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Original poster

part time teachers HELP with parents evenings on days OFF

407 replies

GordianKnot · 11/03/2010 20:07

ok so i do three days
parents eve always on day off
dont mind dointg EXAM classes at all, but in KS3 is complusory subject so its tough titty really.
so i said " are you goign to pay me or not expect me in"

teh solution they propose is that my LOVELY HoD reads out what i write down

dont know what do do

OP posts:
wastwinsetandpearls · 14/03/2010 20:41

lifeissweet I have never said that teaching is easy, I tend to leave work at 6pm not 3.30pm. But I do think the holidays make a difference. This weekend has been incredbily hard for me, essay due in, sick relatives to look after, daughter wanting to celebrate mothers day and about 140 exam papers to mark each taking about 10 mins and some work linked with my other role in schoool. If I did not know that I had a holiday coming up in a few weeks I would be rocking in a corner with stress while foaming at the mouth.

My dp now works part time so we can have more family time but he used to suffer from stress because although the daily hours were shorter than mine the chances for a break were far fewer. Even on his shorter hours now I think he sometimes finds it relentless.

wastwinsetandpearls · 14/03/2010 20:45

Cat jumped on my laptop sorry. I come from a family where people did genuinely work hard day in day out. Working mutliple jobs, often physical ones for very poor pay. Understandably to me teaching does not seem that hard.

I suspect when the hours are levelled out over the year we do similar hours to other professionals.

DinahRod · 14/03/2010 20:49

Twinset see my 13:24:06 post - am trying to convince you to be paid what you should

MmeBlueberry · 14/03/2010 20:52

I might have learnt about PM and the burgundy book, but it is like watching something on the Discovery Channel - it won't impact my life one iota.

wastwinsetandpearls · 14/03/2010 20:54

lol.

I have discussed this with the appropriate people and I will allow an application for threshold to go forth if it does not require me to any further extensive extra work. My PM, observations and reviews that are in place should count for the fact that I "deserve" the pay, as should the fact I have been nominated for a national teaching award.

If I get the money I will pay for my degree with it.

tethersend · 14/03/2010 20:56

To be fair, MmeBlueberry, the issues on this thread were never going to affect you. You should have known that from reading the OP.

EvilTwins · 14/03/2010 20:59

And yet you think that it's odd that legislation only applies to the maintained sector, MmeB. You are certainly a tangle of contradictions.

MmeBlueberry · 14/03/2010 21:03

TE, I don't feel that I am opting out of the state sector because my own children are independently educated, all six of them. I feel that teaching in the independent sector is totally natural for me.

It is probably a case of ships passing in the night. The main crossing point is when I taught in a couple of 'outstanding' schools and realised that my reasons for paying school fees were sound and justified, and celebrated.

lifeissweet · 14/03/2010 21:05

wastwinset I am confused - so teaching is hard, but not as hard as working 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet so that's ok...is that right? Mad argument.

I completely disagree with the largely British mindset that working long hours and letting work eat into our time off is honourable and admirable. It isn't. It's detrimental to our children's lives.

Our time, as professionals and as people, is valuable and needs to be recognised as such. We have legislation to say that it is so. If you think part time teachers are wrong to accept their entitlement to pay for their extra hours then you are denying that. I think we all need to re-think this.

tethersend · 14/03/2010 21:16

MmeBlueberry, I'm not sure how much longer I can do this...

You used to work in the state sector.

You now work in the independent sector.

You opted out of the state sector, and in to the independent sector.

This is not a judgement on you, it's a fact.

I couldn't give a monkeys where you send all six of your children, you have still opted out of the state sector, and I am completely baffled as to why you are so concerned with the legislation which affects it, whilst simultaneously berating it for not being relevant to you.

wastwinsetandpearls · 14/03/2010 21:34

I didn't mean to compare teaching to working 2 or 3 jobs and say it falls short. I was explaining why I as an individual do not see my job as overly hard. I am one of the first people in my family to have had a real choice over their career and to be in a position to choose a job that they genuinely want to do rather than a job that pays the bills. I therefore appreciate that. In the past I came very close to leaving teaching but luck and being in the right place at the right time drove me back in, so again I appreciate what I have. I have also been plagued by ill health and at one point thought I would never ever work again, never mind have a job I love, so again I am very grateful to be teaching.

You are talking to the converted about not wanting let one's work dominate life. I left a school because I recognised I was not actually the kind of teacher that the school needed and that I was running myself into the ground trying to be something I was not. My dp also works part time so that we have more time as a family. That has financial consequences, we have an above average income but not a remarkable one. We will struggle to buy a house, my dp cannot afford at the moment to contribute to a pension and holidays are camping. But none of those things are that important ( expect the pension) and we have chosen those circumstances.

My main point was that teaching is hard, but hard in short bursts. Also a hidden secret in secondary teaching is the summer term when year 11 and 13 go and year 12 drift in and out. When that happens there are days when I don't teach. I happen to think I have earned that! But it is another example of teaching being very hard in intensive short bursts. Other people perhaps do not have quite as long hours but they do not have the frequent breaks and that can make it just as hard on your mental health.

mitochondria · 14/03/2010 21:44

Ah, I'd like a summer term like that twinset. Instead, I'll be pacing up and down the gym, invigilating.

(yes, I know, serves me right for teaching in an independent school).

EvilTwins · 14/03/2010 21:49

Indeed, mito, it rather does. But does also mean that you get to play invigilation tag, the demise of which we were lamenting just the other day.

wastwinsetandpearls · 14/03/2010 21:49

Believe me I earn it in the two preceeding terms.

wastwinsetandpearls · 14/03/2010 21:50

I was told as a fresh keen to fit in teacher that we played silly walks in exam invigilation. So I started doing a monty pythonesque walk only to be given a stern telling off by the exams officer while my colleagues sniggered in disbelief that I was that gullible.

wastwinsetandpearls · 14/03/2010 21:51

At least invigilating does not create marking, unless they are mocks.

mitochondria · 14/03/2010 21:56

Armstrong and Miller did an invigilation sketch last series, I've just been looking for a clip but can't find it. It was giving me lots of ideas. Instead I shall just count the ceiling tiles again.

tethersend · 14/03/2010 21:57

We enjoyed many happy hours of making faces at the back of the gym, whilst those at the front had to remain completely professional.

At my school, we volunteer to invigilate, as the kids we teach tend not to respond to authority all that well (PRU/EBD school), especially when they are strangers. A familiar face can make all the difference to them walking out or staying and completing the exam.

wastwinsetandpearls · 14/03/2010 22:05

I agree tether and I used to always volunteer to be there at the start of an exam. We are not allowed in the hall if it is our subject. I am not sure if this is a national law or just my school.

MmeBlueberry · 14/03/2010 22:07

I'm not berating anything - just saying that following some kind of legal entitlement may be a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face. I have been quite consistent in this view throughout the thread.

Maybe as a teacher in the independent sector I an more of a team player, shrug. It is important to me that the school does well for the pupils as that is our bread and butter. If I were to work to rule, that would not be good for the school and could put my job in jeopardy.

Look at the unions and British Airways. Madness.

MmeBlueberry · 14/03/2010 22:12

I have counted the indentations in the ceiling tiles, mito.

EvilTwins · 14/03/2010 22:14

Are you suggesting that those of us in the state sector are not team players? I'm starting to get quite cross with you now, MmeB.

I am going to come right out and say that I think you are out of your depth and do not understand what you are talking about. From what I can gather, your experience in the state sector seems to be as a supply teacher, and you are now clearly much more at home in the private sector. Great for you, but you really don't have the right to be an "I am more of a team player" smuggie.

wastwinsetandpearls · 14/03/2010 22:16

I don't think teaching in any sector makes you any more of a team player tbh. You could say that teaching in a tough comp means you have to a team player to survive.

I don't think anyone is talking about working to rule. I may not agree with tether and eviltwins over attending INSETS and parents evening but I am sure that they care as much as you and I that the pupils do well.

I acknowledge though that independent schools, in particular boarding schools work you like a dog.

MmeBlueberry · 14/03/2010 22:21

Believe whatever makes you feel happy, evil. I have taught in permanent positions in the state sector, if that is important.

tethersend · 14/03/2010 22:27

MmeBlueberry, you haven't responded to my previous post- do you still maintain you have not opted out of the state sector?

Consistent? Only in that you have posted the same view over and over again; it really is wearing now.

I think you are deliberately trying to turn the argument to one of private vs. state because you feel more comfortable arguing about something you know. None of us want to debate the merits of private vs. state education. Start a thread if you do.

By your own admission, you have no understanding of unions. One by one, we have patiently explained it to you. And now you decide that being part of a union- nay, teaching in the state sector- stops you being a team player. I think even Margaret Thatcher would disagree with you on that one.

You show incredible naivety. Unfortunately, this comes with incredible tenacity.

I can almost predict what your next post will be. I'm pretty sure it will involve some reference to the power cuts in the 1970s.

Surprise me.