HoD is still keen to pursue trying to get me trained as a HLTA and last week he got the HR manager to present the proposal at an SMT meeting. We didn't hear anything for a couple of days, but now HR have got back to us with some feedback from SMT including some questions/concerns that they want answered.
Some of their concerns are the same as mine, namely whether the technician side of my job would be adversely affected and how we would organise the workload. I think we can manage if everyone gets properly oragnised and my teachers learn to plan a bit better. Obviously they also have concerns about the costs, but that was to be expected.
Apparently the Headmaster's main concern is that this could become a 'conveyor belt for technicians to train and leave'! To me that seems very short-sighted. Is he honestly saying that he wants untrained, unskilled technicians because then we are less likely to find jobs elsewhere? From my point of view, if this additional training leads to a pay increase I am far more likely to stay.
At the moment I am struggling financially and the fact that my daily commute is a 55 mile round trip does not help. A job closer to home would reduce my costs significantly, but a pay rise here would make all the difference.
The other aspect is career progression. The way our school is set up, we have 3 individual technicians each servicing 1 science and working independently of each other. It's not the kind of system that needs a senior technician so if I wanted to become a senior or team leader, I would have to move. What's currently being proposed would be a chance to progress without leaving. Don't know if we will be able to convince them. Watch this space!
Monday 18 November 2013
Friday 18 October 2013
Half term
It's here! Half term is finally here. It's been a long, tiring slog but after 1.15pm today we are out of here for 2 weeks. Well, I'm coming in for a couple of days to get some jobs done, but there won't be any kids or teachers so it still counts as a holiday.
The last thursday before autumn half term is always 'Steepo' day. Steepo is a 2.5 mile inter-house cross-country run which all the students have to participate in. Quite a few of the teaching staff run as well and this year one of the IT technicians decided we ought to put together a support staff team so yesterday afternoon I joined 3 IT guys, the H&S manager, 2 ladies from accounts, the HR manager, the catering manager, the head of maintenance, the lady who runs the uniform shop, one of the electricians, one of the cleaners,our bio tech and a couple of others for a bit of a run.
It was actually really good fun. A lot of the non-running teachers were marshalling the course and shouting out encouragement as we passed and it was great to be involved in something all the kids were doing.
I just got the results list, and apparently I came 13th out of 18 support staff, which I think is a pretty respectable result. Who knows, maybe next year I'll be fitter and quicker. :)
It was a good way to end what has been a busy but very productive 7 weeks and I'm looking forward to a rest.
The last thursday before autumn half term is always 'Steepo' day. Steepo is a 2.5 mile inter-house cross-country run which all the students have to participate in. Quite a few of the teaching staff run as well and this year one of the IT technicians decided we ought to put together a support staff team so yesterday afternoon I joined 3 IT guys, the H&S manager, 2 ladies from accounts, the HR manager, the catering manager, the head of maintenance, the lady who runs the uniform shop, one of the electricians, one of the cleaners,our bio tech and a couple of others for a bit of a run.
It was actually really good fun. A lot of the non-running teachers were marshalling the course and shouting out encouragement as we passed and it was great to be involved in something all the kids were doing.
I just got the results list, and apparently I came 13th out of 18 support staff, which I think is a pretty respectable result. Who knows, maybe next year I'll be fitter and quicker. :)
It was a good way to end what has been a busy but very productive 7 weeks and I'm looking forward to a rest.
Thursday 10 October 2013
Trips
The annual trip to CERN went off this morning. I'm not able to go this year, but as usual I have been heavily involved in the planning and organisation.
As I was dealing with last minute paperwork yesterday I got to wondering whether I am too much of a pushover. Surely the teachers should be doing this stuff themselves? I know that my HoD panics and flaps and is not the most organised person in the world, so I do all this stuff for him because at least that way I know it will be done properly.
For the CERN trip I have:
* Organised getting the passport details from all the students (making photocopies, recording info in a spreadsheet)
* Booked the flights
* Liased with the school transport manager to book the coach to the airport
* Printed out the boarding passes
* Arranged the groups for the guided tour
* Organised which students are sharing which rooms at the hotel (HoD booked the hotel)
* Downloaded and printed out maps of the hotel, highlighting where the nearest bus stops are
* Printed out timetables for all the buses that the group will need to take between Geneva airport, CERN and the hotel
* Organised all the above paperwork in a file for HoD to take with him
Genuine question to any fellow technicians reading this - Am I an idiot? Should I have said no a long time ago to doing all of this?
Once they get back from CERN we start all over again, as it's only 7 weeks until the trip to Rome and the Vatican Observatory. Arrgh!
As I was dealing with last minute paperwork yesterday I got to wondering whether I am too much of a pushover. Surely the teachers should be doing this stuff themselves? I know that my HoD panics and flaps and is not the most organised person in the world, so I do all this stuff for him because at least that way I know it will be done properly.
For the CERN trip I have:
* Organised getting the passport details from all the students (making photocopies, recording info in a spreadsheet)
* Booked the flights
* Liased with the school transport manager to book the coach to the airport
* Printed out the boarding passes
* Arranged the groups for the guided tour
* Organised which students are sharing which rooms at the hotel (HoD booked the hotel)
* Downloaded and printed out maps of the hotel, highlighting where the nearest bus stops are
* Printed out timetables for all the buses that the group will need to take between Geneva airport, CERN and the hotel
* Organised all the above paperwork in a file for HoD to take with him
Genuine question to any fellow technicians reading this - Am I an idiot? Should I have said no a long time ago to doing all of this?
Once they get back from CERN we start all over again, as it's only 7 weeks until the trip to Rome and the Vatican Observatory. Arrgh!
Wednesday 9 October 2013
12 years later...
Today is my 12th anniversary of starting work as a lab technician.
At the time I was a single mother with a 6 year old daughter and desperate to get back into work, but worried about affording childcare. A job in a school felt like the ideal solution, at least temporarily. My mum had been a biology technician for years so I knew at least partly what I was getting myself into and I was delighted to be offered the post of physics technician at my local secondary school for 20 hours a week.
After 3 years there I decided I wanted to go full time and found a job at a nearby independent school, then 3 more years later ended up in my current position. I never expected to be a technician for anywhere near this long, but it turns out that it's a job I quite enjoy (usually) and at which I am reasonably good. I've found a school I love which pays just about enough to live on. If only I didn't have such a long commute to get here every day it would be perfect.
Across 3 schools I have experienced a great deal of variation in how technicians are treated, but here I feel like I am (mostly!) respected and (often) treated as a professional colleague by the teachers and management. My job is varied and interesing, I am constantly learning new things. For all my grumbling I would have to say that for the most part I am happy with my lot.
In another 12 years I'll be 50. Will I still be a technician? I really hope so.
At the time I was a single mother with a 6 year old daughter and desperate to get back into work, but worried about affording childcare. A job in a school felt like the ideal solution, at least temporarily. My mum had been a biology technician for years so I knew at least partly what I was getting myself into and I was delighted to be offered the post of physics technician at my local secondary school for 20 hours a week.
After 3 years there I decided I wanted to go full time and found a job at a nearby independent school, then 3 more years later ended up in my current position. I never expected to be a technician for anywhere near this long, but it turns out that it's a job I quite enjoy (usually) and at which I am reasonably good. I've found a school I love which pays just about enough to live on. If only I didn't have such a long commute to get here every day it would be perfect.
Across 3 schools I have experienced a great deal of variation in how technicians are treated, but here I feel like I am (mostly!) respected and (often) treated as a professional colleague by the teachers and management. My job is varied and interesing, I am constantly learning new things. For all my grumbling I would have to say that for the most part I am happy with my lot.
In another 12 years I'll be 50. Will I still be a technician? I really hope so.
Tuesday 17 September 2013
To HLTA or not to HLTA?
When we have our termly technician meeting with the Head of Science, chem tech is always full of ideas about what 'we' or 'they' should do to improve the science department. One such idea, which he has brought up periodically over the past few years, is that all 3 technicians should become Higher level Teaching Assistants (HLTA) The idea is that this should (in theory) get us more money and might also get us recognised as academic staff, rather than support staff.
The previous HoS used to listen politely and then completely ignore 95% of everything said at these meetings, but things are changing. Our new HoS is also my HoD and he listens to technicians! At the last meeting he seemed quite interested in chem tech's suggestion, made a lot of notes, and then went to speak to HR.
Unbelievably HR are really keen on the concept and we have been asked to put together a cost/benefit analysis so they can decide whether it's worth pursuing. I thought they'd lose interest the minute pay was mentioned, but apparently not. They have said that they would only want to go forward with one technician initially but then include the others over time and the one technician they want to trial the idea with is me! Apparently I've been selected because I'm the youngest tech here so I guess they think they'll get more back long term if they invest in me.
The thing is, I'm not sure if I want to be a HLTA.
I'm a technician. It's what I've been doing for the past 12 years. My prep room is my comfort zone and the idea of having to teach even small groups of students terrifies me. Quite apart from the fear factor I'm also concerned about what this could mean for technicians in general. Is being a technician not good enough? We are skilled people with specialist knowledge and I would never want that role to be seen as second rate and for teaching to be viewed as the only viable career option. After all that was surely the point of RSciTech - to get people to view technicians as professionals.
I need the money though. At this school there are no support staff pay scales and no additional money for taking on extra responsibilities so I am stuck on my current salary for ever. The only way I can earn more may be to go down this path, but I am really conflicted about what is the right thing to do.
It may be that HR decide the costs are too great for the potential benefits, in which case I am worrying unnessecarily. Watch this space!
The previous HoS used to listen politely and then completely ignore 95% of everything said at these meetings, but things are changing. Our new HoS is also my HoD and he listens to technicians! At the last meeting he seemed quite interested in chem tech's suggestion, made a lot of notes, and then went to speak to HR.
Unbelievably HR are really keen on the concept and we have been asked to put together a cost/benefit analysis so they can decide whether it's worth pursuing. I thought they'd lose interest the minute pay was mentioned, but apparently not. They have said that they would only want to go forward with one technician initially but then include the others over time and the one technician they want to trial the idea with is me! Apparently I've been selected because I'm the youngest tech here so I guess they think they'll get more back long term if they invest in me.
The thing is, I'm not sure if I want to be a HLTA.
I'm a technician. It's what I've been doing for the past 12 years. My prep room is my comfort zone and the idea of having to teach even small groups of students terrifies me. Quite apart from the fear factor I'm also concerned about what this could mean for technicians in general. Is being a technician not good enough? We are skilled people with specialist knowledge and I would never want that role to be seen as second rate and for teaching to be viewed as the only viable career option. After all that was surely the point of RSciTech - to get people to view technicians as professionals.
I need the money though. At this school there are no support staff pay scales and no additional money for taking on extra responsibilities so I am stuck on my current salary for ever. The only way I can earn more may be to go down this path, but I am really conflicted about what is the right thing to do.
It may be that HR decide the costs are too great for the potential benefits, in which case I am worrying unnessecarily. Watch this space!
Thursday 12 September 2013
Happy new (school) year!
So, we're a week and a half into the new school year and already it feels as though we've never been away!
As always there have been lots of changes to the timetable, and which student is in which set, but I think it's just about sorted now. The only problem we're having in physics is the teachers who haven't checked their timetable to see which room they are supposed to be teaching in.
We have more classes, and teachers, than ever in science this year and still only the same 9 labs which isn't enough when up to 14 lessons can be happening all at once, so we have what is rapidly becoming the usual scenario of science lessons being sent to the far flung corners of the school. Sadly though teachers don't always check their timetable and assume that they will be in their usual lab. Several times already I have had to remind them that practical lessons are not a viable option when they are in a maths or business studies room.
Maybe by half term we'll all know where we are, but somehow I doubt it. :)
Preparations for this year's CERN trip are coming along nicely. We are going a bit earlier than usual this time and amazingly the process of booking flights was remarkably painless. HoD was a lot firmer about setting deadlines for the students to get their permission and passport info in and it really seemed to pay off. 35 students and 4 staff this time - our largest CERN trip ever. It's unfortunate that the school chaplain is coming again. I'd hoped last year was a one off, but with any luck the trip will be enough fun that he won't put too much of a damper on things.
As always there have been lots of changes to the timetable, and which student is in which set, but I think it's just about sorted now. The only problem we're having in physics is the teachers who haven't checked their timetable to see which room they are supposed to be teaching in.
We have more classes, and teachers, than ever in science this year and still only the same 9 labs which isn't enough when up to 14 lessons can be happening all at once, so we have what is rapidly becoming the usual scenario of science lessons being sent to the far flung corners of the school. Sadly though teachers don't always check their timetable and assume that they will be in their usual lab. Several times already I have had to remind them that practical lessons are not a viable option when they are in a maths or business studies room.
Maybe by half term we'll all know where we are, but somehow I doubt it. :)
Preparations for this year's CERN trip are coming along nicely. We are going a bit earlier than usual this time and amazingly the process of booking flights was remarkably painless. HoD was a lot firmer about setting deadlines for the students to get their permission and passport info in and it really seemed to pay off. 35 students and 4 staff this time - our largest CERN trip ever. It's unfortunate that the school chaplain is coming again. I'd hoped last year was a one off, but with any luck the trip will be enough fun that he won't put too much of a damper on things.
Wednesday 17 July 2013
What are we worth? Nothing, apparently!
Take a look at the 'job' advert above. It's currently posted on the CLEAPSS technician job service site.
Notice anything unusual? Yep, that's right - they want a volunteer technician.
I could almost see the point if they were talking about an entry level position, although surely an apprentice would be better than a volunteer, but if you look at the bottom they are asking for A-levels as a minimum. Plenty of paid technician jobs don't insist on A-levels!
This advert makes a mockery of all the efforts that have been made over recent years to highlight the skills and professionalism of technicians up and down the country and takes me back to when I started in the role 12 years ago, when we were viewed as little more than someone's mum, coming in to do a bit of washing up to earn some pocket money! When I went through the process of getting my RSciTech accreditation last year I thought it was a step forward in getting technicains viewed as professionals who might actually be worth a bit of respect. In one school, at least, it appears we are worth nothing at all.
Do you think anyone would consider, even for a second, advertising for volunteer teachers? How about volunteer senior management? Volunteer HR manager? No, of course they wouldn't. But we are clearly not even worth the peanuts that are usually thrown in our direction.
The shitty thing is that they probably will get applicants because desperate job seekers get forced into taking on unpaid work or else losing benefits. I sincerely hope that this is a one off and that no other schools and colleges decide to try this route. Will be keeping a close eye on this situation.
Friday 28 June 2013
End of term!
Yay! It's the end of term.
It's felt like an unusually busy year and it looks like next year will be just as bad, if not worse, but we made it and now we've got a lovely break to look forward to.
We're saying goodbye to 2 members of science staff, but in September we'll be welcoming 3 new faces which is always exciting.
Right now there's nothing else to say except....
Happy summer everyone! :)
Thursday 27 June 2013
Timetables
The new timetables for next year have gone live, so you know what that means...
Actually there is a very good reason why I go crazy with the highlighters whenever the new timetable appears. I allocate a different colour to each teacher (HoD is yellow, astroboy is pink etc) and then when the timetables are stuck up on the wall it's really easy to see at a glance when each teacher is teaching and which lab they are in.
I'm glad I did decide to go through the timetables now, because I found a couple of anomolies where rooms had been double booked, or a teacher was timetabled to be in some far flung corner of the campus when actually there was a free lab they could go to. We let the timetabling guy know and it's all been sorted out without any fuss or panic which would definitely have ensued if we hadn't found out until the end of august!
Just over 24 hours until the end of term. :)
Yup, it's time to play with highlighters!
Actually there is a very good reason why I go crazy with the highlighters whenever the new timetable appears. I allocate a different colour to each teacher (HoD is yellow, astroboy is pink etc) and then when the timetables are stuck up on the wall it's really easy to see at a glance when each teacher is teaching and which lab they are in.
I'm glad I did decide to go through the timetables now, because I found a couple of anomolies where rooms had been double booked, or a teacher was timetabled to be in some far flung corner of the campus when actually there was a free lab they could go to. We let the timetabling guy know and it's all been sorted out without any fuss or panic which would definitely have ensued if we hadn't found out until the end of august!
Just over 24 hours until the end of term. :)
A plug...
A little off topic, but I just wanted to give a plug for my new blog - What's Cooking?
My intention is to post some of the new recipes I've been trying out recently as well as some tried and tested old favourites.
End of commercial! :)
My intention is to post some of the new recipes I've been trying out recently as well as some tried and tested old favourites.
End of commercial! :)
Tuesday 25 June 2013
And now the end is near...
It's almost the end of term. Can you believe it?
In fact, it rather feels like we've finished for the year already because there are no lessons happening this week. Instead there is a school-wide arts festival, with the students doing various arty activities as well as concerts and lectures. This is keeping all the teachers very busy, so I'm having a lovely peaceful time.
Obviously the main job for the week is to get the labs cleared and tidied for the start of next year. My HoD is moving out of his lab and giving it to NQT (who I supposed I will have to stop referring to as nqt now!) so there is a lot of rubbish to be disposed of. I also need to get all the electrical appliances out of their cupboards so the PAT men can test them next week.
Other than that, it's a nice restful wind down of a week. And those are so rare I am determined to enjoy it!
In fact, it rather feels like we've finished for the year already because there are no lessons happening this week. Instead there is a school-wide arts festival, with the students doing various arty activities as well as concerts and lectures. This is keeping all the teachers very busy, so I'm having a lovely peaceful time.
Obviously the main job for the week is to get the labs cleared and tidied for the start of next year. My HoD is moving out of his lab and giving it to NQT (who I supposed I will have to stop referring to as nqt now!) so there is a lot of rubbish to be disposed of. I also need to get all the electrical appliances out of their cupboards so the PAT men can test them next week.
Other than that, it's a nice restful wind down of a week. And those are so rare I am determined to enjoy it!
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Still here
I realise I rather left the blog hanging after that last post. Sorry!
In the end I decided not to even go to the interview. Everyone I mentioned it to had nothing but bad things to say about the school in question, the money was a bit less than my current salary, but the killer for me was the commute.
I currently drive for 45 minutes to get to work, so I thought that a school around 10 miles closer to home would be a good bet but when I tried out the journey I discovered I was sorely mistaken. It actually took 30 minutes LONGER than my current commute because the roads are terrible and really congested in that area!
No job is worth over an hours drive each way, so I pulled out.
In the end I decided not to even go to the interview. Everyone I mentioned it to had nothing but bad things to say about the school in question, the money was a bit less than my current salary, but the killer for me was the commute.
I currently drive for 45 minutes to get to work, so I thought that a school around 10 miles closer to home would be a good bet but when I tried out the journey I discovered I was sorely mistaken. It actually took 30 minutes LONGER than my current commute because the roads are terrible and really congested in that area!
No job is worth over an hours drive each way, so I pulled out.
Wednesday 10 April 2013
Upcoming interview. Eep!
I applied for another job.
I'm not sure I would actually want it, but it never hurts to take a look.
However, I now have to face an interview - my first in over 5 years and the first time I've interviewed for a Team Leader position. the e-mail I had from the HR manager explained that the process will begin with a tour. Good, I can cope with that. Then there will be a student panel, which sounds mildly terrifying, an 'In Tray' exercise (I have no idea what that means) and finally a formal interview which is to include a 5 minute powerpoint presentation on how I would develop the technical team.
I'm SO far out of my depth here! I haven't the faintest clue how I would develop the technical team. I've never met them, know nothing about their working hours or how the work is divided up. I don't even know how many there are because the school website makes no mention of technicians at all.
I may not desperately want the job, but I don't want to make an idiot of myself. Help!!
I'm not sure I would actually want it, but it never hurts to take a look.
However, I now have to face an interview - my first in over 5 years and the first time I've interviewed for a Team Leader position. the e-mail I had from the HR manager explained that the process will begin with a tour. Good, I can cope with that. Then there will be a student panel, which sounds mildly terrifying, an 'In Tray' exercise (I have no idea what that means) and finally a formal interview which is to include a 5 minute powerpoint presentation on how I would develop the technical team.
I'm SO far out of my depth here! I haven't the faintest clue how I would develop the technical team. I've never met them, know nothing about their working hours or how the work is divided up. I don't even know how many there are because the school website makes no mention of technicians at all.
I may not desperately want the job, but I don't want to make an idiot of myself. Help!!
Friday 22 March 2013
Saying goodbye
Over the past couple of years it feels as though we have said goodbye to colleagues far too frequently. Today it was the turn of our Head of Science who is leaving not just the school, but also the country and starting a new life in Australia.
I was thinking about it and, excluding my HoD who started on the same day as me, we only have 3 teachers left in the whole of science who were here when I arrived just over 5 years ago. That's a lot of turnover in a relatively short time!
I wonder if it was something I said!
I was thinking about it and, excluding my HoD who started on the same day as me, we only have 3 teachers left in the whole of science who were here when I arrived just over 5 years ago. That's a lot of turnover in a relatively short time!
I wonder if it was something I said!
Tuesday 26 February 2013
Busy afternoon ahead
Around a month ago, we got an email asking if we could come up with something to occupy 13 children who are coming to the college today to try for an academic scholarship. They'll have a day of tests and then we are supposed to keep them entertained for an hour. My HoD cheerily said yes, and then promptly forgot about it until yesterday!
Since this is now going to be a rather last minute event, I foolishly thought we'd do something simple. After all we don't know the students involved, althoough as they are scholarship candidates they must be pretty bright. Also they have never used our equipment before. HoD however had grander plans. He insisted that the activity for them had to involve dataloggers so we can show off just how technologically advanced we are. This could cause problems on its own. There are a wide variety of dataloggers used in schools and the ones we have are certainly not the most popular, so if the students have used dataloggers before they may well not be familiar with the ones we have. Of course, they may not have ever come across dataloggers at all.
So use of the equipment might prove to be an issue, but at least they'll all be doing the same thing right? Wrong!
HoD has decided on a circus of experiments. Each pair of students will have a different experiment to carry out, two with light gates, two with temperature probes, one with a position sensor and one with a light sensor.
Apparently he also wants to take them to see the observatory.
All in the space of an hour.
It's going to be an interesting afternoon.
Friday 15 February 2013
Tuesday 12 February 2013
All change (again!)
It's getting on for that time of year - teachers who want to be in a different school next academic year are busy filling in applications and going to interviews.
We already knew we were losing the Head of Biology who is heading off to Australia at Easter, but this week already 2 more teachers have announced that they have found new jobs. Yesterday it was a chemist who is moving on to become a HoD at another nearby school and today one of the biology teachers revealed that he is also becoming a HoD and relocating to be nearer to his partner.
It's fab news for both of them, obviously, but as always they will be sorely missed. Since I started here just over 5 years ago all but 2 of the science teachers have changed.
I guess change is necessary. New people bring new ideas and enthusiasm to the department. After all, without astroboy we probably wouldn't have got the observatory up and running and our NQT is proving invaluable in pushing the solar car project forwards. Change scares me, but I will endeavour to embrace it, and at least this year the physics dept should be staying the same. (Fingers crossed!)
We already knew we were losing the Head of Biology who is heading off to Australia at Easter, but this week already 2 more teachers have announced that they have found new jobs. Yesterday it was a chemist who is moving on to become a HoD at another nearby school and today one of the biology teachers revealed that he is also becoming a HoD and relocating to be nearer to his partner.
It's fab news for both of them, obviously, but as always they will be sorely missed. Since I started here just over 5 years ago all but 2 of the science teachers have changed.
I guess change is necessary. New people bring new ideas and enthusiasm to the department. After all, without astroboy we probably wouldn't have got the observatory up and running and our NQT is proving invaluable in pushing the solar car project forwards. Change scares me, but I will endeavour to embrace it, and at least this year the physics dept should be staying the same. (Fingers crossed!)
Tuesday 29 January 2013
Need to know?
We have one set in year 11 who are following a totally different syllabus to everyone else. They are all new students from overseas who joined us this year because they want to take IB in the 6th form. There was no easy way to slot them into the IGCSE course which everyone else is taking, so they are doing Edexcel GCSE additional science instead. The HoDs have organised most of this between themselves - they even ordered their own textbooks!
This GCSE course has a 'controlled assessment' element - essentially it's coursework. I've known this was coming up for a few weeks because my HoD emailed me all the paperwork to have a look at so that I could order any extra equipment we need. This morning he asked me to go onto the Edexcel website and download the paperwork for bio and chem and then email it to the techs. This caused a certain degree of confusion. Neither of them apparently had any idea that this controlled assessment even existed, and in chatting to the bio tech I discovered that she hasn't been given any info about the A-level assessed practicals yet either.
It's weird how our HoDs have such different approaches. I've been given login details for AQA and Edexcel so I can go to their websites and find out all the information I need about the practicals. For A-level ISAs, I did it back in september, so I've had plenty of time to order the equipment, trial the practicals and am now in a position to advise the teachers so that the students have the best chance to do well. It sounds like the other 2 HoDs like to keep all the information close to their chests, but I can't see why.
You're never going to get the best technical support if you don't give the technicians the information they need. Maybe the difference is that I'm treated as an integral and trusted part of the team by all of my teachers. It sounds as though my colleagues aren't getting the respect they deserve.
This GCSE course has a 'controlled assessment' element - essentially it's coursework. I've known this was coming up for a few weeks because my HoD emailed me all the paperwork to have a look at so that I could order any extra equipment we need. This morning he asked me to go onto the Edexcel website and download the paperwork for bio and chem and then email it to the techs. This caused a certain degree of confusion. Neither of them apparently had any idea that this controlled assessment even existed, and in chatting to the bio tech I discovered that she hasn't been given any info about the A-level assessed practicals yet either.
It's weird how our HoDs have such different approaches. I've been given login details for AQA and Edexcel so I can go to their websites and find out all the information I need about the practicals. For A-level ISAs, I did it back in september, so I've had plenty of time to order the equipment, trial the practicals and am now in a position to advise the teachers so that the students have the best chance to do well. It sounds like the other 2 HoDs like to keep all the information close to their chests, but I can't see why.
You're never going to get the best technical support if you don't give the technicians the information they need. Maybe the difference is that I'm treated as an integral and trusted part of the team by all of my teachers. It sounds as though my colleagues aren't getting the respect they deserve.
Friday 25 January 2013
I hate ISAs
The thing that triggered me starting this blog almost 2 years ago was an ISA (the practical assessments for A-level physics) and they really don't get any better.
All of our year 13s are retaking the AS ISA so this week has been a non-stop flurry of practice ISA practicals and tests. We have 2 classes and my HoD is perpetually confused as to which set is doing which ISA and when. I'm mostly on top of it, but it's SO stressful. Today and monday will be the real ISAs, but that's not the end of it. Oh no!
There are 2 AS ISA experiments. They do both of them and submit the best one. Of course the year 12s also have to do their ISAs and the year 13s haven't started on the A2 ISAs yet either.
If I make it to Easter without either a nervous breakdown or murdering my HoD I think I will be doing quite well.
All of our year 13s are retaking the AS ISA so this week has been a non-stop flurry of practice ISA practicals and tests. We have 2 classes and my HoD is perpetually confused as to which set is doing which ISA and when. I'm mostly on top of it, but it's SO stressful. Today and monday will be the real ISAs, but that's not the end of it. Oh no!
There are 2 AS ISA experiments. They do both of them and submit the best one. Of course the year 12s also have to do their ISAs and the year 13s haven't started on the A2 ISAs yet either.
If I make it to Easter without either a nervous breakdown or murdering my HoD I think I will be doing quite well.
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