As a parent and teacher, my social media feeds are filled with suggestions of how to fill my kids’ buckets and how important it is to fill my own bucket. I feel myself falling drastically short of this goal.
The term “bucket” is now often used to describe a metaphorical pool of energy, joy, happiness and time. When it comes to filling mine, I feel constantly challenged about how to do this meaningfully and sustainably.
The end of term brings emails signing off with wishes for a restful break and items in the staff weekly that hope for time to rejuvenate. I am guilty of these platitudes and I’m keenly aware they come with good intentions but also know how difficult it is to achieve a restful break. Term 2 alone has seen our staffrooms severely depleted due to staff illnesses, and caring for our sick children and loved ones.
Right now, my bucket seems like it’s leaking out of control with nothing to stem the flow. How can we possibly ‘fill our buckets’ when it seems impossible to finish anything?
I have personally had ‘registers’ on my to-do-list for at least 12 weeks, and whenever I think I have a moment to get them done, something else becomes more important. Entries need to be written for that incident at lunchtime, assessments need writing, parents need to be phoned, emails need to be read, seating plans need rearranging, learning support registers need attention and of course an extra or two is thrown in for good measure.
If this list isn’t enough (and it’s certainly not exhaustive) we are then asked to volunteer for lunchtime clubs, help organise fundraising events, assist with out-of-hours sporting events, run holiday revision sessions for Year 12, join committees to organise special school events, and so on, and so on.
Our goodwill hasn’t just gone – it’s evaporated to the point our buckets are dryer than Penrith in the middle of summer. And it’s getting harder and harder to get it back.
The Unions NSW report into unpaid overtime released this month paints a grim picture. It states: “Average unpaid overtime outside this industry (education) was 7.07 hours per week, while hours within these industries were an average of 12.24 per week.”
The report goes on: “Issues of overwork and unpaid hours stemmed from a lack of resourcing and understaffing, additional workplace requirements (especially in reporting, marking and administrative work) and the emotional burden of student and parent wellbeing.”
Our school leaders and systems must recognise it is their inaction that has caused our goodwill to evaporate.
With the expiration of our enterprise agreements in October, all in our sector will be watching the upcoming negotiations closely.
Catholic systemic employers should consider themselves on notice. Will they ‘hold a hose’ and fill their employees’ buckets with reasonable workloads? Members must stand together and insist they do.