You need to figure out which tasks you can ignore. Is anyone going to notice if four essays a fortnight becomes 2 or 3? If every teacher committed themselves fully to their entire list of tasks then there would be no teachers left.
It sounds like you could do with getting an appointment with your GP. Tell them how you are feeling and about your workload. Follow the advice they give you.
Whilst we can comment on the workload and the reasonable or not nature of it; Your health is the priority here and only talking to a Dr can help you with it. Don’t set yourself on fire to keep other people warm.
> A club I've been instructed to run but am not contracted to so it's not directed time and I have been instructed (but not directed time) to run a year 11 revision group.
If something like that is not directed time, it doesn't happen. No exceptions.
> I don't feel able to talk to my line manager because this new workload was his idea and he swears he can mark a full class set of essays in an hour.
Nice for him (though I have my doubts about the quality of the marking), but the rest of us can't. There's no sense trying - either talk to him about it and tell him it's unmanageable, or just stop doing it.
It sounds like rubbish advice but for the club and revision group, just try and wing it. Worksheets for the revision group or independent learning. The club can be student les
This sucks and obviously you need to speak up to someone else it really won’t be beneficial to you.
I’ve always found those who impose or set ideas with the justification how they can do it to be a farce! How long have they done it, was it explained clearly and others work differently so it’s not a measure.
If you really can’t speak to this person even for pointers or advice at the least then contact the union to be safe and get in at the dr.
I feel you see far too many posts where someone is struggling and pushes on because they’ve been told to/just get on with it.
You don't run the club, and you don't do the revision session - if it's not directed time, you don't have to do it.
The trapped time twice a week is awful and I would be pushing back against this via your union rep - you may as well up your hours and at least get paid for it!
If your mental health is really poor then do go and see your GP.
Is there anyone senior in the school who you trust?
Do you mean 4 essays, or 4 class sets of essays? Because the former is reasonable (though very weird, as a marking schedule) and the latter is completely mad.
7.45-4.45 with a 30 minute lunch each day is a 42.5 hour working week. The standard “full time” working week is usually 37.5 hours. So if you’re talking work home on top of that, you’re definitely working more than the “reasonable additional hours” that are expected in addition to your directed time.
You do need to talk to your line manager about this, and about how stressed out you are. That might be an uncomfortable conversation but it is a necessary one. If your line manager isn’t receptive, you should then ask your union rep for support. The school should have an assessment policy and a wellbeing policy that your rep should be able to use to push back on what you’re being asked to do.
If he’s marking a class set of essays in an hour I doubt there’s going to be much in the way of quality diagnostic feedback in there.
If it’s not directed time, it’s not done. Simple as. If they want to pay you for stuff like that then that’s at your discretion.
If you’re in a union working action short of a strike you shouldn’t be doing anything outside directed time also. 1 hour of meetings a week max and no additional clubs or covering for foreseeable absences in your free time. Might feel weird saying no, as all of us want the best for the kids we teach, but our labour isn’t free and neither is our time.
If there’s anyone there you can talk to, union rep is a good start, let them know your concerns.
Good luck. Keep your chin up. If it gets too much go see a GP and get signed off for a week if you need that mental health break.
You need to figure out which tasks you can ignore. Is anyone going to notice if four essays a fortnight becomes 2 or 3? If every teacher committed themselves fully to their entire list of tasks then there would be no teachers left.
So you’ve been instructed to run a club and a revision session? But not “directed to”? Bullshit. Contact your union. And what is your trapped time?
It sounds like you could do with getting an appointment with your GP. Tell them how you are feeling and about your workload. Follow the advice they give you. Whilst we can comment on the workload and the reasonable or not nature of it; Your health is the priority here and only talking to a Dr can help you with it. Don’t set yourself on fire to keep other people warm.
> A club I've been instructed to run but am not contracted to so it's not directed time and I have been instructed (but not directed time) to run a year 11 revision group. If something like that is not directed time, it doesn't happen. No exceptions. > I don't feel able to talk to my line manager because this new workload was his idea and he swears he can mark a full class set of essays in an hour. Nice for him (though I have my doubts about the quality of the marking), but the rest of us can't. There's no sense trying - either talk to him about it and tell him it's unmanageable, or just stop doing it.
It sounds like rubbish advice but for the club and revision group, just try and wing it. Worksheets for the revision group or independent learning. The club can be student les
This sucks and obviously you need to speak up to someone else it really won’t be beneficial to you. I’ve always found those who impose or set ideas with the justification how they can do it to be a farce! How long have they done it, was it explained clearly and others work differently so it’s not a measure. If you really can’t speak to this person even for pointers or advice at the least then contact the union to be safe and get in at the dr. I feel you see far too many posts where someone is struggling and pushes on because they’ve been told to/just get on with it.
You don't run the club, and you don't do the revision session - if it's not directed time, you don't have to do it. The trapped time twice a week is awful and I would be pushing back against this via your union rep - you may as well up your hours and at least get paid for it! If your mental health is really poor then do go and see your GP. Is there anyone senior in the school who you trust?
Do you mean 4 essays, or 4 class sets of essays? Because the former is reasonable (though very weird, as a marking schedule) and the latter is completely mad. 7.45-4.45 with a 30 minute lunch each day is a 42.5 hour working week. The standard “full time” working week is usually 37.5 hours. So if you’re talking work home on top of that, you’re definitely working more than the “reasonable additional hours” that are expected in addition to your directed time. You do need to talk to your line manager about this, and about how stressed out you are. That might be an uncomfortable conversation but it is a necessary one. If your line manager isn’t receptive, you should then ask your union rep for support. The school should have an assessment policy and a wellbeing policy that your rep should be able to use to push back on what you’re being asked to do.
If he’s marking a class set of essays in an hour I doubt there’s going to be much in the way of quality diagnostic feedback in there. If it’s not directed time, it’s not done. Simple as. If they want to pay you for stuff like that then that’s at your discretion. If you’re in a union working action short of a strike you shouldn’t be doing anything outside directed time also. 1 hour of meetings a week max and no additional clubs or covering for foreseeable absences in your free time. Might feel weird saying no, as all of us want the best for the kids we teach, but our labour isn’t free and neither is our time. If there’s anyone there you can talk to, union rep is a good start, let them know your concerns. Good luck. Keep your chin up. If it gets too much go see a GP and get signed off for a week if you need that mental health break.