Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

The staffroom

Whether you're a permanent teacher, supply teacher or student teacher, you'll find others in the same situation on our Staffroom forum.

If you are a teacher - what can/should SMT do to motivate you?

71 replies

WishIwasanastronaut · 29/05/2015 21:18

Just that really. Motivation at my school is at an all time low.
10% of the staff seem to do 90% of the work.
Being stricter on the teachers who take the piss is obviously one way of tackling the issue but I'm more interested in how to reward those that go above and beyond the daily grid.
Any ideas?

OP posts:
lifeissweet · 30/05/2015 19:11

We have to upload planning weekly into a central folder AS WELL as printing it off, annotating it and handing in the hard copy.

We have 3 lots of monitoring weekly (1 book trawl, 1 pupil interview and 1 learning walk)

I am currently off with stress and have been for a couple of months. I go back on Monday.

Don't do any of that.

EvilTwins · 30/05/2015 19:14

That's ridiculous LifeIsSweet. No wonder you're unwell. Hope it's ok on Monday Flowers

lifeissweet · 30/05/2015 19:16

And I would add - I am a single parent. I may appear to not put in as many hours as other people, but I have commitments and no family support. I may physically leave school earlier than others, but I take a whole load of work home with me - as well as managing the school website from home. Please don't assume that not running clubs or not being physically present in school is the same as slacking. I don't slack - to the extent that I'm sinking under the strain.

The teachers who do all of the above and beyond stuff at my school are single (or recently married) women in their 20s with no children. They can manage that right now - in a few years they might not. I think I would find it even more demoralising if they were singled out as better teachers because of this.

Panzee · 30/05/2015 19:17

With working conditions like that, OP, there's something worse afoot if morale is that low. Why not just ask them?

lifeissweet · 30/05/2015 19:21

Thanks EvilTwins. I'm sure it won't be as bad as I fear. Just have to hang on in their until the Summer...

honeysucklejasmine · 30/05/2015 19:46

Regarding planning differences between primary and secondary... do you suppose its to do with the way it's structured?

I only teach one subject, which I have taught for years, and I will teach the same thing to two or three classes at the same time. these lessons require minor adjustments only (class ability etc) so all I would write in my planner is something like "C2.3.1", and then maybe hide or add in a few slides to my PowerPoint for that lesson, get a different resource perhaps.

The only ones I would plan in huge detail is A level, as I tended to teach different sections of the course every year. these would easily take twice as long to plan as they would to teach.

I guess in primary, teaching every subject, it's very different! I don't envy you. Flowers

honeysucklejasmine · 30/05/2015 19:48

Of course, the first time I teach a topic at all levels, I create a huge amount of resources and plans for it. But once it's done, or being taught for the second time that day, its only minor adjustments to update or modify.

life good luck tomorrow.

WishIwasanastronaut · 30/05/2015 19:52

Sorry everyone. I really didnt want to out myself so gave ridiculously few details. Sorry about the drip feeding.

School is not in UK, it is a non-profit making school for which students pay between £0 - £30k per year (income/family situation related).

I am not SMT.

I know some people are not sick because some of them are my friends.

We are a very new school and I think the SMT have recruited very badly.

Yes, SMT are very weak.

However, I work bloody hard and the SMT and the board have invited me to discuss how to sort out these motivation problems.

It's hard to sit there and tell thrm it's because they are shit; I don't want to drop my colleagues in the shit so I thought I would try and take a positive stance by suggesting something for the people who work hard and effectively. The people who care.

I asked on here as, in my experience, it's the UK teachers who stand out by far with the best work ethic and commitment. I need to try and articulate this atmosphere to my leadership and suggest how to create it. Short of sacking 90% of the staff and starting again, I don't know what to say...

OP posts:
FabulousFudge · 30/05/2015 20:10

Independent schools do not get anything like the same number of applicants for jobs as state schools. Many teachers don't consider working in that sector or won't for a variety of reasons.

roundtable · 30/05/2015 20:29

It boggles me the difference between primary and secondary planning and marking. Not that that's any use to you op.

Surely the proof is in the pudding so to speak. What are their results like?

I think UK teachers are so used to a ridiculous workload that they expect everyone else to do the same. Maybe the others have the right idea! Grin

Anyway, sounds like you have lazy/inefficient smt as they should be dealing with this 'issue', not you.

Panzee · 31/05/2015 07:31

If the staff trust you, ask them, maybe create a survey, swear anonymity and then present the results to SMT. Then it's not really you telling them how crap they are.

HagOtheNorth · 31/05/2015 08:06

'School is not in UK, it is a non-profit making school for which students pay between £0 - £30k per year (income/family situation related).'

And you didn' think that was relevant to put in your OP? Hmm
What a waste of everyone's time who posted with the understanding of how competency works in state UK schools. Confused

HagOtheNorth · 31/05/2015 08:14

'Of course, the first time I teach a topic at all levels, I create a huge amount of resources and plans for it. But once it's done, or being taught for the second time that day, its only minor adjustments to update or modify. '

Yes, it should work like that for me in primary with 30 years experience and having taught all ages 4-11, and almost every topic several times.
But it doesn't.
Every plan I submitted had to be differentiated to 5 different levels, have key questions and updated LO and SC. It had to include which group I'd be focusing on in each session and where my support staff (if any) would be.
Any links and IT had to be checked and updated. Each lesson had to be evaluated, and the next plans had to reflect that.
The primary curriculum has been tampered with, interfered with and replaced on a continuous basis, a hundred new initiatives yearly for years.

Pud2 · 31/05/2015 11:21

That sounds rediculous Hagofthenorth. Why do people insist on five levels of differentiation? Madness. You end up creating five different activities for the sake of it. Go for one activity which is aimed at the majority in the class and then adjust it for more/less able. Work can also be re-adjusted during the lesson depending on how the children get on.

padkin · 31/05/2015 12:35

My planning (Primary) has to be the same as Hags, and no chance of simplifying as planning is scrutinised and graded against criteria which sets out all those conditions, which must be met, or you're considered as RI.... It is madness and I've tried hard to fight against it, but fear of Ofsted and the ever present push for accelerated progress means SMT aren't brave enough to let it be changed.

HagOtheNorth · 31/05/2015 12:40

Pud, when I was a class teacher it was HA, MA, LA, SEN and then G&T, EAL etc.
And what padkin said.
Guess who's delighted to be a supply teacher! Smile

WishIwasanastronaut · 31/05/2015 12:59

'School is not in UK, it is a non-profit making school for which students pay between £0 - £30k per year (income/family situation related).'

And you didn' think that was relevant to put in your OP? hmm
What a waste of everyone's time who posted with the understanding of how competency works in state UK schools'

Confused

But that was the whole pointing the thread - I am looking for transferable ideas as UK teachers mostly rock! How is that wasting people's time?

OP posts:
toomuchicecream · 31/05/2015 17:53

I think the main focus has to be a clear monitoring process which is properly explained to staff so they know what's expected of them (or can't pretend they didn't know). From a UK perspective, the 4 main areas to focus monitoring on will be books/marking, lesson obs/learning walks, pupil voice and planning. In my opinion, the most important of these, in terms of telling the SLT what's actually going on in the classrooms and the quality of teaching over time, is the books.

So start with a staff meeting when everyone agrees together what a decent set of books should look like. How frequently should there be work in the books? What presentation standards do you have? What is your marking policy (if you don't have one, write one together)? Are you expecting pupils to respond to marking? How many pieces of work a week should be marked in depth and how many can be "tick and flick" acknowledged? All of those things. Come up with a list of expectations for your school which is circulated to everyone. The marking policy should be displayed in all teaching rooms in the school as well so if a TA/student/volunteer marks the books of a group they've been working with, it's easy for them to ensure their marking is in line with the school policy.

Give it a couple of weeks. Collect books in and do a book scrutiny - check them against the agreed list that everyone wrote together. Give individual feedback to those members of staff that aren't following policy. Listen to their reasons why they say they can't do it and give them strategies/advice about how to do it. Give it a couple more weeks. Do another book scrutiny and feedback to staff. Expect it to take several runs round this cycle to start to see an impact.

Once you've got books/marking starting to be done in the way that the school wants, then you can move on to other areas. Probably learning walks/lesson observations. Follow the same cycle. Agree together what makes an outstanding lesson and what, in an ideal world, should be happening in the classroom. Then SLT get out there and see if it is happening or not. How often are your SLT out and about round school? Do they drop in to deliver forgotten PE kits or messages about changes to who is picking a child up? Do the children see them on a regular basis? Or do they sit in their offices and rarely appear around the school?

Following this approach has several benefits. It means that the "slackers" can't use the excuse that they didn't know what was expected. If everyone is involved in the development of the standards expected, they should be more committed to achieving them. It allows SLT to praise staff who are doing well and draw attention to good behaviour. And it allows SLT to pull up those who aren't complying.

If you are in an international setting then I assume you've got a lot more leeway than UK state schools to decide what your school expectations are. In my opinion it matters less what you agree on than that those standards are enforced consistently and fairly. As a hard working teacher who always tries to do what is expected of me, I get really pissed off when I see colleagues slacking. So following an approach like this should help to motivate those who are doing a good job. I suspect you'll find there is another group who have lost their way a bit and doing this will help them to see what they should be doing. And then you'll have a small group who aren't prepared to change. Following this sort of monitoring cycle will help to gather evidence should the SLT choose to go down a disciplinary route.

But most of all, it's fair and above board. Everyone is treated in the same way - no favouritism. Everyone knows where they stand. You've created a format to praise those who are doing a good job - like working with the children, you draw attention to the behaviour you want to see more off.

And I agree with people above who've said that the biggest motivator for them is a Head who knows what they are doing and is interested. The HT I've been working for since Easter makes sure all the children see her round the school each day. She pops in and out of rooms for all sorts of different reasons each day. That means that when she does appear for a more formal reason, the children and I are used to her being there. I know that she knows what is going on in my classroom, she comes in to back me up when one of my difficult pupils is being challenging. She also comes in to celebrate good work by the children. I'm proud of what they achieve (most of the time....) and I like the thought that she knows the impact of my hard work. Knowing that she might appear is also a pretty big incentive to not slack off.

One of the best Heads I've ever worked for was very good at making people feel good about themselves. It was a real gift she had - the fact that she clearly thought me capable of achieving things made me want to go and achieve them! That was in a school with barely any resources, a crumbling building and no money for anything. But because of the personality of the Head it was a very happy school to work in where everyone pulled together. It sounds to me as if your SLT need to be building a similar ethos.

WishIwasanastronaut · 31/05/2015 19:50

Toomuchicecream that is the most helpful post I could have wished for. It's exactly the advice I needed. You are spot on at how we can improve things together without dropping anyone in it.
Flowers I can't thank you enough.

OP posts:
toomuchicecream · 31/05/2015 21:20

:) Happy to have helped. You may not be surprised to hear that at my previous school I was given the job of leading on improving the quality of teaching - trying to do that in a sensitive way, which motivated colleagues rather than beating them over the heads with how crap they were, was definitely an interesting, er, challenge... And is part of the reason why it's my previous school, not current one. Anyway - I have lots of documents which might help you - the marking policy we wrote together, the lists we agreed of what should be in the books, happening in classrooms etc etc. Feel free to pm me if there's anything I can send you.

BUT - if you're not SLT, it's not your job to be doing this. The SLT are being paid to lead the school and they need to step up to the mark and start leading it. Trying to carry out the monitoring process I've described in the 1/2 day a week I got out of class, whilst maintaining the highest standard in my own classroom (so that I retained credibility with my colleagues and wasn't asking them to do things I wasn't doing myself) was the hardest job I've ever done in teaching and pushed me pretty close to the edge. So be very, very, very wary of getting into something like this unless you're going to be properly supported and rewarded for doing it.

FabulousFudge · 01/06/2015 20:16

That is an amazingly helpful post!

New posts on this thread. Refresh page