Any teachers on here?

Because anti-social behaviours are considered 'unmet needs' in education. Practically all other services have collapsed, especially those supporting people with addiction and mental health issues. We're kind of like the final frontier and if we let people down, then there's nowhere left for them to go. Essentially, many teachers have become punch bags for a highly dysregulated society. That's why management is so important because they'll protect you.

Secondly, it's so much easier now to 'gang up' on teachers. Social media was like made for this. People are looking for someone to blame for the fact their lives are such a mess. And teachers have become that someone. I refer to it as 'the discourse of derision'. The more people blame teachers, the more that turns into their twisted truth because everyone agrees with them. The logic then morphs into 'Well it's all their fault, so they get what they deserve.'

I’m afraid you’re wrong about weekends. I have to work both days at the weekend in order to keep my head above the water. Every weekend. If I have a story to mark (year 6), that will take 8 hours of my weekend (15 minutes per book). Then I have more on top of that.
That’s fairly typical.

What did you change to, out of interest?

@EnidSpyton

I agree. English teachers always have a heavier load.

I did a bit of supply last year. Pupils were openly vaping in the corridor.

I was hurt twice breaking up fights. A younger colleague was punched whilst walking down a corridor. A pregnant TA was hit. All in the same week.

In my last year in my permanent post, a parent complained that I was bullying her daughter, a senior pupil. I was subjected to a formal investigation.

The complaining pupil, her classmates and I all gave the same account of events, save for the fact that only the complaining pupil said that the situation was out of the ordinary and bullying.

I'd told her to be quiet and get on with her work.

The mother refused to accept this: "My daughter always tells the truth!"

The SLT chickened out when I suggested that they should tell the mother that her truthful daughter had once announced to the class that her mother was "a slut".

Yes, I'm retired and no longer giving a hoot.

Reading this thread eye opening. I'm not a teacher.

I cannot imagine a parent coming to scream at the teacher for what ever reason. That's mental to me. No one else would tolerate that in their jobs. Why are teachers expected to? Disgusting behaviour.

I finally came off the Scottish teaching register after 40 yrs.

Yes, that's what it's like now.

It sounds pretty normal, sadly. If your sister enjoys teaching, I would say try another school first. Or at least, finish this academic year.

I teach in a SEND school now and while it's harder in some ways, in others, it's much easier. Hardly any face-to-face contact with parents and no SLT expecting you to get 30 children sitting silently, facing the front and not fidgeting. So much more relaxed for students and staff. Does depend on the type of needs though.

It definitely gets easier in the third year. Different schools can have very different cultures as well.

The parents complaining about every little thing is ubiquitous now, but parents won’t be fighting in the playground at every school.

It's representative of most schools. You're very, very lucky. I got out of a toxic school earlier this year. I now do supply and tutoring. The grass hasn't been much greener anywhere else. Everyone I know in education, in various different schools, want to get out.

At least with tutoring I can actually teach, only cater to one child's needs, and the parents are mostly supportive and appreciative that their child is getting extra help. It's really opened my eyes.

I retired 7 years ago after 40 years of infant teaching. Over the last 20 years of my career it gradually changed beyond recognition, to the detriment of the children in my opinion.
I’ve spent the last 18 months volunteering in my local school once a week. One of the two top achieving in the area. I’m going to stop at the end of this academic year as I can’t face the chaos much longer that I’m seeing going on, the teachers need medals.
2 of my former colleagues still work as supply teachers and say all of the schools they go to are similar in that the teachers are run ragged and the level of SEND with no extra support is impossible to cope with on a daily basis.

Most schools are the same, probably worse. She will be much happier if she changes career. Teaching is shit these days.

Posts like this do annoy me.

Teachers do have different workloads, you know.

I'm an English teacher. My marking load is much higher than my colleagues in other subjects. My subject is compulsory to the age of 16, which means I always have full classes except at sixth form, but even then, it's still a popular subject. Marking a full class of essays takes about 3 hours. It's not possible to do it faster - you have to read about 6 pages per student. 6 x 30 pages = 180 pages. And on top of actually reading it all, you've got to annotate the issues with it, provide feedback against the marking criteria, etc. You can't make that task shorter. And that's just one class. Most state school teachers of core subjects have 7 classes.

If I have two lots of homework to mark per week, that's 6 hours of work, and I can't do it during the day because I'm teaching, so that gets pushed to after school or the weekend.

I also direct two school plays every year - so that's hours of admin and rehearsals that get added to my workload.

Then I'm also a form tutor, so that's more admin.

And then the lesson planning. I don't just reuse the same lessons again and again every year because my classes change and need things adapting for them, maybe I don't want to teach the same text again, maybe I want to incorporate something new I just learned about or saw or whatever - so that's another few hours' of work.

And then of course there are all the emails, from students and parents and colleagues and SLT. And the data inputting. And the admin of school trips and events and so on. And if there's been a concerning conversation with a student, the admin of that needs to be dealt with. That's usually a daily occurrence.

And I forgot to mention the interminable after school meetings! Two a week at my school, both until 5pm.

I do have free periods, but they're never actually free periods - sixth formers come for extra support, colleagues need help with stuff, you get called for cover - etc.

So when do you do all the work that being in a classroom all day generates?

I genuinely don't know how anyone can work just a 45 hour week and not take any work home.

Perhaps if I weren't an English teacher...

Teaching is hard, however her school is not representative of all schools. Mine is lovely, lovely staff, parents and children . Yes, there are children with SEND but they are well supported. I'd suggest she tries to find a different school before leaving the profession. It's a great job in the right place.

teaching is a trade off in that it’s a job where you get 13 weeks holiday a year and never have to work weekends or worry about holiday childcare. In return you have to deal with the fact that you’re working g within a broken system which is a huge ball ache. Your sister’s experience is pretty typical to be honest the whole system needs a huge cash injection plus overhaul.

I’ve been teaching for 15 years, I remember working in schools like that and it’s just not worth it.
Today, I’m not sure if it’s a combination of the school i’m in (Sen with great slt) and experience and a catalogue of resources, but I’ve cracked it. Im in at 8 and I leave at 4. Very rarely do work at home. I never had a desire to climb the ladder and take on more work as it’s very rarely worth it in teaching.
I would say what I have is a rarity and I don’t blame teachers for leaving in droves

Nice schools do exist! I teach Year 6 and I absolutely love my job. My class are gorgeous (I do have about 6 on the SEND register, one with an EHCP and one who needs a 1:1 but doesn’t have one) and our SLT are great. I have been teaching for about 16 years though so a lot of the workload is reduced for me because of experience.

I genuinely don’t know how some of you work 45 / 50 hour weeks then still bring work home… What on earth do you still have to do?!

OP, teaching is HARD. Any job at this level is hard, and top of the payscale you’re looking at 60k when you factor in holidays and pension. I’m not really sure what people expect?! I think a lot of teachers just enjoy being woe is me I’ve got the hardest job in the world tbh

Im an ex teacher. Made it 4 years and then become part of the statistic that 1 in 3 leave within 5 years. I pretty much had a breakdown after getting a new job in a better school and finding it was just more of the same issues. Went back to supply for a bit and now I work a minimum wage job from home and honestly I couldn't be happier.

It might get better but it also might not. Mental health is more important and now I can actually spend time with my family

The second and third years of teaching are brutal. You're experienced enough to have your own classes and a pretty much full time workload but you lack the depth of experience and resilience to cope with everything that's thrown at you. It is overwhelming and exhausting and you have to just take it one day at a time. Teaching is such a highly skilled job, that very few people outside of the profession truly understand. It takes about five years to become competent, and fifteen years in, I am still constantly learning how to do my job better.

If you love the kids and the art of teaching, then it's worth sticking it out. That is what keeps me in the classroom. I'm permanently knackered and it does take over my life, but the joy and fulfilment I get from it is worth it for me. I love my colleagues, I love my school community, I love the buzz and the chaos and the constant need to be creative and innovative.

I'm an English teacher and I think it's the best job in the world. Talking about life and literature with kids is just brilliant. I cried last week watching my Year 10s recite the poems they'd written about themselves. It's a beautiful, life-affirming thing, being part of children's growth from innocence to experience.

But you have to be thick skinned, you have to be resilient, you have to be able to tell parents where to go, you have to let SLT's shit just run off you like water off a duck's back. I just very quietly don't do as I'm told when it comes to unnecessary admin and no one ever notices. I am very firm with parents and they back off quickly once they realise I know what I'm talking about and they're not going to get what they want. After a while, if you stick around for long enough, and are known to be competent and get good results, you do get left alone to just get on with your job.

My recommendation is for your sister to find a new school and see how she gets on there. Finding the right school is central to having a good experience. That being said, the first three years are incredibly hard, no matter where you are. You do to a certain extent just have to grin and bear it, and then it does get better, because your growing competence enables you to handle the challenges with more aplomb.

This is normal for a lot of schools. It’s tough.

Honestly, that's mild. Last time I only had 3 children with SEN in a class was 2014. Last time I had a TA at all was 2021. Aggressive parents depends on the schools demographic. I've worked in schools where it was a daily occurrence and other schools where it was once a year tops. Parents complaining about nonsense has got much, much worse particularly post-covid.

I left this summer just gone, and don't think I'll ever go back. It's become an untenable job. The workload I could deal with. What pushed me over the edge was that no matter how much you give, there just isn't the funding or resources to do a good job.

It's management that makes or breaks a school.
I've taught in a large range of schools and the enjoyable ones are the ones that are realistic about their issues and have support systems. Some of the schools that I've enjoyed most aren't the best on paper or have challenging catchments; some of the hardest have been complacent on "good" catchments and have a blame the teacher culture (oh and some outright feral schools)

It is worth completing QTS. It improves opportunities and potential pay progression if in related jobs.

Even as a teacher with years of experience, in a school with a supportive SLT, the children’s behaviour is becoming more and more challenging year on year and the job is pretty much unrecognisable from 25 years ago. The lack of funding means support in the classroom is limited too which makes it even harder. My advice would be get out now before she becomes trapped by the wage and finds it more difficult to move.

This is good advice - I moved to secondary after 8 years in primary and never returned to primary. I wouldn’t go back to either now.