Wholeschool evaluation and maternity cover

PTO

Hey... I am a sub in a secondary school and we have a WSE after the easter holidays. Stress central!! Just wondering... Am I subject to inspection as well or will I be exempt as I am not a permanent member of staff?

Thanks for any feedback!

r93kaey5p2izun

You can be inspected.

solerina

when we had our WSE MLL none of the people in doing cover were examined, only people on contracts of at least a year....but I think they could have been inspected alright.

Terri26

I wouldn't count on that. At our union branch meeting there was a guy frim another school who was covering sick leave for a maths job (so obviously qualified) and he was inspected in SPHE even though he wasn't qualified at all in SPHE and was hired due to maths. He was oy in the school 2 weeks at this stage.

evolving_doors

Terri26 wrote: »

I wouldn't count on that. At our union branch meeting there was a guy frim another school who was covering sick leave for a maths job (so obviously qualified) and he was inspected in SPHE even though he wasn't qualified at all in SPHE and was hired due to maths. He was oy in the school 2 weeks at this stage.

Yes, a lot of the reports comment on the qualifications according to the subject and I suppose it is technically a genuine deficiency if there is a teacher teaching a subject and not holding the relevant qualifications. But they do acknowledge that it's not always possible to have a perfect fit for every subject.

There have been a couple of 'subs' posting here too who have had to fill the shoes of the dept head so they were in charge of getting the dept folder in order.

As regards being exempt from a classroom observation I wouldn't count on it. For our WSE the inspector shadowed a student for a day and went to all their classes!!

I wouldn't worry about it too much OP, once your classes have a clear objective and the students know it and you are checking their learning then you'll be fine.
At the end of it all the inspectors have their own AFL/Paperwork agenda to push (and some parts of it in the debriefing I would agree with). If you get the opportunity to attend any of the meetings with the inspectors then I would recommend going as it'll give you an insight into the overall 'thinking' going on in the dept. of ed.

gaiscioch

Yes, you can be inspected. It's good preparation to expect that you will be. They will decide in the morning who's being inspected, having spoken with the principal, and a notice will be put up informing teachers which class they are being inspected for. Having had two WSE in the past year, I'm growing partial to them. Fear no one; you're the boss.


Some advice:

1) Have your scheme of work done using a recommended template - I don't know if there's an officially recommended one, but somebody should post it if there is.

2) Have your walls plastered with posters, and refer to them during the class.

3) Make sure all homework is recorded in the journal, and that you have corrected homework and given evaluative feedback in their copies, not merely "very good" etc (i.e. they will take up the homework journal and a copy from random students).

4) At the start of the lesson, tell the kids what they are going to do in this class, and always leave time at the end to sum up what they've learnt.

5) Use the maths and literacy stuff - e.g. if teaching history ask the kids how many years ago it was since the 1916 Rising; if using a new word, ask them what it means and continue bringing the kids with you through the lesson.

6) The WSE-MLL is examining the school management first and foremost. You've nothing to worry about yet (give it 5 or 6 years of the current "reforms"). I actually found the feedback from the first visit to be very helpful and had improved on all points for the return visit. Having said that, we got 1 day's notice of the WSE, and in the same week on top of ordinary work I had a 2 hour after school meeting, had to travel on a school trip, and most importantly I had to prepare students for an Oral exam that Friday so it was a ridiculously stressful week. (the Oral students got no after school help that week as a result)

Others here can add to this list.

jjdonegal

gaiscioch wrote: »

Yes, you can be inspected. It's good preparation to expect that you will be. They will decide in the morning who's being inspected, having spoken with the principal, and a notice will be put up informing teachers which class they are being inspected for. Having had two WSE in the past year, I'm growing partial to them. Fear no one; you're the boss.


Some advice:

1) Have your scheme of work done using a recommended template - I don't know if there's an officially recommended one, but somebody should post it if there is.

2) Have your walls plastered with posters, and refer to them during the class.

3) Make sure all homework is recorded in the journal, and that you have corrected homework and given evaluative feedback in their copies, not merely "very good" etc (i.e. they will take up the homework journal and a copy from random students).

4) At the start of the lesson, tell the kids what they are going to do in this class, and always leave time at the end to sum up what they've learnt.

5) Use the maths and literacy stuff - e.g. if teaching history ask the kids how many years ago it was since the 1916 Rising; if using a new word, ask them what it means and continue bringing the kids with you through the lesson.

6) The WSE-MLL is examining the school management first and foremost. You've nothing to worry about yet (give it 5 or 6 years of the current "reforms"). I actually found the feedback from the first visit to be very helpful and had improved on all points for the return visit. Having said that, we got 1 day's notice of the WSE, and in the same week on top of ordinary work I had a 2 hour after school meeting, had to travel on a school trip, and most importantly I had to prepare students for an Oral exam that Friday so it was a ridiculously stressful week. (the Oral students got no after school help that week as a result)

Others here can add to this list.

1 days notice to a WSE? Jesus I always thought you got 2/3 weeks notice

gaiscioch

jjdonegal wrote: »

1 days notice to a WSE? Jesus I always thought you got 2/3 weeks notice

Well, to be precise, for the most recent WSE we were told on Tuesday afternoon for Thursday morning.

r93kaey5p2izun

gaiscioch wrote: »

Well, to be precise, for the most recent WSE we were told on Tuesday afternoon for Thursday morning.

Was this a follow through inspection?

gaiscioch

Kayden Nice Taxidermist wrote: »

Was this a follow through inspection?

Yes.

byhookorbycrook

That's not a WSE, to be fair, a follow up is exactly that.