Each extra day in this impossibly long year takes a conscious effort to get through: twelve more days of the month to go and then the downward slide through June to the blessed relief of the two months of holiday until harsh reality strikes again and it’s September!
The lethargy of staff and pupils, which is now bone-deep, is glossed over by a febrile day-to-day activity which uses the ever-present threat of preparing/writing/sitting/marking exams as a noxious educational stimulant.
And before anyone shakes their head in a gesture of weary disbelief at such sybaritic self-indulgence and work-shyness let them be aware of the half term holidays of those denizens of the Sceptered Isle; and the two weeks for Christmas and Easter; and the fact that there are only two weeks to be worked in July before the Brits join us in our collective relaxation. Count up the days and our two months becomes more of a perceived advantage than a real one.
Still, the summer is the time when we get one of our notorious “extra” pays. I have discovered that this “extra” pay is tax-free which I suppose is one reason to acquiesce to the notion of “extra” in spite of my obvious desire to have the money spread over the twelve months as a boost to the ordinary pay rather than have these mysterious “extras” given at Christmas and summer.
My tax is still under construction and I am hoping that my Union dues will be taken into consideration in cutting down the monstrous sum of €73 that I have to pay.
When last getting money from the hole-in-the-wall in my bank I was a little started to see that an extra icon had added itself to the menu of choices that I could make on the introductory screen – the tax symbol. Presumably I could click on that and my tax would be paid. An innovation which I did not take advantage of, as I feel there is a little more fight left in me yet!
Though not, apparently in the court case about the government cutting our pay by 5%. State teachers have had their pay cut by at least 5% and the government decided to apply the same cut to those grant aided schools.
The cut is more complex in our case as the government funds the teachers in the primary and the secondary sections of the school but not the nursery and sixth form – these areas are funded by the foundation which runs the school. There is therefore a widely ranging difference of “deductions” from colleagues’ salaries depending on the number of lessons taught in each section.
The school decided to make up the deductions pending a court case against the government. Which has been lost. At the moment we do not know what is going to happen to our wages next year. And I seem to be the only one to be sincerely concerned! Unbelievable!
Given the fact that much of Spain is being deluged by vicious rainfall I suppose that I shouldn’t complain about the indifferent cloudy sunshine that we were gifted today. The pool was a little cooler than yesterday, but still acceptable as long as one didn’t linger in one’s lengths!
The application form for seats for the opera still has not been completed and it must be done before early June if I am to have a chance of getting the seats at the price that I am prepared to pay.
Culture calls!
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