Part-time teaching: the hidden workload scandal

[noblegiraffe]

A really interesting blog here that I'd not really considered before, despite being a part time teacher (just over 0.6)

We see all the figures about how half of teachers leave within 5 years (the lesser figure quoted is those who start teaching and doesn't include those who drop out of training, I think), but nothing is ever mentioned about the huge numbers of teachers who have to go part time just to keep their heads above water.

I went part time after my first maternity leave. My second child will be starting school next year and people have started asking whether I'll be going back full time. The honest answer is that I can't imagine ever going back full time. And the kicker is that my school doesn't allow part timers to have TLRs which means that my career will effectively stall at the top of the upper pay scale.

debrakidd.wordpress.com/2016/10/28/the-hidden-workload-scandal/

Feeling your pain AtMy

Thank you

0.7 up from 0.5 and really resenting the workload for the first time since I went part time. There are lots of contributing factors to do with DH being away and starting a new job but I am working my days off and every bloody evening after the kids are in bed. Now they are telling me they want me to be the SKITT (sp?) coordinator and I missed my chance to say 'dear god no I am barely hanging on as it is. ' essentially because I am a wimp/ only on a maternity cover and want to be useful in case there is work going next year.

SCITT School Centred Initial Teacher Training?

Look carefully into the workload if you are coordinating training other teachers...

Yup- that's it. It is definitely a workload pain in the hoop , plus I've not done it before so a steep learning curve, and there's no time or money that goes with it. I can see why they are trying to send it my way as in one of the depts I'm attached to I am the only one who is not also SMT or having a major health crisis. However I've only been there 6 weeks and I'm working across two depts in two different buildings and 7 different rooms so , you know , it's slightly fraught as it is. The school appear to have said yes to the trainees without having anything in place. I should have just said a flat no at the start instead of fudging. Own fault really.

I would be wanting a TLR at least for that. (Although wanting and getting are two different things ).

It all seems very vague and having been asked to do it and me being having been very lukewarm about it it's all gone quiet. I suspect they are going to suddenly go - by the way cathpot - the students turn up tomorrow. Last time I asked my (genuinely very lovely ) HOD she said she didn't know what the plan was. I will put my big girl pants on and go and sort it out.

Crikey that's a massive job. I don't have experience of SCITT but given the amount of work a PGCE student generates in terms of organising timetables, observations, paperwork and so on, I can only imagine it's more when it's all in-house. And if you're part time, who will cover the times when you're not in?

TBH I think it's scandalous- I see them taking home part time salaries, their pensions are severely depleted (and let's face it, the pension should be one of the better points of teaching) and they've kissed goodbye to career progression. YET they invariably spend their days off doing prep and marking!

Not sure why other people's choices bother you so much. I choose to work 0.6 because I value time more than I value the extra money. I feel priviliged to have this balance, not deprived.

Oh, and I've had TLRs (previously management points) and promotions whilst part time. I'm fairly certain a "policy" of not allowing PT staff promotion could be challenged - speak to your union (or apply to another school).
Although if you aren't getting in until 8.30 and then leaving almost straight after the pupils leave, you aren't doing yourself any favours. As a manager, I wouldn't be impressed with a teacher that did that, tbh.

As a manager, I wouldn't be impressed with a teacher that did that, tbh.

As a manager you could fuck right off though, surely? If it's not directed time then teachers don't have to be in school. If they're doing the work at home, then what you're actually bothered about is presenteeism.

1 some people aren't getting the time EVEN THOUGH they are part time

1 who are you to dictate when they are on the premises (aside of directed hours). As long as the job is done, does it matter where it was done? Some peop,e are far more productive working in a place where there are fewer distractions. Maybe they rush home to see their OWN children and then work for several hours after bedtime?

Obviously that should be

1

2...

No, what I would be bothered about is how / when they are meeting with colleagues about things that need to be discussed - support staff, SENCo, Inclusion Managers, Pastoral Care staff, Parent Liaison folk, Behaviour mentors, etc., - all schools / areas have different roles. Then Yr group colleagues or other staff to do with your subject area etc.

Official meetings should be directed time.

Other stuff I deal with mainly by email. If I really need a face to face I catch someone at break or lunchtime, or in one of my unpaid 'frees' which are trapped time in between paid-for lessons.

Many of those staff will have left at the same time as the children! Anyone who isn't a teacher often leaves straight away. Other teachers often run clubs - should we all sit around until the club has finished in case someone wants to speak to them?

As for all of the other stuff, all it takes is a bit if communication. It's not hard to arrange a meeting/ send an email or meet during the day.

Get off your high horse and remember that most teachers don't shirk their work or responsibility. You are looking for problems when almost always there is an easy way around it.

Exactly @noblegiraffe

Cathpot before any of it starts make it clear you need blocks of time to work on it - I suspect time is easier to find than money - and get cover so you can work uninterrupted on their timetables etc. If it's not forthcoming explain you don't have the capacity to take on this role at the moment and you wish the new person luck.

I went PT (0.6) about a year ago after the birth of DC2.

I was FT for a lot of years beforehand including after the birth of DC1. I found FT incredibly tough and had feelings of guilt when I would spend hours on a weekend marking, planning, assessing and resource finding/making rather than spend time with DC1.

PT was a difficult decision for me because I love my job even in times of stress. But my own DCs HAD to come first. I actually calculated that I was spending more time with 'other people's kids' than my own and I certainly didn't bring my DCs into the world with the intention of sending them to a CM for 10-11 hours a day and then spending an hour a night Monday to Friday with them and then palming them off on DH for 2-5 hours at a time on a weekend! Now that DC1 has started school, I am not even sure I would ever be able to have assisted in the home-reader, spellings and homework.

I have to say though, PT is much easier and IS less on the stress and workload - at least for me. It is rare for me to work from home. I ensure I do only the absolute necessities at school, delegate a lot and it does mean on my 3 days I am at school longer than I would have been FT (about 30 - 45 minutes later) BUT if it means my weekends are free and my evenings clear to tend to wailing kids then this is the life for me.

I cannot envisage ever going back FT. I love my life as it is. Now that I have my weekends and evenings back, why the hell would I give it all up?

pain in the hoop :o I haven't heard that expression donkey's years, Cathpot

Thanks.

Did you hand in your notice, Wasninah? What are your plans for the future?

I went from FT to 0.6 this year. It hasn't made a massive impact on the amount of hours I do. I've only got one class less than last year (split classes). Am fairly new to teaching so I don't have all of my lessons and resources in place yet. I actually have more students this year than I had last year, so actually an increase in marking and report-writing.

I can't see a way to make it work (dcs currently in KS1 and KS2).

I have 2 part time colleagues who I think must work more hours than I do even though I am ft. I have always been quite strict on the work life balance because dd1 was quite small when I went into teaching and I was a single parent at the time.

I wouldn't do as much as they do for their classes because i really, really don't have time to do it. But I think if I "only" worked 3 days I would fill the other 2 days with work. I am lucky in that I now have a dh and teen dd1, who do the lions share of the housework (dd gets paid for her part in that), and an amazing cm who can do earlier mornings or later evenings if I need them occasionally. That allows me to do a fair amount of my marking/planning at school. I also have a school that is realistic about the amount of paperwork that is reasonable to expect teachers to do, so we are trusted to plan and teach without ott paperwork.

I work FT, but have negotiated a contract where I plan, teach, mark my own classes, and don't have a tutor group or clubs, so the workload is manageable, work 8-4 and nothing needs to be done at home. Puzzles me why more people don't negotiate their contract, rather than just assuming they have to accept what is offered.

Mrsguy
2 things really
How on earth do you do all your planning and marking within 8-4 ? Unless you get lots of frees
And who is going to do the tutor group stuff if you so nobly refuse to do it?

I get 7 frees a fortnight, have a lot of six period days, often with stuff at lunchtime etc and reckon i am pretty speedy at marking, and we have a hugely collabrative planning system in our department but i really could not do all that with the hours you mention.

I work 0.6 and have done since I went back after first maternity leave (7 yrs ago) Today I was at a playgroup with youngest DC but answered texts and emails from work!!!! Have even had my HOD say to me "it's alright for you - you have 2 extra days to get your work done"
Clearly she expects me to work on my days off... rather than look after my DCs which is what they're actually for!!

On another thread, it was established that MrsGuy is either supply or works in a private school... (I can't remember which!)