How do I move past this?

[Utterlypdoff]

Small primary, for the last term 3 members of staff have been off sick.

Meanwhile the rest of us who show up every day have been through hell, including a terrible Ofsted 6 weeks ago. For two of the staff it is part of an ongoing pattern; challenged about performance = off with stress. They have done this for the past few years at our school and it happened in their previous workplaces (small community.) The other is more likely to be genuine.

I know I will be considered unreasonable and lacking in compassion etc, but I am really angry, they left the rest of us to pick up all the shit and they will swan back in September expecting a warm welcome.

Any tips on how I can act professionally and move past this. I have lost almost all respect for them.

You get through it by finding some compassion for those not able to cope with stress as well as you.

That's the public sector life!

Purple

Mmmmm not sure I can agree. I think op you have to pretend for an easier life for yourself.

You could have gone off sick too.

I know this is what I should do but it is very hard. We have had the term from hell and they have been doing their hobbies/ on holiday. I have had to hide two of them on social media. Teaching is a stressful job for all of us not just them (if the stress is even genuine!)

I think pretending and avoiding them as much as possible without being rude is the only way forward.

Op is dealing with the stress, and she’s supposed to have compassion for the ones who aren’t dealing with it and have chosen to have a fit of the vapours and stay home instead??
Get away.

In teaching, being challenged about performance is very stressful. Their career is at risk and that is very scary. Have these 2 staff been given the right support and opportunities to do courses etc,? If not then I'd say the school is partly at fault.

If their teaching is that bad then surely they've done you a favour not being there for Ofsted?

Think if it was you on their shoes, how would you be feeling?

What stage are they at in their teaching career ?

Perhaps it's time for you to move on? It sounds a toxic atmosphere if this underperformance isn't being tackled.
@PurpleDaisies
Least helpful reply ever.

You will feel less angry after the summer but I agree with pp who suggests maybe moving on to a different workplace

You just need to focus on your work and what you're doing and stop concerning yourself with what other people are doing. It's not necessarily right that this happens leaving you all to pick up the slack but equally you'll end up stressing yourself over it which is a bit self defeating. DH has been so stressed over who should be doing what, what process hasn't been followed etc that now he's ended up with a stress related illness.

I had a similar situation but we just had to muddle on and realise that anger towards this person was not getting us anywhere and took energy away from other parts of our lives. We knew in no uncertain terms this person wasn't off with stress, it was a anger due to not being allowed to do something they wanted to do. We had months of covering for this person as well as having to do our own work. The person left by compromise agreement eventually and emailed us to apologise for being away and leaving us in the lurch. I sent a nice reply back but was thinking 'cheeky fucker' in my head when I pressed send.

I’ve started to think that small schools are a bad idea because of things like this. The people who are left behind are put under huge amounts of pressure. I can absolutely see where you are coming from.

I’m a supply teacher and have been for four years now. I was doing my CV a few weeks ago and was astonished to realise that every single long term cover role I had done was covering for stress.

There’s nothing to be envious of. They will end up dismissed or resigning before dismissal.

‘You get through it by finding some compassion for those not able to cope with stress as well as you.’

Bullshit. I feel for you op. If I’m off sick, whether it’s mental ie stress related or physical, then I’m in bed. If Im not well enough to work then I’m not well enough to do my hobbies, housework or anything other than a quickly popping to the local shop for essentials.
I can’t stand people who think I cope better with stress than them - no, I just get on with it unless I’m too sick to get out of bed.
I would feel resentment too and make my feelings clear.

Rubbish. Work related stress does not mean bed rest. Being out and about is part of recovery. No wonder the op’s colleagues are feeling stressed if that’s the attitude they have to deal with.

There is stress that grinds you down and then stress that leaves you crying on the floor unable to pick yourself up and go into work. No idea which your colleagues have! But for people really at breaking point the knowledge that their colleagues are judging them will not help.

Thank you to the posters that have understood my point of view. I think I definitely feel less angry after the summer but pp are right it is not good to work where underperformance isn't tackled.

Management have been weak, it has felt toxic over the last 18months as things have not been dealt with, but they are getting stronger and I feel things will come to a head in September (dismissal or resignation as a pp said). Someone else said it was better they weren't there for ofsted and that is a very good point too, the supply we had in were far better and more effective from what I could see.

I have been thinking of moving on to a bigger 2 or 3 form entry school and the stress of the last term has really confirmed that for me. However, now we are in special measures I feel it might be very disloyal to the school and my colleagues who have stuck it out and supported each other to leave. Maybe one more year and see how it goes.

I have to see one of the staff tomorrow in a social context, I wont be able to avoid talking to her and I'm dreading it. Hopefully she won't ask how I am because I'm worried all I will be able to say is 'very stressed and exhausted actually!'

I find it easiest to focus on my classes and my own practice in these situations. Smile and wave, head down, keep doing your own thing well. Block block block on social media (as you have done) and do not engage.

It is really hard Utterly, I can empathise as I’ve also had colleagues off for an extended time.

...I’d actually typed a much longer reply but it would be outing, so I’ll just repeat the nod and smile advice above.

I think you’d be well within your rights to say how exhausted and stressed you are Utterly. It’s true and you are not assigning blame for that. Hope it’s not too anger-inducing when you see her.

@Utterlypdoff
Try and turn this situation into a career positive. You've survived a horrific inspection, worked with increasingly difficult challenges and how you will experience what it's like to be in (and come out) of special measures. This will all be great topics to spin to your advantage on your cv or in interviews.

You've survived this far and you will carry on as teachers are super heroes!

I understand your frustration.

I've seen people who've had performance issues be horrendously bullied and their career was on the line at an unfair stage, support wasn't support and they went off sick with stress, left, new school and are some thriving. It was a toxic workplace.

I have also worked with people who displayed a similar pattern: come to work, get told they need to improve, go off on sick, come back, repeat, or go off on sick, compromise agreement as was, new school, same pattern, always someone else's fault, always poor management or horrible team, never that they need to improve. Those people have been supported, sometimes would ignore the most simple expectations and it's a drain on everyone else who has to pick up the slack in terms of planning and monitoring the class. Not knowing if they'll be in one week or next, then off for 6 weeks, back for a week and then off again means school can't get 1 long term supply teacher and so the children suffer.

I think you've just got to bite your tongue at the social occasion.

"In teaching, being challenged about performance is very stressful."

This drives me mad, the idea that it's only teachers who have to deal with this. Teachers should be challenged on performance, heads who don't are letting everyone down. Trying to pretend that poor teachers don;t exist doesn't help anyone.

Teaching is a difficult and stressful job, it's not for everyone. However, so are very many other jobs.

I teach now, after 25 years in a commercial environment which was far more pressurised, far more thankless, paid much the same only you had to work 46 weeks a year for the salary, performance issues could mean you were gone in less than three months, regardless of how good your previous record was and all without the luxury of a rolling year's paid sick leave. Your were under an equivalent scrutiny to an OFSTED every single day.

Yes, teaching is stressful but lots of teachers would have a shock if they ever had a job on an equivalent salary elsewhere (INVHO )

munemema
I agree.

I have a lot of time for people in teaching who have had to deal with made up claims of competency (usually something like 'you're on informal capability because we feel your lessons lack buzz and you could use 3 more colours in your marking') and who get bullied out due to age or face not fitting.

I have less time for people who ignore lots of genuine help and guidance and support
only to go off sick for unspecified lengths of time, and then come back and go off etc. In once situation I'm aware of I could predict when they'd go off sick for a week or so because it would be learning walk week (and they'd not be teaching the right topics) or moderation/ book check week (and their books would show how little teaching of the correct topic was done). HOD/SLT would need to have a word and colleague would be off for a week.