Career as Teacher

Originally Posted by Unregistered

New guide to seek approval from SL even if it is one hour of tuition.

Its a guide but many still do not declare. Who would know unless people complain. 1 to 1 private tuition.

Would be glad if anyone could shed some light on my question -
Does your school's welfare committee do ordering of refreshments during professional development workshop, promotion ceremony, admin day etc? I was thinking why my school EAS cannot handle such matters for teachers as we are already overloaded with teaching/ student related admin work. I don't see how the ordering of refreshments is related to our teaching work professionally. Furthermore, the GO has the budgeting info and can definitely assist the teachers. They should because they are the experts in handling the finances. Is it the act of servitude? I pity my fellow colleagues who are in it or kena 'arrowed' to be part of the staff welfare committee. They have done so much to take care of the teachers, including the EAS staff so I don't see why some offloading of trivial matters like food ordering could be done by them. So just wondering if this is the practice of other schools too. I was in the committee for two years and found myself stupid searching for food caterers that are GEBIZ approved, must know the staff strength, calculate if the number of staff tallied with the budget given, email caterer and then finally go to the EAS to tell him/her to access GEBIZ to order... I think you get the stupidity here.

[JustAnotherPrimaryTeacher]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

May I know how difficult it is to get an A at GEO 5 if you are a hod or Lh?

Once you hit GEO 4 and above, the A is really quite elusive already. Because the expectations are higher as well (e.g. Sharing at a cluster level/national level becomes an obligation rather than exceeding expectations). So unless you can make very major or innovative changes which really impact the school or make any major positive advancements in changing the system or work processes, it is unlikely you can get the A just by doing well in the admin tasks that you have or the planning that you do at the middle management level.

I do see a fair number of Bs for middle management (As the GEO5s will get them first as compared to the 'normal' GEO5 teachers who are doing 'lesser'). But A is really really difficult. Usually I will advise all the GEO1-3 to push for their As as it is relatively easier to obtain them.

[JustAnotherPrimaryTeacher]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Actually, who makes the decision? RO? SLs? What do they base it on? That the officer seems to be doing alright? Or CEP? Seems to be rather subjective also~

They base it on a mixture of factors. But yes getting the 'basic bread and butter' in teaching is important. E.g. Effective Classroom Management, Proper Book Checks, Contributions in Committee.

The stretching part/opportunities e.g. CCA head, NLC, Cluster/National Sharing etc. are ways to 'test' the GEO3s (who probably are already on an above average CEP) to see who can exceed expectations and manage the workload. This is a bit similar to how teachers give more difficult questions to sieve out the 'A' students.

The following is an example. Speaking from experience, I am handling a GEO3 officer (Not scholar but higher CEP) in my school. Currently a CCA OIC, presented at a National Conference this year, headed school events as IC/2IC, participating in NLC in 2021. His progression as below

2017 Jun - Graduated as GEO2 [2nd Upper + NS] - 4.1k salary, Performance C+
2018 Oct - Promoted to GEO 3 - 4.8k salary, Performance Default C
2019 - 4.9k salary - Performance B
2020 - 5.1k salary - Performance A

He will be due for promotion to GEO 4 in 2021 if nothing goes wrong. He has proven himself to the school that he can manage multiple tasks and do them well. So definitely he is a notch above the other GEO3s who may just be doing their 'bread and butter' teaching, no matter how well the results of students are or how well the students have done.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherPrimaryTeacher

They base it on a mixture of factors. But yes getting the 'basic bread and butter' in teaching is important. E.g. Effective Classroom Management, Proper Book Checks, Contributions in Committee.

The stretching part/opportunities e.g. CCA head, NLC, Cluster/National Sharing etc. are ways to 'test' the GEO3s (who probably are already on an above average CEP) to see who can exceed expectations and manage the workload. This is a bit similar to how teachers give more difficult questions to sieve out the 'A' students.

The following is an example. Speaking from experience, I am handling a GEO3 officer (Not scholar but higher CEP) in my school. Currently a CCA OIC, presented at a National Conference this year, headed school events as IC/2IC, participating in NLC in 2021. His progression as below

2017 Jun - Graduated as GEO2 [2nd Upper + NS] - 4.1k salary, Performance C+
2018 Oct - Promoted to GEO 3 - 4.8k salary, Performance Default C
2019 - 4.9k salary - Performance B
2020 - 5.1k salary - Performance A

He will be due for promotion to GEO 4 in 2021 if nothing goes wrong. He has proven himself to the school that he can manage multiple tasks and do them well. So definitely he is a notch above the other GEO3s who may just be doing their 'bread and butter' teaching, no matter how well the results of students are or how well the students have done.

I wish to do a realistic and logical comparison. What if the exact same officer with the same calibre is under the wing of an incompetent and lazy RO? Is it possible that his contributions will hardly be recognised (or possibly even "stolen" by the RO) and will be less likely to be pushed for promotion or A/B/C+ grades during ranking?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I wish to do a realistic and logical comparison. What if the exact same officer with the same calibre is under the wing of an incompetent and lazy RO? Is it possible that his contributions will hardly be recognised (or possibly even "stolen" by the RO) and will be less likely to be pushed for promotion or A/B/C+ grades during ranking?

Life is full of what ifs. if one cannot take it, then he needs to find new pastures.

[JustAnotherPrimaryTeacher]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I wish to do a realistic and logical comparison. What if the exact same officer with the same calibre is under the wing of an incompetent and lazy RO? Is it possible that his contributions will hardly be recognised (or possibly even "stolen" by the RO) and will be less likely to be pushed for promotion or A/B/C+ grades during ranking?

That will be true, going by your context. However, it is also impossible that every achievement is not recognised or that his calibre will not be shown. He may 'shine' less but he will still shine. RO does play a part but if an officer is getting C- or D, there are definitely good reasons for that because reports have to be written to justify the grade (same as A).

So albeit human factors come into play. If you are a diamond, you will still shine eventually.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I wish to do a realistic and logical comparison. What if the exact same officer with the same calibre is under the wing of an incompetent and lazy RO? Is it possible that his contributions will hardly be recognised (or possibly even "stolen" by the RO) and will be less likely to be pushed for promotion or A/B/C+ grades during ranking?

The RO isn't the only one who crosses paths with the officer. Many other KPs who are either on the panel or have some influence over the appraisal will also be working closely with the officer, like committee heads and 2ICs, HOD/CCA, IP head for officer's CS2, other KPs in the officer's department(s), KPs in charge of special projects, etc etc.

If you shine, you shine. Unless the whole school is conspiring against you, in which case it is time to seek a change in environment and a fresh start.

What is the difference between an internal and covering KP post?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Secret? It’s not disallowed.
Most of my friends in Sec sch have no time nor energy to give tuition... unless teaching less “heavy” subjects or really b motivated for the extra $ and they usually only have 1 or 2 max.

Friends in pri sch tend to be the ones who can give tuition.

What qualifies you to make that assumption that pri sch teachers have the time and energy to do so? Because we work with younger students, our energy is spent on looking out for their physical, emotional and mental safety. Many of us are in school at 7 to receive the students, ensure low SES get their bkft before school start, stay back for voluntary extra coaching then clear marking, leaving school at 6 on most days. So please, do not speak on our behalf if you do not know better.