Gained Time

[Mumof118]

Our SLT want us all to staff the internal exclusion room using gained time.

I am swamped with work that needs to be done by the holiday and I don’t feel that this is the most effective use of my time, when I have resources to prepare etc

I have checked with the union, who agree that staffing IE is not an agreed activity. However, obviously ‘my union’ is not the best sentence starter in this sort of situation.

What would you do or say?

Just playing devil’s advocate here, but who would normally be on the timetable to supervise IE? Is it perceived as unfair (yes, I know life’s not “fair”) that teachers are benefiting from gained time but the usual supervising staff aren’t? Or are the school trying to save money somehow?

There is a specific behaviour team and SLT that usually man the exclusion room.

They are struggling with behaviour at the moment, so have asked for support and used staff gained time.

Any year 11 lessons have been used…if you taught year 11 four times in one day, then you are now in the behaviour room for four lessons that day.

Those normally staffing the exclusion/behaviour room, do not have planning for next year to do.

You are lucky to get gained time. Primary colleagues who change year group have a mountain of planning and resources to make for next year. We have no gained time at all. Just our usual weekly 2.5 hours PPA, everything has to be done in our own time. Teacher workload is ridiculous. I hate changing year group for this reason.

Well that’s the point . It’s being taken away for something that is not an appropriate use of our time and takes away from the planning time we have. We have a new curriculum to prepare. That does not look like it’s going to get done.

But surely, if there’s one behaviour room, that’s one cover, and there’d be at least 4 teachers who would have been teaching that period available to help? So why would a teacher be losing 4 in one day? This sounds really badly organised.

They have about ten staff involved per period. They just want extra bodies in the room.

I don’t mind helping out for a few hours, but I also need time to focus on my planning for next year, if it’s to get done. I think I’ll just be honest.

Email SLT link and ask what they want you to prioritise, the behaviour room or the gained time work. Be clear the gained time planning won't be done at another time and accept that you'll have worse planning. Don't bat yourself up, your leadership team made that decision, not you.

Depends on where you work? A MAT? Chances are slim.

I have lost 6 hours of gained time over the last 2 days and my planning that needed doing will now drag into the holidays. That's because I have been put on tutor time covering, but the all-day activities we've been doing those days meant I had a tutor group all day rather than the 20min. Add onto this more cover elsewhere, induction days etc. and I lost the vast majority of my gained time.

But because I work in a MAT that doesn't follow the burgundy book they can direct me to do whatever they want, basically. Any other work gets done in my own time. Definitely check what you can be directed to do.