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

Behaviour is a huge issue and particularly in the early years where I work.

The job is unsustainable and people simply would not believe the behaviour that is happening every day in schools.

Presumption of mainstream here in Scotland is a huge stressor- increased needs in a class of 30 without any other classroom support is simply not manageable. This is apparently ‘Getting it Right for Every Child’ and it is getting it right for nobody in reality. Around 40% of children in Scotland have additional support needs - that’s not additional, that’s a staggering statistic and support should be increased, not stripped more.

My school uses Classcharts to log positive and negative behaviour points and parents have access to this. The number of times parents ring/email to get teachers to explain why their child has a negative point even though it’s written there is ridiculous. They always argue that you must be wrong even though they weren’t there. I now refuse to answer and upscale it to LT. It’s exhausting and demoralising. Strangely they never ring to query why you give their child so many positive points!

It's been a massive shock to me working in SEN after so long in mainstream with children with additional needs who I thought would be so much better off in dedicated SEN provision.

Class of 10 with 4 adults. 5 absolute maximum.
1 child becomes dysregulated - 2 adults needed to help regulate and keep child safe from themselves/hurting other children.
Leaves 2 adults with 9 children with severe needs. Guaranteed another child will become upset and dysregulated as a result.
Further 2 adults needed to help regulate and keep that child safe.
Leaves maximum of 1 more likely 0 adults to support the remaining 8 children with severe needs.

It's fucking dangerous.

@Floursacktabletop I absolutely hear you. And have spent this term discussing exactly this with an ever battered head and staff.

I'm in playgroup. So two year olds. Five days a week, small contributions and grant funded. A rare one left.

So I see nursery, school and staff. And my children are in both nursery and school and all classes at school. (Four children). Composite classes.

Here, behaviours are out of control. Teachers are broken. And parents are out of control angry.

We have the child out of control, the parent who does not care less. The parent of the child targeted, who then removes the child, and goes nuclear.

Nobody is happy. Nothing is achieved.

One of mine was injured before half term. Concussion and cuts and bruises. I have not been told. There is no accident report.

Accidents happen. But teachers are so worn down and afraid they don't even mention it to other people in the building? the injury is so small it's not a weapon so it's irrelevant?

As a parent I'm terrified to go near a teacher for fear of issue. Barriers are UP. As a "worker" Im dealing with the same day in and out and get it.

So where does it break? The system is not fit to continue. Not fault on teachers, or on decent parents, but on those who have forced these decisions onto the schools. No exclusion. No staff. No support.

For me:
Constant pressure to 'improve', assisted by new methods which appear out of nowhere and add to workload, with many having no proven track record.
Expectations to do the above by going above and beyond (unpaid of course) by providing intervention for exam groups and also extra-curricular clubs in addition to other workload already added.
Student behaviour (with some students misbehaving and taking full advantage of knowing that due to an EHCP / other reason they never really get any consequences at all - and they happily tell you so).
Vexatious parents who expect you to treat their child as if they are the only one in the class and they will complain to the highest person in management they can think of. Think also parents who happily proclaim to anyone who will listen that you are 'picking on' their child despite a behaviour record to the contrary but you still have to have mediation with said child, because you apply the behaviour system consistently (with due adaptations for additional needs of course).

I'm retiring in September due to this and the toll it is taking on my already poor mental and physical health.
(And to add that the so-called support when you are very unwell can consist of 'looking forward to seeing you after the holiday' when that's not going to happen plus being copied in to all cover begrudgingly set by your head of department so that you feel even worse for being off.)

Another vote for behaviour and parents. Things are just getting worse and I can't see those two things improving as they seem to go hand in hand.

I am SLT with a 20/30 lesson per week teaching timetable due to many different reasons but basically boiling down to lack of staff. I have duty before and after school, break and lunch duty and I'm on call for behaviour patrol (non-stop from the minute the radio switches on) for 5 lessons a week. This leaves me 5 periods a week to do all my leadership responsibilities (in charge of outcomes for a large KS group including pastoral and behaviour). Constantly worried I will drop a ball.
However, please don't feel sorry for me. Save that for my pastoral team who work harder than me for half my wage. I feel sick with guilt when I see how hard they work for how little reward. The constant parental nonsense (that's sometimes the only word that can be applied) is relentless and grinds them down. Decent, caring human beings being gradually burnt out.

Oh god, that all sounds awful!

I’ve only ever been grateful to all my kids’ teachers.

What she said

Feeling stretched to thin. The class sizes are enormous and there are more and more children with special needs or behavioural issues every year. Also, our resources are either non existent or just tatty.

Behaviour - specifically defiance - if a kid doesn’t want do go to a lesson or pick up a pen they just refuse because what are you gonna do? If it escalates they’ll just be suspended and can stay at home which is what they want because they won’t have to listen to you telling them what to do anymore!

Parents just not taking responsibility for anything - from their kids’ behaviour to paying for things on time or turning up to parents evening (and I’m not talking about the can’ts here - I mean the won’ts).

Schools can’t out-teach bad parenting. I really do wonder why some people had kids in the first place, they are so disinterested in them.

For me it's not behaviour in lessons because I know the kids, I know the behaviour system and it's very rare that I'm faced with a situation I can't handle.

It's the bloody corridors. Kids just blatantly ignoring you when you tell them to stop pissing about or to get to their lesson or whatever. Some don't even acknowledge you, others look at you like you're dirt. Because you don't know their names and it just happens all the time, nothing is ever done about it.

I’ve also taught for 22 years -secondary core subject with management role in an independent school.

For me, the worst part of the job is the emails which come directly from parents and the fact that they feel they now have almost 24/7 access to us. I had an email from a parent last Weds (middle of half-term) about arrangements for a trip in a few weeks’ time which is all in hand. She headed it URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED and told me that ‘all’ of the other parents are also complaining in their WhatsApp group.

Even 10 years ago, parents did not demand this level of direct interaction from us.

That said, I still think generally love the job.

Completely agree.

Behaviour is shocking. And the fact that we as staff are being blamed as we're not meeting needs or the children aren't being heard. Our needs do not matter so if we're physically hurt by a child then we probably missed a trigger.

Not having enough resources to teach those with send to give them exactly what they need, whilst at the same time teaching the others in the class and being expected to show progress for every child.

Parents who don't parent, or allow their children to choose which aspects of school they want to participate in.

Not been teaching that long but I've had enough. Not looking forward to Monday and if I had something lined up my notice would be going in on Friday.

Yes. 'Can I see the statements / the cctv'

Or could you trust me that when I say your child did something wrong, that they did, in fact, do something wrong.

And the absolutely paper thin talent of SLT. The recruitment of new teachers gets all the headlines but senior leadership is terrible.

Too many promoted too fast with not enough classroom experience.

I'm a union rep and I would advise everyone in schools, teaching or support, to join a union.

oh yes, expecting levels of proof inline for a criminal conviction for a detention!

Parents, Ofsted, allegations against staff, poor behaviour.
Primary teacher here.
It's so sad because I love the children, but I ended up giving up my full-time managerial role and I now work part-time, in a post with less responsibility.
I didn't want to leave, but had to for my own health and wellbeing.

Behaviour
Parent contact which is more often than not delivered with threat of complaint.
I am a Head of Year. I rang a parent day before the holiday to say their child told me to fuck off. Parent said 'do you have any proof'

👍🏼

I teach a core subject and am on SLT. I try my best to support colleagues but the lack of direction and support from the layer above me is depressing. Also behaviour of students, not in lessons in my case, but in corridors/toilets when accosted vaping. Then the lack of support when trying to deal with this. Lack of respect and feeling utterly helpless in supporting people with it all when I really should be able to.

It changes year on year. I teach primary. Last year it was behaviour, and this year it’s probably just the SATs grind and “quick” meetings which turn into hour long ones dissecting data, plus the fact our HoY stresses a lot about it and that can be hard when you’re having to hold your own stuff and as a result don’t feel hugely shielded from the demands of other SLT.

Our data is, at this point, already well above the national average so there is literally no need to stress which makes it more annoying, but we are usually top 5 in the city so there is some pressure.

The level of need with no funding to support it. In my KS1 class I have children with the types of needs that you never saw in mainstream schools 20 years ago, but fewer adults than ever. No specialist support or training that we used to get from the local authority. You are just sent to your classroom, left to get on with it and chastised when children don't make accelerated progress.

Ex-teacher here (spent almost a decade teaching Reception/leading the EYFS team).

Genuinely everything you stated.

Some of the worst I experienced:

• After I forwarded very serious concerns about a child being neglected and physically abused at home (so serious a social worker came out to discuss within a few hours), that Mum (who was a known drunk/drug addict) in retaliation confronted me after school and then lied that I had let her son go and make his way out to the KS2 playground when nobody was there to pick him up. It was categorically a lie. My TA, EYFS boss & Head all massively backed me up, but it was horrendous, I genuinely feared I could lose my job over a complete lie.
• One Dad who had been a victim of DV from child’s Mum used to come in every morning in front of my class, terrified mouthing to me ‘m, u, m is here in the playground’, then sail out again. Mum would then turn up, try and beckon their daughter out on days she shouldn’t be there, hugely unsettling their daughter, me and my class. My Head thankfully put a stop to that.
• I regularly had a parent tell me ‘if Dad turns up call the police then me’. I challenged one Dad, made him wait, got the office to call Mum- ‘oh yeah, he can actually pick him up now’- thanks a lot for keeping us informed!!!
• Many, many parents are in complete denial about how badly behaved their children are. I was always very clear about unacceptable behaviour I had seen with my own eyes, eg a child completely unprovoked whacking another child with my interactive whiteboard wand until I intervened and took it off him. Mum was so upset and stunned, but at least believed me. Many don’t.
• Many question consequences such as making a child miss their break or sit out of PE. I always insisted well of course they need to sit out of PE if they are tearing around knocking over others, they are unsafe and spoiling it for others. What else can I do except take away playtime?
• Parents offloading, shouting and going mental at us about their own disputes with other parents that happened off school site.
• One Year 1 teacher was so badly threatened by a Dad in front of her class that our Head banned him for a year from the school site.

Many were of course wonderful, reasonable, supportive, keep a respectful distance- like you sound. It will be hugely appreciated by your children’s teachers, trust me!!!

MATs making you log everything on spreadsheets that they could find out themselves if they were inclined. And will never look at or follow up.

MAT having no clue about the local context of school and trying one size fits all.

MAT being money leeches

MAT setting up unworkable systems that add to workload and achieve nothing.

Being held accountable for results from kids who can’t be bothered at all and don’t try. I’m a pretty decent teacher but I’m not a miracle worker.

Basically running to stand still and not even managing that.