Where do I stand with Parents' Evenings?

[Thisreallyisafarce]

I am a part-time teacher on 0.6. My school published Parents' Evening dates at the start of the year, four in total for my classes, all on days when I work. I was happy to attend all of them.

The school has now doubled the number of Parents' Evenings, so there are two per year group. Again, these are all on the same day of the week, so, in terms of my working days, I would be expected to attend.

Each time there is a Parents' Evening, DH has to take a day off work to have DD, as the distance from home is such that I wouldn't have time to take her home from childcare and then get back to school for the Parents' Evening.

I have therefore said to my line manager that I would like to discuss attending these Parents' Evenings in proportion with my salaried time (0.6).

Where do I stand?

Thanks if anybody has advice.

TheLuckyMrsPine
If they fell on OP's days off then the guidance is clear and she cannot be made to work. Many do and get overtime for it or time off from other meetings as part of a two way good will set up.

The issue I believe is that all parents' evenings fall on her working days which, unless she avoids being hit for other directed time meetings, might take her over directed time.

I work 0.4 but I know that parents eve is expected on top of that, whatever hours I work. However, my school has 1 in autumn and 1 in spring. I would definitely look for union advice or go through contract with a fine tooth comb if it was 8 evenings!

OP I am 0.6 too. I am in on a day when there is PE and as such have to attend as it is directed time. If you are not in on that day you don't go in as directed time cannot be set on days off. I spoke to my union about this recently.

You take your .6 off directed time when missing meetings etc.

I think the first thing you need to do is ask to see the school’s directed time breakdown (they are supposed to have one, if not then your union should be on to them). Then you can figure out if these new parents evenings fall within it or not.

If they don’t, then they should be a non-starter for all teachers.

If they do, then there’s still a case against them as union advice is to only attend one PE per year group per year, and they were announced after the start of the year.

You should also sit down with your HOD and work out your directed time requirements.

When I worked in a secondary all parents evenings were compulsory but time was given back from insets and a couple of days off. HT identified the importance of parent/teacher link. What I'm saying is, you need to clarify your contract and the current president set by other part time staff.

Teachers are usually paid a set annual salary and that isn't based on hours 9-3, it's inclusive of prep time and parents evenings etc over 12 months.

I always wondered if you looked at a full time teacher if their actual hours would look like 9-5.30 daily with 4weeks annual leave plus bank holidays. So, standard job hours on an above average wage. There's just an expectation you'll get 12 weeks holiday which of course no teacher gets.

I go off on a tangent but comments like "only in teaching would you be expected to work overtime unpaid." Haha brilliant, try the competitive world of journalism. So much unpaid work that you have to do or you're next for redundancy. I'm sure many other jobs expected above and beyond too but teachers seem to think everyone else seams off home on time to a pile of gold.

Anyway, check your contract and ask for clarification. Union will be able to advise too far better than mn.

Not entirely relevant to this discussion but it is not ‘only in teaching’ that parents have to seek out child minders and babysitters. You do come across as a bit entitled if you think that teachers are such a special category that they are the only people in the world who have to find childcare - lots of us have to do it.

Not the issue. She's part time being asked to take on a full time commitment.

I know you don't want to talk about childcare splitting. But I don't see why your husband can't take a half day each time, rather than a full day. Then he would still take the four days a year that you are both happy with. It sounds as though he is being inflexible.

Op - I'm sorry the teacher-bashers have turned up to comment on what is clearly a very specific issue to part-time teachers posted in staffroom.

only - I work part time hours, on occasions I have to do extra hours at busy times ... I don't get overtime or TOIL. It is not just teachers who this applies to.

My point is not whether it is right or wrong, but I do think teachers tend to think they are something of a 'special category' of employees. and that these expectations don't apply to anyone else.

Cuckoo - is no one else allowed into the staffroom discussions then? . I'll get my coat.

Of course you're allowed to post ragwort

You can post, rag but understand that your comment about extra hours at busy times is entirely irrelevant here.

I think the point rag is that people turning up discussions about teacher contracts to do nothing more than say 'in a totally different line of work...' either somewhat miss the point of the thread or are being deliberately awkward.

I think Rag, me and others are taking exception to the OP's notion that only in teaching is unpaid overtime expected 'only in teaching!!' - errr, no, actually. That is the norm in a lot of professions and industries, and if it means paying for additional childcare, so be it.

I'm not bashing teachers but equally this does not reflect particularly well on teachers. And the thread appeared in Active convos and like many I didn't observe the topic before posting. And it's worth noting that schools (not teachers) rarely take into account what the working world is like for the majority of parents.

Parents evenings aren’t overtime. They are scheduled time. It’s not a ‘busy period’.

It’s like a shift worker being told that they are going to work 5 extra shifts on top of what they’d been put on rota for and not be paid for them. Oh I’m sure in the ‘real world’ that shift worker would simply turn up for those shifts without question

*Parents evenings aren’t overtime. They are scheduled time. It’s not a ‘busy period’.

It’s like a shift worker being told that they are going to work 5 extra shifts on top of what they’d been put on rota for and not be paid for them. Oh I’m sure in the ‘real world’ that shift worker would simply turn up for those shifts without question*

This ^

Could somebody also please elaborate as to how teachers are presenting badly on this thread?

The OP was quite rude to siakcaci, I thought. Quite snide. She also hasn't explained clearly why her dh has to take the whole day off school every time, or why she can't negotiate a later start to her parents' evening to accommodate her childcare issues, particularly if there are eight of them (surely not every parent will be coming in for each? I have three dc and just trying to imagine being expected to attend eight parents' evenings for each of them...).

And tbh am also rather with Ragwort and RiverTam about unpaid overtime in other professions.

Sorry for third person, OP - just answering the post above.

Off work, not off school.

I can't give you any contract advice, but I suspect I'm not the only person reading this and breathing a sigh of relief that you're not my child's teacher. Work to rule, anyone?

onlyonmumnet
In a nutshell it comes down to 'teacher wants to check they are meeting their contractual obligations but isn't getting taken for a ride by SLT changing the directed time calendar after the start of the year, but teacher shouldn't query that because someone else in another line of work does overtime when it's busy'.

Standard MN rush to the bottom which we see on lots of jobs threads. (E.g. someone queries their shifts and medical appointments and someone else says yeah but my dad's cousin's best friend was told she wasn't allowed to have life saving surgery and her manager turned up at A&E and told her to get off the trolley and get her arse into work otherwise she'd be fired, really OP you don't know hardship. Stop complaining when some people are on zero hours contracts and have to schedule their wee breaks)

Parents evenings won't be eight per child. Probably two per year but the op teaches more than one year.
Loving the sighs of relief. You do realise some kids don't have proper subject specialists teaching them in year 11 because there aren't enough? If we don't protect teachers it'll get even worse. Supply teachers don't do parents evenings either.

Is there a reason why dh couldn’t finish work at, say 4pm: I’m guessing childcare closes at 5/5.30/6pm so there’s plenty of time even if he has to go a bit out of his way?

GeorgeTheHippo

You are making some assumptions there, none of them correct. If my DH needs to take the time off he will. The point is that he shouldn't need to.

Looneytune253

One more time for the hard of hearing: it isn't an option for him to take a partial day. The reasons aren't relevant. It just isn't.

triwarrior

Oh I think my school would fall apart if anyone worked to rule. This isn't that.