S and S Query

Starkystark · 24-09-2015 4:48pm #1

Hi there! I've been teaching in England this past year. This is my first year full time teaching in Ireland so I'm new to the whole croke park hours and s and s.

This past few weeks I've been called for s and s and when I asked about s and s frequency with other teachers some of them said they were rarely asked to do it! Whilst for me I've been asked to do it every week since I started!

Now, my question is - is there a system to it? As in is it purely down to chance that you have a free and no one else is or is done in alphabetical order or is how long you've been in the school - the longer your off the hook?

Also is there a certain amount of hours you reach when you are no longer obliged to do any more? Thanks

evolving_doors · 24-09-2015 5:30pm

schools are supposed to run a rota.
The whereabouts of this rota is one of the great unsolved mysteries in most schools.

Do you have access to eportal or vsware... you should be able to find out what other teachers are on-call the same time as you.

rainbowtrout · 24-09-2015 5:32pm

If you are on full hours you can be asked to do 43 hours a year. You have to nominate up to 10 slots on your timetable and management choose 5 of them where you can be called to cover and you should not be called in any other slot.

Ollygolf · 24-09-2015 6:11pm

rainbowtrout wrote: »

If you are on full hours you can be asked to do 43 hours a year. You have to nominate up to 10 slots on your timetable and management choose 5 of them where you can be called to cover and you should not be called in any other slot.

Is 43 including lunchtime supervision etc?

rainbowtrout · 24-09-2015 6:34pm

Ollygolf wrote: »

Is 43 including lunchtime supervision etc?

yes

solerina · 24-09-2015 6:50pm

Our rota is openly displayed in the staff room and we are all called in a reasonable rotation, we got a breakdown of how much we all had done at the end of May last year and we were all reasonably close to running out of time, but no one actually had.
We nominate our supervision periods, then 9 classes and get picked for 5, not necessarily in our preferred order !!!
It is also pro rata OP so you should only be doing the max if you are on reasonably full hours

man_no_plan · 24-09-2015 7:23pm

Gebgbegb wrote: »

The whereabouts of this rota is one of the great unsolved mysteries in most schools.
.

Is it? There have been no motions at the union conferences regarding abuse of the s&S system or lack of clarity.

There's a circular letter on it to be fair.

mirrorwall14 · 24-09-2015 7:24pm

solerina wrote: »

Our rota is openly displayed in the staff room and we are all called in a reasonable rotation, we got a breakdown of how much we all had done at the end of May last year and we were all reasonably close to running out of time, but no one actually had.
We nominate our supervision periods, then 9 classes and get picked for 5, not necessarily in our preferred order !!!
It is also pro rata OP so you should only be doing the max if you are on reasonably full hours

God that sounds brilliant. No transparency in our school whatsoever

r93kaey5p2izun · 24-09-2015 7:27pm

We have a rota displayed but we also have lots of people doing well over 43 hours and many doing timetabled classes as S&S.

All you can do OP is keep a record and highlight to DP or principal when you reach 43 hours.

evolving_doors · 24-09-2015 7:32pm

man_no_plan wrote: »

Is it? There have been no motions at the union conferences regarding abuse of the s&S system or lack of clarity.

There's a circular letter on it to be fair.

So are you saying that every school makes the rota publically available to all teachers?

But yes, you're right it should be a motion.

man_no_plan · 24-09-2015 7:39pm

Gebgbegb wrote: »

So are you saying that every school makes the rota publically available to all teachers?

But yes, you're right it should be a motion.

If you read my post you'd see that I asked a question. You stated that it was a mystery in most schools. I expressed surprise that there hadn't been any issue around it that I had heard of.

There should only be a motion if there's a problem, there should be no problem if schools follow the circular

Hazelnut Button · 24-09-2015 7:49pm

Rota posted in staff room in our school. I thought you had 5 nominated periods but could only get called for max 3 of them in any given week?

solerina · 24-09-2015 8:02pm

Hazelnut Button wrote: »

Rota posted in staff room in our school. I thought you had 5 nominated periods but could only get called for max 3 of them in any given week?

I think this is accurate..you can only be called for a max of 3...I have been called a few times to do twice in one week, never ever 3 times...I have never seen our P or DP do any classroom supervision what so ever (they do their share on the corridor though) the rest of us are never called over and above whats allowed, we are lucky in that respect anyway !!

man_no_plan · 24-09-2015 8:15pm

solerina wrote: »

I think this is accurate..you can only be called for a max of 3...I have been called a few times to do twice in one week, never ever 3 times...I have never seen our P or DP do any classroom supervision what so ever (they do their share on the corridor though) the rest of us are never called over and above whats allowed, we are lucky in that respect anyway !!

Its a maximum of three hours per week combined supervision and substitution.

https://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0006_2014.pdf

katydid · 24-09-2015 9:30pm

Maisie Old-fashioned Gun wrote: »

We have a rota displayed but we also have lots of people doing well over 43 hours..

More fool them.

Starkystark · 24-09-2015 9:56pm

Thanks for everyone's reply! I shall be keeping track of my hours. It just annoys me that there seems to be no clarity in who does what in my school. I hate thinking that some of us are being used and abused more than other people in school.

I don't think my school is very much on top of things with CP hours we've a number of after school 2 hour meetings every second week for the next few weeks. We also have after school detention slots as well that are considered CP hours too!

katydid · 24-09-2015 9:59pm

Starkystark wrote: »

Thanks for everyone's reply! I shall be keeping track of my hours. It just annoys me that there seems to be no clarity in who does what in my school. I hate thinking that some of us are being used and abused more than other people in school.

I don't think my school is very much on top of things with CP hours we've a number of after school 2 hour meetings every second week for the next few weeks. We also have after school detention slots as well that are considered CP hours too!

It sounds as if the staff is not being very assertive in standing up to management. You need to get together as a staff and do something about this.

Elenorrigby · 24-09-2015 10:14pm

Can I ask if any school has a provision under s&s for teachers who are pregnant or just back from illness/operations. Can a teacher refuse to do s&s?

katydid · 24-09-2015 10:17pm

Elenorrigby wrote: »

Can I ask if any school has a provision under s&s for teachers who are pregnant or just back from illness/operations. In our school one teacher is pregnant and struggling, she has 12 more weeks to go. She is expected to do her break and lunch and s&s and has covered two classes most weeks, yet is obviously struggling. Is there anything which allows her to be excused from s&s duties or can she refuse to do it?

You can ask, but I doubt if you'd get very far. If you are fit for work, you are fit for work. If you're not, you need to be out on a sick cert.

implausible · 24-09-2015 10:56pm

Rota or no rota, everyone should keep a record of hours done and remind management when approaching the limit. It's bad enough that it's unpaid besides going over the hours.

S and S Query

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