How to work with a job share partner

[dahliadahlia]

Am struggling! partner started out v keen, made some sweeping, but somewhat uninformed, changes. Asks questions/makes comments which show a rather tottering grasp on curriculum. Has gone from bossy to apathetic - we joint plan lit/ math, and when she plans for days I'll be teaching there's virtually nothing there. I have to ask repeatedly for updates of meetings etc and I feel the info flow is very one way. We get on, but have different approaches. She is keen to appear on the ball but the day to day stuff that keeps a class going is slipping badly. And we have no face to face time tt'd. Any tips?

You need to talk to management about this. Do it in a concerned way, focusing on the impact on the children of some days not being planned etc. Treat it exactly as you would any other colleague not coping - that it's your jobshare is irrelevant (other than more annoying & more likely to reflect badly on you). Whatever you do don't end up doing the whole job for half the pay.

How is your job share split? Ie. what days do you work, does he/she work?
Just wondering as I know the way I have worked with both of my job share partners has had to change depending on the days/schedule set up between us.

I don't know if this would work for you, but my current job share & I jointly plan everything for termly/weekly plans, and then each plan our own days. She then sets up for me on days she is in the day before me, and I set up for her on her day when I'm in the day before. (She works Mon, Tue, I work Wed, Thur and we work alternate Fridays, so I would prepare her Mon or Fri work for her, and she would prepare Wed for me). By plan, I mean she leaves her daily plan ahead of time, and I change it as necessary depending on what I've got through, and I make sure that everything is set up for her the next day. She does the same for me.

We also make sure we leave handover notes or phone each other on handover days - it is the person who is finishing their days that has the responsibility for this rather than the other having to chase for it the next morning. This works really well as we both rely on the communication.

However, we were very fortunate that for the first year of our job share, I was in school on all of her days as I taught two classes at the time, so our planning and processes built up over that time and work really well now.

How feasible would it be for you to try to have face to face sessions for a while? I realise these would be unpaid and that doesn't work for everyone depending on childcare etc.

I think you may also need to go to management if this doesn't improve. You can't be expected to carry your jobshare partner in the long term this way. It lets you and the class down.

I agree with handover notes/ phonecalls . When I did a job share we always had a class notebook where we wrote notes about day to day events/playground issues/parents concerns etc. We also put parent letters and minutes of meetings in . If there was a more pertinent issue, we would phone. I used to plan lit and num and we would plan our own afternoon lessons (primary) .

However, my planning afternoon was covered by the jobshare, so we always had face to face time afterwards. This was vital, when it didn't happen for a few weeks ( diff timetable) things fell apart and management soon sorted it!

Is there a way to avoid situations where they are planning for something you are going to be teaching. I never like teaching from other people's plans anyway. I've shared a class, to different degrees with 5 different partners up to now and I think they've all been successful shares.

We split the timetable and made sure that we were responsible for clearly different things when we could be. E.g. we both taught Maths, but I was responsible for teaching the genres (I was with the class for more of the week) and my partner teacher did spellings/handwriting.

Even with topics, once we'd mapped out what was happening on different days, I planned if it was a day I taught for and she planned for a day she taught for.

What communication do you have? I've found it much easier to share when I've been able to talk face to face to my partner teacher.

Other times we've had to use communication books. This could have a to-do element that you could both write down jobs that needed doing and could tick them off when done.

I do the end of the week. She does the beginning. No crossover. I send a detailed update email summarising my afl, and minute meetings she's not in. I write the class newsletter - she was adamant about contributing but never sends anything - and I make sure she gets my lit plans well ahead of time.
I finally got a reply tonight 9ish saying oops, maths planning, dunno what happened to that! (ie 3 days) maybe you could finish off doing this powerpoint? There are a few meeting notes and some more, apparently, on my chair for tomorrow.
Mainly we communicate by email because it's hard to find face to face time. She has come in for a couple of joint planning meetings, with SLT input. SLT suggested the Maths/Lit split -I hate working from other people's plans too, 2kids, but I'm giving it a go. However, current arrangement means I am planning all of Lit and 3 days of Maths, right now.
I am more stressed than when I did full time. I ended up planning tomorrow's Maths session because I need a proper Maths lesson to walk into tomorrow and I had heard nothing. Colleague is great at some things, but day to day communication and teaching are woeful. I am job hunting because of it but I don't know that I can last that long. School is RI, everyone is stressed, no one to turn to. DHT oversees this part of the school, and is close to my colleague, and is also struggling with teaching obs etc. I am regarded as a reliably 'good' teacher and am pretty much resented because of it. I have to be careful what I say and to whom I say it. I have a great class, capable of amazing things, but I am miserable, frankly, and I don't know what to do about it without creating a hugely bad atmosphere.

If you are 'reliably good' in a RI school, they need you to stay!! I would ask again about joint planning, and then go to SLT, or HT if you get no joy there. Have you written minutes for your meetings? I know that sounds formal, but you need to show everything you are doing and the concerns you have.

The danger is , you will end up planning everything to ensure you have a plan, and that will become the norm.

I will see if it gets better after half term.
The joint planning meetings we've had are run by SLT, and we're following their guidelines. Because we email, there is a paper trail should it be needed. I am hoping it won't. I have a really bad feeling about it, though. Children's behaviour is plummeting.
'Reliably good' I thank my lucky stars for and am aware how things can change. I would like to be around great teachers, as you can learn so much by watching them. Fabulous team in my last school, really dedicated.