Gone back into teaching after a long break - oh dear!

[MrsGherkin]

I taught for around around 4 years - 2 in Secondary and 2 in primary, then left for around 8 years to raise a family and in that time I ran workshops with children instead. This was lovely but sporadic and unreliable financially.

So I went back this year and am now teaching in an Outstanding Comp part-time. I am essentially happy with the pay in comparison, my colleagues are lovely. The holidays are nice (but I so always do some work or other). I am paid to work 19 hours per week but do around 32-35 hours pw so rarely get a full day off.

I'm going in over half term again to coach (lazy) year 11's . What I find most alarming is that if those year 11's don't make their predicted grade despite my additional input, because I am the only teacher of my subject in school I am personally accountable for their success. My name will go on a big PowerPoint in September and if I'm in yellow my students (and therefore me) has passed or done better than predicted and if their names appear in red, they've not made the grade and nor have I. This is in front off all staff and the atmosphere in the hall is one of quiet smugness / utter defeat - it's terrifying. I am really worried about failure and am doing catch up sessions twice weekly (extra 4 hours per week) too. It's this combined with the constant, monitoring reports, lesson observations, hired consultants wandering in and scrutinising my books and asking the children questions about me all the time; it's really scary (and a little bit dictatorship-like at times). I am awake for hours at night worrying and wondering quite if I'll make it. My boss is only just managing to cope I think -( says the jobs got so much worse in the past 2 years.) There are days when I leave at 6.30 and the poor H0D's still there and sending emails to my home.

Anyway you get my drift, I am just not sure I can always be that Uber Outstanding teacher ALL THE TIME and so utterly accountable. But I'm sure it's no different for the police or nurses or any civil servant really, it's just essentially overwhelming. Any thoughts or reassurance gratefully received.

It's so shit

You get paid for 19 hours and are working full time

Just so shit

And yes its 7 and my DH (HOD) hasn't left work yet. I'm still annoyed that he marked and worked all weekend - literally 8am til 8pm. And any conversation with him ended in an argument where he brought up that he had a week off in a couple of weeks.

Which made steam rise out of my ears as he worked this weekend, plus next weekend so that's already 4 extra full days - and I KNOW he will actually work half of the half term at least!

I hate this term!!!

LaurieFC I sympathise with you/ DH sounds worse than my lot. I was wondering if I'm just inefficient and could do it in far less time but dont' want to experiment and fail.

I'm not sure you can do your work in less time - with your results tied to performance you basically have to work your ovaries off

It's the management at the school that's the problem. I worked at a school that was run like a dictatorship, and basically, for your own sanity, you need to get out of there - there are better schools, that treat their staff with some respect, although I suspect the numbers are dwindling. When I look back at the way I was treated, I can't believe I stuck it out for so long. It's surprising that it's an outstanding school, and run like this - it tends to be schools in SM that have all the extra observations and scrutiny. The head must be terrified of losing the outstanding status. It's amazing what fear can do to some people's minds.

Mrsgerkhin,

I too,am in a,very,similar position to you. I've recently returned to teaching after 5 years out raising my children and I hate it! Again, the school is very target driven. It's all about progress and sub level points and nothing to do with making learning fun. It doesn't help that I also have been told I need to get the kids to progress a sub level every term or else no wage rise! My class is generally sen/ low achieves with support so that will be interesting! I'm already doing intervention groups and pre teaching groups. I'm so knackered I can't even do homework with my own kids when I get home :(
I doubt I'll stay after August.

Same pressures in primary. I've been told that 100% of my class (of 30) have to make 6 sub levels (new levels) of progress this year in all core subjects or I don't go up the pay scale.

I suspect, knowing my head, that even if I do this for all but one, he'll use the fact that one utterly adorable girl in my class who's just been diagnosed with cancer and hasn't been at school for weeks, won't meet this, to withhold my pay.

I just want to weep.

Then I read readers' comments on the bbc website about Nicky Morgan's new ideas and saying that teachers need to pull their socks up, work full time like everyone else and start having some high expectations for a change and being more accountable. I honestly think (some) people just don't have a clue what we do.

The pillory name & shame powerpoint is horrific what purpose could that possibly serve? Talk about demoralising staff... Bullying management! By all means show the great stuff, and task those teachers with explaining how they got them, share ideas and strategies, but the red stuff - insane.

I totally, totally appreciate all that teachers do for my kids, and am amazed that anyone stays in the profession these days. It's so sad. As a parent, thank you both for all that you are doing.

Can MN not do something to raise support for teachers, and stand up against this stupid, stupid way of managing schools?

My only gripe about schools is not kids behaviour, or falling standards, or whatever. It's that the ethos has become so focused upon getting everyone good grades that there is no time for making learning fun and for engagement with the subjects.

I hope that you can both hang on in there . . . for the kids' sake, and that posts like these can rouse other parents to stand up for their local teachers too.

"I suspect, knowing my head, that even if I do this for all but one, he'll use the fact that one utterly adorable girl in my class who's just been diagnosed with cancer and hasn't been at school for weeks, won't meet this, to withhold my pay.

I just want to weep."

I want to weep too, just reading that I can't get over the naming and shaming culture too. I have left the profession because of situations like this. I was such a committed teacher, I used to love my job.

I feel for you. Went on ML for DC1 a happy, content and successful teacher. Came back and the climate had changed to this. Hated it, hated the way they wanted us to teach ('cos it didn't work), the unrealistic expectations, the management pressure, the stupid marking policies, the bowing down to every tiny suggestion Ofsted had ever made to any school in the country, just everything. It stressed me out to the point where I left mid year.

Am now happy at home with two children. Yesterday I saw a teacher on the bus, marking on her way home at 5pm. I was surprised to discover that just seeing someone marking still evokes a feeling of dread in me, over a year since I left the job! I won't be going back. I would do supply if we really needed the money, but that's the furthest into that particular hell I'm willing to go again. I have friends whose children now have an endless supply of short term supply teachers, because no one will work for their headteachers for longer than a few weeks. What does that say about the education system? It certainly isn't doing the children any good!

Dh teaches and is looking to move schools in a hope it'll improve.

There was 8000 jobs on the tes. People are leaving and moving in droves

Also our dc's school has just been through recruitment for a head teacher. Hardly anyone applied. I think that job is a poisoned chalice too. Unless you LIKE that kind of thing, in which case you are probably horrible to work for.

Humprhey - god point about HT - yes, no bed of roses either.
A friend's primary is recruiting an HT - lovely kids, lovely parents - no applications.

Last week's local teacher/TA job newspaper that's delivered to schools was absolutely jam-packed with Head teacher jobs. They are dropping like flies as nobody wants to do it and the ones who are there are desperate to leave! Two local HT have dropped dead of heart attacks in the last 12 months-both in their late 50s and just about to retire :(

If the HT that are working already are jumping ship and leaving and they can't get anyone to replace them-where on earth is David Cameron going to find thousands of new ones to parachute into all the 'failing' schools and risk getting sacked because one Y6 forgot 8x7!?

Or are there loads of 'Outstanding' super heads being cloned in a factory in Westminster as we speak...!?

rollonthesummer
re heart attack head in their 50s

I know--it's awful :(

Accountability is what's killing us at the moment.

In business, you are accountable to the client but they will also have contracted obligations to meet.

How are we supposed to be accountable for teenagers?

I'm the same as you in that I face public humiliation if the predictions are wrong or the grades aren't good enough. I work between 60-80 hours a week FT and feel totally ground down by it.

I am sick to death of this highly unfair culture that has developed in education over the last few years.

Or any children - sorry, I do know primary are also being beaten with the accountability stick.

How much are the children in secondary aware that it's your job on the line if their GCSE etc results aren't as expected?

Is it better or worse with A levels-what impact has making the children stay in full time education for longer had?

How much say do you get in the target grades-are they realistic?

Apologies for the questions, I'm just interested in how different it is from primary. My class are unaware of all of this as they are only little-I was musing what it would be like if they were older.

I'm not sure the teenagers really are aware - I think we all know teenagers who whilst lovely and charming can't see past the end of their noses! (Not all obviously, but it is a teenage thing). I am pretty sure that to tell them just how much their grades matter to my job would be deemed unprofessional! Can't win!

I am pretty sure that to tell them just how much their grades matter to my job would be deemed unprofessional!

Yes-I wasn't suggesting you did that! I just wondered of any of them did the 'I'm going to get a D and you'll get no pay rise-ha ha!' bit of their own backs. There were certainly kids at my old school who would have said that!

I'm very glad to hear they are unaware actually.

I know you weren't :)

Thankfully I've never had the 'I'm going to get a D and you'll get no pay rise-ha ha!' but I know colleagues who have - thankfully I have never yet worked in a school where that sort of child wouldn't be the same across the board and therefore an understandable 'blip' in statistics (and they can't hold back everyone over ONE student... not yet anyway...)

Yes, that's true-I hadn't thought about it like that.

It's still a depressing state of affairs though. I don't know any teachers (in real life, that is) who aren't either counting down the days till they retire, desperately trying to get pregnant so they can leave, planning a move either out of the profession or out of the classroom, or on Prozac! I can only stand it because I'm part time, but I dread the day when I need to go back to full time :(

I can only stand it because I'm part time, but I dread the day when I need to go back to full time

Yup.