To think this headteacher was wrong

[ellielong]

story

Surely whatever the parent posted in her Facebook was her own private business?

Maybe spend less time keeping a tally of nice you are going to be to people and more time making sure things like homework aren’t an absolute embarrassment and no-one will be able to embarrass you on sm and it won’t be an issue.

Sussexman I once heard a caller to a radio show talking about how she was robbed. The first thing she did after waking up to a burgled house was to post about it on FB. The interviewer said 'you're saying you didn't call the police first' to which she kind of laughed and said she did after that. Sigh ...

BumsexAtTheBingo

That is more rubbish. My homework is fine. That isn't the issue. The issue is, if a mistake is made and someone decides to be a prick about it, how I might choose to respond to that.

Well you’re talking about when A mistake is made not when homework has been borrowed from someone illiterate online and given out without a casual glance to check it.
Anyone can make a small mistake. If the parent had posted about a missing comma I’d agree with you.

Giving out embarrassing homework like that and then choosing to treat the parent who exposes it badly really isn’t going to help your reputation but that would be your call.

BumsexAtTheBingo

Giving out a sub-standard homework once IS a small mistake, in the grand scheme of things. This isn't life and death, it's a crossword. I completely agree that the parent has the right to point out the error. That isn't the issue. It's the making it public for no apparent reason, just to embarrass the teacher. I have a huge problem with that. If that parent stopped me one day in the hills to ask for directions, I would say, "Sorry, no idea - enjoy your holiday!" Because that parent is an arsehole.

BumsexAtTheBingo

Again, no. Not treat them badly. Not do favours. That is completely different.

The teacher has embarrassed themselves imo and would be wise not to embarrass themselves any further. Have you actually looked at the homework? Sub-standard is generous.
The headteacher chose to go on the attack and as a result the school is now a laughing stock. Not just on one parents Facebook page but nationally.

BumsexAtTheBingo

Of course I looked at it. It's rubbish.
That doesn't justify flapping it all over Facebook. It just needs a word with the teacher and, if it happens again, with the Head.

It is a very poorly written article, I would like to know what was posted along with the picture.

We had a spelling test sent home once with a basic spelling error in a word. Not great, but a discreet word was had and the poor teacher was mortified.

Poor teacher? Teachers setting spelling tests should not make spelling errors.

It's not new. When I was seven we had to write an essay about what we did in the summer holidays.

I said I went to Blenheim Palace. My teacher crossed it out and wrote: 'Remember the rule: i before e except after c.'

I said: 'Miss Thurston, what I wrote was right' and she told me off for cheeking her.

Nearly 40 years later the idiocy and ignorance of that teacher is compounded. How could a teacher, or anyone with basic general knowledge, be unaware of Blenheim Palace and the battle of Blenheim? How could she not know that foreign words don't follow neat English guidelines? Where did they find her and inflict her on us? She may be dead now but her legacy clearly lives on.

So too right that people should now be pulling up idiots on Facebook. It's no different to talking at the school gates or over the garden fence.

The head should be asking questions of himself and his staff rather than embarrassing himself by making empty threats about defamation and data protection laws.

I am not anti-teacher. I was lucky enough to have very good ones and a few outstanding ones. But I had a few shit ones along with Mrs Thurston and I don't see why they shouldn't be called out.

That homework is so full of mistakes that it should never have been sent out in it's present form for the children to do.

I wouldn't have put it up as a photo on FB as this parent did, though I might have considered writing a brief status about how slapdash and error ridden it was.

In reality, I would have asked for a discreet word with the teacher concerned, where I would have been tempted to ask them whether or not they actually proof read it at all before sending it out?

The headmaster claiming defamation is still ridiculous though. Far better to just accept that mistakes were clearly made and promise that this will be addressed with the relevant member of staff once school resumes after half term.

How could a teacher, or anyone with basic general knowledge, be unaware of Blenheim Palace and the battle of Blenheim?

Oh, I have seen it all now.

What else needs to be required knowledge before you can be a teacher? Culloden? The First Battle of St Albans?

Do you have any idea of the actual qualifications required to teach and, if so, could you explain how every teacher is meant to be aware of the Battle of Blenheim?

Please, because I have no idea.

Headmaster needs to check the definition of defamation as well as spellings in homework.

Doesnt say much for thier grasp of language.

Doesnt say much for thier grasp of language.

Heaven wept.

On the other hand, as a teacher myself [...] Even a sports teacher could do better than this

Oh come on, it's not that bad.

Well he was wrong that it was defamatory - it's not defamation if it's demonstrably true!

It certainly is defamatory in that it is 'damaging the good reputation of someone'. It is not unlawful defamation but the head didn't claim it was. He simply asked the mum to take it down, at which point she went to the press instead.

Do you have any idea of the actual qualifications required to teach and, if so, could you explain how every teacher is meant to be aware of the Battle of Blenheim?

That's irrelevant Thisreallyisafarce. I think it is general knowledge but if you don't have it, there is no shame in that because we can't know everything. It's all about checking rather than presuming you are right.

I'm sure there are many things you know that I don't. But I believe that if you are not sure, you should find out before making a definitive statement. Don't you agree?

That's all I'm saying along with 'people who can't spell should not be setting spelling tests.' Would you not agree with that?

If I asked a child today to write about what they did over the summer holidays and they said they visited Harry Potter World, I'd think: 'Do you not mean "Harry Potter's World?"' because I'm not familiar with it. But a quick Google would tell me that they were correct and so I wouldn't make a fool of myself by insisting they were wrong.

Google wasn't available to Mrs Thurston but dictionaries were. I'd maintain that Blenheim Palace was an internationally famous tourist destination then as it is now, just like Harry Potter World is today. The point is, I would not be arrogant enough to correct anyone without checking. But if I did I would apologise and vow not to do it again.

@AnnieAnoniMouse

@CuriousaboutSamphire

It's a joke, you precious darlings.

Our sports teacher and I have good banter. I take the piss that he's not a "real" teacher, he takes the piss that I can't run more than 500m without falling over and dying. Fair's fair. Relax.

Even a sports teacher could do better than this

The head of girls' PE at my school was also a maths teacher. All the PE teachers had another teaching qualification. Maybe that was a 1970s thing and doesn't happen any more.

Miss Phillips had a very stern reputation but was actually quite kind even when I fell over my own feet in netball or failed to grasp quadratic equations.

But I wouldn't have given you a chance if you dared to suggest she couldn't write a coherent sentence.

Yeah, OK Sethis Sadly your 'banter' is indistinguishable from the usual bad mouthing and belittling many PE teachers get.

I am fairly certain I have put on a good face and smiled and joked back with a colleague, or 20, that have made similar jokes!

Not precious, just peeved that such 1970s twattery still exists!

The head would have been better off sending a letter along the lines of how disappointed he was that she chose to do this rather than talk to the school.
The mother's actions speak for themselves and I have my own opinions of that sort of behaviour.

Limited PE teachers still get drafted in to cover maths these days too, as they have a science based degree, usually!

There are sports coaches in many schools too, they may or may not have a degree and they are hired to provide games, activities and sports but not the physiology, biology, biomechanics, psychology, sociology and sport coaching aspects of the curriculum, in BTECs, GCSEs, A levels etc.

The breadth of the subject is why many PE teachers don't really enjoy the 'bants' even though it is traditional!

Headteacher is being a bit silly. Its quite common for people to post photos of stupid mistakes and whinge about things on facebook, the odd mistake does happen and posting it to fb won't achieve anything but its hardly a big deal is it? had the head not over reacted then a few of the mums friends would have seen a shit bit of homework and forgotten all about it, whereas now its been in the papers and is being discussed by people that had never even heard of the school.

@Thisreallyisafarce, Your attitude is awful, would you seriously change how you treat a child because their parent was rude? I have dealt with some bloody rude parents, some that have actually been physically aggressive, but I treat their children exactly the same as the others, which includes doing things that aren't technically my job, because If I would do it for one child then I should be prepared to do it for all of them. It's never a child's fault they have rude/nasty parents.

What jumps out at me is that the headteacher clearly has zero understanding of GDPR.

Curious I wasn't very keen on PE or the teachers but I think they all had STEM degrees though Miss Phillips was the only one who also taught her other subject.

My chemistry teacher was also qualified in PE. Though she never taught it, she took us for school pony trekking trips and did other sports activities connected to the school.

I am so grateful to her for pushing me through my chemistry O level. I chose it as an option because I was good at it but it became more and more maths-based until I floundered. She told me I was not going to fail and really helped me to achieve a C, which was a pass.