Work expected before contract starts

pinkshoes

I retrained as a teacher, and start my new job in September. Yay!

A few of my friends managed to get jobs that started in the last 2 weeks of the summer term, and are getting paid over the summer (pah!), but unfortunately, that wasn't the case for me.

I have already given up a few days of my free time for induction days and training courses, which was fine.

I have now been paired up with other teachers to write lessons for the following year to update schemes of work, and have received an email from one of the teachers stating which lessons I need to write.

I have 3 lots to do, which will equate to about 6 days work for me if I do them properly.

I pointed out (politely) that my contract doesn't start until September, I'm not paid until September, so any free time I get this summer will be spent doing paid work. The reply I got was that I should pay for childcare to get it done, as that's what he's done.

The thing is, I am already paying for childcare 3 days a week, as otherwise I'd lose my nursery place. In those 3 days, I have a 10 week old puppy to train, a kitchen and house to renovate, a wedding to plan (!) and my own lessons to plan.

I really really do not have any free time, so I said it might just have to wait until the start of term, to which I got the reply that the first month or two of term is usually manic, so I won't have time (which is true - my first term is expected to be crazy!!)

I feel backed into a corner, and if I don't do it unpaid in my holidays, I'll never have time to do it, then will get off on a bad start with the department.

It's not the fault of the guy doing the other half of the work, as he didn't put my name down to do it, and it's not fair he should then have to do the whole lot, but I also don't think it's at all fair to even ask me to do this, when I haven't even had my contract yet!

What would anyone else do? Am I right to feel annoyed?

Kayalana99

On one hand, I am guessing this guy is getting paid during term time - so I would basicly say you shouldn't have to do anything for free...

On other hand...your basicly saying you'd do it in september when you was getting paid..so you'd basicly end up doing it anyway?

So either way thiers no way out of it? As come sept it would just be extra work load?

alba7

Hi pinkshoes

Congratulations on the new job!

Although I do understand where you're coming from regarding the working for free, it is going to be so much easier to get this work done now. Once you start teaching, you're going to have more than enough to do just keeping the daily paperwork updated (I work as a teacher, so I know what it's like).

Look at it as getting yourself organised well in advance. I'm spending a large part of the holidays preparing and updating my resources ready for the new school year. I also did this the summer before my teaching career started, when I wasn't being paid, because there is so much to do.

Please don't leave it until the last minute - you will be snowed under!

Best wishes

alba7

pinkshoes

Kayalana99 wrote: »

On one hand, I am guessing this guy is getting paid during term time - so I would basicly say you shouldn't have to do anything for free...

On other hand...your basicly saying you'd do it in september when you was getting paid..so you'd basicly end up doing it anyway?

So either way thiers no way out of it? As come sept it would just be extra work load?

This is pretty much it!

The work was planned to be done over the summer holidays, and NOT during term time, which is why I'm somewhat miffed they've put me down to do them given my contract starts in September.

(as some of the topics start in week 1, so some of them actually need to be complete before my contract would start!)

They had the option to employ me for the last two weeks of term and over summer, which they didn't do... (then I would have had no issue doing it!).

It is just making me feel resentful that they're taking the p*ss!

I am already paying for childcare for my son, and in this time I'd allowed plenty of time to plan MY lessons for the first few weeks of term, along with doing some paid contracting work.

If I give up the paid contracting work, I'll lose out on £200/day

Oh well, looks like I'll just have to do it anyway and hope they're grateful for my efforts!

harrys_dad

Was this discussed when you were appointed? Is it a Primary or Secondary School? Are you a newly qualified teacher?

pinkshoes

harrys_dad wrote: »

Was this discussed when you were appointed? Is it a Primary or Secondary School? Are you a newly qualified teacher?

It was not discussed when I was appointed. I found out on an induction day!

If I'd been told when they appointed me back in February/March, I would have planned my summer accordingly with plenty of time to get it done!

It's secondary school, and yes, I'm an NQT!

harrys_dad

Well then in my view you are not being treated appropriately as an NQT. it may be that you are being asked to do things by your Head of Department that have not been agreed by your Induction Tutor. It is unrealistic to expect a prospective NQT to take a full role in developing new schemes of work without any teaching experience whatsoever, except teaching practice.

I suggest contacting your school based induction tutor and see what they say. I understand that you do not want to get off on the wrong foot with your HoD but you need to have a discussion.

nimbo

harrys_dad wrote: »

Well then in my view you are not being treated appropriately as an NQT. it may be that you are being asked to do things by your Head of Department that have not been agreed by your Induction Tutor. It is unrealistic to expect a prospective NQT to take a full role in developing new schemes of work without any teaching experience whatsoever, except teaching practice.

I suggest contacting your school based induction tutor and see what they say. I understand that you do not want to get off on the wrong foot with your HoD but you need to have a discussion.

as an NQT the OP will have had to teach before, and as such will have had to have experience in planning sessions. I am not a qualified teacher, and developed and delivered a twelve week programme to young people on health and well being as part of my university degree (my point is it can be time consuming, but it's not rocket science if you have the required outcomes). If the school hadn't thought they were capable they wouldn't have appointed the OP.

How were your school placements organized? On my third year placement I will be expected to do the of a qualified work by the end of the placement - with supervision. Although supervisions sessions are a requirement for the profession any way...

Yes it is extra hours over the summer. HOWEVER it can be difficult to get jobs straight out of university... When doing your degree you would have spoken to teacher who all will have bemoaned the 60 hour weeks, the late nights at parents evening, and the mountains of work, and display boards that need attention over the holidays.... Planning will need to be done in your own time all year round - PPA is not enough to get it all done in.

My sister after 5 years of temprary teaching work has just managed to get her first permament teching job - she has gone from a contract that ended with the term (her only year contract to end at the end of term rather then the end of summer) and has had to spend 4 days setting up her classroom, and will have several weeks planning to get through over the summer...

It's naive to think that you will walk into a class room and have all of your planning done for you (not even substitute teacher get this nowadays). (More importantly - would you want someone else to do the planning for you - the one lesson I delivered that someone else planned wasn't how I would have done it, and as such I found it difficult to engage the students in the tasks I was setting - not that it wasn't good planning it just wasn't relate-able to me)...

Yes it's a pain that others have jobs that are paying them over the summer - however was this job advertised as a September start? If so it's kind of expected that you would need to find other work, or not and be skint...

What date do the kids start back in September? You could squeeze the planning in to the first few days - but if it needs resources to be sourced, or made or needs altering you run the risk of looking under prepared (less likely with secondary school kids than reception classes though I suppose), and not caring....

I don't honestly believe that you had no idea of how much work teachers put in over the summer (and other holidays, and evenings, and weekends)...

If you honestly didn't, I recommend reading the TES forums. They are very informative.

harrys_dad

You have misunderstood my comment entirely Nimbo, and there is a clear difference between "planning lessons" and "writing schemes of work". I know full well how hard teachers work, both within "directed time" and out of school. I was a teacher my whole working life, and all of it before "PPA".

duchy

I can kind of understand the HoD's attitude TBH.

Children do usually sleep so lesson planning can be done in the evenings -and puppy training and wedding planning are optional activities when all is said and done ...and wedding planning is hardly a big thing timewise and can be managed - and even if it is an OTT wedding the groom could get more involved if you are short on time.

I think you are risking as coming across as a bit precious and uncommitted TBH. It's one summer out of a whole career -and a career where good QTS positions aren't ten a penny either.

nimbo

harrys_dad wrote: »

You have misunderstood my comment entirely Nimbo, and there is a clear difference between "planning lessons" and "writing schemes of work". I know full well how hard teachers work, both within "directed time" and out of school. I was a teacher my whole working life, and all of it before "PPA".

I hadn't misunderstood - I'm thinking the OP sounds to be unrealistic....

Yes it is their time - but teaching is one profession where there is 'homework' not just for the students... They've already stated that it's only around six days of work...

Updating schemes of work isn't the same as writing them. Yes it will be hard, but I honestly think it is naive to think that they would be able to walk in, and have all of this handed to them. Even in my training (social work) I have come into contact with teachers, and all they talk about is the hours they work... I can't imagine that teachers in staff rooms where placements were didn't touch on the subject. For example I understand that I will have a mountain of paperwork, and will as standard be working 55 hour weeks. If I work less, then this will be a happy surprise.