Advice from teachers desperately needed please! with union UPDATE!

[natalielongstaff]

Joolz - my name is Natalie (yep ANOTHER one!).

and it was never a common name when i was at school !

 

[scojos]

ok, breath....
out of your depth? tired? frustrated? all teachers feel like that at the start of a new year at a new school. i start on the 3rd sept as 2nd in dept. im scared senseless (dont tell dh!)
i too had to write sow etc for my school during my gtp year. its hard. youll make mistakes, thats what learning is all about, BUT you hsould have had more support and your summer should not have been ruined.
im sorry i hvent sent the stuff i said i would, rl has been a bit hectic!! (Ok i have spent FFFAAARRR too much time on here too.
relax teaching is the best job in the world, imho. where else do you get 13 weeks to go to wdw??
but its hard, the back stage stuff is harder rthan the on stage stuff, sort the on stage and the rest will come. you ll struggle for the next 12 - 24 months, you will, but it will be worth it. a great salary, you ll never be unemployed and great holidays(ok im obsessed with the holidays!)
hope it goes well, keep us informed,
tracy

 

[jen_uk]

I teach in a sixth form college, I did my PGCE full time after doing my degree but I know people who are doing their PGCE like you are. To me your college sounds like it is having massive staffing problems and they are trying to dump as much as possible onto you as they have noone else to do it! The college I am at always has staff problems and as they also have money problems they won't hire extra staff Don't let them push you around, let them know you are in the union and that should help you. We also start back on Monday, I wouldn't have thought the 2 weeks would all be training, alot of it will be enrolling the students I imagine. If you are only 0.5 then you do only have to do 50%, however in most contracts it says you will be expected to work those hours and then claim then back time in lieu in the summer time so make sure you keep a record. If yours is a sixth form college then you should not be expected to work over holidays, we always get the 12 weeks

Good luck for Monday, be strong!

 

[joolz1910]

Hi Natalie.
What a stressful start to your teaching career. I agree with Jen - it sounds like they are desperate and dumping on you, hoping to exploit your enthusiasm. They can't make you do any of this stuff. Get your GTP/PGCE mentor on the case and contact your union, explaining that you might need some intervention. It's not the ideal start, but they need to fight your corner with you. You shouldn't be left to deal with this. I had a problem when I was doing my PGCE - my school placement was awful and the PGCE course leader had to contact the school and give them what for. Someone should be doing this for you. If you are paying your union subs, that should be your regional rep. Ask them to make a phone call on your behalf if, after this next meeting, you don't feel reassured.

Have you got a copy of your timetable yet? I would want the union to have a look at what you have been given. They are supposed to be training you - they need reminding that you are not qualified yet. I would stop emailing them - they clearly have no intention of sorting this out at the moment. See what they say at this meeting. Smile sweetly and explain that you will be unable to complete any SOW's without clear guidance, exemplar materials and course guidelines/syllabuses. Hold out your hands in anticipation and watch them squirm. They clearly have no SOW and are hoping that you will oblige. Cheeky ********.

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

Thankyou everyone . Another day and no contact from them. I can't say I'm surprised, I very nicely let my line manager and mentor know yesterday that I would not be providing schemes next week as they are not my responsibility but what I would bring is a list of suggestions of what they might like to include in the schemes so that I can play to my strengths and I also added that I would not have any time over the weekend to do paperwork . So, neither of them have got back to me! Everytime I get an e-mail in my inbox my heart stops . I can't describe how much I wish I had never taken this job. Alongside my acting, I was in the second year of studying for a doctorate in educational pyschology, I still had two years to go but I am regretting my decision to throw that, and my other job away. I do believe I am being used to do all the donkeys work. I still have no timetable Joolz. I called for it but they said I won't get it for some time yet as enrollment doesn't finish until the end of August, they also said turn up on Monday as its mandatory but the rest of training would be pro-rata. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make life better

 

[joolz1910]

I have never worked in a 6th form college, but I have taught 6th form exclusively in school. I always had my timetable before the end of the summer term. Enrolment provides numbers - the classes will already be offered and timetabled. They will have some ideas of numbers from applications. You need to have your timetable to see what days/hours you are working. Imagine if you had another job - how could you possibly work out your hours with no info? I would wait until Monday, see how the land lies and then contact your union.

They might just be badly organised and treat you really well on Monday. If not, get the NASUWT rep to ring up on your behalf.

Let us know how you get on. Try not to get stressed- in teaching, you see more of the kids than you do of your colleagues (which can be a blessing)

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

Thanks Joolz .

They e-mailed tonight, I've been called into the office tomorrow - my line manager and mentor want to see me. I've not been sleeping and I'm a nervous wreck. I have a feeling that they are just going to have a massive go at me. I have said I need my timetable to fit my other job around it. Apparently I need to apply to the head before I am allowed to do another job. Luckily I haven't signed my contract yet as if I sign it and start on Monday and they proceed to crack me up by half-term then I am not allowed to leave to christmas. I don't want to turn this job down as jobs are so hard to come by these days, but I am getting ill over it. My friends tonight took one look at me and asked what is wrong, I look pale and worn out and i think they knew I'd been crying. My personality has changed through the stress over the summer. They haven't addressed any of my questions in the e-mail and it is only after I e-mailed saying I would not be doing the schemes that they have said I have to go in. Looks like I'm in trouble. I need pixie dust and all this to work out for the best!

 

[joolz1910]

Thanks Joolz .

They e-mailed tonight, I've been called into the office tomorrow - my line manager and mentor want to see me. I've not been sleeping and I'm a nervous wreck. I have a feeling that they are just going to have a massive go at me. I have said I need my timetable to fit my other job around it. Apparently I need to apply to the head before I am allowed to do another job. Luckily I haven't signed my contract yet as if I sign it and start on Monday and they proceed to crack me up by half-term then I am not allowed to leave to christmas. I don't want to turn this job down as jobs are so hard to come by these days, but I am getting ill over it. My friends tonight took one look at me and asked what is wrong, I look pale and worn out and i think they knew I'd been crying. My personality has changed through the stress over the summer. They haven't addressed any of my questions in the e-mail and it is only after I e-mailed saying I would not be doing the schemes that they have said I have to go in. Looks like I'm in trouble. I need pixie dust and all this to work out for the best!

Time to call in the big-guns if they bully you. You might be surprised and they could put your mind at ease. Remember - they wanted you, and approached you, so it can't be easy to recruit! I would ask your union about having to ask permission from the Head to get another job, that doesn't sound right.

I think it might be wise to go and see your GTP/PGCE mentor and have a formal meeting to discuss your contract, timetable, reasonable expectations, the school's obligations to you etc so that you are absolutely clear about what you can / can't be asked to do. I would then request that they contact the college on your behalf. You shouldn't be in the position of having to deal with this on your own. Write down everything that is said at the meeting and don't agree to anything you don't feel happy with, just say that you will need to go away and think about it.

Sending you lots of

If you lived near me, I would come with you and glare at them. After all these years I have perfected my teacher glare.

 

[scojos]

im good at the glare too
good luck
tracy
xx

 

[jen_uk]

At my college we don't get our timetables till September, last year we were given them the day before we started teaching! Every year someone in our dept ends up teaching something they were not before and they have no time to plan. Its because they have to see how many students enrol, if there are not enough then the class may not run and you get put somewhere else, if loads enrol then they open another class.

Good luck for today, can you take your union rep with you? Hope it goes well

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

Well, today I had my meeting with my line manager and mentor.

MY MENTOR DENIED EVER HAVING ASKED ME TO DO SCHEMES OF WORK!!!

He sat there and blatantly lied in front of our line manager and looked guilty the whole time. He said I must have a foggy memory of that day because he only gave me the syllabus to look at. My line manager showed me a copy of what my mentor had said I had been given - it was one handout. So you should have seen the looks on their faces when I whipped out a pile of paperwork he had given me . Then I asked why I had been given empty schemes of work to complete if I had never been required to use them. Also why did I have an e-mail saying that I was required to have the first terms lessons for two modules completed for my first day and asking did I want to do more to be extra prepared? He was just silent the whole time. Also the line manager didn't pull him up on the fact that he was clearly lying. He just kept saying there was no way I had been expected to do everything I had been asked. My mentor barely looked at me the whole time, he just stared out the window, fiddled with his laptop, looked at his hands, had a bored expression on his face and kept sighing. He could hardly look me in the eye. My line manager was lovely and reassuring but I'm not going to know if I can trust them until I start the job.

I am not getting my timetable until September. I had to ask for a job description - I was then given a general description for a qualified teacher. I was asked to come in all next week three days training, two days sat at a desk enrolling students on a computer. I said I would be attending pro-rata as a 0.5. They looked shocked when I said that. So they said not to do the enrolling. I was also told then when I had classes in the morning, I should sit in and watch my mentors classes in the afternoon (even though I wasn't to be paid for this). They said something along the lines of don't bother with the staff room . I was told not to worry I wouldn't have any discipline problems, so why on the day that my mentor asked me to do the schemes did he also show me a bighole in the white board where a kid had got annoyed and punched it? My manager said to come with some suggestions on monday and someone else would do the schemes. At the end of the meeting, my mentor said, "you give me the stuff, I'll put in in the b*st*rd schemes." I was also told, sorry you had an awful summer, have a good weekend. Charming.

So all in all I don't feel great about starting on Monday. I just hope I get some sleep tonight. Thanks everyone once again for your advice .

 

[joolz1910]

You kicked your mentor's ***.

Well done. Your line manager will not discipline the mentor over his lies in front of you - that would be unprofessional. Keep all the evidence and make notes of things said in meetings. Watch your mentor - he sounds like poison.

Go to the staffroom - you'll isolate yourself if you don't. Do everything pro-rata and don't observe their lessons unless you are getting paid!!! You are training on the job, not after you've done it. Your training should be incorporated into your working day. Sorry, I'm getting bossy, must be the teacher in me. Anyway, well done because they underestimated li'l old you.