Advice: What am I worth?

[creese]

Jonwoods123.. if that is your real name - I fully sympathise with your plight.. but :-

 

I would strongly advise you against described the head as a 'c**t' on a public forum. These pages are cached by Google, etc. A more logical place would have been in the forum 'Behind the Red Door' as this is not cached by Google. However, that forum can still be accessed by any registered user. You've given very specific details, such as when your contract started etc. If your head read it, at best it would be unprofessional.. at worst, grounds for being sacked.

 

I wish you luck in sorting this out though. Although, seriously speaking, if the head won't budge its time to move on.

Kyle

 

It doesn't take much searching to not only find out which school he works at but also a nice photo of the Head in question. It amazes me what people post on the web and expect to get away with.

[ButterflyMoon]

Might have been a 'nice save' but it made me smile all the same lol

[Hightower]

Nice save!

 

Might have been a 'nice save' but it made me smile all the same lol

 

It wasn't meant to be a 'save' guys - I meant it sincerely.

[Hightower]

It doesn't take much searching to not only find out which school he works at but also a nice photo of the Head in question.

 

You'd have thought the head would have done his tie up a little tighter when taking an important photo.

[creese]

You'd have thought the head would have done his tie up a little tighter when taking an important photo.

 

Yes but apparently he is a .........................

[somabc]

Firstly if do get moved away from term time only you will have to work for the whole year (minus holidays of course). I don't think you can be paid for the year and then carry on as if you are pro rata.

 

Then you need to take a 2 pronged approach - push the head to move you away from term time only as it is what was previously agreed and you need to carry out work during the holidays. Then push for a job level review as your tasks and duties do not match your job description.

 

There is a fair chance the school won't want to do any of this but now you do have experience working in IT you will find it easier to find a job elsewhere.

Edited June 18, 2010 by somabc

[dwhyte85]

In all honesty, if your headteacher doesn't see the value in your ability and what you're doing, you're best to look elsewhere - you can make a point, whine and complain but at the end of the day he is the decision maker and from experience those in charge can be very stubborn.

 

I don't know the specifics of your network so it's hard to give a good answer to what you're worth and to be honest none of us are in a position to tell you that, but I think it's been said... £15k for a secondary isn't that easy to get in some areas, we advertised around this amount for a trainee technician and we do an awful lot of less than fun jobs, not quite labels but not far off it.

 

I think you're in a difficult situation as although you're probably right that you warrant more money with the financial situation it's not quite as easy as bunging 2-3k on a salary. I'd look elsewhere while you push your case, it's all you can do - I don't know if you hold quals or a degree but sometimes that can help in getting more money within a school.

[Duane_Dibbley]

Jonwoods123.. if that is your real name - I fully sympathise with your plight.. but :-

 

I would strongly advise you against described the head as a 'c**t' on a public forum. These pages are cached by Google, etc. A more logical place would have been in the forum 'Behind the Red Door' as this is not cached by Google. However, that forum can still be accessed by any registered user. You've given very specific details, such as when your contract started etc. If your head read it, at best it would be unprofessional.. at worst, grounds for being sacked.

 

I wish you luck in sorting this out though. Although, seriously speaking, if the head won't budge its time to move on.

Kyle

 

:S you're right...really wasn't thinking when i posted that, thanks for reminding me - edited. Maybe I should set my self up a more anonymous account...

 

well, he's since spoken to me again and says he is looking into it. Nothing can be changed until september apparently, so I guess i'll just wait and see. In the mean time I will be updating my CV etc and looking over the summer - at least just to get a feel for it.

 

For the first time (i think) I agree with everything everyone has said in this thread. Thanks a lot everybody, its heart-warming to have so many responses and pieces of advice.

 

Love you all

[bossman]

All Headteachers are held legally accountable to the LA and Government for the finances of their school even if they have a business manager on board. Like all budget holders the HT has to balance the needs of the individuals with the whole school requirements and often this is a very hard act.

As the public funding starts to dry up over the next 2 - 3 years expect to see drastic cuts in IT including staff.

 

I have seen the teaching staff here change very dramatically over the past 4 years by way of the old teaching staff getting pensioned off and NQTs taken on at a terrific rate as they are given only 1 year fixed contracts and only the lucky few are given extended contracts.

 

Now with the new slant from the government on how schools can be set up by the public this also will have an impact on education especially where the teachers are concerned as they will have no rights as per their union if they work at one of these schools as it will be up to the community who run the school to set the wages and the contracts of these teachers which I would feel will be considerably less than what they get now.

 

Teachers have been the largest cause for concern amongst government and the need to redefine their roles and contracts have been a major stumbling block as the Teachers Unions are very strong indeed but this may open up ways in which the government don't have to lock horns with them.

[JPS]

especially where the teachers are concerned as they will have no rights as per their union if they work at one of these schools as it will be up to the community who run the school to set the wages and the contracts of these teachers which I would feel will be considerably less than what they get now.

 

How have you come to that conclusion bossman?

[somabc]

If anything teachers will get higher pay.

Head teachers would be given greater freedom to pay higher salaries to the best performing teachers, under a Conservative drive to raise the prestige and status of the teaching profession and raise school standards.

 

Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary, said that a Tory administration would aim to make teaching a more attractive career to academically high-achievers as well as high-flyers working in other fields.

 

"We will free schools to pay good teachers more. The Government has said in the past that academies need that freedom to overcome disadvantage. All schools will need that freedom in the future if the whole nation is to overcome the educational challenges we face," he said.

 

Mr Gove insisted that the Conservatives would not tear up the existing national pay scales for teachers. These would remain as a basic minimum level of pay, he said.

 

But he stopped short of promising extra money to schools. Additional money to pay higher salaries to good teachers would have to be found from other parts of the school budget, that at present were often ring-fenced.

 

Michael Gove - Feb 2009

Edited June 18, 2010 by somabc

[penfold]

 

well, he's since spoken to me again and says he is looking into it. Nothing can be changed until september apparently, so I guess i'll just wait and see. In the mean time I will be updating my CV etc and looking over the summer - at least just to get a feel for it.

 

Thats just not true I'm afraid. Anything can and should be changed immediately if it turns out you are doing a different job than what you were employed to do. It may take until September to get approved, but it needs to be looked at now. If nothing can be changed until September you may well find yourself doing more work for nothing between now and then. If you can get it in writing that any changes deemed an increase in your workload will be addressed AND backdated in September then fine, but otherwise prepare yourself for doing more work for free.

 

Regardless of any pay changes you need an up to date job description and you should have this now. If your dealing with potentially confidential data (ie you have access to the servers and all the data on there) you need to know that you are authorised to do this as part of your job. If your not employed in that capacity you are breaking the law and so is the school. If your not in the union, you may want to think about joining one and getting some independant advice.

[Duane_Dibbley]

Thats just not true I'm afraid. Anything can and should be changed immediately if it turns out you are doing a different job than what you were employed to do. It may take until September to get approved, but it needs to be looked at now. If nothing can be changed until September you may well find yourself doing more work for nothing between now and then. If you can get it in writing that any changes deemed an increase in your workload will be addressed AND backdated in September then fine, but otherwise prepare yourself for doing more work for free.

 

Regardless of any pay changes you need an up to date job description and you should have this now. If your dealing with potentially confidential data (ie you have access to the servers and all the data on there) you need to know that you are authorised to do this as part of your job. If your not employed in that capacity you are breaking the law and so is the school. If your not in the union, you may want to think about joining one and getting some independant advice.

 

The curriculum network and admin network are separate, and I have (almost) nothing to do with the admin computers. So in terms of data protection etc, I don't have any access to confidential records. I do however have access to all the teachers shared drives and home drives etc, so in theory there could be stuff on there that would breach data protection...definitely something to look into thanks.

 

He said that the next staffing meeting will be in september, which is the reason why it will not be changed until then. Apparently any changes will need to be discussed with the govenors and some people at the LEA - I am unconvinced, but willing to let it go. In the meantime, I will definitely not be taking on extra work, i'll just carry on as normal.

 

I have considered joining a union but put it off thus far - I have never been sure how long I would stay anyway, but maybe it would be a good idea now, i'll look into it.

 

Cheers for the advice though, much appreciated

[Sarconia]

I'll just be honest and say that I.T Tech pay in schools is complete crap, virtually everyone seems to be vastly underpaid, my advice would be to get another job and move on. Make yourself an excellent CV and fire it off into another industry.

[penfold]

He said that the next staffing meeting will be in september, which is the reason why it will not be changed until then. Apparently any changes will need to be discussed with the govenors and some people at the LEA - I am unconvinced, but willing to let it go. In the meantime, I will definitely not be taking on extra work, i'll just carry on as normal.

I have been in a similar situation and asked other staff if this was normal to be told that it was. I was also told that any changes would be backdated to the orignal request date, which I was happy with. Unfortunately it took 6 months to sort out and then I wasn't backdated and needless to say I wasn't happy.

 

I would still say that if you have access to the servers and all data on it, then you need to have written approval to allow you access now. I would still ask for a written repsonse as you have concerns over the daily tasks you are already doing and what you are actually authorised to do now. If the head is unwilling to do this, you already know that you will not get any backdated pay and probably the scale you want in September(to be honest not many people get the scale they want in a school). It will also allow you to make up your mind about updating your CV and applying for other work.

[irsprint84]

Howdy,

 

Sorry about the long-winded explanation. Any and all thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated - feel free to put me in my place :S but I cant help but feel that 11K (~£13000 pro rata'd)for a university graduate, COMPTIA A+ certified (i know that doesn't really mean much) isn't a great deal of money. Just feeling a lil bit devalued by the whole situation...

 

edit:

 

I also realise that there are lots of TA's in the school on the same pay as me. They work every bit as hard if not harder than I do, but without devaluing the work they put in, I could do their jobs, but they could not do mine.

 

Not too sound bad but I finished uni and worked in a call centre, admin office and got paid alot less then I moved into a very big high school and just got about 14k. Unless you get in a graduate scheme you'd be lucky to get anything above 15k straight off I m in a well paid job now but took 3 years of hard graft to get to where I am

[Boon72]

so how did it turn ou in september?

[bossman]

@JPS: @somabc:

 

Apologies for late reply:

 

Although it is presumed that the teaching staff of these new schools will be paid higher salaries it is not always the case and Michael Gove sometimes like all ministers talks the talk but when it comes to walking the walk it then becomes a different matter.

 

Academies have seen a downturn in wage structures because of the very fact they have had to negotiate new contracts and if you didn't accept the contracts you were then unemployed simple as that.