The Secret Teacher (@DCSecretTeache1)

Intimidation noun uk / ɪnˌtɪm.ɪˈdeɪ.ʃ ə n / us / ɪnˌtɪm.əˈdeɪ.ʃ ə n /     The action of frightening or threatening someone, usually in order to persuade them to do something that you want them to do. Workplace intimidation is intentionally and maliciously causing an employee or coworker to feel inadequate or afraid. This includes verbal threats, unjust criticisms or sabotage of a person's work. Actions like these erode the confidence of employees and affects their ability to do their jobs. Years ago it didn't take much to be qualified for a management job. You only had to understand the processes and procedures at your job, and be reasonably reliable to be hired into a management job. Back then we didn't see that the best-qualified person for a management job is not necessarily the person who is the most experienced or most skilled at t

 It is after years of agonising wait that WCC has finally moved to a spanking new building. State of the Art premises with a huge surface cover. Management, teachers, parents and students had been waiting to leave the old knackered building and feel safe from rain water flooding their classrooms or cats falling through the fake ceilings.  Now the move has been made and, with excitement, all 'stakeholders' can enjoy the freshly painted walls, vast recess areas and clean classrooms. And yet, the one thing that is supposed to bring two sites and their staff together is the reason for some of the stress people are feeling and the isolation that seems to tear apart so many warm gatherings.  Before you accuse me of being a killjoy and negative, I do admit it is a great achievement. To build a school in such a short time (not counting the long years we have been waiting to break ground) and to get it ready (-ish!) for the new academic year is to be praised. However, it is difficult to

  In my younger and more vulnerable days my headteacher gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing management,” he told me, “just remember that all the teachers in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” As I work now in the UK, this piece of advice seems more and more pertinent nowadays. The educational system here seems to become a growing mass of tangled mess.  When I reflect on my previous school, I recall the days I was happy to go to work and to that happy place where teachers really felt lucky to be there. Now, I am in a tiny school in the middle of Wessex where the miserable weather kills every hope of a dry camping holiday and the chippy becomes the only bright place where most of my married colleagues meet on a Friday afternoon to treat their partners and kids to a Haddie that is now probably imported from Sweden. But I am digressing... Our current Headteacher, Mr Zimmer (not his real name) has ha

Scientists have spent decades trying to establish a link between the paranormal and the basic natural phenomena. The basic fact that inexplicable things take place defying the human understanding seems to be a recurring event in an environment where little is logical or within the boundaries of measurable comprehension. And yet, some parties seem to take pleasure in toying with the unexpected. Unbeknown to the vast majority of the school, an experiment has been running since the start of the academic year. Staff have taken part in the various stages of this unique test of human intelligence and commonsense. It is still to ascertain whether this is the creation of an ingenious mind or the product of an extremely devious and calculating spirit. The jury is still out. If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in the corridors of the Bunker, you will notice that...you are lost. Things suddenly disappear and you find yourself in a maze so intricate (and yet so simple!) that it is i

   Well.. It is 'business as usual' at WCC. We decided to be a bit more straightforward and more pro-active in our approach. More on this in the lines below. What is happening in the school these days is just an example of the twisted and crooked mind that is intent on a cruel act of vengeance on one's own fellow colleagues.  The blog is meant to be a channel of expressing our concerns and views of the educational establishment that is our place of work. It is not just a place of work for some. It is much more. It is a wide network of professional people who have common professional interests and personal goals. When the twisted mind feels threatened and doesn't like how people view him, he uses every dirty trick in the book to protect the false image he is portraying to the outside world. Some may think that the blog is a personal vendetta. It is not. It is our right to write and publish what we think and we try to put forward as truthful an image of the place as possi

Some of you right now are barely making it through this term, and are so dreading the return to school the following morning that you can’t even enjoy your evenings. The idea of going back to That Place just makes you sick to your stomach. You want to quit more than anything but have no idea what the alternative would be. When a teacher wishes they had a car accident on the way to school just to avoid being there is a sure sign of a school hurtling towards failure. The signs are all there and the pandemic does exacerbate the situation. There’s a quite popular saying that goes: “employees don’t quit their jobs, they quit their managers.” And there’s a lot of truth in that saying if you think about it. We can’t say that this popular saying is 100% true at all times though: there are many different things that impact any employee’s happiness at work, there are other reasons besides their manager that are just as likely to drive employees to quit. But all things considered, you still

 With the unstoppable run-away train of work at Wessex County College , teachers need to be clear about their expectations, their duties and rights.  I have adapted the following policy ( NEU’s model policy on work/life balance ) to be a general outline for any consideration or inquiry into the life-work balance at Wessex County College . WCC claims to be 'one of the best schools' in the world (!) and an example of a British values as an educational institution. It is high time they put their money where their mouth is. Here are some policy points to reflect on: Policy objectives The aim of this policy is to: enable employees to balance their working lives with their personal needs, interests and caring responsibilities safeguard the health, safety and welfare of staff assist the head teacher/s in carrying out his/her professional duties The governing body will agree to: ensure that the contents of this policy are communicated to staff on a regular basis; consult regularly wit

WCC Management, read this: Our schools need more teaching and less management Do all managers that work their way up promptly forget what it was like to do the job they have been promoted from? In education, this definitely seems to be the case. The evidence for this sits in my email inbox and my pigeon hole every day in the form of ridiculous requests for information (usually that is already freely available on the school data system) yet more data analyses, estimated grades, or an item to be added onto a meeting agenda at a moment's notice. Tasks that will take a sizable chunk of my time for absolutely no conceivable benefit to teaching and learning at all. And this is getting worse for us as our management team has inflated recently. Our senior management team now consists of a head, two deputies and four assistant head teachers, even though we are a medium-sized secondary. You may be tempted to think that having all of these senior, experienced members of staff helping to run

 A few years ago, teachers at Wessex County College were promised improved communication (among a number of other things) and increased visibility of leadership group members. None of which has been achieved so far. The above points may seem unrelated but the visibility of the Senior Management team is an effective way of a two-way communication.   School managers are responsible for staff management relationships, the flow of information on major initiatives and the quality of inter-group/departmental relations than at any time in the past.  At the same time staff have had to cope with what could be described as an “initiative overload” caused by the task of implementing the changes required by the Senior Management Team. Thus, staff within schools are living in what has been described as an age of organisational anxiety (Barker and Tompkins, 1994), characterised by high and rising levels of uncertainty about what the future will bring . Such levels of uncertainty are a threat to sta

Let’s get this out of the way first: I am not saying HPL is without merit. Far from it. However, I believe it is a 're-branding' of what everyday learning is about. We are often told at Wessex County College not to worry and that we are 'already doing it' in our daily teaching. HPL is an old concept repackaged and 'sold' to those who need to promote a fancy trend to the paying customers: the parents. Teachers do not need yet another poster on their wall telling them what is what. And in that respect, it is similar to any other educational fad we have seen in the last 20 years. The lollipop sticks had the same 'buzz' for a while, albeit a bit more practical in some classroom situations. Now, most probably, you use those sticks in herb pots sitting on your window sill in your kitchen. Principals and school leaders tend to promote something that they think would be a lasting legacy of their tenure. Training sessions are arranged and INSET days are organise

  Many teachers blame poor mental health on the stress on increasing workloads. Management blame it on Covid. Time to lobby for change. Teachers do not enter the profession expecting to work 9 to 5, but workloads are spiralling out of control. Struggling to maintain a healthy work-life balance is a big issue for many teachers who routinely sacrifice their lunch breaks, evenings and much of their weekends to planning, marking and what many deem unnecessary paperwork.  Wessex County College teachers have seen their workload increase twofold in a matter of a handful of emails over the last few months. The number of forms to fill out, admin protocols to go through, safeguarding checklists etc has become an ever-increasing burden and an exponential work pace. Time locked up in rooms filling out forms could be better spent in the classroom or on continuing professional development, both of which could have more tangible benefits for our students’ learning. As the paperwork mounts up, we kn

 When you claim to uphold British values, just stop and think again. What are you really doing to achieve that? Saying it and repeating it is certainly not the way to go about it. You will have to be a leader and a good example to follow. You may not always think it is possible to achieve this especially in an environment where you have no control over society or government but to go out of your way to promote actively - in your own institution - the principles that your country has raised you to reflect on and question is something that has no value whatsoever. Failing to do so, instead of being an example to follow, you serve as a warning to everyone around you. Actively intimidating your staff to snitch on their colleagues is not what one calls a sign of a healthy relationship. To threaten - even indirectly through HR - their jobs and their integrity is the lowest one could go to protect their delicate positions in any organisation where the values are to instill independent thinkin