Just a cleaner...

It is a private school. All of our name badges say "cleaner" on them, mine "supervisory cleaner" (woohoo! lol)
However, it is wrong, we do not only clean, we do serve drinks and food. We cater for match teas, set it all up, make the coffee and tea, etc etc.
One thing that peeved me was the teachers had a meeting a couple weeks ago and had left over biscuits that they had already fondled through, I took the tray into the butlers pantry for my staff, and my supervisor said from now on they have to be put back into a container. Crap!!!! So my staff can't even have the crumbs!
The teachers complain if their coffee/tea and squash isn't just right. I feel like telling them to make it themselves!
We also serve lunch (not the kitchen staff), to the children and all the staff, which I find completely disgusting. Me, being a nurse, and also a germaphobe think it is completely wrong for "cleaning" staff to clean toilets and everything else then to handle food, even wearing an apron and gloves.
I have made my concerns known the the high ups, but they don't agree with me.
Also.... the headmaster has a home elsewhere in the country and has my staff who live on site travel three hours there to clean for him for minimum wage (which is paid by the school) because he is too cheap to pay someone from that area to clean his house because him and his wife are not able to do it themselves. So, is he not only abusing the schools funds, but taking my staff away for his personal use, and makes me short of help while they go there for days on end!
Wow! Sorry for complaining! Just tired of it!

Good lord, that sounds like a nightmare. I'd be so tempted to sabotage stuff just for personal satisfaction (not that I'm recommending that... per se.. ) I am a teacher and day one, you learn the two most important people to make friends with in the school are the main secretary and the cleaning staff! Ours are so wonderful. The students are also very sweet to them (calling them Mr. Tony and Mr. Willie, for example) and say thank you, etc. The evening staff have been teaching me Haitian Creole all year!

I feel for you but want you to know that it isn't an absolute that this is the way it is everywhere. I work at a school, it is a small special school and the cleaning and catering staff are very much respected and part of the staff. I think without a doubt it is time to find employment elsewhere!

We also serve lunch (not the kitchen staff), to the children and all the staff, which I find completely disgusting. Me, being a nurse, and also a germaphobe think it is completely wrong for "cleaning" staff to clean toilets and everything else then to handle food, even wearing an apron and gloves.

This doesn't seem right at all!
I remember how dirty, sweaty and un-clean I felt when I was a cleaner... I couldn't even hug my boyfriend when I came home until I'd had a bath... no way could I have served him food!

Keep up the job search, because this just does not sound like a good fit for you at all.

Perhaps this is why our founding fathers decided to write this into the Declaration of Independence:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...."

This view is part of our American DNA, but sadly, I think the remnants of the class system remain in the culture in the UK.

I'm hoping this one particular school is a one-off in their attitude.
 
At our little state primary school we had a very popular caretaker (ex-engineer). All the kids and parents would stop to talk to Mr. Belt sitting in his cubby-hole with his cup of tea. I remember one little girl who was feeling poorly asked for Mr. Belt -- not Mummy!

Just to say that here at work and at my son's school (state school) the cleaners are highly valued members of staff.  At the school their photographs and names are up there in the Reception area alongside the teaching staff.  SO not the same everywhere in the UK!  Possibly private schools harbour more class tendencies than most others.

Oh how terrible! I hope you find something better soon, clangers_girl. It always angers me to hear about stuff like this. I don't understand the logic for people that treat cleaners/waitstaff/anyone poorly. I mean, these are people that are performing some incredibly essential tasks that all of us take for granted. And honestly, even if you do look down on someone like a waiter, how stupid do you have to be, to be rude to the person who is serving you your food?! Hellooooo!

When I was a barista, I had one lady who was incredibly unpleasant, spoke to me like I was an idiot, and never tipped. Eventually it got to the point where I was so sick of the way she treated us, that I always put decaf espresso in her latte instead of normal! Petty, but it was a small victory in my head!

When I was a barista, I had one lady who was incredibly unpleasant, spoke to me like I was an idiot, and never tipped. Eventually it got to the point where I was so sick of the way she treated us, that I always put decaf espresso in her latte instead of normal! Petty, but it was a small victory in my head!

At least you didn't spit in it! 

Thanks for all the encouragement, and laughs!

Just wanted to see if things have been any better for you recently... hope so!