Teachers : what's the worst thing about the job now?

I know a lot of children at school would benefit from ‘ wholesome’ school trips to widen their life experiences- unfortunately I know for a fact that teachers are cutting down on trips and visits because they can’t bear the thought of taking unruly children out of the classroom!
This is where the divide will widen even more - the parents who are able to enhance the ‘cultural capital ‘ for their children. - and those parents that can’t.
and it’s not to do with money a lot of the time. It’s parenting.

I do wonder after reading the whole thread, why teachers are not striking en masse.
Surely these things need bringing out into the open, and discussed frankly, especially the health and safety aspects. Nothing will change otherwise.

And another new one- "My mum said not to bother because I only need maths and English". So sit in my class and do what then? They don't even bother with parents evening. And yet I still have to get them a 4 as my target- not allowed to even set them a lower one. It's laughable.

And huge classes (which impacts on everything)

This drives me nuts too. We then have to ensure that stuff comes back in or we run out really quickly as none of the kids in any of the classes have the equipment they need.
And most of the kids walk out the class and promptly erase everything you've just spent 50 minutes talking to them about too, so I'm on constant repeat to try and ensure something sticks. Kids do not care and then are resentful that I set them homework on what we've done in class

Ofsted due
plus
The amount of work - which is made worse by the lack of teachers, so we're expected to teach stuff that's not our specialism with no time to prepare.
Then there's the constant pressure to be setting (and marking) homework
And the books (Ofsted due...)
Plus do the extracurricular clubs (pressure for everyone to be offering something and to chase all kids to attend at least one - Ofsted due)
Pressure to call parents constantly - both those I teach and as a form tutor (which we all are). And no recognition that the parents can often be shit
(And I'm sure there's plenty more.....)

All your problems are going to be solved soon though with the VAT from the private schools. You'll have so many more resources.!

Seriously though I would hate to be a teacher. The behaviour problems seem to be escalating exponentially.

My son would come home from school and moan that Mr X had "told him off for nothing" I just used to laugh and tell him Mr X had better things to do and to behave.

This.

In response to the what has changed, I think it's the issue of responsibility (child and parent).

Even at A level when I first started teaching over 15 years ago, students would turn up with their own pad of paper, pencil case full of pens, highlighters, and ring bingers to organise their work into. They also took pride in this and using their own money to buy colourful folders etc (mostly through their own summer jobs and weekends jobs, not just parents pocket money). Gradually this started to shift and you began to see a few asking to borrow a pen each lesson, and some asking friends for paper which just got shoved in their bag, crumpled which they would say they would put in a folder at home.
A bit further on again and it reached a point of giving out exercise books as no student would come with their own notebooks or folders, and pretty much handing out a pen to most of the class too. This was A level where they want to be treated as adults but were actually no different to any other class in secondary, and for some worse as they believed they had a right to be there and could to what they wanted with no consequences (no detention for sixth formers).

I understand cost of living has had an impact on families but it is concerning that the responsibility of providing even a pen has now fallen on schools (who have no budget for this) and children do not come prepared to school and are not prepared to learn.

Yes, and now as a mum you constantly feel guilty don't you? I remember rushing storytime so I could go and get my lessons planned and finished ready for the next day so I could go to bed at a decent time. If I didn't, and spent the evening with my child, I'd feel guilty about the school work.
The holidays are all well and good, but parenting isn't restricted to the holidays. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do both well, so you feel like a constant failure. I felt like that part time, so I can only imagine how full time teachers feel.

It's no surprise so many female teacher mums in their 30s leave, or struggle with work related stress.

Yes I'd absolutely take half the holidays to not actually be in work from 7-7 5x a week, then working for about three hours+ at home every evening after dinner and tidying up etc (and not to mention several hours most weekends too), which was my norm before becoming a mum.

Checking back I emailed youngest’s teacher 5 times so far since September. Three times about pick ups where a friend was helping me out due to work commitments, once to request to pick a group of the kids up at 2:30 as we were taking them to afternoon theatre show in an adjacent town and once to send in photos for show and tell.
It still surprises me this is sent to the class teacher vs an admin but I suspect part of the issue is school budgets no longer allow for sufficient admin staff to handle these kinds of requests. Also think years back you could have just told teacher your friend asked you to pick up and no one would have checked where now there are procedures they need to follow. I’m not suggesting it’s a bad thing the procedures exist but they create a need to directly communicate with the school that didn’t exist before.

@Tricho As a PS to the above, I used to spend the bulk of my holidays working tbh, certainly when SLT. If my SLT salary was considered in terms of the hours I put in, I was still on minimum wage.

My friend says to people with your view re: the holidays: "Yes we do have three months off a year but to earn that we have to sustain a work-life doing a year's work in nine months." 😂 It's true for many.

@Millysmum87 the holidays argument is quite an interesting one. It's definitely great for the childcare, obviously, but I'm part of an online group of ex teachers and a lot of them say they don't mind having fewer holidays as they don't feel like they need them as much, as they're not as stressed, and it's nice to be able to take them when they like.

The pension is very good though. It's a shame teachers feel so trapped with the holidays/pension, and put their mental health on the line just to keep hold of the convenience.

Behaviour- and that behaviour being sanctioned by the parents.
Absolute lack of resilience in students and very limited ability to give a flying f*.
Massive micro management from SLT combined with zero real support.
Surge in SEND diagnosis (often self diagnosed but we need to use strategies whilst waiting) and school refusal, EBD. Literally means I have to be offering 10 different strategies per class a lot of the time.
Imagine a class with 2 EBD kids kicking off, whilst the anxious one demands to see the PSO, 2 of them still can't read confidently in year 11 and have to go to intervention, 3 others need you to model a written response individually, on different coloured paper in different fonts that you have to sort yourself at breaktime instead of having a wee, and you know you have to get them all to a 4 at GCSE despite 10 of them being naturally at a level 2 or 3 short of a miracle, but hey- we must be not doing our job if they don't get the 4.
The system needs a change. Why are we not offering trade qualifications from 14? Why must I be forcing kids who hate it and are not capable through the gcse? Why can't they have options that appeal to them? I say this as mum to a 19 year old who hated school, and now is the top scorer in the plumbing class.

I'm out of the loop as I'm having a career break and considering not returning to teaching bbut can anyone shed any light on the teacher pension actually being in line now with state pension age? Isn't that the case now?

My friend from work often says "Take away the Teacher Pension and the holidays and there would be a mass exodus."

I agree.

A lot of us women in the 30-40 bracket decide to leave when we can't make motherhood and the job work sadly but then again a lot of us feel compelled to stay because of the holidays at the same time as our DC. I must say this is a huge pull back to the profession for me. With the scandalous cost of childcare in this country, which is yet another Woman Problem, it's no wonder really.

This is a really good question.

I’m 38. It’s definitely worsened since I was at school myself. I think the biggest reason for this is when I was a child, parents accepted a school having consequences for poor behaviour, didn’t question it and actually reinforced disapproval at home.

I taught Reception from 2010-19, then resigned to be a SAHM. My previous posts detail poor behaviour from both children and parents I experienced then.

Sadly now, as a Mum on the school run, I feel I am in a minority with being a strict parent. I don’t tolerate my children running off. On the odd occasion a teacher has caught me about behaviour, I have believed them and apologised, then spoken to my child at home and removed privileges. I know many others who are in complete denial, they disbelieve and argue with staff, they telephone to complain about utter nonsense, they demand meetings with SLT to complain about teachers about utter nonsense. Our Head has to show CCTV footage to get some parents to actually see that their child was in fact thd instigator, not being ‘bullied’.

One Mum who’s child injured mine lied and blamed another child who had done nothing. No apology, acknowledgment. Proudly says her daughter doesn’t listen to her, does what she wants, but is so kind to other children. Utter nonsense. I really struggle to listen to it. It’s sad that despite my son being 6 and more than ready to play at someone’s house without me, I hugely distrust some of the parents, and have only really found one couple who I trust, who are calm and honest, and who’s son is so well behaved at my own home and nice to my younger child. I have told my son to hang onto this lovely friend!

I was horrified having a family meet up at one friend’s. We have taught our children not to jump on people’s furniture, wait to be offered food, say please and thank you, sit down whilst eating, knock before entering a sibling’s bedroom, etc etc. My kids are 3 and 6, their’s are 8, 6 and 2. Their behaviour throughout the day was horrendous, running around screaming and shouting. Riding indoor garden toys boisterously indoors. Trashing the house/furniture. Zero table manners, my 3 year old put the 8 year old to shame. Oldest one trying to take my son off into the toilet to tell him a secret, I put an instant stop to that, told him no, we go to the toilet on our own. And this friend is also a teacher! Genuinely couldn’t how/why she has allowed her children to run riot like this. Dad tries to discipline and she completely overrides him, so he’s given up. She will not say anything to them. My own husband was relieved to get back in the car and basically begged me ‘can it be a while before we have to visit again?’ 😂

I do wonder if Covid has made parents and children increasingly anxious, and parents are terrified to upset their children who have been through a tough time. I firmly believe if more parents used the words ‘no’ and ‘stop that right now’ with confidence and authority far more frequently, than we wouldn’t be in this mess.

I'm now the FD of our family business having done a qualification to become a chartered accountant.

It’s not the child’s disability that is the issue. It’s the lack of support, funding and training. It’s the sheer frustration of wanting so desperately to help a child but you can’t due to the size of the class, the lack of TA’s etc.

There should be accountability in schools and teachers should be contactable in the same way other professions are accountable.

The same way I can email my GP at all hours and expect a response before work next day?

Or the way all the patients stand outside my dentist at 3:30 discussing which of them is the weak link?

Or maybe I should report crimes to the police and complain that not all their officers are of equal quality?

Maybe I could contact my husband's employer about something that happened at home with his laptop and let them know that I expect them to impose consequences?

Parent of children currently attending a linked infant and junior school here in South Yorkshire.

We see a hugely challenging situation for teachers, children and parents.

Massive staff turnover - new and inexperienced staff members who come in with enthusiasm who look tired and stressed after the first term.

A clear lack of funding for premises needing refurbishment and for new equipment.

An odd method of implementing punishment where the teachers continually keep the whole class in at break, or reduce their breaks by 5 minutes when the same repeat offenders cause disruption.

Bullying - a poor and formulaic approach to resolving issues. When clearly something is one sided where one child has an issue with another, no support offered to the innocent party and no feedback offered after a so called resolution.

When we’ve tried to discuss anything with our middle son’s teacher, she just gets defensive and claims to not know anything about it. So my son’s concerns fall on deaf ears.

Our teachers look unhappy generally. It’s a sad sight. Two of my three kids often say they hate it, thankfully one likes it.

I’d hate to be a student in this era.

No longer teaching. I was secondary. My biggest issues were:

Behaviour. (Also if you did follow the behaviour policy and remove students from your lesson it was then you who had the problem and a poor relationship with certain children..not that those children deliberately tried to ruin your lesson every time, or that other colleagues didn't apply the policy in the way it was meant e.g. two warnings then out).

Expectations over grades being down to the teacher not the student. The pressure over what you were doing to help them reach a 4 or higher, not what the student was doing to achieve this (actually revising).

Those who have left… what do you do now as a job?

There is accountability in schools. All teachers have performance management. If you don’t meet your targets you’re on your way out.

My last school didn’t give out teacher email addresses. That’s how it should be. I used to teach secondary. 350 kids a week. What if all the parents wanted to get in touch? Would you rather a teacher taught or answered 350 pointless emails?