My goodness Ailsa. I am just fuming after reading "young and enthusiastic staff"!!! Surely this is age discrimination?

I wont go into details here, but my daughter was Head of Humanities in her school and they became a C of E so called "Academy". What has gone on there you just wouldn't believe. Well - probably you would. All I can say is that she has relinquished the post and now works part-time. Nuff said!

Love Jeanxxx

Hi Maria,

I worked at a large secondary school only on reception for 8 years then as a LSA for 5 years, but whilst there we were put on special measures and a new super head was appointed being the highest paid head in the country. He changed the structure of the school and brought in many of his staff from previous schools and existing teachers had to re apply for their jobs due to the re structuring, we lost so many fantastic teachers and the place was never the same again.n I really hope you are not pushed out and that this can be resolved. It must be awful going to work day in day out and working in that atmosphere.

My sincere best wishes are with you.

Anne x

Dear everyone

It's giving me a lot of encouragement and reassurance to read so many similar stories. -like you Ailsa I'm beginning to feel a bit stronger.

Anne- our school is (or was ) a super place, high achieving, but the head we have now is one of these so calld' super heads'. He too has brought in a lot of his cronies from his previous school.

The general atmosphere is now dire- the staffroom is virtually empty at lunchtmes. The spirit of cooperation and support is minimal- so much competition between and even within departments. Thankfully there is still a hard core of lovely people and it's great that we stick together.

Word's getting round about my situation- I was in tears last Friday after the meeting with the head, some staff noticed and were asking others what was wrong with me.
I've had several offers of help if needed. Several colleagues have told me they are being hounded about their absences- includng one guy who was off for a week after being mugged. I never thought i'd say it but in this instance, thank goodness I have RA- at least he doesn't hound me. And that's why I think he's trying other tactics.

Although most of his 'victims' have been 50+ ,one or two haven't. And there a few lovely young teachers too.

My obnoxious colleague came over to speak to me today- she was relatively pleasant because she wanted something. I decided to be ultra nice to her and she just couldn't handle it- really took the wind out of her sails because she was expecting resistance!!Quite funny really.

I am determined to get through this, hard though it may be at times. I doubt it will ever be completely resolved- not until he leaves. I get upset, but I can be extremely stubborn. I outlasted one horrible head (although he was unpleasant he was never scheming) and hopefully can do again. fingers crossed (the ones I can cross )
I mustn't get too confident though- he has a nasty habit of catching you out on something you were least expecting.


And Jean- guess what- we have been invited to become an academy!!! He's already had a consultation meeting with the parents. But not the staff. 'nuff said!

Maria x

Having spoken to my union it seems that this coud be something big!! I have been advised NEVER to meet with the head or any of the management team to discuss anything to do with the topic if they raise it refuse to discuss it with them or terminate the meeting. I need to advise him that it is cuasing me stress and coud trigger a flare- will be needed if we need to build a case of harrassemnt due to illness. I was worried that would just be playing into his hands by letting him know that he's getting to me. Apparently not.

What was interesting is that often heads/ managers threaten capability measures- this guy hasn't- he went straight into the procedure without a threat- so no notification!

I really wish I didn't have to go through this, I'm dreading it but at least I have support. It's so tedious havng to log everything! Sometimes I think I should just leave or step down.
It is only a job and there are more imprtant things in life. It's bad enough having RA without all this.

Amanda- thanks for your message

Maria x

Cheers Liz
He thinks he's so clever!

I'm meeting my union rep before the meeting to go through it. Knowing this has made me feel better.

Maria x

Thank goodness it's over- well, the meeting is!!!
Apologie in advance that this might be quite long.

I just collapsed in a heap of tears at the end of school, possibly due to the stress of it all.

As I expected, he has set targets for progress- of course, I know that this is the next weapon in his arsenal as he does it every time. So I need to be on the lookout as he'll try to heap so much on me that I crack (cue visit to rheummy or gp who writes a letter when I have a flare and copy is sent to union). The targets are part of the process and he is technically offering me support which I must accept or he can take further action.

I was well prepared and challenged several of his points: without boring you he had jumped to the second stage of the process on some of his accusations without having gone through the first stage, ie discussing them with me first(big no no) You can only proceed to the second stage if this has been done. As some of the points on his list had already been raised at a previous meeting, I asked him if that meeting had actualy been the first stage of the process- he said yes, so I calmly said that I had never been advised of the fact. That made him squirm. I caught him out on more points-'I have never been advised of the fact' became a very useful phrase The union rep also caught him out by asking what support the school had given me to help me overcome my difficulties. He couldn't answer that as the answer was 'none'.
The best bit was when the rep bluntly told him that the whole situation was so stressful for me that 'the poor girl is at her wits' end- she doesn't know what to do next'.

He started talking about the fact there had been difficulties between me and my colleague so I told him that she was very aggressive and unpleasant to me in front of colleagues and pupils.He tried to make out that when she's under pressure she does tend to get a bit snappy and that I should pick my moment carefully to speak to her. I enjoyed pointing out to him that this might be so but it doesn't excuse such unprofessional behaviour and that I have witnesses who offered to report it . The suggestion of witnesses got him, and he immediately said that he was going to raise it with her (oh yeah?) . We'll see. Of course, knowing her she'll probably say I did it to her first- if he chooses to believe her then I can't do anything about it. He even had the cheek to say that he'd had complaints about me from my former dept colleague 3 yrs go!!!!! Funny it was never mentioned then, especially as that's one of his favourite ploys- 'your dept find you difficult to work with'.

I felt that I scored several points but I'm not getting complacent as I know what he's like and still need to watch my back. He will start looking for the next trap and pounce when I least expect it. I haven't heard the end of it yet.But it gave me a good feeling. It was funny yet nauseating to see him putting on the act of being all nice and helpful in front of the union guy! He has been so foul to other colleagues that it's about time he got his comeuppance and if I can contribute to this in some small way, then it's been worth it. I want to see justice done.

I will accept his offers of help and support so he can't get me on that score. If he start piling on the pressure then I'll be back to the union and we may have to play the RA card- as I pointed out to him, stress can trigger a flare.

I keep worrying that I haven't heard the end of it and that he will try to make my life miserable. If I find that it does start to affect my health then that's another avenue I will explore.I've done my homework on the duties of employers regarding stress.

I did have a moment tonight when I thought that maybe it would be easier just to step down from the post of head of dept. Do I actually need all this? Am I kidding myself that I can cope? Is it just another part of coming to terms with RA- beng in denial and thinking that life can carry on as normal? but then I look at the alternative- my colleague would be given the job and that would be much worse for me having her as a line manager. I managed to convince myself that I need to give it try first and see what happens. Things might work out. Deep breath and see what September brings.

Thanks everyone for listening.

Maria

Thanks for listening everyone

Yes, Maria - A very WELL DONE for you. Keep your diary going,and then have a real rest. Is it still six weeks Holiday? Friends who were teachers, looked shattered fot eh first couple of weeks, were almost back to human for the second two, and then were winding back up for the Sept start!

If you can, Hang on in There! This work based bullying is sooo wrong. But YOU, and your health are the most important things here.

Gentle Hugs!
Mandy

I feel more positive today although I'm tired.

The mischievous side of me will enjoy winding them up whilst making sure I do EXACTLY as he asks in the targets. First step- lots of e mails, as he has asked for copies of various documents!!! One of the 'concerns' was about the quality of the work I set when I'm absent so he's been sent copies of every one I've done since diagnosis!!!
Also- my dear collague tries to get out of meetings, so I will be giving her notice of them, copies to HM and deputy then reminders when she doesn't turn up. Mean, maybe, but I need to keep records anyway .


Ailsa- boy am I counting the days. We finish on the 22nd. I don't think I've ever felt so ready for a break!

Have a lovely weekend everyone- hope the heat's not too much.

Maria x