School closure - junior cycle CPD

sitstill

I teach in a dual union school. Most teachers are TUI but a small few of us are ASTI.
The school is closed for a day next week for training on the new Junior Cycle. It's a cluster training day with other schools.
We obviously can't go to the training day but our principal is insisting that we come in and do planning ourselves.
Can he force us to come in or should we be allowed stay at home as we are involved in industrial action?

SligoBrewer

sitstill wrote: »

I teach in a dual union school. Most teachers are TUI but a small few of us are ASTI.
The school is closed for a day next week for training on the new Junior Cycle. It's a cluster training day with other schools.
We obviously can't go to the training day but our principal is insisting that we come in and do planning ourselves.
Can he force us to come in or should we be allowed stay at home as we are involved in industrial action?

Contact the union.

Boohoo71

In my opinion you should probably be in, you will not participate in JC inservice so no ASTI directive being broken.

Presume management will provide alternative agenda for you.

TheDriver

Its a school day which requires you to attend school. The directive says you're not to engage with it but you should still attend work

judeboy101

sitstill wrote: »

I teach in a dual union school. Most teachers are TUI but a small few of us are ASTI.
The school is closed for a day next week for training on the new Junior Cycle. It's a cluster training day with other schools.
We obviously can't go to the training day but our principal is insisting that we come in and do planning ourselves.
Can he force us to come in or should we be allowed stay at home as we are involved in industrial action?

He can make you come in but he cant make you plan as you are contracted to teach. If he doesn't provide students I'd arrive in my casual Friday best with a 2l bottle of cidona, a season 5 box set of game of thrones and turn me room into a man cave for the day.

rainbowtrout

We had this scenario before Christmas. We are about 80/20 TUI/ASTI. The ASTI staff came to school that day and did some subject planning or something of that nature for their respective subjects.

Given that it's a day given over to planning judeboy I think the principal can ask the ASTI staff to plan for their subjects, just not for JC Assessment. Sitting on their arses watching Game of Thrones is also not teaching.

TheDriver

A timetable of teaching related meetings e.g. Subj planning or SDP could be on it as its not CP hours

judeboy101

rainbowtrout wrote: »

We had this scenario before Christmas. We are about 80/20 TUI/ASTI. The ASTI staff came to school that day and did some subject planning or something of that nature for their respective subjects.

Given that it's a day given over to planning judeboy I think the principal can ask the ASTI staff to plan for their subjects, just not for JC Assessment. Sitting on their arses watching Game of Thrones is also not teaching.

How do 20% of staff have subject specific meetings unless your school has 100+ staff? You cant tell me that an asti eng/sci/bus teacher is planning the year ahead making decisions without input from the other 80% of their dept? And there is nothing stopping principal bringing in the 20%'svexam classes for 2hr revision courses.

acequion

Just out of curiosity. Why do they need an entire day's training?

judeboy101

acequion wrote: »

Just out of curiosity. Why do they need an entire day's training?

If its anything like my school, well-being and awkward team building.

Crazyteacher

Akward team building? , tell me more feel sorry for those schools with just one teacher in the art department .

judeboy101

Crazyteacher wrote: »

Akward team building? , tell me more feel sorry for those schools with just one teacher in the art department .

We had to go around the room and tell each other one thing we disliked about each other

We had to hold a toy giraffe and say one thing that makes us sad

We had a one hour visualization session where we had to sit in a darkened room listening to meditation music and picturing a blue aura around us

I s h i t you not

picturehangup

Judeboy, are you for real? I would walk out of the room, and would refuse to tolerate that nonsense. So much much for curriculum 'reform'. Sounds like a total dismantling of our educational system.

If this is the way things are going, and you are not pulling the pxxs, then the continuing campaign of the ASTI is the only hope the teaching profession has to salvage whatever teaching conditions we can.

If short courses come on board, eg, Animal Care, Chinese, Psychology, how will the TC decide what qualifications are relevant, what kind of a degree? Will a degree in Veterinary medicine be essential?

rainbowtrout

judeboy101 wrote: »

How do 20% of staff have subject specific meetings unless your school has 100+ staff? You cant tell me that an asti eng/sci/bus teacher is planning the year ahead making decisions without input from the other 80% of their dept? And there is nothing stopping principal bringing in the 20%'svexam classes for 2hr revision courses.

Nothing to stop the one ASTI science teacher compiling equipment we need for the science order. Nothing to stop the only senior cycle business teacher working on her subject plan. There's plenty that can be done and then shared at the next dept meeting.

acequion

rainbowtrout wrote: »

Nothing to stop the one ASTI science teacher compiling equipment we need for the science order. Nothing to stop the only senior cycle business teacher working on her subject plan. There's plenty that can be done and then shared at the next dept meeting.

Working on her subject plan! What working needs to be done with that for heaven's sake? Surely the plans are already there and just need a little occasional tweaking.

The whole thing sounds like a big loss of tuition time. I mean a whole day! Personally I'd hate it.

Crazyteacher

judeboy101 wrote: »

We had to go around the room and tell each other one thing we disliked about each other

We had to hold a toy giraffe and say one thing that makes us sad

We had a one hour visualization session where we had to sit in a darkened room listening to meditation music and picturing a blue aura around us

I s h i t you not

Hilarious. What shade blue was the aura?:)

Oh my , telling each other what they dislike could be dangerous . I imagine the principal wasn't around for that part?

r93kaey5p2izun

judeboy101 wrote: »

We had to go around the room and tell each other one thing we disliked about each other

We had to hold a toy giraffe and say one thing that makes us sad

We had a one hour visualization session where we had to sit in a darkened room listening to meditation music and picturing a blue aura around us

I s h i t you not

We've done the giraffe thing too and the meditation. Painful.

The loss of a full day tuition for the time-filling crap we are subjected to by the JCT is really unbelievable. Whatever about the subject specific CPD (though the Science has been useless), 3 days of general vague JC Reform nonsense is just ridiculous - especially with some teachers not even affected until 2019.

maynooth_rules

We had ours last week. Shambolic. We spent the first 25 minutes drawing faces in five steps. The rest of the day was a time killing exercise essentially. Pointless group work tasks to pass the time. I asked some of my colleague and none of us gained any insight whatsoever into the new JC. Waste of a day and just another view of the shambles that is this JC

judeboy101

picturehangup wrote: »

Judeboy, are you for real? I would walk out of the room, and would refuse to tolerate that nonsense. So much much for curriculum 'reform'. Sounds like a total dismantling of our educational system.

If this is the way things are going, and you are not pulling the pxxs, then the continuing campaign of the ASTI is the only hope the teaching profession has to salvage whatever teaching conditions we can.

If short courses come on board, eg, Animal Care, Chinese, Psychology, how will the TC decide what qualifications are relevant, what kind of a degree? Will a degree in Veterinary medicine be essential?

I'm serious

JD3112

judeboy101 wrote: »

I'm serious

Did you not tell the presenter to "get to ****.......... good luck, where's the door"?

........... because that would be my answer if this horse manure was presented to our staff

rainbowtrout

judeboy101 wrote: »

We had to go around the room and tell each other one thing we disliked about each other

We had to hold a toy giraffe and say one thing that makes us sad

We had a one hour visualization session where we had to sit in a darkened room listening to meditation music and picturing a blue aura around us

I s h i t you not

WTF??? Was this packaged as mindfulness? We had some mindfulness CP hours before christmas, nothing as bad as that, but still a complete waste of time.

PureClareGold

rainbowtrout wrote: »

WTF??? Was this packaged as mindfulness? We had some mindfulness CP hours before christmas, nothing as bad as that, but still a complete waste of time.

Folks he's taking the pi$$ was just talking to a friend who had her day earlier this week. They are closing schools in groups to make it easier to give inservice to those teachers who have new courses. Otherwise huge disruption with different teachers constantly out. Makes sense as management don't need to be looking for subs.
The other teachers had an inservice on programmes designed for teaching kids with specific learning needs. No new syllabus for these teachers yet so have to keep them occupied somehow. She found it interesting in most parts

r93kaey5p2izun

PureClareGold wrote: »

Folks he's taking the pi$$ was just talking to a friend who had her day earlier this week. They are closing schools in groups to make it easier to give inservice to those teachers who have new courses. Otherwise huge disruption with different teachers constantly out. Makes sense as management don't need to be looking for subs.
The other teachers had an inservice on programmes designed for teaching kids with specific learning needs. No new syllabus for these teachers yet so have to keep them occupied somehow. She found it interesting in most parts

He's isn't taking the pi$$. Read what he said. He's not talking about the JCT inservice, he's talking about school arranged training and workshops - as might be organised for ASTI staff during the whole school closures.

But I have had the cluster CPD day recently and it was a waste of a day. Share the learning intentions, share the success criteria, give feedback. That's basically all it boiled down to. If you don't already know that's what they're looking for at this stage then you're a lost cause.

implausible

PureClareGold wrote:

Folks he's taking the pi$$ was just talking to a friend who had her day earlier this week. They are closing schools in groups to make it easier to give inservice to those teachers who have new courses. Otherwise huge disruption with different teachers constantly out. Makes sense as management don't need to be looking for subs. The other teachers had an inservice on programmes designed for teaching kids with specific learning needs. No new syllabus for these teachers yet so have to keep them occupied somehow. She found it interesting in most parts

For our last CPD day, the principal had to choose from a menu of options, which I'd say explains the differences between schools. So your friend's school must have opted for inservice on the level 2 programmes for special needs students while the other poster's school must have gone for well being.

implausible

picturehangup wrote:

If short courses come on board, eg, Animal Care, Chinese, Psychology, how will the TC decide what qualifications are relevant, what kind of a degree? Will a degree in Veterinary medicine be essential?

You do realise that the animal care course is a level 2 one for students with special needs.

Specifications haven't been written for the other two, it'll be up to schools to design their own courses and use the staff they have to deliver them. They will be assessed internally via CBA, no state certification. It'll be similar to TY modules, does the TC get involved in those?

happywithlife

PureClareGold wrote: »

Folks he's taking the pi$$ was just talking to a friend who had her day earlier this week. They are closing schools in groups to make it easier to give inservice to those teachers who have new courses. Otherwise huge disruption with different teachers constantly out. Makes sense as management don't need to be looking for subs.
The other teachers had an inservice on programmes designed for teaching kids with specific learning needs. No new syllabus for these teachers yet so have to keep them occupied somehow. She found it interesting in most parts

Agree he's not taking the p!$$
We are dual union. ASTI teachers have in school in service and top of the agenda is Wellbeing and something about happiness which is ironic considering only ASTI staff will be attending - while in the midst of a longstanding dispute with the dept over t&c's. The mind boggles how management failed to spot the irony?! (Or maybe they did but just didn't care?) I will cry if that giraffe comes out.

amacca

happywithlife wrote: »

Agree he's not taking the p!$$
We are dual union. ASTI teachers have in school in service and top of the agenda is Wellbeing and something about happiness which is ironic considering only ASTI staff will be attending - while in the midst of a longstanding dispute with the dept over t&c's. The mind boggles how management failed to spot the irony?! (Or maybe they did but just didn't care?) I will cry if that giraffe comes out.

If that happens tell them holding the giraffe is making you sad......hope they give you a chance to further develop your point.

happywithlife

amacca wrote: »

If that happens tell them holding the giraffe is making you sad......hope they give you a chance to further develop your point.

I have actually thought about this situation.
I'd love to have the balls to say nope not doing it. Reality is though I won't and will excuse myself to the bathroom for the duration of the exercise.

deiseindublin

How are there not hoards of teachers telling them it's bullsh*t and not participating? I can't think of anything worse.

happywithlife

deiseindublin wrote: »

How are there not hoards of teachers telling them it's bullsh*t and not participating? I can't think of anything worse.

Because they (we or me at least) are too conservative and conformist
Hell I had a "new staff briefing" about a month after starting in my new school and even though there a few minor things I saw could be changed with ease I kept quiet because no one else volunteered to put their hands up either and give voice to anything that could be perceived as a slight to the ways management run things

Jamfa

happywithlife wrote: »

Agree he's not taking the p!$$
We are dual union. ASTI teachers have in school in service and top of the agenda is Wellbeing and something about happiness which is ironic considering only ASTI staff will be attending - while in the midst of a longstanding dispute with the dept over t&c's. The mind boggles how management failed to spot the irony?! (Or maybe they did but just didn't care?) I will cry if that giraffe comes out.

So is the mindfulness & aura sessions for ASTI teachers or part of junior cycle reform CPD?

Jamfa

judeboy101 wrote: »

We had to go around the room and tell each other one thing we disliked about each other

We had to hold a toy giraffe and say one thing that makes us sad

We had a one hour visualization session where we had to sit in a darkened room listening to meditation music and picturing a blue aura around us

I s h i t you not

Are you not in the ASTI?

judeboy101

Jamfa wrote: »

Are you not in the ASTI?

This was 2015/2016 I dread to think what's awaiting me next yr if we get a deal.

Jamfa

judeboy101 wrote: »

This was 2015/2016 I dread to think what's awaiting me next yr if we get a deal.

Were you in TUI last year?

judeboy101

Jamfa wrote: »

Were you in TUI last year?

No, I'm asti for life.

Jamfa

judeboy101 wrote: »

No, I'm asti for life.

Ah ok thanks. So that training day wasn't part of JCT CPD, was it dodgy use of Croke Pk hours? We had a restorative justice workshop which sounds similar.

judeboy101

Jamfa wrote: »

Ah ok thanks. So that training day wasn't part of JCT CPD, was it dodgy use of Croke Pk hours? We had a restorative justice workshop which sounds similar.

The principal thought it was a great day, I thought it was as dodgy as Rolf harris at a school for blind kds.

Jamfa

judeboy101 wrote: »

The principal thought it was a great day, I thought it was as dodgy as Rolf harris at a school for blind kds.

They usually do but it was nothing to do with the junior cycle or a school closure for junior cycle training.

implausible

Jamfa wrote:

Ah ok thanks. So that training day wasn't part of JCT CPD, was it dodgy use of Croke Pk hours? We had a restorative justice workshop which sounds similar.

I knew the giraffe sounded familiar - we had that RJ training too! Mind you, the rest of it was very good, v useful in a school where we have a lot of students with very little experience at home of dealing with conflict in a healthy way.