Total disrespect

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Stiggy
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Feb 2022 16 08:48

Total disrespect

Sorry in advance but I need to rant before I explode and do something I regret later.

It started on Wednesday last week when I was asked by a parent about a PTA event being held in one of our classrooms on Saturday afternoon, she wanted to know what time I would be opening up for people to get in, I knew absolutely nothing of this event so asked my HT about it and was told I don't need to know about it as she would be opening and closing for the event, this annoyed me because I live on site right by the gate so everyone coming and going disturbs me and really winds the dogs up, I decided not to let this worry me too much and went back out to close the gates once the kids were all in and drop off was finished, as I was locking the gates a PTA member came up and put a poster up on the gate to advertise a quiz night in the school hall in 2 weeks time on a Saturday evening, again I knew nothing of this and started to get very annoyed but asked the PTA member (who was surprised I wasn't aware) to add my email to the chain so know what's being planned and organised, she agreed and I got on with my day, Thursday came and went without fuss and I pretty much forgot about my annoyances of Wednesday, Friday I woke up feeling great and positive (a rare occurance over autumn and winter) I came out as usual to open up at 7 and as usual the breakfast club staff were waiting for me, whilst I was opening the decided to gloat about how happy they were that they wouldn't need to lock all their stuff away over the holiday, this puzzled me as we always have holiday club in there, apparently they had been told that holiday club was being moved into the hall and 2 classrooms of the main building, this was news to me and I thought they must have misunderstood something they'd overheard so I went and asked my HT about it and she said she knew nothing about it but thought it is a good idea, this increased my bad mood, then our executive head walked through the hall and we asked him, to which we were told it was happening, they only need to access the hall and 2 classrooms but he couldn't recall if it was this half term or from the Easter end of term but would let me know that morning, so I spent all morning waiting for him to let me know with my mood getting worse and worse, I heard nothing from him all day.
Saturday came and the school alarm started sounding and I get the call from the monitoring station as I'm heading out to look at what caused it, what a surprise the HT had set the alarm of by using the wrong door to gain entry, so her telling me I didn't need to know about the event because she was opening up was absolute BS, so I went back home still unaware of what was going to happen with the holiday club on Monday,
Monday morning comes and I've still not heard anything so when holiday club arrive I set them up in the usual building where they are totally self contained, I give them the keys and cleaners alarm code for that building, give them my phone number and leave them to it, an hour later my other half calls me because someone from the club has knocked on my door to complain about not being in the main building, so now not only am I getting grief from school side I've got an angry woman at home that is gonna give me both barrels when I get home, at 12 I sign out and go home, get a lecture about how our home is not an extension of school blah blah blah .......(like I do t feel the same) we decide to go out into town for the afternoon, while out I get a call from the estates team who know full well I'm off duty so ignore that and let it go to voicemail, I then check the mail in case its important to find she was checking I knew about the removal of some equipment later this week, nope, yet another thing I don't know about, then I get a call from the holiday club to say the hoover is broken and they can't clean up.

The fact that everyone seems to think the holiday club only needed access to the hall and classrooms shows how little thought went into it beyond the fact that they can charge the club twice as much money, they will also need to access the main office to use the intercom to let people in/out, they will also be in the staffroom and staff toilets, they will also need access to my cleaning cupboard and I will also have to open almost all the doors in the building to comply with fire and safety regs, and on top of all that I can no longer work my 6 hours in one block and go home because I will have to allow at least half hour to come back and lock up at 6 when they finish, giving them keys and codes would allow them access to 90% of the site and I'm not willing to do that, this morning I've put a holiday request in for the whole of the Easter break, I can guarantee the HT will not be willing to open and close so will want to give out keys and codes, that will be on her head not mine. I am so close to walking away from this place at the minute, the only reason I haven't is because I'm trapped living on site.

I really struggle mentally with change, especially if it's sudden and I'm not given warning, everyone here knows this by now and the teachers are usually pretty good at keeping me in the loop with stuff but by the end of Monday afternoon I felt like I was going to break, ive still not heard anything from my Executive Head so yesterday I went into the academy office and told my line manager that going forward I will honour any works etc that have been booked in the week regardless of time but from Monday next week-
-not one single tool owned by me will be used on or in the school grounds for anything, if something needs fixing then we either call someone out or they buy the tools for me to do the job and as the school owns nothing more than a cordless drill, not much is going to get done. I'm spending most of this week removing all my tools from site.
-I will not be working 1 second beyond my 30hours a week, that means no more opening and closing for events, especially at weekends.
-I will not be answering calls or emails outside of workhours.
-if a contractor can't come within my working hours then either someone else shows them to the work or it doesn't get done.
-my front door has always been and will continue to be off limits to school related stuff

I am done being disrespected and treated like a mindless minion expected to just put up and get on with it.


Sorry for ranting guys and thanks for reading
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Vera
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Feb 2022 16 09:05

Re: Total disrespect

Sorry your feeling down.

Maybe a full and frank discussion with the exec head and the head to let them know how you feel and how this is affecting you personally.

It might be worth a shot.

It's just not giving any consideration to their decisions and no thought to how this affects others... [Mad.png]
i'm going to need a bigger bucket! [JawDropped.png]
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thecaretaker
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Feb 2022 16 09:36

Re: Total disrespect

Schools seem to make all the right noises about being an inclusive caring community to parents, but it usually stops short when it comes to staff. I had the same lack of consideration and thought from the clever ones. It was very much them and us.

Sorry to hear you are suffering this attitude, all school staff should be working together as a team. But it rarely happens. The problem is, it is unlikely to change once the rot has set in. [Angry.png]

Vérité Sans Peur
(Truth Without Fear)
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Dexter
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Feb 2022 16 09:51

Re: Total disrespect

Sorry to see that you are having to go through this. It is not great when those who make decisions do so with blinkers on and do not see/care about their impact.

Like Vera has said it could be time for a meeting. You do have a lot of detail in your post of the issues each decision and non-communication has made. You could simply list them by each event and email or you could use it as a basis for your discussion. Not being told about things when the impact invariably hits you and the fact that you can foresee the practical issues in their plans needs to be aired, one way or another.
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Stiggy
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Feb 2022 16 10:08

Re: Total disrespect

Thanks guys, I spoke to one of the estates team yesterday and now have a meeting with my line manager tomorrow morning (the estates team leader), she has always supported the Caretakers and fought our corner, she is furious that has all happened and how it has left me feeling, this isn't the first time I've been left out of the loop on stuff and I'm sure it won't be the last but it's the first time it has had such a huge direct impact on me and only me, I'm
not angry now, just disappointed and sad but I'm a big boy and I'll get over it but I won't be changing my mind about my tools and my time, just like the children, they need to learn that their actions have consequences, this morning I put in my annual leave request for the whole of the Easter break, u fully expect it to be refused so a friend of mine is a solicitor and is looking over my contract for me to check what it says exactly about taking holiday as I'm pretty sure there are no restrictions as to what and when I take it other than I have to take it during the holidays.
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Vera
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Feb 2022 16 10:18

Re: Total disrespect

Usually a holiday request needs to be approved by a higher up so in effect can be refused but only if there is a valid reason of which you had prior knowledge.

If for instance there was to be a summer party and the head refused your request as you would be required to be on site for this.
So if you had notice of this and put in the request anyway then that would be a valid reason for refusal. However if you had no knowledge of this at the time you placed your request then the head cannot come back afterwards and say " there is a party so you can't have the time off".
Hopefully that is clear..

Do you have a union?
i'm going to need a bigger bucket! [JawDropped.png]
There's no such thing as bad weather, Only the wrong clothes [Like.png]
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Stiggy
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Feb 2022 16 10:34

Re: Total disrespect

Vera wrote: 16th Feb 2022 at 10:18am Usually a holiday request needs to be approved by a higher up so in effect can be refused but only if there is a valid reason of which you had prior knowledge.

If for instance there was to be a summer party and the head refused your request as you would be required to be on site for this.
So if you had notice of this and put in the request anyway then that would be a valid reason for refusal. However if you had no knowledge of this at the time you placed your request then the head cannot come back afterwards and say " there is a party so you can't have the time off".
Hopefully that is clear..

Do you have a union?
As far as I'm aware there's nothing planned for the Easter break but this whole post is evidence that means nothing.
We do have a union but I've always felt that if it gets to the point I need them then it's time to move on, I'll see how it goes tomorrow with my line manager and take it from there, last thing I need right now is to be looking for a new job and a new home at the same time.
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grumpy1
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Feb 2022 16 10:46

Re: Total disrespect

Sounds like a typical SLT, no thought and consideration for anyone else. To busy trying to make themselves and the school look good, that they can't take into account the welfare of one of the most important people in the school. The one person they all run to in times of trouble.
I had a phone call yesterday when i was on my lunch break from a member of the PTFA. They want to organize an event in May, had the HT or AHT spoken to me about it ( no, but i saw it on the latest newsletter. ) I'm filling out the booking form for it, we were going to do the event a couple of years ago when your predecessor was here but the pandemic stopped it. They ( the people doing the event ) would like access to the site on the Saturday to set up, stay onsite over night for the event on the Sunday, stay over night Sunday to do workshops with the kids on Monday when they will pack up and leave. Is it possible for them to have access to the building to use the facilities, could they run a cable from the building to run a generator, would they be able to get a water supply. And who would be sorting it out, oh yes, that will be me. And what overtime do i get for it, i don't we can't afford overtime. Time off in lieu again [Mad.png]
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Stiggy
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Feb 2022 16 12:30

Re: Total disrespect

grumpy1 wrote: 16th Feb 2022 at 10:46am Sounds like a typical SLT, no thought and consideration for anyone else. To busy trying to make themselves and the school look good, that they can't take into account the welfare of one of the most important people in the school. The one person they all run to in times of trouble.
I had a phone call yesterday when i was on my lunch break from a member of the PTFA. They want to organize an event in May, had the HT or AHT spoken to me about it ( no, but i saw it on the latest newsletter. ) I'm filling out the booking form for it, we were going to do the event a couple of years ago when your predecessor was here but the pandemic stopped it. They ( the people doing the event ) would like access to the site on the Saturday to set up, stay onsite over night for the event on the Sunday, stay over night Sunday to do workshops with the kids on Monday when they will pack up and leave. Is it possible for them to have access to the building to use the facilities, could they run a cable from the building to run a generator, would they be able to get a water supply. And who would be sorting it out, oh yes, that will be me. And what overtime do i get for it, i don't we can't afford overtime. Time off in lieu again [Mad.png]
I'd be happy with toil, the only time I'm allowed to claim overtime is half hour (at basic rate pay) if I need to lock up after an academy meeting that usually finishes after 10pm
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Dexter
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Feb 2022 16 13:22

Re: Total disrespect

I know you're nearby but 30 minutes pay at flat rate, after a 10pm finish, is insulting.
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