teaching assistant

teacher

business assistant

social worker

care worker

Derbyshire County Council

If you're looking for a job that's overpaid and in which you don't have to have business acumen this is the right place.

A lot of the staff here have been here for a long time, and as such are protected from redundancy or losing their jobs- irrespective of if their skills or knowledge contribute to a well-run and efficient council. 

In my time here I have seen people in high-paid roles who haven't adopted modern approaches to systems or communication. The entire workforce lacks knowledge of technology and has consequently created an organised that doesn't utilise best practice and systems which are money saving. I would happily say the organisation is around 5 years behind other councils.

I have seen fixed-term employees which have demonstrated gigantic savings and proved their worth ten-fold be dismissed due to limited funding. There is a 2 year cut off for fixed terms contracts, as after this point employees need to be made permanent. So any new talent that comes in to the organisation doesn't usually stick. 

Management are generally professional and offered a lot of training which makes dealing with HR matters easy. The organisation as a whole is empathetic towards sickness and has a good knowledge of mental heath in its employees. Unfortunately I have seen many examples of where this has been exploited by individuals, and overall the sickness within the organisation is exceptionally high. 

Team morale within the council is good and working with departments is easy, everyone is friendly and professional (albeit a few individuals who seem to believe because they're on a higher grade they are therefore smarter and more entitled than you). The organisation is very hierarchical.

Pro's include flexi-time, good salary and pension scheme. This is a brilliant place to come to if you're retiring. Otherwise you may feel frustrated and undervalued if you bring ideas and strategic thinking. This "enterprising" council doesn't reward those from a traditional company background that focuses on ROI and measurable objectives.

I tend to arrive at school at 7:30am, make sure my classroom is prepared for the children and the brief my two teaching assistants and two apprentices.  The school day is extrememly busy and unpredictable, the children definatly keep you on your toes.  Lunch is a quick half an hour and then back to the afternoon children.  I am extremely flexible as you never know what will happen when working with young children.
I have been in teaching six years and I have learnt that no one day will ever be the same.  That all children & adults deserve to be treat as individuals and everyone deserves a chance to voice their opinions.  I have learnt that working well in a team and having good communication skills so everyone feels valued makes an extremely happy working environment.
I believe that if you are part of the management team then you need to make sure all the people working for you know that you are there for them and that they can rely on you for support and guidance.  As manager of my Nursery I always keep in contact with my staff and we go out for a meal once a month as a way of relaxing outside work.  I feel that they know they can ask for my help in anyway.
The hardest part of my job is saying goodbye to the children when they move up to their new class.  I always build a strong relationship with every child in my care and it never gets easier saying goodbye.  The paperwork side to being a teacher is extremely heavy and you dont very often get a very good work/life balance.
The best part of my job is the children, seeing the smile on their faces or when they run up and give you a hug.  Also helping the parents, all of the parents will ask for my advice and are always supportive.

Had the worst 4 years of my life came on as a joiner was used as labour ( just go and do thst) and due to management being top heavy there’s never enough work men for the job! This is only a job for you if you have 2 years of your working life left! And don’t want to do anything other than visit a few broken handles and drink tea! By far the most unprofessional firm going I don’t even know how there still open! Most of the men don’t care so the work they produce is terrible but they can’t see it from there house so it’s okay apparently! No communication so you can end up being sent to a job and it turning into a massive job and your there to do a repair! I just wouldn’t work for dcc all the management care about is there selfs so after 4pm you’ll not see any mangers so most of the time your unsupervised not knowing your head from your bum! So you’ll be expected to work longer hours because of no men and you will get sent to areas that you don’t live in even though there’s depots up there so you’ll be doing 80 odd mile of travel a day and getting up at 5 while someone who lives in that area is doing nothing because of the communication is poor! Just not a nice place to work it’s like being back at school with the back stabbing and things some of the blokes are 40/50 year old and carry off like women. I personally wouldn’t work for Derbyshire County Council even if it was the only job available it’s really that bad so I hope many of you reading this will take a second thought on working for council it’s not all as it seems people!!

..The day will satrt with hand over this will e a update on all the residents.
Then the staff will be informed of there duty for the day, eg who is doing the drinking, breakfast and who will be bathing first.
I will check the frige temperture and write it down then do the fire check daily on a wednesday i will do afull fire check of the home.
Then I will do my medication after this I will phone any outside angecy if needed eg, doctors, nurses, work men, CPN, care managers or anyone who might be needed.
Then i will go round all the residents to make sure they are alright
After this I will arrange the activities for the day Most days I will take part in this has well,
Dinner time then I will do the mediction again make sur that the food in take chart and fluid in take charts are filled in.
After dinner I will go on frame work I and see if any assesments or person centered care plans need updating if they do I will do them.
Plus lots lots more.

..I have leant a lot and this is the job I need to do for life it being a Deputy or Manager

.. I feel he has got me to were I can be now it is time to move on has the home is closing and I need a new Job because of this

..When the residents pass away if they go into hospital and I dont get the chase to carry out there wishes if they have said they would like to pass away at the home I work at.

... When I walk in and the residents are happy to see me always making them smile and looking after my staff.

Receiving details from variours sectors regarding the safety of children. Directing this information to different departments for the children and their families to be given the correct support.
 I learned that many families need support through no fault of their own, at some time, through out their lives.
 I also learnt how to manage the heart breaking details that was received. Some of the details that the office received was heart breaking and you are left wondering "what sort of person can do that to a child".
 The workplace culture was abit different to the private sector, a different pace. This role was more about details and conversing with different departments, and making the correct outcome possible for the families in question.  
The hardest part of this job was the leaving, this role was a temporary role. I loved having, even if it was a small input towards the safety of younger ones. Supporting the Health and Social workers with the admin duties.
Like many places its the people within the work force that make your day enjoyable. Every signal one of them made you feel that you belonged and nothing was too much trouble for them. You may have received some very disturbing details regarding a child's safety, which brings you to the point of tears. You had many a shoulder to cry on, or a pair of arms to give you a hug.

Initially no induction given 
No training or mentor provided 
People who were permanent were treated better given respect even though we’re office based due To misconduct in the community 
Hard work was over looked and no recognition given for going the extra mile
Felt left out and disrespected by management didn’t acknowledged me on a daily basis
Members of staff who were long term were given special treatment were disrespectful to agency workers undermining hard work and talking down to us but management ignored this and I felt targeted because I raised my concerns. 
No reconistuo. For hard work or valued the time given ti family’s in need more didn’t consider the family’s who were benefiting from passionate community care workers 
Treat agency workers as disposal not considering there staff who are based in the office due to misconduct to be in the wrong 
Making life difficult for staff who were prepared to go the extra mile for families 
Yet manager spoke about keeping staff on to develop a good work ethos but allowed managers to treat CCW with disrespect, one of the Mangers favoured Male workers over female it as one of my worst experiences I. Regards to chaotic disorganised an management was awful In dealing  with concerns raised

Worked split shifts usually between 7 am to 7 pm, with some occasional unsocial hours. Bear in mind the shift patterns were liable to change at very short notice and you had to provide your own means of transportation. Car drivers are paid a small travel allowance  , which never really seemed to cover the total costs including the upkeep & wear/tear of your car, as you can be expected to cover quite a number of miles within a radius of base, which can add up over the course of  a month. Completing your own time  and mileage sheets is very frustrating  and time consuming to say the least.

There were no problems that I can remember regarding booking time off like holidays.  Being employed for a number of years with the council the holiday entitlement seemed to me to be quite generous. As I earned 35 days plus bank holidays on top of this.
The job was fairly secure but there didn't appear to be much room for advancement. I didn't feel that there was any support from my managers with regards to bettering myself within the council.
Work colleagues, there is some very nice people and some not so nice people but this can be the case wherever you choose to work.

A typical day at work comprises of home visits, meetings, 1-1 work with children re: behaviour modification. I developed new  working relationship  with families and different skills on daily because not all families  are not the same. There are different management styles  and having a good manager is important to my role  in order that I could  impact the families in a positive way.
I also important  to  have a good team and support around me when we are dealing with difficult cases. I am also a good team player.
The hardest part of my job was  to see a family lives have been changed from negative to be positive. Especially, when you see then struggling to find money to buy uniform and provide lunch money for their  children.
The most enjoyable part of my job was to see  families lives have been change where they may have experienced  difficulties to obtained  a new accommodation. For example, where they have experienced homelessness. I supported them to  find new accommodation by working with housing department, school and other  agencies to obtained   the right accommodation to assist the families.

After 7 years of employment, I was very sad to leave my colleagues. Management very poor from Principal Surveyors upwards, massive blame culture has started as people are worried about job security and unfortunately it starts at the top. If your face fits you will rise to the top, if you speak out, your sure to fail. Staff moral at an all time low and it shows, the workers are suffering while management milk the system for their own benefit. Expected to be RICS or CIOB but principals get away with BA Hons. Penny pinching for the smallest of things and wasting millions. They want to compete with private sector, the staff are capable but management hold them back with their lack of knowledge in the real world. So much expected from you with so little in return. You see management sloping off for the afternoon leaving the workers on the ground to cover for them. Flexitime offered as a perk to subsidise poor pay but frowned upon if used. Pleased to be away from the place.

Residents, fellow care workers, cleaners and catering staff mostly lovely.
Managment, well not sure where to start other than to say the recent changes of management does not work. They are not at all supportive, engaging, or indeed nice. They like to rule with a big stick, often suspending staff, who usually return with no case to answer after months on full pay (wasting tax payer money). They have no idea how to team build, and don't appear to understand how to engage or retain staff.
If you like OK pay, poor hours, no flexibility, to be continually disregarded and undervalued, have managers who think they are superior just because they are managers (and poor ones at that) and like to rule by fear then DCC could be just what your looking for. 
Managment will never take any concerns you raise seriously either, they either ignore them or brush them under the carpet no matter who suffers. 
I lasted 4 years and am so glad I left. Working with good managers on less money is certainly better. 


Top Job Titles	Average salary
Teaching assistant 184 salaries reported	£24,453 per year
Teacher 125 salaries reported	£39,485 per year
Business assistant 56 salaries reported	£23,886 per year
Social worker 94 salaries reported	£37,358 per year
Care worker 42 salaries reported	£15.36 per hour

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