to think working at your childs school might be a bad idea, too many eggs in one basket

[PussInBrogues]

alot of people seem to say working at your childs school is ideal
because of the hours and the holidays
i won't be working for the next few years, but am thinking towards the future

but i see some of the mums i know that do this, sort of overly invested in the school.

because it becomes their childs educators
a big part of their social life
their employers

and any upsets can be very over whelming for them

so im wondering what other people experiences are
good or bad

It's difficult to explain but you feel the pressure to do well. Some teachers had the attitude that teachers' children "should know better" than to misbehave. I used to get asked what my father/mother would think of a low mark or misbehaviour.

If you do well sometimes your peers often say it's because your parents are teachers. At junior school DH and I were often told we only did well/were chosen for something because we were teachers' kids.

My DSs say the same.

I taught at my dc school at secondary level and on the whole it was ok. There wasn't much option as it was the local school. The problems were minor for my son who was actually taught by me. I had known most of his friends for years and he wasn't teased at all. One teacher once came to me with a tale of misbehaviour. The worst thing was ds's slacking in my subject so he only got a D at GCE but he resat at Christmas and got an A.
Dd was more problematic as one girl did pick on her a lot but I was on the spot and spoke to the girl myself (this was 24 years ago) and it was sorted.
For us the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

Thanks this is really interesting reading

I guess thats true there are
advantages and disadvantages
in almost every situation

good food for thought

I think DoJo makes really excellent points.

I have worked in my son's school for 3years and I am glad he is leaving soon.

I know he feels I find out about things I would not ordinarily find out about (this is much less than he believe, but I have had to be very clear with other staff that I do not have my parent hat on at school and therefore, unless it is an issue they would raise with any other child's parent, I do not need to hear about it. especially during the course of the day).

He has not been teased about me AFAIK.

It does not work where people are overly invested or worried about their child, or of course where they gossip about things they have seen. And this happens. It happens with volunteers too. You have to be mature and professional, really.

I think if you are going to do it, you need to have as little to do with your child as possible, and be prepared to have very very clear boundaries with other staff and other parents.

Thornrose makes a good point about other children

I have had to make sure teachers tell children to call be by my name, just like everyone else (Not Ben's mum), and to not talk to me about my child. It is hard for them to understand but important to get these rules in place early.

It is not all bad. I think me being there gave my other son a lot of confidence.