part time teachers HELP with parents evenings on days OFF

[GordianKnot]

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

I disagree that you should feel compelled to go in. It is nothing to do with professionalism at all. You can definitely be a professional teacher and still not attend them all.

Sometimes it just isn't possible. People often work PT for a reason, and this can prevent them going in on days they are not employed to work.

I do not feel that not doing the odd parents evening affected my professionalism at a teacher, not did it stop me from being a good teacher.

But I believe that my own child is actually more important than the children I taught. I also believe that my health is also extremely important. And I am afraid they have to come first. My priority will always be to my own child over school children I taught, especially when alternative childcare may not have been available easily for me.

Legally that is not valid though oosa unless you work in an academy where the teachers can be employed under different terms and conditions.

corny where have you been? Someone was loking for you in S and B a while bcak

Hula- that sounds very sensible and no nonsense. the amount of time some of the parents spend ringing in and on email I feel like I speak to them weely anyway

ooos- I agree with you on the pay thing.

Duckyfuzz, you absolutely cannot be required to attend parents' evening on a day you are not contracted to work, no matter what is written into your contract- School Teachers Pay and Conditions legislation supersedes individual contracts.

weekly sorry

I have been signed off cyb but can bear it no longer.

Ok pointy but it is a different job with very different experiences.

If I were the parent, I would be annoyed if I had to leave work early, potentially having to take a half day holiday to do so, more than once because some of my child's teachers were not available on parents' evening. I see the problem for part time workers of course, and I do wonder how those two things can be reconciled.

not for lent surely

I am a secondary teacher and while I do not at the moment work in a tough school I have spent the rest of my career in schools that most mumsnetters would run screaming from. I do have to deal on a daily basis with difficult students, I teach in a comp that reflects society.

I think I am well paid for what i do, I am probably the least well paid out of all of my friends but there is food on the table, a roof over our heads and money to fund a holiday and days out.

I work long hours but I do that because I chose to and I love my job. I am paid to spend my day with fantastic people teaching a subject that fascinates me. My job is not easy, there are times when I come home very stressed or holding back tears because the day has been shit. The stresses of my job have caused me to be very ill in the past but I learned from my mistakes, took a deep breath and went back. The highs of teaching are unbeatable though and worth their weight in gold.

At the end of the day most of us could do something else and we chose not to.

Legally you do not have to go in.*

The head can say what they like. It is not true.

I'm a secondary teacher, and in a tough school, and I wouldn't suggest that I work harder than my brother who works in a primary.

ha ha not lent Too much work to do.

I'm a secondary teacher- in a PRU.

Do I win £5?

ha ha tethersend - small classes - sorry you win zilch

I think the bottom line is that teaching isn't a very family friendly job on the whole - and it is one of the reasons I left.

I worked in two secondary school over 10 years - one was top of league in leafy Derbyshire, the other down near theb ottom school in special measures in Doncaster. Two very different schools.

Mind you after that I went and worked in a male prison working alongside murderers, peadophiles and rapists. I know which is tougher, lol!

Now doing a lovely gentle TA job in an infant school. All the fun bits and a third of the stresses. Oh - and the primary school teachers do work just as hard IME.

That's interesting to hear FallenMadonna. From my experience I've known a lot more secondary teachers having nervous breakdowns (I've personally known eight in the last six years) than primary teachers (none, although I do know fewer, but it does seem to happen much less often). From their accounts nervous breakdowns mainly due to workload, inability to get any time and 'headspace' away from work, and behaviour issues. And of course, as twinset would also know, in a secondary subject like R.E. you can have 450 students a fortnight, with all of their books and parents' evenings appointments, reports etc., which creates a workload that can't be balanced within primary. Each child you teach becomes less than 0.25% of your whole concern, but of course you give a lot more attention to each one than your time really allows.

Small classes of psychopaths challenging young people, cornsilk!

Marking's better though

I rarely reply to threads anymore but this really pissed me off.

I work 3 days a week job-share in a primary school. I actually work every hour that god sends trying to ensure that the class are as well taught as possible. I have a small child. I work during her naptimes and in the evening when she has gone to bed (on my days off too).

I get my husband to take her out some weekends so I can get work done. I do not get paid a penny extra for any of the work I am expected to do which could not possibly be done during the school day. I also work long hours on the days I am at school.

Therefore, I expect to get paid when I am told to come into school on my non-working days. In fact, it is now a legal rquirement to pay your staff.

I also work during school holidays and I am expected to come into school during holiday time to get my classroom ready and not be paid. I certainly don't know anyone who is not a teacher who works during their paid holiday leave.

I find it simply bizarre that people think it is perfectly ok to not be paid for going in on your day off.

It can't be healthy to decide who has a harder job based on teh number of breakdowns people have had. I sorta want to laugh but I won't.

So, if for example I worked on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and parents' evening was on a Thursday, I would get paid if I attended, But if I worked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I would work the same hours (including parents' evening) and not get paid? Can that be right? I'd be miffed if I worked the latter I think.

I'd agree pudding. Looking back it seems mad, but I was in my classroom sorting out books and wall displays the day before my due date (not getting paid) with ds, in the middle of the summer hols. Not many other jobs where you find yourself doing this!

OH MY GOD
100 posts on this dull issue!