S&S Scheme - should permanent teachers be in it?

Rodar08

Right, I've thought a lot about not posting this as I didn't want to seem rude. Seeing as you are all strangers though, I've decided I want to see what you think..

I might have the story wrong here or maybe I'm missing some info but as far as myself and others I have spoken to can gather there are a huge amount of qualified teachers in the dole que unable to even get subbing never mind permanent jobs while permanent teachers are also getting all the subbing!!

Is it totally out of line to say that those of you you have jobs and have salaries could take step back and let us unemployed teachers do the subbing seeing as you are already earning a salary?

Teachers countrywide are getting their salaries along with an additional cheque for S&S while the rest of us, some who have been qualified for several years - are completely unemployed without so much as an hours subbing per week because of the cuts.

Granted the cuts are not your fault and your wages have been cut, you have an opportunity to earn more money on top of your salaries and basically it's tough luck for those who aren't in the fortunate positions of having a permanent job and do S&S at the same time but, at the end of the day some have mentioned it's a bit like walking over a picket line! It's hard enough without contracts or representation but now this!!

We're aware the S&S system has been in place for a long time but just wasn't widely used until now but another side to this is not only are we stood in the dole ques but we are also going to end up with huge gaps in our CVs where we weren't teaching at all. Not all of us can emigrate and teach in Korea, and not all of us are laying around doing nothing but did you have ambitions of educating yourself to become a teacher only to wait tables? Things to consider before replying just.


**runs for cover**

Rodar08

Just realised this may go unnoticed because of the similar thread title below - Sorry about that but any chance you could change it to something else? Thanks

spurious

I changed the thread title for you. I hope it's OK.

Personally, I'm with you on this issue. From the word go, I thought the S&S scheme was doing part-time and casual people out of work and a chance to build up hours.

I'm not in it myself and a number of our staff are not, but I don't know how that is reflected around the country.

Rodar08

Thanks Spurious, that's much better

Well I'm actually suprised the S&S system is not much used in your school and for the right reasons too If everyone could be so understanding it would be great. I've not seen teachers have this attitude to it in general, from my experience they seem not to understand/care about the affect it's having on the casual/part time teacher.
Batt O'Keeffe has mentioned aboloshing it but I'm not sure how likely that is or what the opposition will want to do to to stop that or when if even it might come into effect. C'mon Batt, get on with it.

implausible

If it gets abolished, which it might, it won't be replaced. I'd say what O'Keefe is after is factoring the s/s back into full-time teachers' hours (possibly increased) without payment.

While I agree with the point you are making, the set-up of the scheme would not allow for subs to be called in. It is far more convenient to have a rota in place of teachers in the school. Then, when a casual/emergency absence occurs, the teacher on the rota is on site to actually cover the class, with minimal hassle.

Remember that certified/approved leave is NOT covered under s/s and that a sub must be employed for these hours. In the majority of schools, teachers who are on less than full hours are asked to do it, only then is a sub called in.

The scheme was originally meant to cover causal/uncertified absences so unless a sub was living beside the school, it wouldn't be practical to call him/her in and out for a few hours.

I suppose in larger schools, there are some teachers employed exclusively for s/s, can anyone enlighten me?

Toto Wolfcastle

I don't think that teachers taking a step back would ensure subbing for unemployed teachers. Certainly, in my school, the rota is used for the days when teachers are sick without a cert. The school generally finds out that morning and is able to put up a rota without any hassle. It has happened on many occasions that teachers have found out at the beginning of a particular class that they are needed for that class. Unexpected things happen. If the school was to rely on outside subs for this, then classes would remain unsupervised. In terms of the way the scheme works, I don't really think it's practical to have outside subs involved.

My school has various subs who are unemployed who are called when someone is out on a cert and the rota is already in use for another teacher. I think that a lot of schools are doing whatever they can to help those looking for subbing. My school currently has 3 former subs on various contracts in the school.

Tbh, the scheme is available to those within the school, and while I sympathise with those on the dole, I don't particularly feel guilt for covering a couple of classes a week, nor should I feel guilt. Sometimes covering a class is difficult, but the money is handy. A lot of those who are in the scheme in my school desperately need the money. If there was no money involved, I would not do it.

gaeilgebeo

Completely agree with Janeybabe. It would not necessarily work if full-time/permanent teachers took a step back from it!

Its easier for management to slot in teachers within the school to cover classes especially for a half day school trip or sporting trip.

We have 2 people employed solely for sns in our school, but again, this does not cover all supervision needs in our large school.

Like myself, many full/permanent teachers take part in the sns scheme and I really don't think that we should be made feel guilty about it whatsoever. Nor should we be made feel that its creating a further unemployment problem for unemployed teachers.

Any teacher starting out at the bottom of the salary scale, with all the cuts, may desperately need that extra income.