wwyd - i am so stressed out i feel ill. (teachers esp but anyone sympathetic!)

If you don't get a satisfactory answer I'd definitely be calling in the union. There is no way in hell a HoD with 8 years under their belt at the school should be earning less than a year 2! I have a little bit of experience of union stuff. If you want to rant a bit, you can e-mail me or MSN me on ***********@****.**.**

Thanks! I may well take you up on that!!! I mean my MPS grade is higher than the newish teacher, but she's on a higher supplementary allowance for her role which is feck all work compared to mine- is that called TLR or something in the UK - not sure how it works. Anyway - I probably have more actual money than her each month, but only cos of being on the MPS which you move up each year. They gave SA points out like sweeties to all the senior management for the MOST ridiculous thing -

"oh, here David, you can be in charge of, errr - oooh - FLAGS - have a SA3 for asking the caretaker to put the right flag up"

"Why thanks Bob, i will, and while we're at it, let's give Geoff an SA2 for taking care of what pictures are hanging on the walls - he can shuffle them about ever 2-3 years and feel like he's really earning that extra £5k per year"

"oh, hi mary - can you just create some really random paperwork for everyone to do? There's an nice fat wad in it for you - make all the HOD's jump through pointless admin hoops!"

"Gee that head of theatre studies hasn't had a weekend off in 4 months - just as well we pay her *** all - it's not as if she has any time to hit the shops anyway!!"

Maybe i will just write the play instead!!

I would agree with contacting your union. I had similar last year when I took over the role of acting assistant head at a primary school in special measures where I was doing every job going, and discovered that I was on less money than 2 other teachers - my then head tried to get something done about it and got the comment, 'well she knew what the salary was when she took the job'.

So when someone else was appointed assistant head ( and I know he negotiated his salary), I was offered SENCo and Y1/2 teacher, initially 3K less than I had been on prior to being an assistant head which was only £500 more than I had been on as a teacher. I was then offered 4K more than I had been on as an assistant head, including SEN allowance. I was a bit sceptical and asked 3 people to break down the figures for me: the head, the bursar and a County Consultant who was spending quite a lot of time in school. Her comment was 'if they can afford that, then I'll come and work here'.

Fast forward to October and when my contract finally arrives after much chasing, my salary is suddenly a whopping 7K less than I had been told - the bursar apparently had made a cockup, the head told me that it was on-costs and counter offered a package that was 2K less than I had been on.

I contacted my union because I am UPS3 which I understood was protected salary - they were fab and took the school and then county to task. They argued that I would not have accepted the job knowing that I would be paid what amounted to 4K less than the salary I could earn as a teacher and that I had been misrepresented.

Have to say the head was good though - she told county to get on with it, she didn't want it to ruin our working relationship.

Upshot is, I got my salary - so would recommend that even if you just sound them out for now, you will at least be in possession of a few facts should things come to a head after Thursday's meeting.

Hope it all works out for you ?

Hi

you HAVE to go to your union and I presume you're in one. I have had something similar in as much as injustice over pay etc. My big big mistake was that i waited too long, wondering what to do. To cut a very long story short i have ended up stressed, poorly and off work but am due back this week. My issues haven't been resolved but i have to admit that involving the union who were very supportive has at least made me feel a little better. my situation hasn't changed and won't but i would really advise you to contact your union rep / steward as soon as possible. Don't leave it too late like i did xx

hope this helps as little and i have seen that others have given their advice also.

I could be completely wrong, but the pay structure and system in private ed works completely differently to the state system. I am not sure what the union will be able to advise. As far as i know, in private they can pretty much pay you what they like. They dont have to adhere to the teachers pay structure. I would imagine that this is why you are having this problem now.

God, Hubble, no wonder you're stressed! Not got much advice except to say what the others say - contact your union!

I worked in theatre for years, mostly voluntary but also paid, and I know only too well the hours that can vanish, even when you think you're done for the day! You always the first to arrive and the last to leave. I almost went to the RSAMD to study Theatre Management but backed out at the last moment as I realised my life would end up being one big graft, and all for buttons!

It sounds like you're doing an amazing job and the school would be absolute fools to lose you. Good luck. You can add me on Facebook (Jenni Regan) if you feel the need to explode at someone.

I'm really sorry this is happening. It seems to be par for the course in all kinds of schools that the drama dept (you, in this case) put in crazy extra hours for no recompense. But at least in a maintained school you know where you are on the pay scale, and that the dear old "John Wayne" contract means you are going into it with your eyes open; you are paid for the job, no matter how many hours it takes, so "overtime" as a concept doesn't exist.

In the independent sector... well, I guess it's market forces, isn't it? There are more drama teachers than there are posts to go to. They can probably afford to pay you less, safe in the knowledge that someone else will come along and do it. They can't necessarily do that with Maths or Science or even English teachers these days. Hopefully they will realise what a good thing they've got with you, and pay you properly for the job you've been doing. Good luck!

Hubble, I've been reading your posts back and I think you're really quite funny! I know your working situation is not a laughing matter, but the way you've written it down, it's humorous yet still conveys your frustration and 'raaaaaaargh'-ness. ? I hope you don't mind me saying so! Maybe you should write that play after all.

x

Not a teacher, but sympathetic ?

Youare clearly doing a fantastic job and they would be mad not to pay you what you are requesting. Can you try and approach things one day at a time, for your own sanity - e.g. who knows what might happen with the new head - they could just as easily be a big 'fan' of drama.

Good luck!

You're being paid less than the MAN who did the job before you, for the same work? Ask them in what way this isn't blatant sex discrimination.

Good luck!

Schools are notorious breeding grounds for stress and sucking the life out of you. The more you do, the more they expect you to do. Because of stress and overload I ended up turning my back on the teaching profession....tough call but the best thing i ever did....I've now got a life.

Some excellent advise here....contact your union.

I'd also seriously consider work to rule - do your hours and stuff all the extracurricular stuff until the pay situation is resolved. And I don't buy the argument that the children will suffer - I'm sure they might a bit, but there's no point being a martyr.

Thank you all so so much for your wise and supportive words. I am always one to make a drama out of a crisis - glad you can also find the humour in it - if i didn't i'd have cracked into smithereens many years ago!!

Hay - I am probably going to end up in similar shoes but i send you all good wishes for your start back. x I honestly think i have a stomach ulcer - i am going to see my GP as soon as i get a chance as well.

My in-school union rep is a big overpaid lazy fucktard himself - but i will try to catch him tomorrow before i have good / bad news if i can - i expect the answer will be "a lemon" but you never know. I am with NASUWT - i wonder if the W bit will come into force given the potential sexism in this - although i don't think that would stick given the odd circumstances around how the former fat maths nob came to hold a paid post for that role - but it's def worth slinging that mud bucket anyway just in case it holds any cred. Shall i play a race card as well? I am jewish - surely that has some bearing as the Head is feircly catholic (joke)

So yeah - i don't know if i will discover any news tomorrow or not and i don't know how i will respond to any negative news either.

[idea ]Does anyone have any killer exit lines for basically saying that "I wil now be plotting my next move with Bond Villain precision and you will rue the day you bastards ahahahahahahh" Something that leaves them quaking in their Clarkes shoes and requires the EastEnders theme tune to kick in the moment i leave the room....???

I will update in due course.

Thanks again massively. xxxxxx

Yes - that'll be the MAN who could do the MATHS but presumably didn't have your Drama qualifications? Def get in touch with the union - and do you have to belong to the GTC? Maybe it's time to make them earn their money?

AS for other jobs in the vicinity, I think maybe you need to reassess and think about the pros and cons overall. Could ANYTHING be worse than where you are, where you're overworked, underpaid, undervalued and under so much stress you know you're making yourself ill? Regardless of the outcome I'd want out of there. (This coming from someone who left a school she loved because a child spat at her and wasn't dealt with - the small things that show the regard we're held in by The PowersThat Be are IMPORTANT!)

Luck and love to you xxx

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare Hubble, sorry to hear you're being so badly treated. Unfortunately it seems from what i hear from my friends who teach that morale in a lot of schools is pretty low and you guys are at the bottom of the pile when it comes to payrises. The wife of a friend of ours actually got out of teaching altogether and went into something totally different as she just had enough of being treated appallingly by pupils and getting no back up from the school. The huge amount of notice she had to give was a pain but she got through it and left. I don't know but I think there was quite a pay drop to get out but the difference in her over this past year has been amazing.

I really hope the governors take you seriously and do something proactive to address your valid issues. Have you thought about speaking to JCAS to see if they have any useful advice?

I bet the summer break can't come quickly enough for you eh! ?

Thanks Dooby. I have been so tempted to jack in teaching in the past but now that we have a child, it's the perfect career in so many ways as i don't have to stress about childcare in the holidays like most working parents do - so i feel very trapped in this job in lots of ways. That will probably deserve some flaming, but the holidays ARE so worthwhile in lots of ways. No one would teach if it was a 50 week / year job. NO-one, i don't care what they say! The prob with the fee paying schools here is they are literally a total law unto themselves when it suits them. Most of the time this is a good thing, but not in this case clearly. I don't think i am going to get another bean out of them no matter what i say or do - so basically i just need to work out how to turn the other cheek. I will certainly keep my options open though with regards to another school - but lets see what happens after the new head starts in 2010. IF i can stand the humiliation that long. In fairness though, the students are the LEAST of my problems. The teaching side is all fine on the whole - it's the other bullshit that spoils it.

After 8 years you should be on the UPS by now. Have you applied for Threshold? Does it even work the same way in independents? I'm in my sixth year and just completed my Threshold application.

They're also deserved. This might put that into perspective. It sounds like you're working a lot more hours than this, too.

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 I arrive at school at 7.30 and leave at 4.15. I have a break of 15 minutes and lunch of about half an hour, so 'working' hours in school are 8 hours. I generally do an hour or two in the evenings and 2-3 hours on a Sunday afternoon, so my weekly hours would be 47-ish. That's for 39 weeks as we have 13 weeks holiday, making it 1833 hours a year.. I have previously worked it out that I spend roughly 1/3 of the holidays working. If I'm honest that's probably 4 hours a day, and that works out at 87 hours a year. I can also do up to six 2 hour parents evenings, three 1 hour presentation evenings and two 3 hour open evenings each year. Altogether that's 1941 hours a year, so an average over 52 weeks of just over 37.

If that was to be worked out over 47 weeks, taking into consideration something more like the average 20 days hol + bank holidays, it's just over 41.

Incidentally, I worked that out when I was on a lower salary and had less responsibility. I work LESS hours now, probably five hours less a week during term time. The system sucks really.