To think droves of teachers will make the decision by husband made today- to leave

Exactly my predicament!

I’m so sorry your husband has had to go through all of that.
Society is fucked.
I was a primary school teacher, now a TA. The biggest problem we have is not the children, it’s the parents. There are some very angry & unhinged people out there raising children, and it’s worrying.

I caught a child talking in an exam, twice. Warned the first time and second time I removed the paper and told them to get their book out and read until the others were finished. I explained at the end that if that had been a GCSE, they would have potentially been graded a U. Told child they wouldn’t be getting a grade (it was an end of year KS3 exam) but I’d base hers off her years work instead.

Parent complained that I embarrassed her child and I was hauled infront of SLT who told me that we have to bend to the parents and I needed to apologise to the child.

That was the beginning of the end for me. Weak leadership and ridiculous parents.

Parents need to start accepting responsibility for their children’s behaviour.

Well said

Also got told to fuck off by a parent when trying to support a child to do homework.

Or kids from abroad who are better brought up

That's just awful! What happened to the boys who pushed you? Was there any punishment?

@Mirabai I agree, I'm not comparing like with like, I'm saying that I couldn't cope in this type of teaching environment at all, but more than that, the way teachers are treated is not, in the main, how university sector lecturers are treated by other staff/management. The sector tolerates a huge amount of bullying seemingly, as does the NHS in some places, and I'm amazed by this tbh. I'm not saying all is well in the uni sector, and some places are treating their staff shoddily right now as there's a squeeze on the sector, but the teaching sector seems like something else. I have friends who quit teaching recently and their jobs sounded nightmareish and they'd just rather have less money than do them.

Relative assaulted whilst teaching (kicked and punched) 15 years ago. Resigned for the end of that academic year as this was the norm, not the exception. "Good" school. Went to teach in private instead (not perfect - overworked). School will probably close if VAT goes on those fees (not big/prestigious). Starmer will be looking to attract this relative to teach maths in the state sector again. Not on your fucking nelly mate. Will be out of teaching in that case, unless tutoring privately online.

A few of DS's friends left Uni and did Teach First.

One has been punched regularly in the face and stomach and was head of department by age 25ish because he was the most senior...

I’ve been teaching for 10 years and never known behaviour to be as bad as it is at the moment. I’m very visibly pregnant and already had a bottle thrown at me and been pushed by a group of boys.

I’m not at the point of leaving yet, I still feel like for me, the good outweighs the bad, but something absolutely has to change. I’m regularly comforting coworkers who are in tears because of something the kids have done, or the parents.

My friend has been a primary teacher for over 25 years. Currently off sick as they had a break down in class. Has no intention of ever stepping foot in classroom ever again. But I also have a friend who is around 10 years into her career as a primary teacher, and another who is an experienced secondary teacher and they both enjoy their jobs overall. I think the school, and more specifically the senior management, play a big role in what day to day working life is like.

Then who will teach our children?

The students who go on to uni are the ones who want to learn - or think they do.

If it’s a top red brick it could be 40%+ private school alumni.

Just leave. I did as not only is the job hugely stressful but also poorly paid . Unless a zero tolerance policy is introduced nothing will change. Booting out the ferals will impact the parents lifestyle and only then will you see more parental support.

@Antisocialantibutterfly they are leaving. They don’t want to, they want to be educators, they want to teach but it’s becoming untenable in many schools to do so.

It’s so short sighted just to bleat ‘well leave then’, as who will teach these kids? How are schools going to stay safe with no staff? There is a retention and recruitment crisis. It’s a SERIOUS problem.

We have to address the root causes of teachers (and NHS workers) unhappiness if education and health care is to survive and thrive.

It is a problem for us all and it is only getting worse.

Exactly. I want my kids to be able to learn in a calm environment, not the bloody war zone I remember from my state education (and that was many years ago, reportedly it’s m got worse since then).

All of these things are common in the schools I know and I work for a large trust so talk to a LOT of teachers, I’m blown away that some posters think this is uncommon.

I don’t think parents really get just how awful classrooms are. I am sworn at on a daily basis and I have been pushed and hit. Teachers regularly cry in the staff room in my secondary.

If the school attempts to enforce strict rules to enable learning to actually happen, then parents and kids complain and whinge.

And the parents complaining come from all parts of society, believe you and me. They don’t have a clue how their ‘little angels’ are behaving when they leave their care.

I still really love my job, but society does need to wake up and FAST!!!!

There is more than one way to have an uneducated population.
No government dare say that people are not entitled to an education but what they can do is make that education worse than useless.
There are two main ways to do this.

The first is to ensure that there is no discipline in schools.

This can be easily achieved by outlawing, or at least frowning upon, any punishment. On these boards, children that are shouted at are seen as having been verbally or emotionally abused. Some even feel a naughty step is abuse of this kind.
Children are encouraged to believe their opinion carries the same weight as the teachers and often parents are very keen to compound this view.
Outrageous behaviour is rarely called out for what it is, almost every misbehaving child has a neurodiversity which means they can't help their behaviour. Society is encouraged to buy into this. PDA is the one of the latest but of course, all it is is children not doing what they are told to do. Generations of children have been like this but today instead of being told to do it or they will be punished, it is now a condition.

Much more of course but it all leads to classrooms where children cannot learn.

The second way is to ensure that the education itself is, in many places, shite.
Children are not taught, for want of a better phrase, the 3 R's.

However, they-and their parents-are encouraged to believe that they are getting a marvellous education-Grade A all round. Of course, this Grade A is useless-differentials have been eroded. Most of them get a Grade A-it means little but, understandably, there is a reluctance to take this on board.

Meanwhile, the ruling classes and those with serious funds-send their children to Eton et al, where I very much doubt that the 3 rs are off the agenda and where the sight of teachers regularly experiencing the horrors described on this thread is fairly rare.

How to ameliorate the situation.

A proper education will take a long time to reinstate so the best bet would be to restore discipline. I can't see that happening either so there is little to be done. Highly qualified teachers will leave and there will be a new type brought it-less qualified, less able to impart their limited knowledge and finally, our expectations will be so low that we mark as a genius, anyone who can distinguish between 'of' and 'off', 'there' and 'their' and 'aisle' and 'isle',

They're my thoughts. They won't be palatable but they are correct.

I teach over 18's at university, and am horrified by this- my students are polite, respectful and if they talk when I'm talking, I stare until they stop and they always do. I feel our management would back us as long as we were following procedures should there be a complaint (which there is occasionally). If senior staff bully others, colleagues get the unions in and occasionally lawyers. It's just not allowed. Schools seem to operate outside of the parameters of normal employment in so many ways!

I have friends in teaching and I've never heard anything like this. This sounds a particularly challenging school. I wouldn't want to do it. It seems schools are under more pressure to deliver more. From what I see of my experience with primary school there are not always resources to provide everything needed and the system then fails. There is an obsession with attendance put upon schools from government yet no real investment in the extra resources needed to manage some more challenging behaviour. A high proportion of these kids are likely to have extra needs I would bet. It doesn't mean teachers should put up with this! But the government is not funding the extra resources needed to deal with it. If you add in struggles at home/ with parenting there's going to be explosions in the school setting.

You can't always discipline these problems away. And there will be cases where the parents can't cope for whatever reason.

Sounds familiar, we had a violent child in DS primary (yes primary!) class kicking off throwing chairs, kicking kids, biting teachers, smashing stuff over dinner ladies head etc, was in meeting in the school so many times saying this child needs specialist schooling can’t handle mainstream school and I was made out to be uncaring and non PC. In the end had to move DS. No interest from leadership in dealing strongly with the situation, everything brushed under the carpet.

I feel exactly the same (I haven’t experienced violent behaviour but just the lack of respect and answering back/trying to be funny). Also the constant not feeling good enough or like you’ve done enough. But I feel stuck as I only work part time and it’s all I’ve ever done. I don’t know what else I could do for similar pay.

@Mirabai 'But where would you send all the kids excluded from mainstream?'

PRUs and special schools, as appropriate.