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/

Don't answer those texts! Don't set e president that others might forced to follow.

I would tell them right out that I am NOT working on my days 'off'! We pay a massive premium to work part time (lost wages/ pension contributions etc.). If you want to work, that's your choice - but you shouldn't be expected to!

I read this blog a few weeks ago and I agree that it is scandalous.......it is actually vindicated my decision to return ft because I do believe pt staff get shafted.

I have 2dcs aged 5 and 3 and am a FT HoD of a core subject. I'm in school from 7.30 until 4.30 unless I have a parents eve or open eve etc. I sometimes do an hour or two once my dcs are in bed but certainly not every night.

On a weekend I divide into 7 slots- Friday night, then am, PM and eve on sat and sun- my rule is that only one of them can be spent on work except at busy times like approach to exams when it can go up to two slots. I actually think having dcs had made me much more disciplined in terms of my time. I mark thoroughly but quickly and ensure my dept plans collaboratively so that resources are shared.

The real reason I can manage however is my dh. He does all school and nursery runs, school admin, food shopping and cooking and vast majority of housework.......I'm v lucky in that respect. Also have retired parents on hand for illness emergencies.

At my school pt work results in lots of split classes therefore marking and planning workload isn't actually eased......

As a HOD I have some autonomy and I imagine SLT have even more.......although obv more pressure too- so I think there is something to be said for FT teaching.

In my department pt teachers are blamed for split classes, other teachers moan about having to share. But there are other teachers in the department on promoted post timetables with fewer lessons than me, who also cause split classes because they're effectively part time but no one moans about them

I teach 4 days but my timetable is actually 0.9 of a full time teacher's, even though I'm only paid 0.8. I'm trying to challenge this at the moment. The headteacher even said to me I 'might as well be full time'

Noblegiraffe that sounds like bad planning in your school; it's perfectly possible to timetable senior teachers so that even if they're on a vastly reduced timetable, they teach their classes for all of their lessons. Much greater consistency for the pupils!

I can understand ft staff complaining if they end up having an increased workload because they're having to share split classes with pt staff- it increases the number of pupils you have contact with which has a knock on for marking, report writing, liaison with parents... even if report writing is shared half and half between teachers, to do a proper job of if there needs to be ongoing liaison between the teachers which all takes time. In my previous job I shared a couple of classes and frankly it does add to the workload- it was far easier teaching a class for all 4 of their English lessons each week than only teaching 2 of them and finding time to liaise weekly about units of work, progress etc with the pt teacher who had them on the other 2 days

My current school uses job shares for pt teachers to avoid an unfair increase in workload to ft teachers who would prefer to teach their classes all week

Classes aren't split so I can have a day off because I don't have a day off. Classes are split because numbers of periods taught by various teachers in the department don't add up to full classes.

I wasn't making a personal criticism of you noble, as I have no idea what your working arrangements are.

I was just making the point that there are ways a school can manage things so that staff and children don't end up disadvantaged by having split classes.

I'm intrigued though by the fact you have more than one member of staff in your dept that teaches so few lessons per week that it doesn't add up to a full class. In my school the greatest number of lessons any one class will have over the week is 5... and this is only for yr 11 in maths and English. Lower down the school it's maximum 4 lessons and that's only for core subject; many other subjects like MFL, history, tech have far fewer. Only our Head is non-teaching: our Deputy Heads teach miinimum 6 lessons per week, assistant heads and heads of dept a lot more. Therefore it's quite possible for every full time member of staff to teach their classes for every lesson during the week, thus providing consistency for the pupils.

It sounds as though your school either has a large number of staff who teach just one or two lessons a week (which seems pointless and just creates inconsistency for pupils and adds to other teachers' workload) or the school isn't timetabling sensibly and logically.

As I said, I previously worked in a school where a lot of classes were split and eventually enough ft staff complained because many of us were ending up with an increased workload.

our Deputy Heads teach miinimum 6 lessons per week

OK so if that Dep head has a Y11 class in your school, they teach 5 lessons of Y11 but still have 1 lesson they need to teach to fill their timetable creating a split class. If they taught KS3 then they'd have 4 full lessons with one class, but need 2 lessons with another.

I don't mean that the teachers only teach a couple of lessons, but that they teach an odd number of periods that doesn't neatly fit into full classes.

My department has, I think 14 teachers teaching a varied number of periods of maths a fortnight (we have a two week timetable). Timetabling is a bloody nightmare.

No- my school works things so that if a deputy head teaches 5 lessons of yr 11 and there is still a need for them to teach one more, they teach a 'standalone' lesson of PSHE, booster yr 11 class, or something else which plays to their strengths. If there is no other way of working things they would stay on just the 5 lessons rather than picking up 1 lesson from another class which invariably causes inconsistency and doesn't really help anyone.

Some schools have awful timetabling with split classes... as I said, in my previous job I had several classes where I saw them for only half their English lessons. One year I taught a class which was split across 3 teachers! They had one teacher for 2 lessons and then 1 lesson per week with me and 1 with another teacher. It was ridiculous timetabling which served no one but the part time teacher who was only in on certain days and had the 2 lessons with them. It would have made far more sense to have that teacher job sharing with someone else so that planning and liaison was down to 2 staff who were happy to work pt rather than using ft staff to pick up just one lesson a week each, which is often really unsatisfactory from the point of view of the teacher and can be very fragmented for pupils particularly those who struggle. It just isn't the optimum learning for pupils.

I'm glad I now work in a school where school timetabling is approached more logically and sensibly, and of course now I'm a head of dept i have control over faculty timetabling.

the part time teacher who was only in on certain days

I'm in every day. We don't have enough maths teachers to actually teach maths so it is unlikely that a teacher capable of teaching maths would be given PSHE or something else instead, split classes are better than a non-maths teacher. We also have classes that can only be taught by certain teachers (further maths, core maths). We also have teachers that teach on other sites within the MAT and sixth form choices that have to be timetabled so that students from elsewhere in the MAT can get to us.

Once again noblegiraffe, I'm not talking about you- I'm discussing the issue on a broader level. If you're in a school which is understaffed in certain subjects then yes, the timetable is going to be compromised anyway.

My issue is quite simply that given all the factors influencing timetabling (and timetabling is a nightmare of a job- not one id want on a whole school scale) it's astonishing how many schools seem to make it harder for pupils and staff by having numerous split classes. In cases where this is because of pt staff (which was the case I refereed to in previous post) then the school would do well to look at creating job shares where a member of staff wants pt hours. That way any planning and liaison isn't causing an additional workload to other staff who would happily teach the class all week. Given that one of the reasons for declining FW requests is impact on existing staff, it's in everyones interests for part timers to be able to work without compromising others' workload

I'm not talking about you

No but you're blaming split classes on part time teachers and crappy timetablers and I'm pointing out that's not always the case.

Read my posts noble. I'm blaming split classes on a number of factors which in some cases are the school agreeing to pt hours for staff without considering, or eliminating the impact on other staff and pupils. That's not the fault of the part timer (teachers don't generally write their own contracts unilaterally) it's the fault of the school for not considering the wider implications. And yes, there can be other reasons for crappy timetabling too, but in the context of this thread, it was part time hours under discussion

Fwiw I taught pt when my dc were pre school. I made a FW request to work 3 days a week, which my school agreed and appointed someone to job share. Worked brilliantly. The additional time spent planning and liaising (and this does take longer when you're sharing teaching) was absorbed by the two of us, not impacting on anyone else, we took responsibility for sharing info between us because only one of us could attend dept meetings etc
When my youngest started school a ft post came up in a nearby school. I could have continued on my jobshare but for multiple reasons (new challenge, career progression, desire to get my salary and pension back up) I applied for the ft post and got it.
I have nothing against pt working- I am planning to work pt when I take early retirement in a few years time. It won't be in teaching though because as I said way upthread, my personal view is that part time teaching is often a mugs game, because almost every teacher I know who has continued long term pt end up marking, planning or at least thinking about school on their days off. I just think it's one of those jobs where it's very hard to switch off mentally when you know the school is in session and you're not there. I used to find myself thinking about school on my days off back in the days when I job shared, but at least then I had tiny children to keep me busy so no way could I be sucked into actually doing school work, but I do think that's the reality for many of my peer group (I'm in my 50s) who have always worked pt and who now like me have grown up kids. I hear them talking about planning and marking on their days off and I am truly glad I didn't fall into that pattern because teaching is a tough enough gig without working full time hours for part time pay.

But that's my personal opinion- if someone is happy working pt (as indeed I was with tiny children) then that's fine, as long as it doesn't impact unfavourably on other staff