They fail to follow the behaviour policy, because they have their own methods of controlling pupils, from coercion to compromise. As a result, they make it more difficult for others, especially new teachers and supply staff.
They take kids out of lessons for trips, because that’s how they engage the pupils. Sometimes they write “let me know if I can help you make sure the pupils catch up” but the pupils never do. They know they don’t have to. They therefore create more work for colleagues and steal curriculum time.
They have the same ‘favourite pupils’ who get to do surveys, show people round the school, present in assemblies, and so on, missing dozens of hours of lessons.
They are often late to their lessons, leaving pupils in the corridor and the colleague next door has to leave their lesson to deal with them. Two classes have their learning disrupted.
They often deliver messages to pupils during lesson time, not because the message is urgent, but because that is the time that is convenient to them. They therefore disrupt learning further.
They ask questions during INSET sessions that aren’t questions at all, but an effort to get the speaker to agree with an opinion they’ve often uttered in the school. INSET sessions are rarely useful, but when they are, they make them worse.
In the same INSET sessions, when there’s “group work” (shudder) they delegate someone else to take notes and spend 90% of the allocated time giving their opinion. So no-one else does and their colleague becomes their secretary.
They are often unavailable after school, having blocked off time for paperwork.
They “delegate” even when it’s not their position to.
They do everything possible to avoid having a tutor group, because they’re too important for that.
They show films during the last week of term, making it more difficult for teachers who actually want to teach for the small amount of time they have the pupils a year.
They announce one irrelevant thing during staff briefing, but occupy 75% of the time.
They spend whole lessons on anecdotes about football or TV programmes and hence fail to teach the pupils much at all. At least the pupils were engaged. The pupils hence try it on with others.
They sit in the staff room and listen to behaviour complaints before expressing surprise and saying “well they’re fine for me”. Teachers hate them, but they would, given the implication is that it’s the teacher whose class the pupils are misbehaving in that is the problem.
They often leave early, especially on Fridays, for an “offsite meeting”.
Anyway, that’s enough about SMT.
deputyjohn 
Reblogged this on The Echo Chamber.