Every Child Matters (but what about mine?)
Yesterday I went for a walk with an old colleague who has recently left the classroom and moved on to being an English Advisor for her county. I was keen to find out if the rumours were true: better work-life balance, more time for the family when home etc. Sadly, although still in her early days of her new post, it seems they are. But can we work together to change this and create a positive work-life balance in schools for those with children?
She told me how, it was on her first day of the job, that she felt she had instantly made the right decision. The managing director of her new company said the following to all of the staff:
‘When I was teaching in school, I was continuously referred back to the term ‘Every Child Matters,’ but I never felt it applied to my own family. Yes -Every Child Matters and that includes your own. If you ever need to take the time to be with your family you will never be questioned about that here. Your family comes first.’
This sounded like music to my ears and I began to think about the sacrifices I had made for my own children in order to be a teacher. I don’t regret it; I love my job. But, it is so important that senior leaders understand the simple pleasures forfeited by teachers from being in the profession. No longer is it the profession of choice to support those with families, those days are long gone. If anything, the statistics show that school staff have left (or are considering leaving) once they have a family of their own.
So, what do others enjoy as parents that teachers don’t? And what could we, as senior leaders, do about it?
The walk to and from school each day
One of the biggest things missing for me as a teacher was the lack of contact I had with my child’s school and other parents in the class. As I am in school every morning at 8am, I never get the opportunity to meet my child’s teacher (except for parent’s evenings) or other parents of children in their class. This has several knock on effects: firstly, I don’t get to build a relationship with my child’s teacher and ‘check in’ each day - this can sometimes mean small issues become big issues. Secondly, our children miss out on after school play dates or being asked round for tea. Simple things, but big ones too.
Since the pandemic it has become more and more common for people to work from home, a luxury just not afforded to teachers. Because of this, there are many more people who are able to do the school drop off before making their way home to start the working day. My husband has this luxury most mornings, and finds it is an opportunity to walk and talk. They have wonderful conversations about the world, complex ‘but why?’ discussions or just about small talk about how the day is going. This is often a key moment in a child’s day where they will discuss what is happening at school, what they are happy about and what they are not so happy about. Special bonding time, but again something that isn’t available for teachers who need to be ready to greet others.
A possible solution? Timetabling. I heard of one school who offered a ‘soft start’ to their members of staff with children of school age. This meant that once a week they could do the school drop off before coming in to teach for the day, starting at 9:15 instead of any earlier. Although this can seem inconvenient for those creating timetables, the member of staff who informed me of this during a networking event said, ‘ I wouldn’t leave my school because I like my soft start too much.’ So, it actually benefits both the school as well as the whole family of the staff member.
Sports days / end of year shows / special assemblies etc etc
We have all seen the video of the little girl searching for her adults in the audience ( if not, I highly recommend watching it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMMVaVSx0eE). If you were ever in doubt about how important it is for you to show up for your children, this sums it up. The sadness as she scours the crowds; the pure joy she experiences when she sees her family, so much so it reduces her to happy tears. As teachers, how many of these events do we organise and promote, yet miss when our own children are taking part?
A possible solution? Organisation. Getting dates organised in advance as much as possible allows for staff to plan ahead (this comes from the perspective of letting the parents know - who may well be teachers, but also staff know when their dates are so they can identify any possible clashes with their own children’s special events). Again, being a member of staff at a school that embraces the importance of being there for your own family, is something that prevents excellent teachers from moving on.
After school clubs
Most after school clubs, such as Beavers, Karate, Dance etc, begin at 4 or 4:30pm. From my own experience, it can be difficult to find the late starting ones. Even when you do, you feel it is too late and then you don’t have time for the bedtime routine after. For many school staff, 4pm will be the time they are deep into a meeting, or frantically marking books and preparing for the next day. Some schools also have clear expectations that you should not leave before a certain time, another barrier in the way.
A possible solution? Conversations. As a teacher, be open with your senior leaders. Most will understand where you are coming from and appreciate your desire to get your child involved in extracurricular activities - after all, it is part of developing the ‘cultural capital’ of a child! In a previous school I worked in, there was always an agreement that you could leave when the children had left and no strict end times. Staff were trusted that if this was the case, all work would be completed when most appropriate for you i.e. when your children were in bed. It would only be a topic of discussion if you were not completing what you needed to do.
As senior leaders, are you aware of staff who may be having this struggle? Do you know your staff well enough to understand who this might be an issue for. Approach them, have a direct conversation with them and maybe agree a day where they could leave earlier to enable their child to have this option. No cover required, just organisation and thinking ahead.
Compressed hours
This one has always been a sensitive topic for me - probably the one I find most frustrating. When you look closely at a teacher's contract, they are required to work ‘a maximum of 1,265 hours per academic year, spread over 195 days.’ Roughly that equates to 6.5 hours a day. This really feeds into the 9am-3:30pm stereotype we sometimes find in society. It does not include the countless hours setting up, lesson planning, attending meetings, marking books, producing displays, parent’s evenings, end of term discos, summer fayres, christmas fayres - the list is endless. So, when I hear that my friends, who work outside of education, have managed to compress their hours into 4 days - I find it beyond frustrating. They tell me how they have reduced their lunch to 30 minutes, start at 8:30am and work till 5:30/6pm and it is enough to commit to their full time hours, 4 days a week. What does it mean for them? 5 days pay for 4 days commitment. If you are struggling with childcare costs, this is another frustration - 5 days pay, but only 4 days childcare. It can save them a fortune; hundreds of pounds a month.
On a similar note, many of my friends have accrued 20+ days of holiday on their maternity leave and use this as another way of working 4 days a week for the first six months back from maternity leave. Again, another luxury not afforded for teachers.
A possible solution? This one I am just not sure about. I really am not sure what the answer is to this and I am open to suggestions or to listen to schools that have made this work for their staff. We are already working those hours, it would be impossible to compress it any further and we are restricted to a timetable which we must adhere to. So watch this space for solutions here.
With regards to accruing holiday, if you are about to go on parental leave - I highly recommend you contacting @TeachersSPL. It was too late for me, but had I known in time, they could have extended my maternity leave by almost a couple of months. Please look into it and, in their own words, get ‘the maternity pay you deserve.’
There are always positives.
Let’s finish with a positive, because despite knowing all this, for most of us, the job still wins hands down. We adore the children in our classes and quickly make them our second families for the year they are with us. As tough as those term times are, I always tell myself I am not too far from at least a week with my children. An intense week of pyjama days, home -baking, day outings and just being together. Being a teacher does mean we can have intense family time that is never more than 8 weeks away. If you are struggling, hold that in your mind and try to push through.
However, I do ask every senior leader within education to always consider the sacrifices made by your staff. To always keep them at the forefront of your mind. To always try to incorporate some of the great ways schools are already supporting their staff. Because, as the Every Child Matter’s document states very clearly, ‘our children are everything to us: our hopes, our ambitions, our future. Our children are cherished and loved.’
