Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU or is this teacher being very unprofessional?

156 replies

UnprofessionalTeacher · 16/11/2011 17:21

Have name changed for this incase I get flamed for being so inconsiderate, etc. Can't take a pasting atm. Am not a troll, poos in memorable places, mile for Maude, Cod, etc.

DD is in Yr 1. She's in a class which emcompasses reception, and Yrs 1-2. Obviously a small school, but class is fairly big due to different years.

DD's teacher has a daughter who started at reception in a different primary school in Sept. This primary school only did half days for first month. So every afternoon the teacher's DD would be dropped off at school and spend the afternoon in the classroom with her mum while her mum worked.

Now this other primary school isn't far away and finishes 30 minutes earlier. A friend of the teacher's picks this girl up and drops her off with her mum every day. IE; with my daughter's teacher in the classroom for the last 20-25 minutes of the day. Now according to dd and a couple of older kids there is a fair amount of the last 20 minutes of the day spent with the teacher having her attention focused on her DD, listening to what she did in school, etc.

So one of my friends has written to the headmaster asking if he's aware of what's happening and that parents aren't happy. He's written a letter back saying as far as he's concerned it can carry on. The letter is snotty and states that he would rather have this arrangement and have his staff happy than have them pulling sickies all the time. Shock Direct quote.

I can't believe how unprofessional it is. Its maybe not the worst thing in the world but its 20 minutes a day for the next few years where the teacher isn't focused. Not good enough in my book.

OP posts:
lifechanger · 16/11/2011 17:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

handsomeharry · 16/11/2011 17:28

Not acceptable at all in my opinion and would not be allowed in the school I work in. I would get a bollocking for even suggesting it!

CamperFan · 16/11/2011 17:29

I agree that it doesn't sound like a very professional arrangement, OP. it wouldn't happen other places of work. I know that a school is a different environment to an office or hospital for example, but if the teacher isn't focused on her work then it's the same result.

handsomeharry · 16/11/2011 17:30

And also I often read on here that a school is not there as child care or a child minding service which is exactly what it is being used for in this case.

auntiepicklebottom2 · 16/11/2011 17:34

Yanbu she should get proper child care, next thing would be the whole day when it is teacher training ect.

AFuckingKnackeredWoman · 16/11/2011 17:34

Its unprofessional and the head is bloody rude

CaptainMartinCrieff · 16/11/2011 17:37

It's unacceptable IMO and I would reply to the headmaster and copy it to whoever is his/her boss.

slavetofilofax · 16/11/2011 17:37

YANBU, but I can see why the head would allow this to happen if it's temporary and the teacher in question is generally very good. She should have had to demonstrate how she would ensure that her class wasn't affected.

Floggingmolly · 16/11/2011 17:38

Write to the Board of Governors, quoting directly from the Head's snotty reply. That is completely unacceptable.

Sirzy · 16/11/2011 17:38

I have never been in a year 1 class where the last 20 mins is anything more than tidying, story and getting ready for home anyway!

StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes · 16/11/2011 17:40

YANBU it is her workplace, very unprofessional IMO I would be contacting the local authority or arranging for a number of disgruntled parents to meet with the head.

piratecat · 16/11/2011 17:42

yanbu

she needs to sort childcare. not use her job as a creche. surely there's rules, cos her dd isn't going to be on the school register if there was a fire or whatever.

IneedAbetterNickname · 16/11/2011 17:43

YANBU!

frasersmummy · 16/11/2011 17:44

I think its really wrong .. and if the head wont do anything about it take it to the next level....

you cant focus on your own child and a class at the same time

she should either be part time or find child care like the rest of us

auntiepicklebottom2 · 16/11/2011 17:45

Piratecat as long as the child is in the visitors book it will be fine from a Heath and safety pov.

I know every time I have gone into ds school you must sign the book in and out

Miette · 16/11/2011 17:45

My daughters have both watched 30 minutes of CBeebies at school per day in Reception. I don't mind as they have both seemed to progress well, so i assume that the rest of the time is well used. Plus they are only babies in Recep, so i quite like to think of them having some relaxation time.

helenthemadex · 16/11/2011 17:46

it would not be acceptable to have your child arrive 25 minutes before you finish work in any other working environment so why should it be ok in a school?

The teachers attention is obviously going to be diverted from the children in her class to her own child, its unprofessional as is the head teachers reply. I would be replying to the head saying that it is not acceptable and copying the school governors in and also sending them a copy of the letter

Other working parents have to pay for childcare so should she!!!

jgbmum · 16/11/2011 17:48

I think that all of you who are unhappy need to send a letter signed by you all - not just the one parent brave enough to stick her head above the parapet - to the Governing Body, and copied to the Head and to the relevant person at the LEA.
What does or doesn't happen in the last 20 minutes of a KS1 class - including Y2 children - should be determined by the needs of the children in the class - not the childcare needs of the teacher.

Littlefish · 16/11/2011 17:48

This would not be allowed in my school. Even TAs, whose contracts begin at 8.30 have to organise childcare for their children for the 20 minutes before school starts and are not allowed to have their children with them. They are there to do a professional job, and need to do so free from distractions.

OP, I suggest you contact the governors if you are not happy with the response from the headteacher.

stressheaderic · 16/11/2011 17:51

Absolutely YANBU.

This is entirely unacceptable. I am a teacher and would never even dream of asking the head for such an arrangement.

That is her workplace. She wouldn't have a small child at the side of the checkout if she worked in Tesco would she.
She needs to make alternative childcare arrangements asap.
Writing to Governors is best plan - they are probably unaware of it, and as someone else mentioned, there are insurance implications.

WilsonFrickett · 16/11/2011 17:51

I am completely Shock at this! I wouldn't have been allowed it in any of the places I worked (of course!). And you have to presume he'd extend the same courtesy to other teachers further up the school, where the last 30 mins is spent doing slightly more challenging activities. Teachers are not there to look after their own children, they are there to teach yours! Definitely write to the Governers, but agree with jgb that the more parents who sign the letter the better.

banana87 · 16/11/2011 17:51

More of you need to complain. From what I'm reading, it sounds like the problem isn't the teachers DD being there, it's the fact that she is ignoring her class as a direct result. So her behavior needs to change, not the arrangement. Might be worth saying that in a letter to the head teacher.

nicknamenotinuse · 16/11/2011 17:52

YANBU, the teacher needs to sort out childcare. How many workplaces would allow this to go on? Not many.

babybythesea · 16/11/2011 17:57

Both my parents were teachers. I remember going in with my dad on occasion (my mum taught in my school so if it was a training day for example she would be in work and I wasn't). Mostly I went to my gran but if that wasn't an option, I got to spend a free day, ummm, in school. Can you tell I was very resentful?! Especially as I was expected to take a book and sit either at the back of my dad's classroom or in the school library all day.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it as a one-off but would be questioning the regular arrangement, especially if the teacher is distracted by it.

kipperandtiger · 16/11/2011 17:58

I agree too that the teacher should sort out childcare instead of using her workplace to do it. Agree that better if lots of parents sign a petition to the board of governors (or local authority if this is a state school). Can I ask if this is a state school or private school? (but either way, in both cases it wouldn't be right.)