Work have pulled a fast one here.....

[Pixie]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

Sorry I've only just caught up with this P1...it was wonderful to be able to have a holiday in term time!

Your health is more important than going back to that place...and we both know how stressful teaching is even with fantastic management, well-behaved, eager-to-learn, engaged kids and supportive parents.

I don't really see what grounds your current "boss" has for initiating capability procedures. If anyone needs to go through competency it's him!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that your new job gets sorted soon. If not, get back to the doctors and get signed off again. It's clear the job is making you ill

[PriorityOne]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

How you feeling lovely? Any further forward with the new job?

Jane x

Hi Jane..... I'm better than I was but as the time grows closer to my sick note running out, I can feel the old anxieties starting to return. I haven't slept well for the past 2 nights and that's not good.

The new job is taking ages to come together. I chased them for an update on Monday and things were still being discussed apparently..... It's really not helping me at all because I need to know when it's all going to come together and I can move forward but there's nothing I can do about it. I've been assured that everything will be done and dusted by the end of this week (tomorrow) but I doubt I'll hear anything more concrete until next week.

My sick note runs out the week after..... Not sure how to approach this with the GP at the moment but know that if I do go back to that place, I'll be back to square one within a week!

Messy......

[tastyjane]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

How you feeling lovely? Any further forward with the new job?

Jane x

[PriorityOne]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

Hi PlanB......

I've also seen bits of this programme but it's not a patch on some of the things I've seen or experienced. Having said that, it's not the kids who make the job stressful; it's the kind of management that a provision has. When there's good management, then kids are aware of the boundaries, a lot of progress can be made and staff feel supported but where there are few boundaries and weak management (as I have at the moment), then kids will do what they like because there's no effective comeback for them and staff feel stressed and demoralised..

There are many different scenarios. You have women who've spent years on their backs popping out children to claim benefits and not socialising them properly..... which means we have families in the area who all behave in a similar way; anti-social, disruptive, aggressive, no moral compass, getting into crime and so on..... while often having an ADHD "I can't help it" tag which has allowed parents to claim a range of additional "disability" benefits.... for as long as they carried on acting this way in front of the professionals sent out to observe them. This never does them any favours once they leave the education system and need to find work but by this time, these kind of behaviours are normalised because these kids have never really had to take responsibility for any of it..... I know someone who is just starting to experience this kind of scenario now with her son. I also know someone else with an ADHD child on the autistic spectrum which is completely different but unfortunately, has been judged the same because ADHD is bloody everywhere! Big subject.... don't get me started..... lol! Not all badly behaved kids are labelled with ADHD however; just to confuse the issue further...... they just have very bad role models, or none at all.

Then you have kids who've had traumatic experiences like you've mentioned; where they need heaps of pastoral care in order to get through it and heal because they can't do it alone and don't really understand their own reactions to things anyway. When you first start working alongside behaviour kids though, it takes time to sort out which behaviours stem from what, if you know what I mean..... in conjunction with parental influence, labelling and so on..... and in a lot of cases, management don't care what the cause is because they're under so much pressure to get results.

Which brings you to my situation..... I work in an area of deprivation and poverty, with a big benefits culture. Under previous management, it was an excellent provision; staff were trusted to think outside the box, teaching groups were small (8-10 kids), pastoral care was handled well and students made progress...... but somewhere along the line, it was decided to make it into a different kind of provision for A*-C students to satisfy the ambitions of someone in authority..... so groups are now more than double that now, lessons are way too long, there is too much time spent in class, loads of disruption, kids are allowed to keep their mobile phones (FFS!)...... and results are cack. Having worked with a fantastic team and a fab management in the past, I am now working with a couple of plonkers who are mainly concerned with PR....... but this will bite them both in the bum eventually because it's clearly not working. The sad part about it is the number of kids who slip through the net with few qualifications because of it.

Not sure if that helps or not or if it's just confused you even more..... lol. If I had known what the place was going to become, I might have looked for something else earlier but although I could see the changes happening around me, I couldn't believe they were being serious!! A*-C? Really?!!

[PlanB]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

P1 I've followed your thread from the start. I haven't had anything useful to add until I started to watch 'Educating the East End' on Channel 4 which summed it up in this trailer: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/e...st-end-trailer

I'm now hooked on the series because I can't believe that kids can behave the way they do in school. 'In my day' (I'm old) we wouldn't dare do some of that stuff.

And now I'm torn.

Is it kids who are bad or is it the parents who dump their responsibilities on the school?

Last night's episode had me in flood of tears. The 'badly behaved' boy (and he was so unacceptably badly behaved) was excluded and sent to a Pupil Referral Unit. The reason for his meltdown was his parents' splitting up after 20 years.

The head teacher of that school is a one-off in the way she handled both staff and pupils. Give that woman a MBE.

[PriorityOne]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

Great news, by then you should know the position of the new role I would think To be honest if you find yourself towards the end of the month and its still not resolved I am sure your GP will sign you off again.

I hope this all works out OK for you honey.

Jane x

Thank you Jane..... I will update when I hear more.

I scanned the certificate across to my boss last night and he replied (eventually) with "Thank you for letting me know"

T*sser....

[tastyjane]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

Great news, by then you should know the position of the new role I would think To be honest if you find yourself towards the end of the month and its still not resolved I am sure your GP will sign you off again.

I hope this all works out OK for you honey.

Jane x

[PriorityOne]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

I'm so pleased P1 and sending big hugs

Thank you IF x

That's great news P1, lets hope the letter arrives soon. Half term would be a nice cut off point. How much notice do you have to give?

God, I hope so. I'm meant to give 2 months notice to coincide with the end of term..... but that's not going to happen. Under the circumstances, I doubt he will kick up a fuss and I will get my GP to support an early departure, if necessary.

[cymruambyth]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

That's great news P1, lets hope the letter arrives soon. Half term would be a nice cut off point. How much notice do you have to give?

[IF]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

Well...... went to see my GP and have been signed off for a MONTH! What a bloody relief!!

That will take me up to the 2 days before half term so I will need to work out what I'm doing nearer the time and also, I'll need to consider when to hand my "notice" in after getting the written confirmation I've been waiting for re. this new job.

I'm so pleased P1 and sending big hugs

[PriorityOne]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

Well...... went to see my GP and have been signed off for a MONTH! What a bloody relief!!

That will take me up to the 2 days before half term so I will need to work out what I'm doing nearer the time and also, I'll need to consider when to hand my "notice" in after getting the written confirmation I've been waiting for re. this new job.

[PriorityOne]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

Oh sweetheart what a nightmare! Firstly an employer cannot claim constructive dismissal - just an employee (and I would suggest you have grounds although it is one of the hardest things to claim through a tribunal). If he is looking at a capability plan that will be long and drawn out - needs to set key improvement targets, training etc so will not be able to "fast track" the process and hopefully you will have given your notice in in the next couple of weeks.

More importantly your health is obviously suffering from working at this school - I would definitely get signed off (you do get sick pay don't you?) - your work is obviously causing you anxiety and stress you have all the classic symptoms! I am sure your GP would not hesitate to sign you off. In my experience they will usually sign someone off for a month with work related stress (giving you time to really get over an incident) by which time the new job should be sorted and you could take the decision whether to work your notice or get an extension to sick leave.

There is no way I would be going in tomorrow - what is there to gain? You are leaving, they have no loyalty to you why on earth should you have any to them???

Sorry it took a while to get back to you we have been away for the weekend - let me know if need anything else from me - I wouldn't send your boss a letter by the way other than to inform him that you are seeing the doctor again tomorrow and that your anxiety has not improved, particularly since you received his email talking about improvement plans!

Jane x

Thanks Jane..... I will email him in the morning. I have set cover work and will send that in as well but once I get the certificate from my GP I won't need to anymore, which will be a huge relief. The kids won't do it anyway but it's something I'm required to set.

I will see what my GP says tomorrow but I really don't want to go back there.... it's oppressive. I don't want to claim constructive dismissal, I just want to get out..... I do get sick pay, yes. That's one of the few plus points of being there.

I will update tomorrow and thank you once again...... x

[tastyjane]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

Oh sweetheart what a nightmare! Firstly an employer cannot claim constructive dismissal - just an employee (and I would suggest you have grounds although it is one of the hardest things to claim through a tribunal). If he is looking at a capability plan that will be long and drawn out - needs to set key improvement targets, training etc so will not be able to "fast track" the process and hopefully you will have given your notice in in the next couple of weeks.

More importantly your health is obviously suffering from working at this school - I would definitely get signed off (you do get sick pay don't you?) - your work is obviously causing you anxiety and stress you have all the classic symptoms! I am sure your GP would not hesitate to sign you off. In my experience they will usually sign someone off for a month with work related stress (giving you time to really get over an incident) by which time the new job should be sorted and you could take the decision whether to work your notice or get an extension to sick leave.

There is no way I would be going in tomorrow - what is there to gain? You are leaving, they have no loyalty to you why on earth should you have any to them???

Sorry it took a while to get back to you we have been away for the weekend - let me know if need anything else from me - I wouldn't send your boss a letter by the way other than to inform him that you are seeing the doctor again tomorrow and that your anxiety has not improved, particularly since you received his email talking about improvement plans!

Jane x

[PriorityOne]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

Crikey..... i'm sitting here getting adrenalin rushes for no reason with tension pains running down my back..... and this is after nearly a week away from the place!!

I'll need to draft an email to my boss today or early tomorrow, letting him know that I'm going to the GP and won't be in. I'm just hoping my GP will sign me off long enough so I won't have to go back there at all.

As soon as he signs me off, I won't have to send in any cover work, so that'll be a huge relief on its own!

[PriorityOne]

Re: Work have pulled a fast one here.....

I hope your job surfaces soon. If it is just a waiting game you may be best off waiting in the doctor's surgery. Make sure you have it documented.

I've only ever taught one to one, which was fine for a few months years ago. but other pressures in trying to avoid redundancy every other year by working 8-8 with 100mile commute has left me with Barrett's Oesophagus, diagnosed after redundancy finally hit. So I might lose the pound of flesh closest to my heart, for what?

I'm hoping so too.... I should get the offer/contract next week and it'll be a much better environment. I know that sounds like a contradiction in terms when you consider what I'm going into but trust me, it is...... So sorry that you became ill after giving so much Julian. I think there comes a point when you realise that we're all replaceable and quality of life is worth so much more that slogging away in a toxic environment.