Would you tell the school your child isn’t doing detention in this situation?

[beeonmybonnett]

my DD is in Y13 and has got an after school detention due to being late to one of her subject classes two times in the same week. She was only a few minutes late on both occasions - no more than 5 minutes.

In normal circumstances, I would agree with the detention as she should not be being late, I know it happens occasionally as we can get held up at times, but there are no excuses for her being late twice in such a short period of time.

However, the reason I am annoyed at her getting this detention is because the teacher of the subject class she was late to, and is getting the detention as a result of it, is late to class quite often.

For example, DD tells me that the teacher is usually 5-10 minutes late every Monday afternoon when they have that class after lunch. So clearly the teacher has problems getting from the staff room to the classroom in time for the start of the lesson?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for my dd to be spoken to and warned about being late, but I find it absolutely pathetic that this teacher has recommend her head of year give her a detention when the teacher in question is guilty of the same thing - is it not a bit hypocritical?

Not sure why they think this teacher’s lunch break is more important than her a level class but if the student is late then it’s the end of the world.

I’m not sure on how to proceed with this one, but I genuinely feel like ringing the school and telling them to withdraw the detention unless they’re going to discipline the teacher for being late!

Lol ops child will be 20 and in uni and mum will phoning in asking why she got a low score on an assignment 😂

op get a grip. Your child is in sixth form. Can’t believe you’re going to phone school about her detention for being late- she’s 18 or not far off. That’s ridiculous.

also are you somehow totally unaware of the staffing crisis in uk schools??! The teacher being late the same day every week suggests she doesn’t just love a leisurely monday sandwich in the staff room but she has a working commitment she has to adhere to. I’m sure your child and all the other 17 and 18 year olds are more than capable of looking at their study notes for 10 minutes while they wait like the adults they either are or nearly are

Never heard of a school giving detention to sixth formers!

Showing your true goady colours here . If you've not managed to get 14 pages in without realising there's perfectly valid reasons why a teacher might be late every Monday then there's no hope for you

Probably no hope for your dd either

But why should they?

My DD's sixth form doesn't have lessons all day every day. There are a substantial number of Independent Study periods which students are expected to use to study independently. When it is time for a lesson, a lesson is what they should be having.

Now I appreciate that education is underfunded and teachers are stretched to breaking point but the answer to that isn't to accept substandard practices. There should be enough staff in a school that lesson time isn't compromised because teachers are also undertaking other roles. So yes, when that isn't what is happening parents and students absolutely should be complaining. Loudly. Because nothing is going to change if we all just roll over and accept it.

@TheCompactPussycat sure, complain about the underfunding, the overcrowding, the shoe horning of half of social services onto teachers, the closure of sure start centres etc that helped people raise their children not to be feral little sods who need constant monitoring. But don't complain about a particular teacher being late because she was doing a slightly different part of her job.

@TheCompactPussycat

"Now I appreciate that education is underfunded and teachers are stretched to breaking point but the answer to that isn't to accept substandard practices. There should be enough staff in a school that lesson time isn't compromised because teachers are also undertaking other roles. So yes, when that isn't what is happening parents and students absolutely should be complaining. Loudly. Because nothing is going to change if we all just roll over and accept it."

We have! Loud and clear! As I said on another post - we have been on strike. I was on strike every single day to protest this. Between us, my OH and I lost £2000 pay. Literally, what else can we do?! Very far from rolling over and accepting it, we are putting our money where our mouth is to protest these issues for our kids - who deserve better - and our staff who also deserve far more support.

Have you not read the news in the last few months?! Jeez

If you are going to make a meaningful complaint about those things, you really need specific, concrete examples of how the current situation is affecting students' learning to give your complaint any teeth. Wishy-washy complaints about underfunding or about teachers taking on social services type roles are meaningless if you cannot articulate how that affects current students. That does require some specifics about which lessons are affected and when so it will naturally involve specific teachers.

If we want to make this situation better, it needs teachers and parents to work together.

"If we want to make this situation better, it needs teachers and parents to work together."

Teachers have been trying for this for years. Threads like this turn parents against teachers. You literally have no idea.

I know! I have supported the teachers' strikes and will continue to do so. I'm on your side.

That is why, although I would expect an A level class to be able to get on with work in the absence of a teacher, we shouldn't accept that they have to. We should expect better.

Yes. We should. But please don't blame the teachers. Blame the government, lack of funding and lack of support.

You literally have no idea

If you say so.

I'm just one parent trying to be supportive by not accepting the current situation is how it should be, although I'm starting to wonder why I should bother.

Yes. We should. But please don't blame the teachers. Blame the government, lack of funding and lack of support.

I haven't blamed teachers. I think I've been pretty clear that I do blame the government. But sitting on my sofa thinking that I blame the government isn't going to change anything.

Ok. It didn't feel supportive. Perhaps if you read your posts back through the lens of teachers who give their all. Genuinely Sorry if it comes across as snotty, but I'm just so tired of defending us to parents who think we are just lazy or can't be bothered to do a decent job. We do this all the time and it's just exhausting.

But yes ok - I can accept that you're on board. And we do need parents to back us, and support us. Because ultimately the kids (and staff) need a far better deal than the one they're getting.

You OP are part of the reason for the huge decline of attitude in our younger generation today.
I’ve looked through your responses and you refuse point blank to take anyone else’s view into account because they don’t match your own- even though you’ve asked for opinions!
Firstly, you believe absolutely everything your teenage child tells you when I could pretty much guarantee you need to believe about half. I think you’ll find the teacher has been late 1 or 2 times for perfectly valid reasons.
Secondly, you are teaching your child to have zero respect for her teachers and lastly, you are teaching your child to take zero accountability.
Have a day off!!!