Time management

[fourcorneredcircle]

Help! I took on a massive role this year (SENco) on top of my .8 Secondary HOD/teaching contract. I didn't gain any time for the role and it's swallowed up all of my PPAs and most of my lunches/breaks plus extra time before school and after. Annual Reviews and Transitional reviews have meant i've had to be covered for nearly a weeks since the beginning of November alone. I knew it would be a big role, obviously, but the job was supposed to come with added time that hasn't materialised. I should make it clear that that added time was advertised as one lowly period a week!

My role as SENco seems to be going well, helped by the fact that we have a really strong team of LSAs and an amazing HLTA and I'm really, really finding it very rewarding but I'm really struggling in my main role. All of my classes are behind where they would normally be at the point in the year as I'm finding it impossible to manage everything.

I think I'm going to have to write off this term for KS3 as a bad job and try to conduct some assessments on the half finished topics and try and pull KS4 through the last few weeks of topic at speed... With a view to starting afresh in January. Ideas to get back on track?!

If you don't have capacity to do the job then you need to talk to the headteacher. You can't short change your classes.

I did see the head today. They were kind and listened but couldn't offer any short term solutions. Asked me to focus on making it to May so that my exam classes are gone with a view to rectifying the situation come next September.

I think I need something sooner than that. Obviously, I don't want my classes to suffer - do I just keep going back until something is done before crisis point? :s

They really are taking you for a ride-Relying on your goodwill to do the job on your own unpaid time. It's not fair on you and it certainly isn't fair on your pupils. As a parent I would not be best pleased with constant cover teacher lessons.

Your school clearly hasn't thought through what a SENCo responsibility entails.

I work in a 2 form entry primary school with relatively low numbers of SEN children and our SENco has 2 days as a class teacher and three for the SENco role.

Seriously I would keep going back. Tell them that if something is not sorted ASAP that you will be looking for a post in another school.

I recently left a school working part time where I was seriously taken advantage of and found a much less stressful post elsewhere.