SLARS time?

The_Valeyard

Just examining this new SLAR programme for the JC.


We were told that unions have agreed that the schools that have a half day (Wednesday/Friday), will be expected to stay back and carry out meetings then until the normal end of school time (outside your normal 22hours)

Anyone else hear this?

solerina

It’s up to each subject to schedule their SLAR, they cannot be told by management or anyone else when specifically it is to take place, but it is outside of normal class teaching time. The teachers in each dept decide by consensus when the SLAR is to happen.

dory

I would agree with Solerina. I haven't heard anything about staying after school on a Wednesday.

mtoutlemonde

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Just examining this new SLAR programme for the JC.


We were told that unions have agreed that the schools that have a half day (Wednesday/Friday), will be expected to stay back and carry out meetings then until the normal end of school time (outside your normal 22hours)

Anyone else hear this?

I was at a union meeting recently - SLAR meetings and NOT to be held after school specifically Friday's or whatever day is half day is. They are to be held during school time only - I don't know how it works exactly - by consensus of free classes for teachers and the rest are freed up with substitution.

r93kaey5p2izun

We have been told at branch meetings that it has to be outside teacher timetables and agreed by consensus among department members. We were told it would almost certainly have to be outside school time since there's little chance of everyone being free together in school time. It was made clear to us that since we have 40 minutes professional time already we won't be given any more time off our classes. It was also made clear that the timing of the meeting couldn't be dictated by management.

The_Valeyard

So, more free work then.

Benicetomonty

Union suggested the meetings could happen during house exams. Should be close to the CBAs themselves and should mean teachers in same departments will be off at the same times.

TheDriver

The only official guidance received is SLARS and all planning and meetings are to take place outside class contact time and that's what the 40min per week is for. When it happens is up to each subject department and grouping

infor123

Had a CPD meeting for subject last week. They said there are deadlines for when SLARs have to be done - usually within 2 weeks of CBAs. They also said that the SLAR is longer than the 40 minutes professional time (or whatever it’s called).

joebloggs32

The Slar is outside of your timetable. The professional time given this year is to account for this.
It would be virtually impossible to hold during the school day so therefore after school is the more likely option. If you have two subjects that will account for 8 hours of meetings from the 22 hours of professional time

What I would like to know however what happens where you have to travel as you are in a small school. Can you start counting the two hours from the time you leave your school, and then leave early to account for your return trip.

TheDriver

infor123 wrote: »

Had a CPD meeting for subject last week. They said there are deadlines for when SLARs have to be done - usually within 2 weeks of CBAs. They also said that the SLAR is longer than the 40 minutes professional time (or whatever it’s called).

The 40 mins is bankable i.e. its not a 40 min per week but rather 2 hours per 3 weeks etc.

infor123

TheDriver wrote: »

The 40 mins is bankable i.e. its not a 40 min per week but rather 2 hours per 3 weeks etc.

Wasn’t aware of that, thanks!!

Terri26

SLARS are NOT meant to be outside your timetable. This has been said numerous times at union meetings etc. It is apparently written in the circular that it must begin in school time (it might go over school time though to be fair, but we should try to avoid this as much as possible). The 40 minutes isn't meant to be for SLARs but a slight nod to all the extra work the new Junior Cycle entails. It has been suggested to hold SLARS during house exams for example. Don't know how that would work. A few friends in TUI schools have confirmed what I'm saying that their SLARS last year were held during the school timetable of course some teachers were off at that time to be fair.

beveragelady

https://www.jct.ie/perch/resources/leadership/subject-learning-and-assessment-review-meetings.pdf

In the second paragraph this confirms that the SLAR coordinator is allowed two hours to prepare. There's no mention of everybody else though.

mtoutlemonde

beveragelady wrote: »

https://www.jct.ie/perch/resources/leadership/subject-learning-and-assessment-review-meetings.pdf

In the second paragraph this confirms that the SLAR coordinator is allowed two hours to prepare. There's no mention of everybody else though.

It's there somewhere - it was discussed at union meeting - will find notes and come back. All teachers whether free or not have to attend SLAR meeting during school time. If it were after school it would be like imposing CP hours on teachers of junior cycle - watching their colleagues going out the door.

r93kaey5p2izun

Well we are being told the opposite by TUI - that they are outside the timetable and therefore most likely outside school hours. But accommodation during house exams is recommended as far as possible.

joebloggs32

Terri26 wrote: »

SLARS are NOT meant to be outside your timetable. This has been said numerous times at union meetings etc. It is apparently written in the circular that it must begin in school time (it might go over school time though to be fair, but we should try to avoid this as much as possible). The 40 minutes isn't meant to be for SLARs but a slight nod to all the extra work the new Junior Cycle entails. It has been suggested to hold SLARS during house exams for example. Don't know how that would work. A few friends in TUI schools have confined what I'm saying that their SLARS year were held during the school timetable of course some teachers were off at that time to be fair.

They were inside the school timetable for the English teachers only for the first two years of JCT. That however no longer stands as we have recieved the reduction in teaching time, whearas last year and the year before that you were teaching 22 hours.

TheDriver

The coordinator gets 2 extra hours but rest of dept must do SLARs in their own time, very clear instruction from Desk.

PureClareGold

TheDriver wrote: »

The coordinator gets 2 extra hours but rest of dept must do SLARs in their own time, very clear instruction from Desk.

To be fair we have received one full weeks class contact time off a year to off set the time.

Moody_mona

PureClareGold wrote: »

To be fair we have received one full weeks class contact time off a year to off set the time.

Mine has been included in my timetable so it won't be making any difference to the meetings I must engage with.

PureClareGold

Moody_mona wrote: »

Mine has been included in my timetable so it won't be making any difference to the meetings I must engage with.

Well you have had your timetable reduced by 22 hours so it's time in lieu that you can use when best suits you

Moody_mona

PureClareGold wrote: »

Well you have had your timetable reduced by 22 hours so it's time in lieu that you can use when best suits you

I understand that, but realistically and logistically it does not help in the organisation of my meetings.

Also its not when best suits me. I have no overlapping frees with the other member of my department.

Moody_mona

Trying to make sure all departments are on the same page in our dual union school.

https://www.asti.ie/uploads/media/School_Stewards_Letter_re._SLAR_Meetings.pdf this ASTI document quotes the department as saying any attempt to hold SLAR meetings completely out of class time contravenes the arrangement. That they might include a timetabled period and then go on after school from this. Does anyone interpret what this says differently? I'm struggling to understand the logistics here; will management have to use substitution last class to free teachers up? Can teachers start earlier in the day and then continue after school?

Any help appreciated!

joebloggs32

Moody_mona wrote: »

Trying to make sure all departments are on the same page in our dual union school.

https://www.asti.ie/uploads/media/School_Stewards_Letter_re._SLAR_Meetings.pdf this ASTI document quotes the department as saying any attempt to hold SLAR meetings completely out of class time contravenes the arrangement. That they might include a timetabled period and then go on after school from this. Does anyone interpret what this says differently? I'm struggling to understand the logistics here; will management have to use substitution last class to free teachers up? Can teachers start earlier in the day and then continue after school?

Any help appreciated!

The mandarins in the Department must have no idea of the complexity of timetables if they think it can start inside school time and finish after school without providing cash to pay for sub cover.

Moody_mona

So I am reading it correctly! It has made the whole thing way more confusing! Feeling completely at a loss

joebloggs32

Moody_mona wrote: »

So I am reading it correctly! It has made the whole thing way more confusing! Feeling completely at a loss

At a tui meeting we were told it was during the school day but not necessarily in the timetable. Therefore where a school finishes early say on a Wednesday or Friday the spar could happen then and those involved would still be finished before 4.00 on that day.

km79

joebloggs32 wrote: »

At a tui meeting we were told it was during the school day but not necessarily in the timetable. Therefore where a school finishes early say on a Wednesday or Friday the spar could happen then and those involved would still be finished before 4.00 on that day.

What a crock !
The school day finishes when the final class finishes

judeboy101

Jmb are telling schools to timetable slars during summer house exams

Moody_mona

judeboy101 wrote: »

Jmb are telling schools to timetable slars during summer house exams

That's fine for Science, latest date for the SLAR is 28th May, but Business latest date is 4th May.

TheDriver

We were told that it's part of your professional time and up to departments to arrange it amongst themselves.

Chilli Con Kearney

We were told last week, at the in service, that they were to be done in school time, school day, call it whatever you want. The reality is that it was portrayed as being done inside the normal day.

But schools will not have s&s money to use to free us up together. So the reality is that we will be expected to do it after school.

I'd consider splitting it into blocks then. Maybe 40 mins at lunch one day, then another period where we might all be free, then possibly a shorter block after school. That'll rack up the two hour SLAR and get the work done.

km79

Chilli Con Kearney wrote: »

We were told last week, at the in service, that they were to be done in school time, school day, call it whatever you want. The reality is that it was portrayed as being done inside the normal day.

But schools will not have s&s money to use to free us up together. So the reality is that we will be expected to do it after school.

I'd consider splitting it into blocks then. Maybe 40 mins at lunch one day, then another period where we might all be free, then possibly a shorter block after school. That'll rack up the two hour SLAR and get the work done.

That would be a disaster

Mardy Bum

Chilli Con Kearney wrote: »

We were told last week, at the in service, that they were to be done in school time, school day, call it whatever you want. The reality is that it was portrayed as being done inside the normal day.

But schools will not have s&s money to use to free us up together. So the reality is that we will be expected to do it after school.

I'd consider splitting it into blocks then. Maybe 40 mins at lunch one day, then another period where we might all be free, then possibly a shorter block after school. That'll rack up the two hour SLAR and get the work done.

Very conflicting information. It can be held whenever suits but there is no paid supervision cover for it and S&S doesn't cover it therefore it can only happen after school for large departments.

Also it has to be done in one sitting. The SLAR coordinator training is very comprehensive.

km79

Mardy Bum wrote: »

The SLAR coordinator training is very comprehensive.

Are you being sarcastic??????
I attended one a few weeks ago. It was a joke. Waste of 2 hours.
I was well informed going into it anyway and it was a good job as I learnt nothing.
Couldn't get concrete answers on what I wanted .
The facilitator was unable to control the room which didn't help matters.........

Mardy Bum

km79 wrote: »

Mardy Bum wrote: »

The SLAR coordinator training is very comprehensive.

Are you being sarcastic??????
I attended one a few weeks ago. It was a joke. Waste of 2 hours.
I was well informed going into it anyway and it was a good job as I learnt nothing.
Couldn't get concrete answers on what I wanted .
The facilitator was unable to control the room which didn't help matters.........

Control the room? What was in it? Rowdy second years? Pity we can't act professional.

Mine was much better than expected and it illuminated a lot of grey areas.

km79

Mardy Bum wrote: »

Control the room? What was in it? Rowdy second years? Pity we can't act professional.

Mine was much better than expected and it illuminated a lot of grey areas.

There were a LOT of uninformed teachers asking silly off topic questions . One person for example thought the CBA was worth 20% !!!!!
The facilitator was unable to keep it on track which was their role .

All I really wanted clarified within the 2 hours was the SLAR time
He quoted the circular which I was familiar with
I then responded with the union clarifications which he apparently was unfamiliar with . So he quoted the circular again .

At the end of the 2 hours however he was happy he had hit all his “learning intentions “ . These people chose to take on this job so I expect them to be able to do it properly .
In contrast the lady who have the Science cluster day inservice was EXCELLENT .
She was extremely well informed AND therefore had no problem keeping things moving . I learned more about the SLAR in the 30 minute session on it that day than the “training “. In fact we even role played one . Instead of just talking through bookies we could read in our own time .
It’s like a classroom . A good teacher is one who knows their stuff and then has no classroom management problems .
I’m still annoyed at wasting an evening traveling in for it as you can probably tell !

I should also point out that the room was TINY and I mean TINY with no air con so that didn’t help the mood I suppose

Chilli Con Kearney

km79 wrote: »

That would be a disaster

How so? I'd rather do 2 hour sessions during the day if possible, than 2 hours after school. I mean, who the hell negotiated that?! More evenings on top of personal Croke Park hours, staff Croke Park hours, parent teacher meetings and extra curricular sports.

km79

Chilli Con Kearney wrote: »

How so? I'd rather do 2 hour sessions during the day if possible, than 2 hours after school. I mean, who the hell negotiated that?! More evenings on top of personal Croke Park hours, staff Croke Park hours, parent teacher meetings and extra curricular sports.

Oh I’d rather do it during the school day as well don’t get me wrong
I meant splitting it over 3 days just won’t work
Anyway it has to be one 2 hour block so it’s a non runner

Chilli Con Kearney

km79 wrote: »

Oh I’d rather do it during the school day as well don’t get me wrong
I meant splitting it over 3 days just won’t work
Anyway it has to be one 2 hour block so it’s a non runner

Maybe not three, but certainly 2 hours would work. Say the department are all off during the day but not last class, they MUST wait until after school? That's mad. Like, just nuts. Start it and then pick up after school. That'd be absolutely fine. And realistically who is going to know or care?!

Chilli Con Kearney

km79 wrote: »

Oh I’d rather do it during the school day as well don’t get me wrong
I meant splitting it over 3 days just won’t work
Anyway it has to be one 2 hour block so it’s a non runner

Maybe not three, but certainly 2 hours would work. Say the department are all off during the day but not last class, they MUST wait until after school? That's mad. Like, just nuts. Start it and then pick up after school. That'd be absolutely fine. And realistically who is going to know or care?!

km79

Chilli Con Kearney wrote: »

Maybe not three, but certainly 2 hours would work. Say the department are all off during the day but not last class, they MUST wait until after school? That's mad. Like, just nuts. Start it and then pick up after school. That'd be absolutely fine. And realistically who is going to know or care?!

It is mad
Just like they would have to stay behind for croke park evening or a PTM even if they were off all day
This is why it will be so hard to get consensus on an evening for a SLAR meeting of it is to be after school
No evening will suit anyone so ultimately who decides of this situation arises ? The SLAR facilitator ( no IMO) or senior management (yes IMO)

Again I sought clarification at the training and didn't get it
Local issues blah blah blah

solerina

We actually had a union meeting about this very issue today. Our school steward said the local branch of the union directed that SLARs must at the very least start within class time, and really should be done totally within class time. He said that we need to stand firm or whatever happens will continue for future years.
This wasn’t my understanding of what was to happen but it has really caused a bit of a furore among the staff.

joebloggs32

solerina wrote: »

We actually had a union meeting about this very issue today. Our school steward said the local branch of the union directed that SLARs must at the very least start within class time, and really should be done totally within class time. He said that we need to stand firm or whatever happens will continue for future years.
This wasn’t my understanding of what was to happen but it has really caused a bit of a furore among the staff.

It really is a mess. It was my understanding that the professional time allocation meant that we now do slars on our time. If possible to start during school but otherwise it would be after school. As our school operates a four and a half day week we could do it on our afternoon off so at least your out by 3.30

Mardy Bum

joebloggs32 wrote: »

solerina wrote: »

We actually had a union meeting about this very issue today. Our school steward said the local branch of the union directed that SLARs must at the very least start within class time, and really should be done totally within class time. He said that we need to stand firm or whatever happens will continue for future years.
This wasn’t my understanding of what was to happen but it has really caused a bit of a furore among the staff.

It really is a mess. It was my understanding that the professional time allocation meant that we now do slars on our time. If possible to start during school but otherwise it would be after school. As our school operates a four and a half day week we could do it on our afternoon off so at least your out by 3.30

That is exactly what the professional time is for along with administration.

Is it enough? Definitely not.

Did the ASTI capitulate and agree to it? Yes

I don't understand the unions on this now. The TUI didn't even try to stop this when it had the chance. The ASTI are trying to save face clearly following the coup. All a little too late.

joebloggs32

Mardy Bum wrote: »

That is exactly what the professional time is for along with administration.

Is it enough? Definitely not.

Did the ASTI capitulate and agree to it? Yes

I don't understand the unions on this now. The TUI didn't even try to stop this when it had the chance. The ASTI are trying to save face clearly following the coup. All a little too late.

The real can of worms for me here is the teachers in a small school where they are the only one with that subject.
They have to travel to another school and in some parts of rural Ireland that could be a considerable journey. Will they be subbed free to be able to travel and will they get proper expenses. What if they don't drive and there is no public transport?

Alqua

joebloggs32 wrote: »

The real can of worms for me here is the teachers in a small school where they are the only one with that subject.
They have to travel to another school and in some parts of rural Ireland that could be a considerable journey. Will they be subbed free to be able to travel and will they get proper expenses. What if they don't drive and there is no public transport?

I asked about this at our JCT day. They (of course) had no answer. Even if you only looked at the finances - some teachers can't end up worse off than others. If they have to give all of these teachers travel expenses, the new JC is going to cost €€€! They did suggest contacting the local education centre to see if we can be linked up with teachers from 'similar schools' in the area, but this is an urban area.

picturehangup

In addition to SLARS, we have also now to deal with new JC webinars after school hours.
Had one in my subject a few weeks ago, between the hours of 7-8pm. Surprised nobody has raised this one already.
This is more CPD time creeping in under the radar, unpaid, of course, with no thought or concern for those who may have other family commitments, young children etc. Sorry if I am off-topic, but did the unions agree to this?
I think we are being pushed and pulled in every which way and direction, and it is very, very unfair.

joebloggs32

picturehangup wrote: »

In addition to SLARS, we have also now to deal with new JC webinars after school hours.
Had one in my subject a few weeks ago, between the hours of 7-8pm. Surprised nobody has raised this one already.
This is more CPD time creeping in under the radar, unpaid, of course, with no thought or concern for those who may have other family commitments, young children etc. Sorry if I am off-topic, but did the unions agree to this?
I think we are being pushed and pulled in every which way and direction, and it is very, very unfair.

You don't have to do them at that time. They are put up in YouTube. Can be viewed during your school day which is exactly what I'm going to do

PureClareGold

picturehangup wrote: »

In addition to SLARS, we have also now to deal with new JC webinars after school hours.
Had one in my subject a few weeks ago, between the hours of 7-8pm. Surprised nobody has raised this one already.
This is more CPD time creeping in under the radar, unpaid, of course, with no thought or concern for those who may have other family commitments, young children etc. Sorry if I am off-topic, but did the unions agree to this?
I think we are being pushed and pulled in every which way and direction, and it is very, very unfair.

The recordings and resources they used are all available on their website that we can use to HELP us in our job. We can watch them during school time with our colleagues if we wish to improve as teachers.

6am7f9zxrsjvnb

People whining about having to do
a SLAR after school need to acknowledge the 33 FREE CLASSES they had shaved off their timetable this year!!

judeboy101

Brynlee Prehistoric Sister wrote: »

People whining about having to do
a SLAR after school need to acknowledge the 33 FREE CLASSES they had shaved off their timetable this year!!

33 classes is 33 less times I get to teach my students. I'd rather teach.