Protecting yourself in the classroom

As the summer comes to a close, you will be eagerly getting ready for a new year in school. You may be new to the teaching profession or have taught for many years, however, how much have you reflected on how well protected you are in the classroom?

As former teachers and school leaders ourselves we are well aware of the high-risk nature of teaching being a front-line role. 

The risks of false allegations from pupils, parents and other members of staff, the threat of restructuring and redundancies, disputes about pay, grievances being raised against you and many more.

Many teachers and school staff seek support and protection from teaching unions and alternatives like Edapt.

Edapt is the largest teaching union alternative in the UK, we are apolitical and independent.

Thousands of school staff (teachers, headteachers, teaching assistants, support staff) subscribe to our services where we provide high-quality employment and mental-health support.

The guide below is our five top tips to complete before starting the new school year. Think of it like a MOT health check for your employment this year! (You can also download a quick-read summary here to share with colleagues.)

5 top tips for teachers: employment health check

1 Sign up to get professional employment support. Join Edapt or a teaching union, don’t start the year without anyone!

We would always advise to join a teaching union or an alternative organisation like Edapt.

Even though you might think the worst-case scenario couldn’t happen to you, we talk to teachers each week with unblemished records who receive allegations putting their careers, livelihoods and families in jeopardy.

Unfortunately Edapt (as well as the teaching unions) are not able to provide support in pre-existing cases where facts and circumstances exist prior to the start of subscription.

Even though it is not compulsory to sign-up to edu-legal support or a teaching union, the consequences far outweigh the inconvenience or perceived costs. Defending yourself through an allegation, disciplinary process or even a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) hearing on your own would be incredibly difficult and even more problematic to secure a positive outcome in your favour.

It would also be extremely expensive, securing legal advice and accompaniment which could be well in excess of £5,000. A significant case which proceeds to an employment tribunal or TRA hearing could indeed lead to costs in the tens of thousands of pounds. The emotional impact of navigating the process yourself would also be very personally demanding.

Also, it’s not just the major cases where most school staff need support. It is often checking details with employment contracts, working hours and sick leave where we can provide independent support and advice with positive outcomes.

If you want to see a comparison of what the different unions and Edapt offer, you can check out this comparison article here.

2 Check your employment contract

We always advise to check your employment contract at the start of each academic year. It can be useful to print it out and have a hard copy with you at home.

It is especially important to check your contract if you have moved to a new school or Trust, or have been issued with a new contract for a new role.

By law, an employer must provide anyone who’s classed as an employee with the terms of their employment in writing (a ‘written statement of employment particulars’).

This document must contain a summary of the main terms of employment, such as pay and working hours.

This document is often referred to as the ’employment contract’. But by law, the employment contract is broader than just these written terms.

You may be employed on the terms of the The School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document or you could work at an independent school with their own terms of employment, which might outline details on accommodation or reduced fees for your own children, for example.

If you are an Edapt subscriber, you can contact us to clarify any information in your employment contract you are unsure about.

3 Check your social media settings

We would always advise to check the privacy settings on your social media accounts. You might want to do a quick Google search of your name to see the top results which appear.

Review your privacy settings on your social media accounts throughout the year. Facebook, X and other social media platforms update their privacy settings regularly so you will want to check that your settings are up-to-date. 

You will be able to do this by clicking on ‘settings’ and reviewing who can view your posts. On the majority of social media accounts you can set your posts to ‘private’ so only users you have accepted can view your content. You do not want pupils commenting on your latest holiday photo collection!

Read your school’s social media policy to make sure you understand and adhere to its contents. Your social media policy will outline specific details about the expectations at your school. Some schools may be stricter than others about your social media presence.

Explain to your friends the professionalism of your role if you are entering into teaching for the first time. You do not want your friends tagging you into photos or posts which will damage your reputation. Some social media sites allow you to review posts you are tagged in before they are made public.

Do not feel pressured to add pupils no matter how well or long you have known them. To be cautious, it is best not to add pupils even after they have left the school as they might have siblings or other family members who attend your school.

4 Make use of your support systems, and try to prevent situations from escalating

We all know the day-to-day pressures of teaching and the stress which can accumulate throughout the term. Do you have a partner or friend who can support you when things get difficult? Do you have a support network in place where you can air your frustrations or concerns?

We also see lots of cases, where preventative measures could have taken place before a situation escalated.

Raising a concern to your line manager effectively can be essential as a teacher. Working in a school requires lots of personal interactions and sometimes heated conversations with your colleagues. Navigating different personalities and egos can be difficult, especially under the pressures of high workload and accountability.

However, in some cases having an early informal conversation with your line manager or headteacher can help de-escalate tensions and can help solve issues quickly. 

Articulating your thoughts in a logical manner can prevent misunderstandings from escalating into more formal proceedings in the future.

Employers are often open to resolving problems quickly without going through a formal procedure. This is referred to as ‘resolving at the lowest possible level’.

At Edapt, as part of your subscription, you will also have access to a 24 hours mental health support worker in case you need to get things off your chest.

5 Ensure to have important conversations in writing and create a timeline of important events

If you have a feeling that you might be at the start of an employment dispute we would always recommend making a timeline of the main interactions and to get things down in writing. This can be very helpful to our casework team so we are able to provide the best support to you. 

Gather together anything relating to your issue – like the date and time of an incident, any conversations you’ve had about it since then and any emails or letters you can find that relate to your problem.

By writing things down, it can also help with looking at the situation objectively and how you might be able to proceed.

At Edapt, you will be assigned one of our professional caseworkers who will work with you on a 1-1 basis to resolve your issue.

We all know that the start of the school year will be an exciting time with fresh classes, new staff members and new lessons. However, by completing this employment health check, hopefully you will be able to concentrate on your teaching and not get distracted by issues you could have avoided, or worse get overwhelmed by circumstances without a professional caseworker to support and guide you.

To download a easy-to-read summary of this article (perfect for sharing with colleagues and friends) click on this link