Compulsory seating plan

[DorothyL]

Is it reasonable to expect teachers to have a seating plan for every class that includes data such as target grades, SEN etc - and in case the class is taught in three lessons in three different rooms to have three separate seating plans?

Acceptable to whom? In my opinion teachers are professionals who should only be accountable by progress and results, not by how they achieve these. However, schools have policies and, if you are an employee, you have to follow them, persuade the SLT to give you an exception or leave.

We do ask staff to produce these so that if someone else has to teach their class they can best meet the needs of the class. If it was being done for no reason I would be frustrated but otherwise it seems reasonable?

I would say:

I don’t have a seating plan. We move the tables regularly, for different activities, and I let the kids choose their seats/partners/groups as often as I tell them where to sit/who to work with.

I will make a class list with that info on (although actually, I think someone should give you one as a class teacher) but I will not put it on a seating plan as I’d be re-writing it every lesson.

What is the stated purpose of this policy?

Unless you give teachers time for extra work, something will suffer. It will either be the planning, mood and motivation inthe lesson or marking. Or, worst of all, the teacher’s motivation to continue in the profession.

Teaching is all about compromise. Who better than the classroom teacher to decide on the priorities of the class that they teach?

Every school I worked at wanted one. In a folder, on a shelf, gathering dust.

The purpose is to enable potential
cover staff to have the right information, and to give observers of the lesson the chance to see how you differentiate etc

We have to do this, I have a group that I teach in 5 different rooms. But we use a website that school pays for that has all the data on already, so it's not a big job.

Can't you just have three seating plans just with the names on and then a class list next to it with the data on? Then any visitors to your classroom can look at it themselves.

Many of the requests made have a logic too them. The problem with a vocational role like teaching is in wanting to do your best there just aren't the hours in the week to do every good new idea.

DH is a teacher and I have persueded him over the years to use the method I used with staff in Engineering to prioritise all tasks. Have a fairly fluid to do list and put things on it in order of priority. Decide how many hours a week (roughly) you are able to give to your role. Work those hours, on your priorities. Keep a working log so you can see if certain tasks are eating too much time and you may be able to pull in/ request support from elsewhere if you can show this.

If management give you grief because three different seating plans aren't available for one group, get out your priority list and ask where they'd like this task to go on the list, what gets bumped down into not plausible on a 45/50+ hour week

All sorts of wonderful nice to have initiatives get introduced. My mum was a primary teacher in the days of classes of 35 without a TA. Lesson observations were introduced. Just one sentance, per activity, per child. So thirty five books to open and coment in. It maybe was a 30 minute session whilst supervising and teaching 35 children.

A recent one I've come across is constructive marking where you need to ask at least one constructive question about the work when marking books. A nice idea and I can see the benefit. Books should all be marked weekly. So thats a good few hours work. Fine but what moves to put that on the priority list.

Yes. But we use class charts to make ours so it’s easy.

Yes.

Often a poly pocket with the plan visible.

SEN or other issues - the plan has that desk in a colour, hidden from, sight is a key to the colours used.

As a supply teacher plans are invaluable. I tell the kids to sit in their usual places, look where the first named on the register is and call their name. As I am supply the child is not in their usual place, they get a sanction and I tell them all to move if they don't want a sanction.

In FE you often have to have a 'class profile' as well.

Ask your school to get MINT class, you can do your seating plans electronically in no time at all and it links to Sims data, and you can set different seating plans for the same class with different room layouts. Brilliant.

www.mintclass.com

If the observer is any good they do not need this. I think the school admin team could provide all this data on class lists. The teacher could them simply provide a class list or register and the observer can check if they need to. It sounds like another make work idea.

Yes totally reasonable.

Reasonable to have a seating plan because having a seating strategy allows for much easier differentiation and classroom management.

If I'm absent and someone is covering then it's clear who sits where. Students know all cover staff have them available.

I have seating plans and review them regularly anyway so it's no hardship to print them out to support cover colleagues.

Do you not routinely have a seating plan for your classes?

I use Idoceo for my seating plans, it links to my markbook so its easy to overlay with data like PP, so long as it’s in my markbook. I export it from SIMs. I think you need an electronic solution.