to educate children. because of our catchment, one of the ways of educating children that is needed is to bring them a wider set of experiences that they will not have unless we provide them as a school. We don't have mums who take children to ballet or swimming or drama or football - and that lack of life experience has a huge impact on children's in-school performance, which it is my job to address. Not in all schools, I agree, but in ours, it is part of the teaching job.

"Getting feedback on my teaching, through observations that are as regular as necessary, is my job" I teach the full NC. I am better at some subjects than others. I am entirely happy to e.g. be observed in several subjects each term, in order that I get better. If there is only 1 observation, of a single subject, each term, I do not believe that my teaching would improve across the board as much as it could.

"Chasing up absence is my job" If Little Johnny is regularly absent from school and it is causing educational issues, then you might wish to liaise with parents or Little Johnny on the matter ... exactly, that is what i was thinking of when I said it was my job

those are 5 minute jobs No they're not, I've done them! And they all add up. If you want to do it because you can't be arsed to explain to admin that you want some backing paper with this title banner and these bits of work and then let them get on with it then that's up to you.

the late ones are rare, but they are driven by critical events In my school they are non-existent. I have to pick my child up from childcare in any case so I will not be staying late.

What's the point of a static analysis done by someone else? What is the point of every teacher in the school sitting down to excel and filtering number of C grades, boys/girls data, calculating value added? It can be done far more efficiently by someone else. If, once you've got your breakdown you want to investigate something more closely, then knock yourself out.

because of our catchment, one of the ways of educating children that is needed is to bring them a wider set of experiences that they will not have unless we provide them as a school Michael Wilshaw agrees that you should act as a surrogate parent. Perhaps instead the state should provide money and resources to do this? If you want to do this for free, then go for it, no one's stopping you, not even the unions.

I am entirely happy to e.g. be observed in several subjects each term Good for you. I prefer to be trusted to do my job. If you are that uncertain about your competency then a bit of extra support won't hurt. Having it foisted upon you is another matter.

exactly, that is what i was thinking of when I said it was my job That's not what the work-to-rule is stopping you doing. It says that you should not be investigating pupil absence. Chasing sick notes and the like. Dealing with a pastoral issue isn't the same thing.

Look, the list of admin tasks that we're not meant to do was drawn up to make our lives easier, and to ensure that our valuable time at school was spent doing stuff which could only be done by a teacher, in order to improve the educational experience of the students.

If you are desperate to spend most of your lunchtime photocopying or laminating or typing or collating, then that's up to you. But you shouldn't have to. You're a teacher and that's where your time should be spent. It's not like we haven't got enough to be getting on with.

Maternity cover is done by a teacher that has been introduced to the class and taught alongside the other teacher for a few weeks.

Change of classes is monitored extremely closely, decent chance to get to know the teacher.

In Special schools the classes are smaller, and there are TA's that aren't tied to one pupil, or there are TA's for every pupil that needs one. Most classes don't have a TA at all here, and the few that do are working with an individual DC on a 1-2-1 FT statement.

When you have 4/5 meltdowns occurring simultaneously, no support as all other teachers are teaching, and the HT is not in, how does a supply teacher manage it? TA goes out of the room with her charge, leaving the other 4 either screaming under the tables or throwing chairs around the room, or hitting and biting themselves.

Which does the Supply teacher deal with first? There have been plenty of instances where the Supply teacher has walked out, and another few times where all of the parents with DC's with ASD in that class were called to pick up their DC's, as the supply teacher couldn't cope.

Now the HT gets whoever is on PPA to cover those classes, and as the cover teacher is known to those DC's, they are merely 'unsettled' rather than in full meltdown.

I would not want to see a return to the days when either my DS (as the least likely DC in the class with Autism to affect others with his meltdown) would end up sobbing under the table, having wet and soiled himself while the supply teacher tried in vain to calm the other 3 DC's in the class that they had to prioritise as their actions affected others or they were hurting themselves, or my DS2 getting sent home for being unable to cope with an unwarned change.

Why should he have to suffer just because a Union is saying work to rule?!

Displays are my job I plan what goes onto displays I then pay my daughter a fiver to put it up. If she is too busy some prefects will do it, they enjoy it.

Staff and other meetings that may go on late into the evening are my job Our meetings do not run late into the evening because we know staff should not be there and therefore we ensure that we finish by half five.

Analysing pupil results is my job Yes I do that but I don't enter in the data and often someone better trained in excel does a better job than me. Most of the data I analyse is done because of my TLR responsibility not as a classroomm teacher.

Providing after school clubs is my job I am torn on this one, clubs are a choice but revision sessions etc I see as part of my job.

Getting feedback on my teaching, through observations that are as regular as necessary, is my job I agree for most teachers once a term is often enough. It gives you time to act on feedback. If you want more you can ask and indeed I have in the past.

Chasing up absence is my job No it isn't support staff do that as do EWO. I am someone who has a role that means that I sometimes phone home to speak about attendance but I rarely chase attendance. That does not mean that a parent/ child and form tutor cannot discuss attendance.

Good grief people.

Teachers love teaching.
Teachers are good at teaching.
Teachers would love to be "surrogate parents", and do all the additional admin/fluff if time was given to do it.

As it is, planning 21.5 hrs of stimulating, engaging lessons, marking, assessing, report writing, supporting, planning and resourcing and running clubs and revision sessions is impossible on 3.5 hrs of PPA/'free' time each week.

NobleGiraffe said it best upthread. It's about the government fucking us over and undermining us in such myriad ways.

Let's not get bogged down in who works hardest, etc.

Now the HT gets whoever is on PPA to cover those classes, and as the cover teacher is known to those DC's Couthy teachers should not be taken off PPA in order to cover classes. That time should be used only for planning, preparation and assessment. If a special school needs a member of staff to provide cover who is known to the students then it should use known supply, or hire a cover supervisor specifically for that purpose. Or have an HLTA who is allowed to take full classes to step into the breach. There are other options.

I run revision sessions after school for exam classes. But it is not part of my job. I make it very clear to the students that attend that I am there volunteering my time out of my desire to help them pass their exams but if they piss about or don't take it seriously or don't do as I ask them then I will absolutely withdraw the offer. That's my right.

It does seem like some schools are massively inefficient compared to others. Ours manages extremely well using email whenever possible, rather than unnecessary, endless meetings. That benefits nobody. My time is best spent planning lessons and assessing work, not listening to people ramble on in circular discussions which is what meetings often become. Action short of strike action could improve learning.

Couthy - your dc is suffering because of a poor HT who is breaking all teachers working conditions - not the unions who are working to contract. The vast majority of schools employ a teacher to cover PPA.

Can I ask what happens in terms of long term sickness? For example I am currently off work following an operation and a supply teacher has been brought in specifically to cover my classes; no team teaching prior to this as is was an emergency

If we (as parents and teachers) could redesign the whole education system, from scratch, what would we do?

Maybe that should be a new thread (or two)...

What exactly would we expect teachers to do, and how could we make sure they were able to do so yet still make best use of their well qualified status?

Can someone clarify something for me which I should know, but the waters have been so muddied in our school that I'm now confused? We're not supposed to be taken off PPA to cover for an ill colleague? But what if our PPA cover is used to teach the class that's missing the teacher? We are therefore missing our PPA due to someone else being off sick. Even if we're given it back at a later date in lieu, is that still acceptable?

Underwater what teachers can be reasonably expected to do etc is pretty fairly laid out in the teachers pay and conditions document, it's just that some schools don't stick to it.

My school is very well managed and so work-to-rule won't have much effect, because we're pretty much working to rule anyway. But for other schools, maybe it will give teachers a hint of how things should be.

clam, PPA should be clearly marked on your timetable and should be guaranteed. If you have planned to use that PPA slot to do some marking, planning or create some last-minute resource then what are you supposed to do the next lesson if it has suddenly been taken away and your lesson isn't planned or your books aren't marked on time?

Uncertainty about when you will actually get your PPA time means that you would be unable to plan it effectively, so no, being given it at another time would not be acceptable under the rules.

I would say that the vast majority of teachers are happy to do the tasks that are not in our remit, for example revision classes that we do in our own time if the truth be told but we want acknowledgement for it and not put down in words, in actions, in pay, in pensions, in hoop jumping, in ever changing Ofsted, in league table madness - just let us get on with the job we know how to do, the job we want to do

Thanks noble. Pretty much as I suspected: our HT is swinging it.

Noble - as I said, they DO have a known supply teacher, but there HAVE been occasions where the known supply teacher is already taking a class, and another teacher is off sick.

There are no HLTA's at the school. The ONLY TA's are those 'tied' to a statemented child. These can't be taken away to teach a class. They got rid of all the other TA's about a year ago.

I agree it shouldn't happen, the teachers shouldn't lose their PPA time, but surely that has to be balanced with the needs of the pupils, and if a high percentage of the DC's NEED to be taught by someone known to them, what else would you suggest? Going back to 4/5 DC's in a class being excluded every time their teacher is off sick?

That's not the message from this action though cricketballs. The message from this is we don't want to do this extra stuff...