[Closed] Teachers bleating on about how hard they work...

It's all gone a bit "mate" hasn't it mates?

On a side note... all the teachers on here should bod up for a ride in the summer 🙂

winston_dog - genuinely not looking to pick a fight here but did you 'mature' i.e. gain focus, responsibility, desire etc after school rather than whilst you were there?

Of course.

However, any focus and responsibility was basically knocked out of me at school. It's only when you look back that you realise how badly the school let me and loads of others down.

I was lucky but I know loads of others who weren't.

We're not talking some inner city sink estate either. Just a comp in a provincial town.

The violence wasn't too good either. My mate had a finger broken when we got caned for nothing. I was lucky got away with deep brusing that lasted for weeks.

.and I bet I could whip your ass on a bike. Just saying.

Of course you could , you have 20 weeks holiday a year to do your training and even when you work you are finished by 3.30 . 😆

Winston - who taught you to gain all the qualifications you have?

Wasn't a teacher was it?

More "lecturer" than teacher.

Luckily for me I get taught by a gifted and brilliant guy for my maths and physics when I was about 23. The difference was in that environment they didn't have any effect on your life as such. Not in the bullying way my earlier teachers had.

I have 2 sisters who were teachers, a SiL and 2 of my nieces teach. I hope they do a better job than the useless shower I had.

You may of guessed, I am just little bit bitter about my school.

Lean? Lean?!!! Pacesetter anyway? Continuous improvement? Emperor's new clothes anyone? Whilst useful at its core it should never be an industry in itself which is what it seems to be. What happened to encouraging people who do the job to make suggestions and managers implementing the worthwhile ones?

However, Mike... what you don't realise is that even with applying every lean method there is, there still isn't enough time in the day to do what is expected of you as a teacher.

I worked 70 hours last week (smart hours too), still behind where I wanted to be and have got up this morning to start planning for next week.

winston_dog - cheers. Sounds like had a bad experience so well done for overcoming that. I know there are pupils who seem unable to recognise what utter arses they are being whilst they being utter arses. Kids tho huh? 🙂

I take it your the typical arrogant bell end of a teacher then? Fail to recognise any talent that is slightly different from your limited imagination?

I basically left school at 16 with nothing, I am now professionally qualified to equivalent of degree level and have numerous other qualifications to support my primary profession.

I work in a very specialist area of my industry, for one of the World leaders in that sector and probably earn twice what a head teacher does and here's the rub, I actually get more time off!

I have very little respect for the teaching profession.

Hmmm, I'm guessing you had a crap time at school. Things have changed a lot.
You may see it as liberal-lefty hand wringing BS, but education is much more focused on trying to get the best from each child. Practices like ECM (every child matters) have meant that we try to recognise the latent talents in children and encourage them. Yes, we still have to teach the core subjects, and there are always going to be kids for whom school is something to fight against whatever we do (you were one such kid I'm guessing?).

What it boils down to is I really enjoy teaching. Some days I might moan, but I never have a day when I regret my choice.
Point in case, we're introducing yr8s to electronics at the moment, and I had a class with some difficult pupils in using breadboards, resistors and LEDs to make simple light circuits. No prior knowledge, and some of these kids would rather be anywhere but school. Absolute silence and concentration. Once they got the idea of what a resistor does they spent a good 35 minutes working in pairs trying different resistors in series and parallel, and then writing up what happened. Then at then end one lad who probably has 2-3 detentions every week for disruption thanked me for a fun lesson 😀 made my day.

Unfortunately, it's probably too late to change your mind about education and teachers, but we do try.

The 18 hour days were relating to a coding job, not teaching if I read the related post correctly.

winston_dog - genuinely interested, would you say you'matured' i.e. gain focus, responsibility, desire etc after school rather than whilst you were there?

judging by the rubbish he writes in his post I dont think he has matured
oh and if you call me a bell end in one post and mate in the next its no wonder you did badly at school

Winston - who taught you to gain all the qualifications you have?

Wasn't a teacher was it?

similar to Winston. great infants and primary teachers, but secondary schooling was a joke, teachers more interested in their lunchtime pint than pupils plus a bit of sadistic P.E. abuse (15 stone teachers stepping on and off 13year old boys stomachs while they lay on the gym floor), luckily i had 2 fantastic tutors in higher education

Applying Lean methodology to teaching, only on STW. 🙄

but the majority would benefit from getting out of the fire fighting for 10 mins to see the big picture

Maybe instead of killing the alligators they could drain the swamp eh?

Or while they are fighting off the hordes with a sword they can't hear that you're knocking on the door with a good deal on machine guns?

Actually, no, c'mon enlighten us, what did the book say about this teaching big picture you talk of?

Nick - house lol

winston_dog - Member
All this shite about working 18hr days!

If you ever really have worked 18hr days you would realise it's almost impossible to sustain for any length of time. If teacher needs to work 18hr a day then they must be doing something wrong.

The teaching profession must of changed since the 70's and 80's, the majority of teachers I knew were pretty lazy, disinterested, chain smoking arseholes. With a few psychopaths thrown in for good measure. The good ones were very much in the minority.

They also aquired a chip on their shoulders big enough to sink the titanic,lotsof skilled and unskilled people work 12 hour days, get called in on days off to covber and all for a lot less money, think tradesmen, and care workers.

Other jobs are available to ex teachers who find they have to add up every minute in the day to make an hour then multiply by cups of tea to make it look like theyre always working.

Actually,e no, c'mon enlighten us, what did the book say about this teaching big picture you talk of?

Nothing, one of the biggest points is that there are similarities in all fields. Working out how to use time more effectively is a skill rarely taught and something I see the impact of across most professions. Deciding that you are doing the best and most efficient job you can normally means your not.

I used to think that I had shit teachers at secondary and that I had to "overcome" their ineptitude myself. I left a crap school with good grades and went on to do reasonably well in tertiary education. Took quite some time to realise that (with a couple of notable exceptions) the teachers had actually done far more than should have ever been expected. My classes were full of thugs and people with no interest in being schooled, yet I still got an education that allowed me to walk out with 8 Highers at A and B level. Like I said, took me a long time to stop patting myself on the back for that and realise how much effort those teachers must have put in to help a pupil attain good grades despite the chaos that normally filled each lesson.

In my supposedly cutthroat super efficient private sector firm, 2000 billable hours would be considered a pretty impressive record over a year.

There is very little correlation between billable hours and working hours though. I had a minimum requirement of 1850 billable hours, with decent bonus kicking in at about 2100. I could have a year billing 2000 billable hours and be in the office from 6am until 10pm every day or in one year I hit 2200 hours working on one or two things from 7am until 7pm most days. It used to pain me having a month where I felt like i'd worked non stop and then my hours would be at or even below target. One of the reasons I left private practice, no opportunity to really focus on the quality when your job is on the line if you don't hit the quantity.

I take it your the typical arrogant bell end of a teacher then? Fail to recognise any talent that is slightly different from your limited imagination?

I basically left school at 16 with nothing, I am now professionally qualified to equivalent of degree level and have numerous other qualifications to support my primary profession.

I work in a very specialist area of my industry, for one of the World leaders in that sector and probably earn twice what a head teacher does and here's the rub, I actually get more time off!

I have very little respect for the teaching profession.

I went into teaching because I was taught badly by most, and wanted to break the cycle. I work hard to inspire my pupils. I try to be innovative in my delivery. When students argue their point constructively with me, I'm delighted; I've help contribute to that sense of enquiry. I do not care about money, although my family are happy I earn enough to keep us comfortable. I'm highly respected by my staff and my students; the former because I wouldn't ask them to do anything I wouldn't be prepared to do myself, and the latter because I will always listen to them, regardless of what tough decisions I have to make in their interests. I deal with neglect, anger, fear, depression, child abuse, and other unsavoury emotional factors daily.

I'm genuinely glad that you have succeeded despite your poor schooling. Nothing feels as good as smiting those that didn't believe in you, thats for sure.

But could you do what I do? Judging by the rhetoric in your posts, probably not.

I'm highly respected by my [s]staff[/s]fellow forumities and my students; the former because I wouldn't ask them to do anything I wouldn't be prepared to do myself, and the latter because I will always listen to them, regardless of what tough decisions I have to make in their interests. I deal with neglect, anger, fear, depression, child abuse, and other unsavoury emotional factors daily.

Bit like being a moderator then.

I think teachers do a briliant job and are largely uncredited for the work they do.
In many other countries teachers are highly regarded and respected, paid well to match, but always work long hard hours.
My sister is a teacher in the north east and her working hours are very long. Full days at school and then at least a few hours before and after school marking, lesson planninag and filling on reports and paperwork. She is very over worked and the primary reason is the amount of paperwork needed to be completed.
She has also worked in Japan as a teacher where the hours were also long but the job was much more respected and she was paid better.
The secondary reason being a teacher is so hard in the UK is that they are not respected by pupils and their parents.

I have a mate who's a teacher. He whines about it a lot but still manages to be out almost every weekend and goes on multiple holidays. Personally I couldn't do it as I hate kids.

Bit like being a moderator then

Christ no! How could my family survive on free socks, energy gels and STW back-issues?? 😆

I want Winston's job - £150k pa and 13 weeks holiday a year.

I've clearly messed up badly along the way - too much time hanging out in bonkers law firms like peterfile working like a dog in one of the most inefficient sectors out there.

I don't think its easier or harder than any other similarly paid job to be honest. My mum was a teacher, I have 4 mates who are teachers, and none work 18 hour days. They work pretty much the same hours as I do, never have to work away from home and get better holidays.

My issue with the teaching profession is that it really is a job for life, regardless of how hopeless you are. In my line of work if you are useless you get the boot, which just doesn't happen in the teaching profession. To quote a friend who is a teacher when asked if he'd consider going to work in a private school, his response was 'not for me, if I was no good I might get the sack'

Just to clarify, i'm not saying all teachers are useless, far from it. As with any job there are some very good ones, and some very bad ones.

All depends which school you work at too I guess. I know some schools where the kids are super respectful and polite but then their is the other end of the scale where the kids really make the teachers work for their money ha ha.

go away spammer

If you are a useless teacher it must be the worst job in the world. Many many teachers leave. Thats not to say there arent lots of shit ones. Its just that the chronic lack of good teachers cant be cured by only looking at one side of the problem which is what Gove is doing.

LOL at the spammer, you get paid to sit and post those links?
have you thought about teaching? it's far more rewarding.

similar to Winston. great infants and primary teachers, but secondary schooling was a joke, teachers more interested in their lunchtime pint than pupils plus a bit of sadistic P.E. abuse (15 stone teachers stepping on and off 13year old boys stomachs while they lay on the gym floor), luckily i had 2 fantastic tutors in higher education

Mr Smith I think you went to the same schools as me!

But could you do what I do? Judging by the rhetoric in your posts, probably not.

Surely it's more a question of wanting to? If I wanted to and was trained correctly then yes. Same applies to my job and yourself. At the moment you couldn't possibly but with several years training and some years of experience of course you could, if you were motivated enough.

I want Winston's job - £150k pa and 13 weeks holiday a year.

Looks like I over estimated what teachers get paid. Closer to £100k Gross and 16 weeks holiday a year. However, I know plenty of people who earn £70 - £100k [b]NET[/b] with 26 weeks leave a year.

I still stand by the statement that no competent teacher works 18 hours a day. Anyone who believes that has never worked long hours themselves.

I still stand by the statement that no competent teacher works 18 hours a day. Anyone who believes that has never worked long hours themselves.

This is true.
We work on events and for some we do have 18 hour days, even the fittest and most hyper of the the team is a zombie after a week of this. It's just not sustainable.

With a few exceptions, from the "class of 80" at our school (thanks Facebook!) most have failed to achieve their potential because Oakwood Comp in that time was an exercise in surviving unscathed, be that by fellow pupils, teachers or the kids in the school down the road. We were all being geared up for a career in the steel industry or down the pit, "A degree son is a waste of time and money", Mr Roberts, careers teacher, 1980.

The 18 hour days were relating to a coding job, not teaching if I read the related post correctly.

I'm a teacher and before that i worked as a coder pushing 18 hour days and teaching is the hardest thing i have ever done.

It's a bit ambiguous, not sure if it means he's doing more than 18 hrs a day or that he's doing less hours but they are harder?

Seems clear to me.

To the OP troll. Where do you get your numbers from? £100k and. 16wks holiday a year. State schools are 13weeks year and (look at the figures) teachers start in mid £20ks and heads of departments in £40ks.

My wife has been a teacher for 20yrs and no way does she work 18hrs a day (actually she one works 2.5days a week). However when she did work full time she worked most evenings weekends and holidays.

Like most professions there are good and bad teachers. Good ones enjoy there jobs and usually stay long term. Poor ones do get kicked out now (probably unlike when the OP was at school).

Of course lots of people don't get on with school and do well despite not doing well there. Also many people earn much more than teachers, however the majority of teachers are dedicate, hardworking and good at their job.

Seems clear to me.

Please enlighten those of us that don't have your scintillating teachers intellect.

Some of you need to work in a kitchen/restaurant...

100k what ?central african francs ?

100k what ?central african francs ?

GBP - The clue was the "£" symbol.

Oh right its only the quantity thats wrong then - silly me i thought you just got the symbol wrong.

Oh right its only the quantity thats wrong then - silly me i thought you just got the symbol wrong.

I'm not talking about teachers salaries, I'm on about my own industry.

Yeah i just read back during my tea break. Sorry was sure you said teachers earned that . If they did i wouldnt need to work. 🙁

Please enlighten those of us that don't have your scintillating teachers intellect.

it clearly says he worked 18 hour days as a coder but now he finds teaching harder, it doesnt say he works that long or longer, it just says compared to being a coder teaching is harder.
There's no need to thank me for clearing that up for you mate!

it just says compared to being a coder teaching is harder.

As he is talking about the coding job in the context of number of hours he worked, then states teaching is harder, it is unclear if it means by the hours worked or by the nature of the work done.

AFAIK coding requires a lot of problem solving and mathematical skill, so on an intellectual level you could argue that this would be more difficult than the communication skill that is primary skill of an effective teacher.

There's no need to thank me for clearing that up for you mate!

I think you need to brush up on your teaching skills as you have failed to clear that one up for me. I am a bit ignorant mind, as you indicated earlier, so may have an excuse mate!

I'm a teacher and before that i worked as a coder pushing 18 hour days and teaching is the hardest thing i have ever done.

you seriously find this hard to understand? 😀

or are you just being obtuse in order to have more evidence to support your world view

you seriously find this hard to understand?

Yes. I am uncertain of the exact meaning of the sentence as there was no further explanation in the post of why the work is "harder", which is a very subjective statement.

evidence to support your world view

Not understanding what you mean by this either?

If you mean that in my experience I encountered a lot of very poor teachers, who really didn't give a **** about the children, then how will feigning stupidity help with this?

The vast majority of teachers have secure, well paid, public sector, pensioned jobs, with far more leave than most. The overall package appears good but all you ever hear from them, is how bad everything is. If it's so crap then get out and do something else.

OP. So it's not you working 26wks a year then? What's wrong with people choosing to be teachers?

The unhappy teachers are very vocal but most of the teachers that I have met personally over the years like or love their jobs. No different from most jobs.

Why are the teachers not correcting the obvious mistake? It's in the title. The majority of bleating (on here at least) comes from non-teachers making (largely unfounded) digs at teachers. Not quite sure why this is the case but in most cases inaccurate and unnecessary IMO.

Winston dog, He doesnt say why its harder but the question of hours is clear. But that doesnt support you view of moaning teachers who have an easy life.

Oh and if its such a cushy job why do we have teacher shortages and 2/5 of trained teachers leave the profession within five years?

He doesnt say why its harder but the question of hours is clear. But that doesnt support you view of moaning teachers who have an easy life.

If it is clear then is he saying he is working more or less hours as a teacher?

I don't think teachers have an easy life. Far from it. I would imagine it is difficult. However, and this goes for any profession, if it's shit then stop moaning and change your employer. In this life we are all volunteers and you spend too much of your time at work to be unhappy while you are there.

The problem with paperwork and metrics is present in every profession. It's the modern world, deal with it. There are more regulations and standards in every sector, ISO, H&S requirements, justification for expenditure, expense audits, mandatory certification etc.
I have to deal with all stuff like that in my job and the vast majority of it doesn't help it simply complicates things. However it's unavoidable.

Public sector workers as a whole, rightly or wrongly, have a reputation for "bleating" in the media, hence the OP.

Having been a teacher (among other things) and now in the forces, teaching was far harder than deploying to Afghanistan, mostly due to the hours and the corresponding impact on my life and health. I might have been able to put up with that if I felt like the effort I put into teaching was appreciated or worthwhile but it wasn't - attitude of the kids (more likely down to the parents) and the negative image in the media made it pointless to sacrifice so much. The attitude of Gove has just made things worse.

Thats the thing though isnt it the vast majority of teachers want a better education system so that kids get better education and what many mistake for moaning about their job is actually moaning about the education of kids being held back or hindered by the latest government ruse.

winston, have you told us what your job is in the thread?

Thats the thing though isnt it the vast majority of teachers want a better education system so that kids get better education and what many mistake for moaning about their job is actually moaning about the education of kids being held back or hindered by the latest government ruse.

Government ruse? Surely even Gove doesn't want to deliberately wreck the education system? Even if the whole Tory party is conspiring to make the rich richer they still need an educated population to do so?

Also, it isn't the politicians that create and implement new systems and procedures. These are created by teaching professionals surely?

If it's a case of being asked to do more for less or the same money, that's not unique to teaching.

winston, have you told us what your job is in the thread?

No. It's not really relevant.

No. It's not really relevant

I think it is. You have a go at a group of people then you should be prepared to answer this question.

Also maybe your salary and number of weeks of holiday a year?

Government ruse? Surely even Gove doesn't want to deliberately wreck the education system? Even if the whole Tory party is conspiring to make the rich richer they still need an educated population to do so?

Or, cheap labour?

Also, it isn't the politicians that create and implement new systems and procedures. These are created by teaching professionals surely?

Nope, much of the workload is created in response to government initiatives/changes and in response to Ofsted.

What the teaching profession really needs is for more people to slag it off based on half-remembered tabloid newspaper articles and the pronouncements of Michael Gove. That'll sort it.

All the teachers I know work their arses off and most are considering quitting because of all the nonsense they have to put up with. They do love to moan though!

Government ruse? Surely even Gove doesn't want to deliberately wreck the education system? Even if the whole Tory party is conspiring to make the rich richer they still need an educated population to do so?

so his latest thing of getting year 9 kids in state schools to do the private sector common entrance exam isnt being done to make the private schools look good? Lets enter state school kids in a test for which they cannot acieve the prize.
Oh and Goves(and any other Edu Sec to be fair) changes do directly increase my work load.

in response to Ofsted.

Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. We report directly to Parliament and we are independent and impartial. We inspect and regulate services which care for children and young people, and those providing education and skills for learners of all ages.

So it's apolitical.

Also maybe your salary and number of weeks of holiday a year?

All the teachers I know work their arses off and most are considering quitting because of all the nonsense they have to put up with.

Working your arse off is very subjective isn't it?
Quitting because someone is trying to measure their effectiveness in their job?

Closer to £100k Gross and 16 weeks holiday a year

So what is you problem then? You get paid more and work less then them.

Ofsted do not force through changes to exams content and timing that directly comes from Gove. But if you think ofsted is apolitical you are either very uninformed, hoplessly nieve or just daft.

work less then them.

No. I have more annual leave than them. Not quite the same.

Besides I'm not bleating or am I employed by the state.

As a UK citizen I reserve my right to criticise our public servants.

But if you think ofsted is apolitical you are either very uninformed, hoplessly nieve or just daft.

Possibly all 3.

Serious question - Does the executive component of OFSTED completely change when the government changes? Wasn't it created by Labour?

Do you not see the news. Gove just failed to re-new the contract of the chief of Ofsted (labour one coincidently)and stuck a Tory one in power instead!

Outrageous!

Besides I'm not bleating

Really?

I'm assuming this has been mentioned already but wasn't there a study out recently saying primary teachers work 60 hours a week on average? I'd call that working your arse off personally and if you don't maybe you just have a crap job? 😛

Serious question - Does the executive component of OFSTED completely change when the government changes? Wasn't it created by Labour?

No, and also no.

Prior to 1992, schools were inspected by Local Education Authority (LEA)-employed inspectors. However, this system fell into disrepute because of inconsistent standards across the country and concerns about the independence of inspectors of local chief education officers and councillors.

The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) was formed under the Education (Schools) Act 1992, as part of the major overhaul and centralisation of the school system begun by the Education Reform Act 1988, which introduced the National Curriculum, extensive testing in schools and the publication of league tables. [b]The impetus to form Ofsted also came partially from the perceived unwillingness of left-leaning LEAs and inspectors to implement elements of the Conservative government's agenda.[/b]

You may be thinking of the bit where labour in 1997 expanded the remit of ofsted to include social care etc.

I'm assuming this has been mentioned already but wasn't there a study out recently saying primary teachers work 60 hours a week on average? I'd call that working your arse off personally and if you don't maybe you just have a crap job?

I frequently work more than 60 hours a week so my job must be crap! 🙂

I find that 60hr average very hard to believe. If that's the average then there must be a lot working far in excess of that. Link to the study?

Government ruse? Surely even Gove doesn't want to deliberately wreck the education system? Even if the whole Tory party is conspiring to make the rich richer they still need an educated population to do so?

New minister gets in every 5 years, wants to stamp his/her individuality on it to be remembered for posterity, so moves the goalposts. 5 years later the same happens. Unfortunately, if this happens every time we get a new government then there is no continuity, teachers get frustrated and the pupils get confused.
Not a problem reserved to Tory governments, but Gove is particularly bad at handing out ill-thought through missives.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/feb/28/primary-school-teachers-work-60-hour-week

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-workload-diary-survey-2013

I frequently work more than 60 hours a week so my job must be crap!

Sounds rubbish to me. 😐

Can I just say a huge thank you to everyone here who isn't a teacher and has been positive about standing up for us.

I've come back to this thread thinking it would be people being very negative and verbally bashing us, and actually it seems to be a minority of misinformed individuals being negative and seems like there is a large number of people recognising that there are a lot of political reasons and media slurs that have caused a bit of "bleating" to happen in the last couple of years.

So thanks for this, made my day... (alongside Winston Dog's claiming to earn twice what a head teacher does (200k+ then) with 20 weeks off a year when he left school with no qualifications)

Anyone read this?

[img] [/img]

Winston,

Funny you find it hard to believe when you have multiple sources above talking about their partners and the long hours (evenings and weekends) that they have witnessed them working... those posts aren't coming from teachers, they are coming from people who have witnessed first hand other people putting in long hours.

I find that 60hr average very hard to believe. If that's the average then there must be a lot working far in excess of that. Link to the study?

you seem to be implying that there will be a corresponding number of teachers who despite physically standing in front of and being directly responsible for a class of 30 small children for 28-30 hours a week manage to do the following in significantly [i]less[/i] than the other 30 hours:
planning
marking
meeting/phoning parents (30 sets of parents, remember?)
supervising student teachers
supervising/'line managing' TA's ( i am aware that there is a better expression for this in teaching but i forget what it is.)
supervising playtimes/wet play lunchtimes
appraisals/managment
professional development
mandatory training
safegaurding children supervision/followup
schoool plays
fundraisers/fayres etc.

Seems pretty realistic to me!

 

So thanks for this, made my day... (alongside Winston Dog's claiming to earn twice what a head teacher does (200k+ then) with 20 weeks off a year when he left school with no qualifications)

I corrected myself on this. Assumed heads were on about 50k, thinking more head of dept really.

£100k a year and 16 weeks leave. Left school at 16 with 1 O level and 2 CSE's.

Another arrogant bleating teacher.

I will apologise for my bitterness but as I said earlier I had some terrible teachers. No attempt at career guidance, no attempt to engage with me.

Now if you knew a "lively" 11 yr old, not perfect but not a "bad'un", that lost their father in the space of 2 weeks, who then started acting a lot more disruptive, how would you handle it?

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/feb/28/primary-school-teachers-work-60-hour-week

That survey data is collected by asking them what they worked. There is no actual checking. Even in the article it says that the ones who had worked the most hours would be more likely to respond.

Now that has to be flawed! If you are one of the hard core bleaters then you could easily exaggerate your hours.

Another arrogant bleating teacher.

You're the one boasting about how much you earn and how much leave you get. Don't get why you're still so bitter though.

The survey isn't perfect but it's better evidence than you're presenting (ie none). FWIW my friend reckons she works about 50 hours a week on average.

Don't feed the trolls

Now if you knew a "lively" 11 yr old, not perfect but not a "bad'un", that lost their father in the space of 2 weeks, who then started acting a lot more disruptive, how would you handle it?

I would handle it as I have done many times before, by abandoning my normal workload for a while to talk to the student, the students family, head of year and tutor before discussing, at length, what strategies to put in place. Once that was done I would ensure strategies were being used and monitor progress over the following weeks/months/years. At some point, probably later that evening/week/term I'd make up the hours because I still need to plan, mark, train teachers etc.

A lot of schools have about 800-1000 students, do you think you're at all unique in having a bad time? There are a LOT of students out there having a much, much worse time & many of those are in very good schools.

For the record "bad-un" is crap. There are only people.

Another arrogant bleating teacher

[img] [/img]

If you're not a troll you have major unresolved issues regarding your schooling.

You had some shit teachers. Move on.

We have 2000 students, and I teach around a hundred of them. Most years, we deal with deaths of parents, deaths of other students, being made homeless, psychological issues, drink and drug problems.

You're the one boasting about how much you earn and how much leave you get. Don't get why you're still so bitter though.

That was in response to an arrogant, sarcastic remark from a teacher, when I initially mention the crappy education I had received.

That survey is ridiculous. So a survey commissioned by your employer, to find out how many hours you work, so this can be addressed, by either making your job easier or pay you more money. There is no audit or cross check to your response and I would guess it was anonymous. So are you going to make sure you get the message across by probably putting the hours for a "one off" week as if it was normal?

FWIW my friend reckons she works about 50 hours a week on average.

That's not a lot for a professional person. Considering a lot of that will include the extra curricula stuff, sport, plays etc. Not exactly graft is it? Add in the generous leave and it's not too bad at all.