Holidays - unfair or is it me?!

[Paid_Peanuts]

Hi, here is the scenario:

Three of us in ICT here, Seconday school 1850 pupils, 200 staff some 750 machines.

 

Over the summer holidays between the three of us we had 8 days off!

 

Now we all want to take October half term off. However we have been told we can't all be off at the same time...

We have to outstanding work to complete nor do we have anything happening over the October half term.

 

Does anyone else think this is unreasonable?!

[intrigue]

If you are supporting users that will be in over half term then it is more then reasonable to expect at least 1 of you to be in.

matt

[Geoff]

Indeed, I don't think it's an unreasonable expectation if you are all working full time.

[TechMonkey]

But as always this brings in the question of being forced to take time off during school holidays (which I assume you are). Being 3 of you surely 1 of you at a time could be allowed time of during term, sparing this clamour for the holidays, which is generally our busiest time!

[timbo343]

Hi, here is the scenario:

Three of us in ICT here, Seconday school 1850 pupils, 200 staff some 750 machines.

 

Over the summer holidays between the three of us we had 8 days off!

 

Now we all want to take October half term off. However we have been told we can't all be off at the same time...

We have to outstanding work to complete nor do we have anything happening over the October half term.

 

Does anyone else think this is unreasonable?!

Can one of you work that week then that person surely could take the following week off.

 

Tim

[localzuk]

If you are being forced to take your holidays during school holidays then you are entitled to take them as and when, during those times, you want to. Ok, it may leave the school in the lurch but that is there problem and not yours.

 

Now, this all depends on whether or not you feel a responsibility to have someone available during the holiday...

[Lee_K_81]

Unfortunately it's pretty standard. Somebody is required to be in incase of any problems with other staff that are in.

 

Most schools, understandibly, block holiday during term time which is why it is always a good idea to get your hols in quickly, i.e. first come first served.

 

It does raise the issue of being forced to take them outside of term, when all 3 of you want them though. The only thing you could do is get union involved, but i dont think they'd back you on this one unfortunately.

 

I think you're going to have to draw straws or share the duty, i.e. someone does mon & tues, somebody else does wed & thur, somebody else fri. Either that or make the person whose is least senior / been there least amount of time do it.

[pinemarten]

yeah it's the old moral obligation/guilt/flexibility thing again , isn't it?

I think that's why we have (or need!) contracts which specify these matters.

[beeswax]

during 2005/06 none of the 3 of us techies took our full allocation of holidays and ended up all booking roughly the same time at Easter 2006. We were told in no uncertain terms that we must not leave the school without any cover again. This was fair enough, but what we weren't told at the time was that as we were employed full time we could take our holidays during term time if there was cover in the IT office. I only found this out a couple of weeks ago when I realized I'd booked the wrong week for half term this October (the LEA website had given out the wrong dates for school holidays, and there's a stack of letters from parents who have also booked the "wrong" week). It may be worth asking SMT just what the regs are.

[Halfmad]

I generally have to take leave during holidays even though we have an entire central IT department that the school can call on if I'm not here - granted the service we get varies and since they haven't been in to deal with desktop issues in almost 2 years it's not surprising that staff avoid them at all costs.

 

We really should have myself and a tech though, 640 pupils, 80 staff and just over 400 computers (mix of PC and mac), it's asking a lot of one person and frankly means I never get a chance to develop anything as I'm constantly running about plugging stuff back in (because it's magically stopped powering on) and frankly wiping teachers bottoms.

[broc]

I think as a general principle it is reasonable to provide a level of cover if the ICT support team is big enough to allow people a choice of when to take their holidays. With three full-time people I would expect to provide a reasonable level of cover, allowing for sickness etc.

However, I also believe everyone should be able to take their full entitlement of holidays & if this means work does not get done the school needs to look at the workload/productivity of its ICT support team. Work should be planned around holiday plans, not the other way round.

[ICT_GUY]

I dont work the holidays at all.

 

I even complain about coming in on training days :oops:

 

(And yes, I am a very happy techie)

[russdev]

If I had somoene else here to help me then would expect one of us to be on as long as we can take holiday in term time etc etc.

 

But as there is just me holiday as rule has to be outside school terms so staff know that through hols there is very limited support.

 

Russell

[sidewinder]

Well we (a team of 6) used to all have time off at the same time during holidays until SMT finally gave in and allowed us to have some time off during term as long as there was still cover

 

If they allow you to take time during term then it is reasonable to expect support over half term. If not, then I'm on your side

[_Bat_]

Support is extremely limited during the holidays at my schools (mainly due to the fact that not many people around around then anyway). If there is a major problem, they can usually phone or e-mail me. Other then that, I am never in during the holidays for staff support, I go in for network maintenance.

[pallen]

As poeple have said, if you are able to take your holidays all year round, then a mimimum level of support should be provided all year round.

 

However, if you are only able to take your holidays in school holidays then I would be checking my contract. I think it is unreasonable to expect someone in all year round but only provide a limited period when you can take your holidays.

[TekkyMatt]

I see it a a necessary evil of the job to make sure that there is someone watching over the network at all time. You would be more upset if everything went T-up while you were all away. I personally make sure that servers are switched off for a little downtime during my holidays and I also rarely support staff in holidays, just the network.

[GrumbleDook]

We spread the load.

 

The NM can take up to 10 days (he gets 28 days including the additional 'extra' bank holidays) during term time.

 

The other full time members can take up to 5 days during term time but for the odd day (for a long weekend) we do allow them some leeway.

 

The term time only staff have 10 days to make up during holidays ... but I am happy for them to take up to 5 days during term time and make up those days (makign it 15) during holidays ... this helps to provide cover for the full time staff during the hols.

 

We *never* leave the place unmanned if it is open. Even on the extra 'bank holiday' days we have someone in.

 

The NM and team are expected to manage their workload so we are not left in the situation where everyone is off.

 

Then again ... I do have a horde serving my every need (6 people ... it is only 6 ... and 2 of those are term-time / part-time!)

[Halfmad]

GrumbleDook what size of establishment do you work in? 6 people? sounds huge!

[tech_guy]

We have similar issues here - the two of us are FT and the rule is that holiday leave can only be taken during the holidays. As we're both entitled to around 35 days each on average with entitlement and toil, it's a tad frustrating. I for one don't want to have to take the majority of my holiday in the summer so it inevitably leads to clashes when we both want to take time off during the other holiday periods.

 

To make matters worse the school will not allow us to take time off during term time as it will 'set a precedent'.....

 

What's this term I keep hearing bandied about in the staff room - 'work/life balance' - hmmm I wonder if it applies to techies......

[SpuffMonkey]

Its worth bearing in mind that you are legally required to have your 20 days holiday in a working year. If that cannot be fitted in to the school breaks - you must take the requisite number of days off during term time.

[ChrisH]

GrumbleDook what size of establishment do you work in? 6 people? sounds huge!

 

surely you must have heard of GDs legion of staff before. He cant mention them without some of us making a comment .

[Guest Guest]

The poster and his team have obviously/persumably busted a gut to get the network ready for the start of the school year. Now ill assume it just happened to be loads of work to be done and not mis-management (although that would be the NMs problem, not the techies). Im also assuming, like us, you cant have term time off.

 

Next time just leave the work un-done and explain to the distraught teachers that they cant teach their lessons, or the class room wont be getting new computers until the next holiday and all the expensive PCs are sat in a cupboard getting old because you all had to have x number of holidays through the summer. Simple really.

You tried to be flexible to suit the needs of the school and they've just thrown it back in your face. What exactly do they think will happen in that week your off?

 

Maybe say one of you will be on call for *major* problems, and obviously dont class any day you do get called as a holiday.

 

 

Im the only full time techy at our school, with one term-time only. No NM at all. Plus an apprentice. And it aint a small school, based over 2 sites with 1300 pupils. So it isnt possible for someone to be in at all times.

 

Personally i think its part of a larger problem that school refuse to realise the importance of IT support staff, and expect you to put up with anything for peanuts.

[Midget]

it is strange how they winge about how their £30k+ wage is too low, and then in the same breath say that £18k and no holidays is good pay for the Person who keeps all the computers running.

[MkII]

We are 2 and so far this year we've both been off at Easter AND will both be off the whole of half term week, as the Head has decreed no term time holidays. The summer hols were a pain and neither of us got to take leave when we wanted, just long weekends here and there, as we were accommodating results days etc..

 

Of the 11 weeks of school holidays with my 5 weeks and my buddies 4, that leaves only 3 weeks leeway, also taking into account the mid week days we have to be in for results (2 days x 2).

 

Much more sensible would be as others suggest here, so at least one person is always in to cover. There is no business need for no term time holidays.