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.

news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2015/02/12/miliband-to-issue-39-call-to-arms-39-to-bring-back-former-teachers.aspx

Well, then-all you early retirers-Ed wants you to reconsider! As well as calling on former teachers to come back into the state sector, he's pledging that a Labour Government would drive up standards in every type of local school.

I don't think the words 'driving up standards' will have many people scrabbling to locate their DFE numbers!!

I haven't even been able to finish reading all of these posts before posting my own. I am infuriated. I won't go into details for fear of outing myself but I left teaching a few years ago due to similar reasons as already stated.

I came back in a management role recently and am witnessing the most atrocious, back stabbing, fear based culture which I'm questioning and discussing with my 'team'. Safe to say my head is well and truly above the parapet as we speak.

What I think needs to happen is that teachers need to come as a collective and challenge these practises. The naming and shaming in a staff meeting is what has hit me the most. What I would (hopefully) do in a situation like that is stand up, address the staff proudly and state my reasons calmly, professionally and eloquently, stating that you will not participate in this practice and the legitimate reasons why.

This has gone on too long. There are too many of us feeling the same way. It is time to turn the tables on those who are blaming, attacking, fear mongering and destroying a profession.

I miss teaching. I get to go into classrooms at times and desperately want to get in front of that class and engage...but not in this environment.

Time to stand up for ourselves, together...

I agree.

By this...

Safe to say my head is well and truly above the parapet as we speak

do you mean that, as management, you are not under a similar pressure to a classroom teacher?

Rollonthesummer - yes, as management I do not feel the same pressure as a classroom teacher. This could just be my environment but the SLT in my school are desperate to form an 'us and them' environment. I have recently had to question some of their decisions and practices regarding complaints from staff and was met with aggression, twisting of words and then a sudden questioning of my capability.

If I hadn't already been through this as a classroom teacher where I almost had a breakdown, left with no job to go to and vowed never to step foot in a school again, I think I would be much more concerned. I do feel at risk of losing my job and my reputation, but I'm not scared of it and will continue to support the teaching and support staff to the best of my ability.

This comment made me laugh:

Are GPs paid by how healthy their patients are? Oh dear Dr Smith, just got in the results of some of your diabetic patients and despite your advice to them, their sugar levels are too high. No pay rise for you.

Or if you were at my school you could just change the results and when the diabetic went on to heaven/secondary you could let them deal with that inaccurate level.

Insanity.

Re the SMT them and us thing-it reminds me of bullying behaviour in the playground. The SMT are so relieved to be out of the bully's firing line themselves, that they start being horrible themselves. Once in that little inner circle, they don't want to lose their special privileges, so the barriers become even more obvious. Bit like politicians and the rest of us scumbags, really!

Our SMT have endless special meetings with lovely coffees and dinners and cakes (walking down corridors with the children with trays of hot mugs and toast) but make damn sure ordinary teachers aren't allowed hot drinks within a million miles of their classrooms!

Rollon - that is so funny. One of my particularly concerning SMTs (whom I suspect has severe mental health issues) is constantly in the staffroom making cups of tea, sometimes with children in tow!!! Then she saunters out with said cup into the reception class where she should be teaching. Not sure how she manages to pop out so often. And of course she is the first to comment when she feels someone else isn't doing their job properly. Grrrrr...

THis kind of thing makes me terrified to return to teaching (leaving me as yet another oxbridge grad who only taught in her 20s... yet in my case I haven't got anythign shiny to go on to do instead...)

I love my daughtters infant school but that is down to the good head - I do read these threads and wonder about homeschooling as I rarely hear of a teacher whose really enjoying teaching and on board with the target driven culture. I want them to do fun child led activities and play in the snow. I dont want it all to be targetting learning time :(

I want them to be taught by subject specialists at gcse though, not by me, so would have to return them to the system and that doesnt seem ideal either. I'm not quite ready to opt out alltogether and seriously cant afford private ed ....

Maybe Ed Millibars should have actually spoken to some teachers before making that speech...

'Drive up standards' indeed. We've all seen enough of the kinds of measures they think drive up standards.

' 50,000 “experienced” teachers have left the workforce in the past year, an increase of 25 per cent on the 2010 figure.
And he will call on former teachers to reconsider their reasons for leaving and come back into the state sector to address the growing problem of teacher shortages.'

Well, I'm on supply and I haven't seen the culture change or improve at all. Some schools are much better than others at supporting staff and children, but the pressures have intensified and OFSTED is now even more terrifying with the revised criteria.
I have no desire or motive to reconsider my reasons for leaving as there has been no change for the better.

Do you reckon he even glanced at the workload survey?!

I chose to do supply instead of NQT year as had seen horrendous problems for NQTs. For a month or so when I started supply I took any school, then started getting 'repeat business' and now work 5 days a week just in the three schools where there is good management, and reasonable staff morale, with odd days trying new schools for variety. Some schools were horrific and the staff morale rock bottom. Originally only intended to do 2 or 3 days a week, and if I feel like a day off I would not take a booking for that day, but in practice I am enjoying the job so rarely do choose not to work.
No way am I tempted to take on a full time permanent role! This way I get the fun of being in class without management hassle. The schools and the DC are happy with my work, and I go home at 3.30 and have the evenings weekends and hols with my DC. I came to teaching late after a long career in business and will not put up with the sort of workload expected of permanent teachers.

Reading this reminds me why I left teaching 8 years ago. My HT was an early adopter of the "powerpoint of shame" at the first inset day each September. Seems she was ahead of her time, reading all your posts.
Where I work now is full of ex-teachers who had reached the end of their tether with targets and government policy. Our place sometimes seems like a rescue and rehabilitation centre for teachers so that they can rebuild their morale.
Who will teach my son though? He is going to be in education until 2026. Will there be anyone left? And could we blame the teachers if they all walked out?

Ooh amouse - what do you do now?

And exactly what I worry about re: my children. The staff are mainly young pre-children, and very lovely but will presumably burn out. Its either young staff or the business model staff that suit target given culture...

They'll have teachers like me and Signora. What's not to like?

In hink it'll only be very young teachers, job shares and supplies in classroom roles before too long. I wonder what will happen when they expect supply teachers (who have gone on supply to avoid the crap) to do tracking/observations/book scrutiny etc

What if schools end up with an entire staff on short term supply?! Supplies who don't want PMR or to go to meetings, do data analysis etc What will the SMT DO with their time then?! Who will they stalk?!

rollon
This is a very serious point.
I have come into teaching, like everyone does, to make a difference to inspire, enthuse.
But as an oldie who has been around the block I will simply not accept it.
And what I see in the schools I go to is people working at beyond maximum capacity. In my previous career (senior mgmt, intl company) no-one would have accepted this - we would not have had an effective workforce with this ridiculous expectation.
It does surprise me how many 'supplies' work in the (state) schools I go to. I often supply the same class several times a week. Today a lovely girl said to me 'Miss, do you teach everything?' Errr - yes.
I don't remember 'supplies' when I was at school. Interestingly, I have quizzed my own DC, who are in a top indie, about supply teachers. they don't have them. The regular teachers have many more free periods for the very reason that they can then cover other teacher OF THEIR OWN SUBJECT.

Well, for those of us that have been in the game for years, we tried protesting, objecting, stating our specific concerns and the juggernaut rolled on and over us.
We tried every legal way of challenging and querying the logic of the multiple interventions and initiatives ands were ignored.
We said that we were'nt a sausage factory, the ingredients were variable year on year and that as a consequence, the output was variable however good the manufacturing process and we were told we had low expectations and that we were poor teachers and that if we felt afraid and demonised and persecuted, then the methods were working.
So thousands of us left completely and thousands more stepped out of a secure job for the insecurity and autonomy of supply.
What else could we do?

'it'll only be very young teachers, job shares and supplies in classroom roles before too long.'

Shall we form a duet my lovely? I've been singing that tune for a while.

Don't worry rollon there are actually quite a lot of jobs for ex teachers. My dad retired from teaching due to ill health (it was that or let the stress kill him), anf after he recovered he tried a few different things before eventually settling on sales progression and viewings for an estate agent.

I am applying for part time. HT 'positive' (she brought it up at a meeting 3 months ago) but she has made her opinions clear in the long distant past that she does not 'value' part time teachers.

Don't worry rollon there are actually quite a lot of jobs for ex teachers. My dad retired from teaching due to ill health (it was that or let the stress kill him), anf after he recovered he tried a few different things before eventually settling on sales progression and viewings for an estate agent.

That's reassuring-thank you. Am looking...