To say to teachers...

[Treezylover]

Actually we know that the vast majority of you are treasures and heroes and we do appreciate your endless patience and hard work despite being undervalued and underpaid, even if AIBU says otherwise

I love my dds teachers. They are all absolutely excellent teachers and lovely people. I couldn't be happier with how they treat my dd and help her with her learning. I will be writing this in their Christmas cards. I just don't get the negative attitude towards teachers.

Well said!

My kids’ teachers are bloody awesome. Could never do your job and appreciate you so much. Thankyou!

I've been meaning to write to the HT of our school to officially compliment the teacher and TA who helped my DD and I through a truly awful time last academic year. They have made a genuine, tangible difference to her life, having gone above and beyond to support her as she experienced the terminal illness and death of her best friend (age 6) who was not a pupil at the school. It was an awful time, and I can't express how much their support means to me. This is what I appreciate about teachers - that you go above and beyond and get involved and make a real difference, on whatever level that is.

I've thanked the staff personally already, but I've put off sending a compliment via the HT as it's still raw. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow.

ADropOfReality....You ok hun?

Odfod

@adropofreality do fuck off. You're entitled to your opinion but this is not the time or place.

As plenty of teachers say: If you don't have anything nice to say, please say nothing at all.

I have very little to say about the vitriol above. My children’s teachers are brilliant. One of my children has quite profound SEN, the other child is NT. Both have been cared for, educated to an astonishing level, and recognised. I have been blown away by the level of care. I wish I could show you all this school.

Not my experience whatsoever @ADropofReality
I'm sorry that it's been yours.

My OH, 72 and long retired from teaching in Primary schools used to receive lots of end of year, Christmas gifts, all long gone. However he also received a beautiful letter from a parent and that he still has.
We are slow to appreciate public services generally, when my MIL was found dead there was a police involvement and afterwards my OH wrote to the local cop shop to thanks them for the kindness of their officer. He got a reply thanking him for his thanks and saying how encouraging it was to get a positive letter.
I once phoned the Head of our local High School and I said 'I was on the 3:30 bus yesterday,,' and he immediately said 'Oh God, what have they done now?' When I said how well behaved they'd been he was astounded, people never made a call like that!
Let's get behind people, yes there are some poor performers in every job but the majority go above and beyond.

adropofreality has been on a few school threads last night along the same lines: why rules and policy shouldn't apply to everyone and teachers should cater to parents who don't follow the school routine, why having a routine for things is awful, how schools run for the benefit of teachers etc. It's probably not worth engaging with the vitriol.

It's possible to appreciate what someone or a profession does whilst raising concerns or complaints in a reasonable manner. Sadly, some folk take the view that being a reasonable and polite parent in a school must mean you are some sort of teacher worshipper
Thankfully as staff we can easily spot the difference between them and a nice parent who wants to raise things.

How do I get a job at IceRebel's school ?

This is not surprising but with great difficulty, people never want to leave. I wish more schools were like ours but with MATs and budget cuts I realise we are now a very rare gem of a school.

I agree. My DS is well into primary. Never had any issues, in fact, we had some personal problems over the year, and the school has been amazingly supportive to both him and me. I am extremely grateful to them.

adropofreality has a point about the NHS. I’m an ex NHS employee and would much prefer a European style system. IMO opinion the myth of the “free” “marvellous” NHS has done a lot of damage, led to events like Mid Staffs Ludlow Maternity and many smaller cases of medical negligence. And a culture that the NHS is doing patients a favour by treating patients is a big contributor to the fact women and people with MH frequently struggle to get decent care and have trouble getting diagnosis IMO. I certainly don’t view NHS staff universally as angels seeing some of the malpractice I have and what some say about patients behind closed doors, and sadly sometimes to their faces.

The school system is very different and has never had the same semi-hallowed status as the NHS. When was the last time you heard anybody say how lucky we are to have a free universal education system? I say it sometimes and people look at me like I have two heads. Many organisations like the church provided free education before the state so it’s not seen as such a luxury. Schools aren’t seen as being as skilled as the NHS either. When was the last time you heard of someone who couldn’t afford private healthcare pulling their children out of the NHS and treating them at home instead “because it can’t be that difficult”. When was the last time you heard somebody saying they were going to march up to the hospital and give the staff a piece of their mind greeted with anything but a threat of the police? But at a school it’s seen as acceptable. People are very nervous about challenging medical professionals, but are happy to be very demanding as far as teachers are concerned.

I certainly don’t think it’s true that teachers are seen as angels deserving gratitude.

I was always beyond grateful to my children's primary school, other than one solitary baggage of a teacher. Over 20 years.

Thank you - very much appreciated.

A year 8 girl gave me some home made mince pies and a card with a really thoughtful message inside and it meant the world to me. We don't get a lot of cards, pressies etc at secondary level (apart from the first year tutors!).