Teachers needs

[Cityandmakeup]

Does anyone else as a teacher leave INSET on first day in Sept. throughly overwhelmed and exhausted, ironically from being told for 5 hours how to NOT overwhelm, stress, but how to meet the needs to students. It worries me that no thought it out into staffs capacity to absorb and retain so much information over a short time, then the expectation that you will remember the Sen needs of 50, Medical needs of another 50 plus a hundred other things. Whilst telling us to be mindful that people can only focus for so long before switching off :(

I've come home today and fallen asleep on the sofa with a headache and sensory overload..and that's just from inset not even teaching the kids! We've been told of dozens of changes being made this year, new tech we have to get used to, new rules. I can't even bring myself to open my laptop to prepare any lessons. I know deep down this is my final year teaching, I can't do it anymore.

Yes. Every year at every school I've worked in.

This! It’s crazy isn’t it.

It’s madness that it’s never addressed why people are leaving in their droves.

I may have rather loudly mentioned cognitive overload at some point during the meeting today. My brain was friend by mid-afternoon and once again staff were given no time at all to actually prepare anything, given we start teaching tomorrow. I ended up staying an extra 2 hours (having already done an hour before meetings started) and will have to do another 2 before school starts in the morning. It's madness, especially given half the information could have been given out before the holidays and deadlines for assessments on the other half are rather short.

But as a PP said, it has always been thus.

Always!
I did have a nice day today buy OMG so much information!
We have new staff too and they must be feeling completely overwhelmed at this point.

We are having 2 INSET days but there is very little 'free' time for teachers to just organise themselves. Pretty much every minute of the day is spent in meetings.

I haven't even got my exercise books to give out to classes tomorrow. It's been nonstop!

We had two hours of safeguarding training. Plus another two hours sat listening but thankfully not much is new. We have inset day 2 tomorrow plus a staggered start so only two year groups in on Wednesday. My struggle was due to lack of sleep last night and staying awake through the same presentation I've seen five times at least.

Our poor, poor TA's are sadly having to meet their union on Thursday!

They are going to be made to be paid on a term time only contract. They are an amazing team and go above and beyond, often arriving and leaving well out of their paid hours.

I'm embarrassed to recieve a pay rise when they are working the same hours but for less money.

Yes! Almost no planning time. We were given I think just over an hour for our own planning/prep on the second INSET day, this year at least it was a slightly delayed start to a teaching day with a phased return for different year groups.

It was barely enough time to get exercise books together for different classes and printing for first lessons. I'm in my 3rd week now (just done first full week of teaching) and still haven't had time to get data on my seating plans or some data analysis on last year's Y11. And of course the after school meetings and CPD have started, open evening coming up as well.

It's a bit like joining a working group with regular meetings to discuss staff wellbeing. What an oxymoron.