sending in lesson plans when off sick or other, special, leave?

[overthemill]

just a quick poll really. My school expects staff to send in lesson plans /cover when sick. Has to be by 7.30 am. So when I'm really ill (which I have to be to phone in) I also have to provide a lesson and send it in? Obviously I have lesson plans at school but not necessarily at home. So I have to get up early and think something up. If it's planned leave that's ok (eg hospital apt) but when unwell? It's also an expectation for other leave, eg if off unpaid when own kids are ill.

Is this normal and is it reasonable? My sister's school doesn't expect this btw.

[SilverApples]

In the past, you were ill and the school contacted a supply teacher.
They came in with their own lessons, skills-based and taught pulling from their own knowledge base, like a professional teacher.
I did it for a couple of years and loved the opportunity. I worked FT and enjoyed the freedom from SMT, the Government and the politics and pressure.

[clam]

You took time off ill, silver?
You shirker!

[SilverApples]

That's me, idleness incarnate. I'm waiting for the future I was promised, where I'd be at home with my terminal, upload the lesson and all the little Borglets would log on and comply.
Asimov has let me down badly I feel.

[ColdFusion]

If a teacher considers themselves to be a professional, they will set their own cover work. This means doing it on the spot, or having an emergency plan in place.

Batting it up to the HOD or SLT does not display professional credentials. It is really not someone else's responsibility to set work for your class. Yes, they will do so as a last resort (for the benefit of the students), but anticipate a stiff telling-to when you return, should your illness be classified as minor. As I have said before, a major and/or sudden illness will be treated sympathetically and everyone will rally round.

Teachers with the attitude of I've-called-in-sick-don't-bother-me, have you worked in any other industry?

[ColdFusion]

I don't recognise your scenarios, silver. This has never been my experience.

[clam]

So who are you talking about, coldconfusion? Do you have colleagues who have this attitude/don't set up contingency plans for sickness? I don't.

And still waiting for some examples of jobs in "the real world..."

[SilverApples]

As I said, we upload our plans to the server, and unlike many other schools, the supply and cover staff have their own login that enables them to access the plans and the resources.
So they click on the folder for that week and there it all is.
Or if for some reason they can't teach that, they use the cover plans in another folder for the year group.
The system was created during a sm rather than leaving it up to individuals to work out how to have an effective system.
It's ridiculous that there are schools where a supply can't log on or access the IWB and resources.

[SilverApples]

'I don't recognise your scenarios, silver. This has never been my experience.'

What scenarios?
Supply knowing their shit, or the Borglets? Be more precise please.

[ColdFusion]

Being ill and school contacting a supply teacher. State school will only do this after three days; independent schools never.

[TheFallenMadonna]

If a class is covered by a supply teacher, they are highly unlikely to be asubject specialist. They do not come in with a bank of appropriate resources for that reason, and even if they are subject specialists, they may be unfamiliar with the specifications we are using.

Is this another primary secondary thing? Supply knowing their shit?

[ColdFusion]

clam,

One of the lesson plan requirements these days is to teach about life after school (sorry, can't remember the TLA). You really ought to know about life outside school. It's not enough to dismiss other professions as if they were beyond contempt. They make up the real world.

If you really don't know what the real world is, you need to gen up, pdq, and put it in your lesson plans.

As a parent, I would hope that all my DDs' teachers had an acute awareness of life outside and beyond the classroom. Although my DDs' school is out with Ofsted, this is an Ofsted principle that I fully support.

[SilverApples]

'Is this another primary secondary thing? Supply knowing their shit?'

Yes, in my own little bubble, burbling away.

My last two primaries used supply from day one where possible and covered it from budget, insurance kicked in after three days.

[Orangeanddemons]

BUT the bottom line is, you are NOT supposed to set cover when off, unless it is a planned absence. So no one should be phoning in/ emailing cover, although I do but that is to save my poor stressed colleagues. They should be routines in place in all schools to cope with absences, that do not involve the absent staff.

I only tell people where my classes are up to, and to find them something suitable in the cover folder... Lesson plans ..pah!

[chibi]

i set my own cover work when i was passing a kidney stone, in premature labour, going to the funerals of each of my parents in law, and my grandmother

i really needn't have bothered, i am an unprofessional goon with no knowledge whatsoever of the real world, i really should have lived down to expectations.

fwiwi have also set cover for absent colleagues and never begrudged it because i (wrongly it would seem) thought teamwork and supporting ones colleagues was the professional thing to do. silly me, i will bitch moan and slag off my colleagues instead, like some posters on this thread

[Orangeanddemons]

I luuurve my colleagues. They are the reason I set cover

[SilverApples]

Yup, some people like to climb that ladder and entertain themselves on the way by peeing on those beneath them.
T'was ever thus, in the forces, industry, commerce and teaching.

[KatyPutTheCuttleOn]

I would expect there to be a lesson plan for the first week as you don't plan on the day do you? If there is only one class in the year then presumably somebody else would have to plan after week 1 but if there is more than one class per year then I'd expect the other teachers to share their lesson plans.

[TheFallenMadonna]

It's about working in a team though, no? If I am away and can set cover, I do, because it makes my colleagues' lives easier. And my colleagues do the same, because we all appreciate how hard the rest of the team work. If you can't, someone steps in and does it. Ultimately, the cover is sorted because the kids need to do something!

A very few people take the piss. Which is a shame.

[clam]

Aha! Now we have it! The real world: forces, industry and commerce AND TEACHING!
We're up there with the main guys!

coldconfusion, do you deliberately misunderstand people in your 'professional' life, too?

[TheFallenMadonna]

Or what everyone else has said

[clam]

Anyway, much as I'm enjoying this debate, I have to zoom. Real world is calling.... oh, wait, I don't know what that is.

[Donki]

CF No, DH is not a teacher. But he is a professional. He is not expected to work whilst ill. Very much to the point, when people were arguing that working from home whilst ill was a requirement for a professional. I however AM a teacher...

[olivo]

Wow,I am so surprised at some of the comments here. I am not in the Uk, but working in state education. If off sick ( or with children, we get 5 "family days" for emergencies, largely due to the fact that people don't have family around to bail them out) you must phone school or text before 7.30. We all text the whole dept, then of possible, email work in. Some days, my emails have been, this is the topic, find them something. To do, or draw a poster, or book ICt rooms, other times, especially when DCs are ill, it is very detailed.

We bail each other out, but none of us is unprofessional. If you're ill le enough to be off, you're too ill to work.

[Beveridge]

Secondary teacher in Scotland - the expectation is that you will email in cover lessons when absent but only if you are in a position to do so. Quite frankly, I prefer to set my own cover even in an emergency as it helps avoid having to unpick a shambles when you come back.

I plan my lessons on the day (sometimes as I go, depending on how crazy things have been/how good an idea I've just had!). Obviously we have the courses already written for each year group but I couldn't tell you exactly what I would be doing with each class in 2 lessons time - that depends on lots of different factors.For example, I may decide a certain class needs more practise with a certain exam skill or that another class has taken to a particular topic really well so we might do a follow-up activity.

[Beveridge]

• except in an emergency! Funnily enough, I didn't give a stuff about my cover plans when I went into preterm labour or dealing with serious illness of close family members.