SLEs

[ILikeBeansWithKetchup]

Hello all. I am wondering whether anyone on here is a secondary SLE. We are due to become a teaching school and my head is keen , after years of resistance, to appoint SLEs. In common with many heads, I think he has his own reasons. However, what I want to know is : what are your experiences of being an SLE? Is it thankless? How do you manage your hours? What kinds of things do you do? I am an English teacher, but not really all that interested in the pedagogy of English. I am worried he is just going to post me off to a failing school one day a week and leave me to it. And increase my teaching hours at my current school .

I'm an SLE. It means pretty much sod all if I'm honest. No money, no time, but after the initial period where I was sent to two other schools to work with teachers (for which the school got money but I did not), it's involved nothing at all. I, along with the other SLEs in school, are on a teaching & learning committee and we each coach/mentor internally when needed but that's it. I struggle to see the point of it, but I think it's inconsistent from school to school. My Dsis is a primary teacher and they had an SLE in three days per week on a massive fee to help them when they were teetering on the brink of special measures. I see it as a CV positive.

Interesting thanks. My head sees everything as CV positive and yet all his silly job titles for me have got me nowhere as the last place he will put me is SLT (sigh. Long story)

What you say about your role chimes with what I suspect. My school isn't really an ideas place, so I'll be stuck in a corner planning things that may never happen.

Head is an NLE - for this he goes on lots of jollys. But , of course, he doesn't teach so he can!

It is my choice whether I apply - I probably won't unless anyone convinces me otherwise.

He definitely thinks he can put me in a UTC to teach actual lessons. Umm. No thanks.

I think the problem with it is that it's not a centralised thing. I applied via the academy trust I work for but have never seen any rules/conditions - it just seems to be something they make up as they go along. Even when I was going out to other schools it was up to us what we charged!

Yes , I do think that is the issue! Clearly it is a way of saving money really... I wonder whatever happened to the Excellent Teacher scheme?

Obviously if I got posted to a UTC one day a week, I am guessing my head will see that as a kind of secondment and assume they''ll pay that part of my salary. In common with most school with large sixth forms we are up shit creek financially.

If the school is going to become a teaching school then this will open up opportunities to apply for bids/grants to support other schools. This will involve SLE's going in to give support in various subjects, if you are a core subject ie maths and English in secondary then this will offer more opportunity for you to be deployed.

It can be hard for SLEs to be deployed in the current financial climate as schools do not seem to have the money to pay for support. The other side of the coin is what the schools who need support identify as their needs very often is not actually what is needed - this is usually why they need the support the most.

Thanks onion - I am an English teacher but never been a SL or HOF; I was a HOY until last year. I'd feel a bit of a fraud offering support in English leadership!

We can already apply for bids to support other schools a National Support School , but I think we will do more of that soon, yes.

My head gets excited by anything like bids etc. I can't see the appeal, personally. The current role he has given me involves endless emails and admin . It is dull dull dull.

Yes it is dull and most of the time it seems like your are sending loads of emails that result in nothing.

SLE deployment is not hugely about leadership but more looking at their schemes of work, how they are doing assessment and to improve these. I do not teach so perhaps I am getting the two mixed up.

Your head as an NLE would be looking at whole school leadership, rewriting of the School Development Plans and School Improvement Plans - identifying the actual need rather than perceived and then deploying staff to assist with the support. If done well can be profitable to the school. Also, sometimes the school that does need the support can be resistant to help which makes it more difficult.

I think most Heads get excited about bids, to be honest I am just so surprised that there is not a huge media outcry with the cuts to education. I have no idea how some schools are managing but that is a completely different thread .......

Education Cuts are awful. The media seems to fascinated by Trump to look closer to home at what really affects us all, sadly. Easy for the government to smuggle anything through at the moment because it will all seem totally reasonable and sane by contrast!!