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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be disappointed that my children’s teachers have not come into school?

414 replies

Mixedbags · 31/01/2019 17:05

My teenagers are at secondary school in crucial years. They have said that the last 2days many teachers have not come in due to snow and the supply teachers have not been very effective. The snow fall here and within a 60mile radius (relatives and friends all over) has been close to non existent. What example does this send to our children? Snowflakes? 🤪

OP posts:
hazell42 · 31/01/2019 17:07

Maybe they live more than 60 miles away?
I know teachers who commute very long distances.

FuzzyPuffling · 31/01/2019 17:07

We had no snow this morning but have had several inches of the stuff this afternoon. If I had gone anywhere I wouldn't get back again.

By and large, teachers travel a lot further to school than pupils do.

Original poster
Mixedbags · 31/01/2019 17:10

Fair enough for teachers that have a long commute. For others, within a reasonable proximity I think it’s a poor show. Would this be acceptable for medical staff? Honestly there is barely any snow here.

OP posts:
PurpleDaisies · 31/01/2019 17:11

I live too far away to safely get to school if it snows heavily. It’s a 45 minute drive mainly down country lanes. Getting home is the potential problem if it starts snowing during the school day.

You can be disappointed all you want but I don’t care.

SnuggyBuggy · 31/01/2019 17:12

Could they feasibly have got in? Do some come by train?

1moreRep · 31/01/2019 17:13

would you want your child to commute in snowy conditions? perhaps their children's schools are closed due to heating etc? people who work in the public services are real people with children, commutes, problems too.

IsobelKarev · 31/01/2019 17:14

It depends really. If they genuinely can't get to school safely from where they live then YABU. I'm still not totally convinced I should have driven this morning - despite no snow over night, yesterday's snow didn't melt and has instead frozen on my estate, so the road was like an ice rink. I nearly lost control of the car twice. Less than a mile away my mum was wondering what all the fuss was about cos her road was fine.

If they can get in safely and just can't be bothered then YANBU.

ChakiraChakra · 31/01/2019 17:14

You don't really have any idea what their personal "snow situation" is. Give over, my kid's teacher is worth more to me safe and absent for a couple of days than in an accident on the way in.

WaxMyBalls · 31/01/2019 17:14

I guess the issues are also whether they'd be using public transport that has been cancelled and whether they have caring responsibilities without the usual cover. Those things could force the hand of a teacher or TA even if the snow is objectively not that heavy.

HugeAckmansWife · 31/01/2019 17:15

If they are in crucial years I'm guessing y11 and y13.. More than old enough to do some effective revision on their own for a day or two. Maybe the teachers have kids whose schools have closed and they need to stay home with them?

nuttynutnuts · 31/01/2019 17:16

I live an hour away from work. Bollocks to you if you think your kids education is more important than my safety.

namechangedtoday15 · 31/01/2019 17:17

But how do you know how far the teachers have to travel OP? And whether roads were icy etc? You surely dont have that information. Even if any if the teachers live close, the school probably wouldn't have enough cover to supervise / teach the whole school so its safer to close. Its upto you to explain to your children that it's about safety- both on the roads and once at school and they're old enough to learn about self motivation and get on with revision at home.

user139328237 · 31/01/2019 17:19

@HugeAckmansWife
Some supply teachers attempt to teach lessons that they don't really understand so it may well be that the supply teacher was preventing them from doing effective revision.

Original poster
Mixedbags · 31/01/2019 17:20

I wonder if said people disagreeing with me would feel the same if GP surgery staff didn’t come in ‘just in case it snowed later on’ and your child could not be seen. I’m all for safety but come on, there is barely any snow here (nine in the roads) or within a 60mile radius. The majority of these teachers generally live locally.

OP posts:
MoreCheeseDear · 31/01/2019 17:21

0 days since the last teacher bashing thread.

FuzzyPuffling · 31/01/2019 17:23

Well you obviously disagree with the majority of posts here, but yes, if the snow was too great for GP surgery staff to come in safely, then so be it. (And if it was that bad then I wouldn't be able to get to the surgery either so moot point.)

PurpleDaisies · 31/01/2019 17:23

Come on mixed, school isn’t a life or death service in the way the nhs or a gp surgery is. Also, doctors and nurses still miss work when it’s not safe for them to get there.

Original poster
Mixedbags · 31/01/2019 17:23

Yes it’s about safety of course. Maybe a few teachers not turning up due to this but there have been many more than that over the last 2 days. I wonder how the supply teachers made it in?

OP posts:
Moussemoose · 31/01/2019 17:23

Perhaps some of the teachers had children and their schools were closed.

WaxMyBalls · 31/01/2019 17:24

I think the problem is that you're talking in generalities. We don't know what area you're in, and you either don't know or haven't said how many staff actually are local and what was happening with roads, public transport, and other schools and childcare providers both locally and in the places non-local staff would be coming from. Do you actually know how many staff there are, the required ratios and where they'd all be travelling from?

JustAnotherMillennial · 31/01/2019 17:25

No wonder teachers are leaving in droves if this is the attitude some parents have.

Surely they are okay to self revise on their own for a day? The teachers are not skiving for the sake of it, they do not want to risk their lives by crashing and damaging their car.

Also I am not in the UK but there could be black ice which is pretty scary.

WaxMyBalls · 31/01/2019 17:28

I'd be equally interested to know how many supply teachers were contacted and didn't make it in. By definition you won't know about the ones who turned down the work because their kids school was shut or their car was acting up.

Amirite · 31/01/2019 17:28

It’s really looking for a problem isn’t it. It’s there if you want it to be! Hmm

DryHeave · 31/01/2019 17:28

I live locally to my place of work and to my child’s nursery. My child’s nursery staff don’t live locally to the nursery. Therefore if they can’t get in, I have no childcare, I can’t go to work.

RomanyRoots · 31/01/2019 17:29

I'm sure if they could have made it in but couldn't be arsed as you suggest, their SMT would be down on them straight away.
Teachers can't just come and go as they please.
They also understand how the system works and know that cover will be needed, not a decision they would make recklessly.

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