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There are lots of cuts happening in the council. A team of 3 (2.2fte) specialist peripatetic teachers are being told their role is to be ended and either no role or, most likely, a single full time role to remain.
LNCT agreements are being read and re-read, union proved already to be a chocolate fireguard.
Thoughts on how to tackle the following:
- information put into public consultation and to councillors over making a cut to a teacher service which is factually incorrect and significantly plays down the work undertaken. Information was put out there by manager seeking to protect thier own job / cronyism from management team, who are not teachers.
- the team of teachers are currently managed by a non teacher, something LNCT and GTCS and Union object to. This has also contributed to the manager team putting forward the teachers as there is a negativity from the managers who are employed on poorer terms and conditions and lower salaries. Management team currently up to things like faking records for HMIE and Care Inspectorate (and instructing teacher team to do same) and passing off the teachers work as thier own by removing names of teachers who created documents/strategy/training plans and placing their own name on them.
- the likely outcome is the teachers forced to reapply for again for their own job, a process the teacher team has been through twice before. Teacher team at 2.2fte, a decade ago they were 8fte. It transpires this is against the T&C's of the LNCT agreement which is "last in, first out". Fall back feels like going full legal - including a redress for having been put through this process before against job T&C/LNCT agreement; and the one person who is the longest serving, most experienced, highest qualified fights to keep thier role, as they are entitled to under LNCT.
- team of teachers is currently all part time, but the single replacement job will be full time and no part time considered. Again, against LNCT agreements.
- The 'cut' teachers to be redeployed anywhere in the county and out of their particular specialism. I don't think there's much can be done here.
- The current job also entails work which is purely 'Lead Teacher' in practice. It fits under 'Lead Teacher - Local Authority' as it develops policy, pedagogy, creation and delivery of training, additional needs assessments and overall support of pedagogical leads across 45 settings. The Lead Teacher post comes with significant salary increase. But current team are paid on Main Pay Scale only - and the cut down role will also remain Main Pay Scale. Against cuts being made it seems obtuse to ask for this - but it is an 'entitlement', but could also be the final nail in the coffin of the cuts...or if you're going full legal you also fight for this...Also, in light of not being paid this, do the team of teachers work to rule/Main Pay Scale scope?
- the union rep is shrugging shoulders at all this.
Even if the one teacher (the one entitled to keep the role) I'm concerned for is left standing and retains job, even if it's not on the better T&C's they are entitled too, they have to work as only teacher with a management team who have created this situation and demonstrated that they do not value the role of specialist peripatetic teacher...
I could do with a plan of action to advise them....and some perspective as a lot of this makes me very cross.
go above the head of the local rep - get onto the branch / regional officer
have you got actual evidence of the wrongdoing you allege?
As ever I find the usual best course of action is to give 'em enough rope to hang themselves and then go for a payoff
You could also get your MP or councillors involved
have you got actual evidence of the wrongdoing you allege?
Hopefully this week there will be some solid evidence RE the falsifying of records.
The cronyism is harder to prove - the managers refuse to be drawn on anything outside of a verbal conversation. But it's clear they have either deliberately or inadvertently broken LNCT agreements on multiple historic and current situations.
Councillor is one I've considered - but that would immediately put the teacher into 'whistleblower' category, not ideal when your job is looking shoogly...
There will be a whistleblower procedure that will be anonymous or should be
As a teacher and ex rep this is depressingly familiar, I am guessing ASN, visiting specialist or staff trainer. Ask the rep again once you have evidence of wrongdoing, and ensure they have contacted branch. If that doesn't work then time to lawyer up, last in/first out is always easy to circumnavigate by the council if they want.
and instructing teacher team to do same) and passing off the teachers work as thier own by removing names of teachers who created documents/strategy/training plans and placing their own name on them.
Had this at a previous job, ended up uploading everything as a pdf where possible, as my work was being passed off as others, which led to them being promoted. Was asked for the original copies, which then requested that my name was included as I’d previously noted that my work was appearing with others names of the front and my name omitted. Was amusing watching someone get murdered in a design review as they were just regurgitating the words and had no clue about how calculations or decisions had been made.
As for the document I used to watermark it with draft and drop the word draft onto the page every so often. Once it was completed PDF is the way to go.
Most of that sounds like the usual bad management you get in many workplaces, and consultations around redundancy/reorganisation often get bogged down in this stuff with staff claiming management failings - I’ve never seen it stop the original plan; my advice would be save your effort for the job applications and go somewhere else less bitter!
there is one bit though which I think probably has a duty on any professional teacher to report / escalate / whistleblow:
Management team currently up to things like faking records for HMIE and Care Inspectorate (and instructing teacher team to do same)
evidence to back it up would seem like a very simple way to get a new management team. Complying would seem like a route to a misconduct hearing, ignoring would not be much better.
my advice would be save your effort for the job applications and go somewhere else less bitter!
There's maybe 50 or 60 of these jobs in the whole of Scotland... 🙁
There’s maybe 50 or 60 of these jobs in the whole of Scotland… 🙁<br /><br />
but they will be qualified for hundreds of other teaching jobs too which may have better management. The time to fix a broken system is not when your own job is at risk - you have a vested interest and nobody will treat you as anything but emotional about being told your work is not important enough for the available funds.
lots of people have faced these sorts of problems in other careers where there’s probably far fewer than 50 equivalent posts in Scotland. Your choices are - stay and suffer incompetence and budget cuts in a role that is clearly not valued; move on and do something you enjoy that has better management (and now you know some red flags to look out for); or expend masses of personal emotional energy on what is almost inevitably a fruitless task before ultimately doing one of the previous two options (although if you are unlucky the best options for other work have gone to the rest of your team who got the message quicker).
I appreciate this is not what you wanted to hear and it’s probably people in a service that you normally support who will be affected, and likely the area of education you are in which will suffer - and that hurts. But I’m offering some pragmatic advice for the individuals rather than trying to change the system. FWIW if it is your area of education I have a huge amount of time for it and recognise it’s massively undervalued, neglected and misunderstood. I’m certain that’s short sighted politics.
I hear you on not changing a system. I guess that it feels so unfair the way things are panning out - and the LNCT is clear on the rights there are for teachers as is Scottish Government Policy. Lots to fight for, but actually at the end of the day it's leaving a 'do you really want to work for them?' flavour...
While yes there are other teacher jobs, it's hard when your initial degree or PGCE is in the specialism, and when you've spent 20+ years working only in that area, and there's a skills shortage even with so few posts. There's a reason so many of the incumbents around Scotland are older, more experienced teachers, and they've been in the role usually a long time...
It's not my area of work - it's in early years.
I will say I was in a similar less serious position at work a couple of years before I retired. When I left at my exit interview I jumped two levels of management to have the interview and laid out all the issues I had seen. I had hoped that would do something but it didn't really make any difference. I now wish I had made a formal grievance and/or a whistle blow. I really regret not making more fuss now.
so be sure whichever path you take its one you will be happy with. Its not unreasonable just to look after yourself but if that leaves issues unresolved will you be happy with that?
As I understand things, from eves dropping on conversations. The experienced early years specialists in Lanarkshire were told that they'd have to reapply for their own jobs at a significantly reduced (I think it was 2 grades lower), wage. Essentially the council have 'rebadged' the job description are looking to replace expensive, experienced care workers with kids straight out of college.
So the job is cut.
Only last week a senior manager accidently let slip that they had put the teacher team up for the cut purely to save their own jobs, not because that is what the council need to provide the services.
There is natural wastage this year (one colleague died suddenly, one has decided to leave). But the remaining two teachers now have to re-apply for jobs and/or loose hours (in breach of job contract). By March 2025 all funding is cut, so all jobs are lost.
On top of this:
One day the employees affected were told their jobs were safe, by a senior manager.
Then two hours later the cut was announced by telling everyone except the affected people by email.
The direct manager and next up boss have had no contact with the two people affected since the announcement.
HR have not replied at all to anything, and refuse to answer phone, and have not turned up to a long standing meeting with one of the staff involved.
I think we are best off out of it.....the affected two are keeping records/timeline, verbal conversations being followed up by emails as records, new jobs being sought.