health & safety manager

elementary school teacher

Vancouver School Board

The last five years I worked with the VSB I would begin the day in the classroom inviting parents to read with their children for 20 minutes.   Each child had their own leveled books and this was so effective in getting all the children reading.   The Smartboard was great for the morning calendar routine and teaching lessons.   I loved to teach with theme based lessons which would get the children reading, writing and learning.  Every year was different and I learned to make my lessons engage the various groups I taught and provided some high interest activities for those who wanted to explore more.   The hardest thing in working in an inner city school is to meet the needs of children who are suffering emotionally which affects their academic achievement.  I feel I did a good job with meeting needs but sometimes it seemed that what I called the "sea of need" was so great - it was so hard to do all that I felt needed to be done.   I love teaching children to read and it is so exciting to turn children into readers and then watch them devour all the books at school and at home.   I loved working with parents and have them involved as much as they could be.  I worked with amazing colleagues and we were a real team at our school always helping each other.   We will be lifelong friends.

What is the best part of working at the company?
the pay cheque is fair. The benefits are good. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
top down approach from HR. Disrespect for their employees. Very top heavy and not enough support in the schools. Culture is toxic and school staff are over worked and there is little communication between teachers and administrators. T

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
the culture is toxic. Teachers are afraid to speak out for fear of being disciplined by the employer. Teachers and those on the ground are overworked and underappreciated

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I am unable to help all the students that need assistance because of staff shortages. I am working just to do the minimum to keep up with the student's needs. I typically feel exhausted because I have no support for my special needs kids and I always feel pressure to ensure students are being given the very basics of what they deserve

VSB, interesting and challenging work. No work-life balance, love what you do. Time off to recuperate is the trade off. The "work" begins at 4:00 PM, researching, preparing, assessing, recording in database, and communicating with administration, and with parents where there are complications unique to some students. Disseminating info to students by day (8 AM to 3:15 PM, then after school activities, is not "work," rather it is simply sharing what you found and prepared). One can fall over the finish line, a week to recuperate (Xmas, Spring Break, summer), the only time you can afford to get a cold, and you do. Preparing for school to begin is a couple weeks before start of school, i.e. mid August. Balance of stresses, value as +2 to -2, every situation is different, are: administration, students, coworkers, resources, preparing materials. Seldom do you "have it all."

Going to various classrooms, working with designated children,
helping them to be a part of the regular classroom.

Every child is different and every classroom is different. You learn new things every day.

Principals vary from school to school but they are all generally interested in a well run school that helps each child reach their potential.

My coworkers at my current location are the best I have worked with during my 18 years of doing this job. I hope to stay at this location as long as I can.

The hardest part of the job is usually the challenging behaviors of some of the students and if you are in a classroom where the teacher doesn't understand that children with disabilities need to be accommodated if they are going to be successful.

The most enjoyable part of the job is getting to work with children and seeing them grow and learn.

This job depends a lot on the school you're working at and students and staff you're working with.  No two days are the same which is nice if people enjoy that.  There isn't a lot of room to move up unless you do further education, but you can move around to find the niche and school you like to work with.  The hourly pay is good but annually doesn't add up to much because you're laid off over the summer and for spring and winter breaks.  Also, you're only paid for 6.5 hours per day.  Many EA's have second jobs to compensate.  

Being on-call can be difficult because you never know where you're going and sometimes get late call-outs but once you've been doing it for a while they'll give you some preference on where you go and try to accommodate where you live so that's nice.  Once you get to the school they're usually grateful to have someone.

Don't work for the Vancouver School Board. The mismanagement at the school board office will drive you around the bend and they will even try to cheat you. They will probably succeed unless you enlist the aid of the local. They unilaterally cut my contract short by sending it back to me with the date changed and tried to shortchange me for part of spring break despite having worked in a full time contract for six months. I witnessed school principals who were bullies on a number of occasions. Their anti-bullying policies don't apply to the board office and don't apply to their administrators. Make a better choice. Choose any other district or private school.

Worked as an IT Support Specialist for the VSB for quite some time so be prepared to stay at the same wage for a years.  There are no steps, just bands and you stay in that band pay scale until a new contract if ratified.  Since the current government mandates a 0% wage increase there will be no increases anytime soon.

It is almost impossible to to climb to a higher banding as the process is to do so is highly subjective and a waste of time. 

Management within IT were quite reasonable however politics reign supreme.

With that said there are great people to work with and the benefits are decent.

Work / Life Balance is good.

I spent 28 years employed within the district supporting a wide variety of students (and staff) I had amazing opportunities for professional development.  Always tried my best to support 'my students' to the best of my abilities, adapting school materials etc and blending in with a wide variety of teaching staff, some who appreciated me more than others!   In life we are all going to run into personality conflicts or difficulties in any work environment, so you just got to do your best to fit in!  Hope everyone who works in this position within the district feels valued, because your role is essential!

I had the pleasure of working for the VSB in the capacity of a grounds maintenance worker for over 10 years. Part of time there was as a temporary employee and part as a F/T, on benefits, staffer.

I found the workplace to be a safe place with a lot of friendly co-workers. The VSB made sure that all people working in my department were properly clothed with safety clothing and equipped with safety training.

Work consisted of working in small groups or alone, although the latter being phased out for safety purposes. 

My only frustration with the position is that it offered little to no chance for career advancement.

Clearly a good work atmosphere with helpful co-worker and management ready to assist at any time if asked a clean . 
Productive work place where clearly i can work on my own without supervision a trusting atmosphere where lunch and breaks can be taken without a time clock or supervisor standing over your shoulder.
I worked alone for day shift and sometimes night shift but during holiday season we worked as a team cleaning all the area of the schools that could not be accomplished on a regular basis during regular hours we also changed lights filters and mechanical duties 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Health & safety manager 1 salary reported	$130,843 per year
Elementary school teacher 1 salary reported	$150 per day

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