Awful timetable for next year

[LockedOutOfMN]

Friday is last day of term. HOD away on a course yesterday and today. No sight of timetable despite frequent requests. Managed to see it from the timetabling manager today. It's not good and is clearly why HOD has been stalling.

We are a department of 9, teaching a core subject. One colleague teaches 12 lessons a week of another subject (and 16 of our subject) and has been given only y7 and y8 classes. HOD has all the best classes. This will be my 6th year and I've never seen timetabling like it before in our department.

What to do?

How many lessons is that out of per week? Is it 35 or 40?
Has something major changed that would make next year's timetable so different?
In my school there's definitely a big difference between departments in terms of how classes are allocated. I'm HOD and I allocate the most difficult classes to myself or the SLT member in the department. Priority for not having to change rooms always goes to the least experienced member of staff. I share the A Level with an NQT and we split the GCSE classes between us all. Other departments are similar and the ones that set share out top and bottom sets fairly. In some departments though only the most senior and longest serving staff get to teach A Level and take the GCSE top sets. The newest staff get all the KS3 bottom sets and tricky year 9s.

There could be something going on that you don't know about though. I once had someone get very angry at me for "taking away" their A Level. I hadn't, the decision had been taken well above my pay grade and for good reasons.

What is so terrible?
Reasonable that the person who straddles two depts has the lower years.
What is your gripe?

One of the reasons I left my last school is that I knew I would never get a top set KS4 class as long as I was there, as the HOD and 2nd in dept took them all every bloody year.

I liked KS3, I don't even mind bottom sets, but a bit of variety would have been nice! It's terrible management IMO. At my first school the HOD often took on the most difficult classes herself and made sure the other classes were distributed fairly.

I wish I'd said something about it when I left.

Having been way too involved in timetabling this year I would agree with MrsGuy That colleague teaches cross department.

My HOD thinks it's a tradition to give NQTs all the shit classes. We have a wonderful working atmosphere in our department not
IMHO fair timetabling is a form of art.

It's out of 35. The HOD has all the best classes for herself. She has the worst A Level and GCSE results in the department of 9 people for 3 out of 4 years I've been at the school (I've been there 5 years so seen 4 sets of public exam. results so far). We all teach mixed ability sets.

Every other year, we have had some discussions and get to state a few preferences even if they don't all end up being possible. However, this year has all been hush hush and now we have finally had a glance of the timetables it just leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. HOD is not around to answer our questions either.

Part of the malaise of a poorly run school.
We got ours today and everyone has a share of the top and bottom sets.
I like KS3 so have more of those, but will take on extra marking to help out those with exam classes as is needed. Morale is generally good, as people see that no-one hogs the best for themselves.

I've had 2 HODs that had all the best classes as well. One would have top set in Year 7 and then keep them all the way through "for continuity". Every year. They would have a token middle set and grumble about how hard they were and normally they wouldn't "fit" on their timetable the next year.

It's pathetic it really is.

to op, are you in conflict with any member of slt? I could be well off but perhaps they gave you a bad timetable so that you'd go... again not sure but it happens

I don't think so, Shane. Either they like me or are amiably ambivalent. My HoD is not liked by SLT, though.

I'm moving schools this year and have been given all bottom sets at the new school. It's fine. I quite like teaching them, but it makes me worry about the quality of my colleagues. I'm wondering if none of the rest of them can teach low ability?

I've just gone part time and so have been given all the bottom sets as they need to be split classes. I'm teaching 14 out of 18. (28 period full week).

ok and who makes out the timetables? if they don't like your hod could they be doing this to you to get at the hod or why did you mention that-do you think there's a link??

The HOD makes the timetables. I think she is just being selfish / lazy and taking the easiest options for herself. It's just odd because in previous years she's always consulted us.