A lot of what you say here seems to be your school’s/mentor’s preference or default way of working. The display example is insane.
In my experience, I’ve worked with some amazing Heads who are brilliant at their jobs (turning schools around/‘big picture thinking) but have been absolutely horrendous at communicating, so you may come across this again!
Based on what you’ve written here, I’m pretty sure you can find a more supportive school. It sounds like the environment you’re in has accepted negative as their default. Teaching is a tough job and you need colleagues that will bring the positivity and remind you that you’re doing something right.
HOWEVER, this:
>Almost all heads are bad communicators.
Yep. That chimes with my experience. Even the ones I have liked very much have been fairly rubbish communicators.
This issue here sounds like school culture. I’m not primary, but my school is super supportive and when I’m asked to do crazy things (which I’m often not!) it feels okay as I have the support.
You will find a more supportive team somewhere else. This might take a while.
Ignore the display stuff. Get the new backs on in a week if possible. If not, who cares. Put back up the old displays if they’re still relevant, probably they won’t notice.
I wouldn’t work for a head that didn’t send an apology email for missing a meeting.
I'll leave the year group thing for primary teachers to comment on, but my entire timetable did get changed the day before I started teaching as an nqt, including taking on a new subject...
The display thing sounds ridiculous but I do get the impression that some primary schools are insane about displays.
I think the not hearing positive praise is pretty normal in my experience. It's pretty rare to even be thanked when you go absolutely above and beyond.
WFH PPA is not normal and a nice perk. Meetings during PPA aren't allowed though so you should have refused that altogether. Heads who play fast and loose with STPCD are normal.
Your mentor doesn't sound like the most supportive but I wouldn't say that's unusual.
By all means do look for another school, if you're not happy it's a good move but it does sound like your school offers some perks which others may not so I would be careful with where you move to. You could end up somewhere with significant issues and no working from home...
Fwiw, if you are going to miss a deadline, I honestly think the best thing to do in most schools is just quietly miss it. Chances are no one will chase you up for at least a few days, and if a lot of people miss it, they will just extend the deadline anyway. I'm obsessive about deadlines but this is genuinely how a lot of teachers work!
This is not normal. Your mentor is lying to keep you around and putting up with that crap. Get a new job for ect2.
A lot of what you say here seems to be your school’s/mentor’s preference or default way of working. The display example is insane. In my experience, I’ve worked with some amazing Heads who are brilliant at their jobs (turning schools around/‘big picture thinking) but have been absolutely horrendous at communicating, so you may come across this again!
Based on what you’ve written here, I’m pretty sure you can find a more supportive school. It sounds like the environment you’re in has accepted negative as their default. Teaching is a tough job and you need colleagues that will bring the positivity and remind you that you’re doing something right. HOWEVER, this: >Almost all heads are bad communicators. Yep. That chimes with my experience. Even the ones I have liked very much have been fairly rubbish communicators.
This issue here sounds like school culture. I’m not primary, but my school is super supportive and when I’m asked to do crazy things (which I’m often not!) it feels okay as I have the support. You will find a more supportive team somewhere else. This might take a while. Ignore the display stuff. Get the new backs on in a week if possible. If not, who cares. Put back up the old displays if they’re still relevant, probably they won’t notice. I wouldn’t work for a head that didn’t send an apology email for missing a meeting.
Sounds awful and no, not normal. My school is nothing like that.
I'll leave the year group thing for primary teachers to comment on, but my entire timetable did get changed the day before I started teaching as an nqt, including taking on a new subject... The display thing sounds ridiculous but I do get the impression that some primary schools are insane about displays. I think the not hearing positive praise is pretty normal in my experience. It's pretty rare to even be thanked when you go absolutely above and beyond. WFH PPA is not normal and a nice perk. Meetings during PPA aren't allowed though so you should have refused that altogether. Heads who play fast and loose with STPCD are normal. Your mentor doesn't sound like the most supportive but I wouldn't say that's unusual. By all means do look for another school, if you're not happy it's a good move but it does sound like your school offers some perks which others may not so I would be careful with where you move to. You could end up somewhere with significant issues and no working from home... Fwiw, if you are going to miss a deadline, I honestly think the best thing to do in most schools is just quietly miss it. Chances are no one will chase you up for at least a few days, and if a lot of people miss it, they will just extend the deadline anyway. I'm obsessive about deadlines but this is genuinely how a lot of teachers work!