I’m a teacher and currently a CI but looking to go for commission.
I’ve already started off the process and wanted to get a better idea of how long it would all take as obviously a lot of it is dependent on course dates and that was always going to be limited for me as I obviously can’t take time off during term time (even funerals can be difficult in my school!!). All of the dates on Sharepoint are during term time - mid May, mid June, mid September, late October (annoyingly the week AFTER the October holidays) and mid November. There are no dates up yet for next year and no previous dates so not sure if I might get lucky with Easter next year??
Anyone been in the same/similar position? How did you get round it?
We had a teacher going SNCO just after the SNCO started and the lack of ATF courses in school holidays was lamentable and it took 18 months to get on one.
So I imagine that OASC are no different.
Stay as a CI and enjoy the ATC.
The irony is teachers are one of the groups that the ATC goes after when doing a push for staff. I think this is because HQAC think they get lots of holiday and will be able to do lots of things with cadets. Which I found not to be the case.
To be honest, I’ve been quite happy as a CI and I certainly have no intention of leaving the ATC any time soon. But I already do the job of an officer and put in as much time, if not more, than a lot of uniformed staff and I’m starting to think that actually, it’s not particularly fair that other staff are getting paid for the same (or less) just because they wear the uniform.
The prospect of not being able to get a commission because there are no suitable selection dates is just ridiculous and whilst it might not make me leave the organisation (which I really don’t want to do), it’s certainly making me pretty p***ed off with the people supposed running it.
You’re right about the irony. Teachers are ideal candidates for CFAVs (although obviously by no means the only ones) yet we’re being restricted in what we can do because of course dates?! Ludicrous!
As for giving up time in school holidays, I happily volunteer for camps and weekend activities (term time and holidays) but regardless of whether I’m off work or not that still means time away from my family. Maybe teachers without families would be more inclined to go to multiple camps each year but personally I prefer to limit it. If it was just during the day that would be different, but that’s going to be down to sqn level activities mostly.
@Wooly Something similar to your topic was posted as a question not too long ago on BADER and a reply was given regarding courses aimed at those who struggle to get time off work are in the pipeline.
Have a check on the ask the team section under valuing our volunteers on BADER.
The experience with the teacher we had was they were up to their eyeballs in marking for the most part and wanted to do their own thing and as they didn’t teach in our borough holidays didn’t always match, the former not something non-teachers have to worry about, but wanting to do your own thing on your holiday time is.
It’s good in some respects that you’re seeing just how poorly we are treated. I was astounded there were so few courses that are teacher friendly or maybe non CCF teacher friendly, I did ask and was told they take leave or close down for admin because it is the school holiday, I was a bit gobsmacked.
Pretty sure marking is the bane of every teacher’s life!!
You’re absolutely right about people’s free/holiday time being their own. I think the assumption from a lot of people is that because we have so many holidays we’ll be happy to spend weeks on end at camp or doing other things. In reality, if we were at work (like most people are) we’d still have time for our families and friends in the evenings or at weekends which obviously isn’t the case if you’re away at camp, so really, it’s not particularly fair to expect teachers to give up more of their time for that kind of thing than anybody else.
And of course, school holiday dates are often a total pain. Even across our wing there are often different holiday dates. There have been a couple of camps I’ve missed out on because they’re the last week of term or first week back for me, which is annoying but I guess that’s just the way it is.
It’s equally as awful if you do it in school. Doing it at home at least means the blow can be softened somewhat with alcohol! And although they can’t force you to do anything above your contracted hours, that’s not quite the same as saying there’s nothing they can do to make you do marking. Either way, I feel to guilty to the pupils to refuse to do it.
My cousin is a teacher and she also agrees marking is probably the worst thing about her job. She rarely has the time to mark properly and actually give proper feedback for student development. Instead it seems it is more of a tick box exercise for the school.
It’s basically the same for everyone - If one can only afford to take one week off then one chooses whether to attend a camp or other local course, or to use it to attend a required course at ATF.
In some quarters it is an unspoken expectation. When we had our teacher on the staff when things were being planned people on other squadrons would ask “is x coming aa they won’t be at school”, so there was an assumption and expectation. I’d ask if they were up for things, but never just assumed they would.
One of my cousins works in a school DT dept as a technician and when he did things with the scouts as his sons were in it, the phrase “oh you’re off, can you help out” was heard more than once. He didn’t mind if the boys were going as he’d take them, but it irked him a bit as it seemed it was expected.
My stepdaughter is a teacher and she was commissioned last year. She simply asked RHQ to book her on one of the summer courses which are primarily for CCF staff - job done! Good luck and go for it
In my four years as a CI, I’ve never been expected to do anything. I already attended two nights a week and held the role of Training Officer, so I did more than most anyway.
Things may now change that I’m commissioned, time will tell.
I’ve come across that expectation quite a few times, although thankfully not in my sqn. It’s great that there are plenty of people out there who don’t expect it but unfortunately there are also a fair few who do.
You’re absolutely right about choosing priorities for time off, but my problem is that my time off, whilst copious, isn’t flexible and doesn’t coincide with the published selection dates.
