Teachers I need solidarity before I leave the profession

Of course it doesn't but the reality is that at school (and elsewhere) she gets so many less nice things than she would get if she did not have a serious medical condition despite our best efforts. When a teacher gives Easter Eggs to every child but mine she feels left out. She never gets anything at school when others don't. Today all her friends are going out for dinner to somewhere she can't go. Tomorrow she will be at a Christening and will take food but for a child their own food is never as nice as the buffet. Food is a very social thing and serious food allergies are hard. Having to check labels, ask questions in restaurants, and constantly worry about being very ill is not fun. And that's without the realities of a restricted diet.

If the staff all went out for a party tonight to a place that excluded only you you might be okay about that but many wouldn't. A teacher thinking one child should be left out of an activity which everyone else is attending without a second thought I find difficult and certainly in my work setting we would not think this was okay.

Then don't do it. Seriously. I see so many teachers on here moaning and they don't have to be teachers. It's OK to admit you made the wrong career choice. Get an office job where you don't have to deal direct with clients or something if people annoy you so much

Not saying we are, but a quick thank you as they collect their child would be very much appreciated. Blimey, no wonder people are leaving the profession in droves!

Think we’re all aware of this, but being in charge of 40 students 24/7 is a bit different from doing unpaid overtime. One residential I supported, not me in charge, we had one child who had a severe reaction and mum had to collect. She had extremely sensibly stayed in a nearby hotel. The next night, we had one who couldn’t cope with being away so again, parents collected, one who disclosed something really serious so we were up all night ensuring he was ok.

Dunno why we do it, come to think of it, it’s getting far too stressful. Genuinely wondering if I want to do next year’s. I might hand it over if anyone else wants to do it. My boss has refused to residentials for years. Don’t blame him.

As a postscript, I do about 3 hours extra a day outside of class. I dread to think how much that adds up to, but it’s just normal for most people, in or out of teaching. I know emergency services don’t even get food/toilet breaks.

Then don't.

You can't expect parents to be grateful and write thank you thank mails. You choose to go or not.
A lot of us work for free without thanks. Teachers aren't that special.

Just do your job then. No one asked you to be a martyr and take their kids away

But it’s not my job. My job is to teach, not spend 24/7 looking after kids. Maybe I just won’t bother next year. God, I thank my dog walker for doing her job and pay her! Don’t you thank workmen/people on the till who serve you?

Then they are thick as

Unbelievable OP. I left teaching because of the crazy parents and their violent offspring.

Im just baffled that some have posted on here saying how you were wrong to do this wonderful event! So only 5 could go, well that’s life! Why oh why do parents not want their children to be resilient? How will they cope if they don’t learn to bounce back from disappointment? Why would you teach your children that they should always be at the centre of their own world? Is it not good to feel happy for other people sometimes?

Let’s try out for this football team. No sorry you didn’t make the cut.

This job looks great. Sorry you didn’t get through the interview.

Oh he’s fit! No sorry he doesn’t fancy you.

What the bloody hell will the world look like in 20 years when these kids think they can have everything they want as adults?

Run for the hills OP!

I think some parents see school trips as a service that schools provide rather than an optional extra that teachers go out of their way to put on.

I think they're comparable in the sense that someone is doing their job, but only some jobs are considered worth thanking people for. So we've established that you would thank some people, but not others. My question is where do you draw the line?

Most people give a quick thank you when a barista hands over their morning coffee, but don't say thank you when a teacher hands over their kid after a week away... I just don't understand why the refusal to say a quick word of acknowledgement for the unpaid hard work put in.

I don't need a thank you after a normal school day, but if I've been up all night with your child, comforting them when they're homesick, taking them to the beach for the first time ever, giving up my free time to give your child a positive experience they could well remember for the rest of their lives - then, yes, I think a quick thank you is not too much to expect.

But sure, I can survive without being thanked. It's the parents who actively go out of their way to complain that really set my teeth on edge.

Traditionally schools have offered trips and extras as it’s seen as beneficial to the children and generally good for producing well rounded individuals and developing skills. So language trip for those learning Spanish, geography field trip, theatre trip to see blood brothers they are studying for gcse, Duke of Edinburgh.
Some parents don’t seem to realise how much work goes into trips, how much they rely on goodwill and how moaning and petty complaints just means staff think well I won’t bother again.
Personally I’ve seen how children benefit from trips and activities so volunteer as a leader with Girlguiding but there’s fewer and fewer of us.
There was a school ski trip on here recently. School made it clear it was only skiing this year (presumably teacher who supervised snowboarding group had left/wasn’t going) a dad was kicking off. Lots of responses about how much cooler snowboarding was, why couldn’t school accommodate. If I was a teacher I’d be thinking let’s just scrap trip completely year after. So all the children miss out.
Op hasn’t said it was a class of 30 going cooking club. It may have been 10 afterschool and 5 getting chance of bakery trip. Everyone can’t do everything. None of the moaners have offered to help eg the bakery trip sounds great. If you were thinking of offering something similar in future I could speak to my local pizza restaurant and would be happy to volunteer to come etc.

I would but those two things are not comparable. Teachers shouldn't be put on a pedestal

These parents are dicks. I wish your school would protect you from meaningless emails.

I'd like to say that my non teaching adult teams don't behave this way but they do. People are moany fuckers

Whilst the mother sounds a complete pain, it’s incredibly unkind to write the kid’s whole life off like this.

Except kids learn better from teachers they know and who have taken the time to build rapport with them.

Do kids learn as well when there's a replacement going through the material? Generally, no.

What other job has someone in loco parents for a week? I imagine parents thank their babysitter more than they do the teachers after a school trip.

Edited to add: I'd be curious if you'd thank a firefighter who rescued you from a burning building or your doctor for curing a terrible disease. I mean, using your logic, that's their job and they're getting paid so why do they need any thanks?

It is possible to enjoy your job but still expect to be paid for it and treated with respect.

I haven’t run a trip since we got back from the theatre one night at 11pm and we stood for a couple of hours with a student whilst waiting for their parent to collect them as they’d fallen asleep and their phone was on silent. No apologies. My GCSE classes always ask if we can go and watch the modern play we study, I post a link to theatre tickets on our class Team and suggest their parents take them.

I run residentials as I know the children get a huge amount from it, especially for young children after the very restricted Covid era. It's incredibly hard work and stressful. I enjoy aspects of it. Those aspects decrease year on year so I would imagine in a few years I won't bother doing them.

There we go then, you enjoy it

@porridgebath

Good point. I'm expected to work extra hours if required with no overtime

A trip or residential is a bit different. You're in loco parentis & if needed stay up half the night. It’s a lot of faff before going with paperwork & then you are on duty 24/7. I enjoy it as I think students get a lot from it - but it's not really just regular overtime.

Yeah. I mean why else would anyone do it.

@Philandbill

They do think it is a jolly. I've been asked if I had a nice holiday!

Maybe parents do genuinely think it’s a jolly?

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/23/daylight-robbery-two-in-five-uk-teachers-work-26-hours-for-free-each-week

No one is saying that other professions don't do unpaid overtime.

It's all relative though. Someone doing a few hours a couple of times a year and someone doing 20 hours a week unpaid overtime are both doing 'unpaid overtime' as part of their jobs.