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

[Mixedbags]

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? 🤪

well said Ppatime. As ever, it's a good job people like you who know what they're doing are getting on with what needs to be done. This is starting to feel like a brexit thread now with the recent hard of thinking comments. You really can't argue with stupid and especially not with anecdotal stupid!

sunny276

LOL. There are so many inaccuracies on your comments about what your so called teacher acquaintances apparently say they can do that I am struggling to believe you know even 1 teacher, let alone several!
But good try at being gooay I guess.

Gosh sunny276 your education was clearly shocking as you don't even know basic grammar. I'm actually shocked. # disgracefulteacherstoomanysnowdays

It’s like Chinese whispers on here. I am sick of repeating myself. There is no snow here or around here or around where my friends and relatives travelled 50miles of here. The schools were not closed here because there was no snow. The 8 teachers that did not make it in to my 2 children’s lessons at secondary over 2days were off as the kids were told it was due to inclement weather. If the teachers lived in far flung areas that did have snow and it was not safe to travel fair enough. But, I don’t for one minute believe that all the teachers could not travel. It sends a poor message to pupils. Generally I think teachers are great, they do a very hard and stressful job. However, as with all professions there are some people that aren’t as committed. It’s crucial years for my children we are constantly told missed lessons equals lower marks. I don’t like the message it sends to pupils: can’t do, give up. There is NO SNOW here!!!! How many more times!!!! There was no snow for fitness and relatives who made it to their respective works. The only people not to make it in around here were the 8 teachers. I feel sorry for the head of the school also.

Trying to contain my anger here. Firstly teachers get NO say. We at my school get an email at 7am saying if it’s closed. Two are teachers supposed to DIE for their job? What would anyone like me to do if my car is stuck on the drive? Teachers are humans beings not robots. We have families the same as anyone else. Cars that get stuck in the snow- we are not magically provided with a way to get to school that no one else has- promise! Believe it or not teachers do the job because we like it ( you couldn’t if you didn’t!) but we dont deserve to be treated like some sort of unworthy human whose life is worth nothing. I am not going to have a car crash for my job. I will teach the children the work and make up the day. We are very good at this!!!

Brighteye. Not sure anyone is saying you should risk your life? Tad over dramatic.

People have posted that if it’s safe to get to work there’s no reason to stay off. Yet there are examples of schools closing because teachers couldn’t get to work in areas where other professions managed to make their commutes ok.

Schools will have to remain closed if teachers don’t turn up so it’s wrong to say that the teachers have no impact on that decision.

The 8 teachers that did not make it in to my 2 children’s lessons at secondary over 2days were off as the kids were told it was due to inclement weather.
Again, did the person who manages staff absence come to each class and inform them of the reasons for staff absence?
If not then you do not know and should stop bloody speculating.

I've heard our cover manager make a passing comment about how 'cover is busy with all these bugs'. Out of it that week I know 1 was at an interview, another had a funeral that week, another had an afternoon off due to antenatal scans and another was off for 3 days due to a poorly child. If I felt gossipy then i could have gone off gossiping about how people are off ill but didn't really seem unwell and all the supply was apparently due to sickness, but that's a bit odd as Tim wasn't unwell yesterday. Of course I didn't, because it's not my place to speculate on why people are off.

I was on a course last week and one of my GCSE classes got covered. Thankfully my students are perfectly capable of completing some cover work for the hour because if their GCSE grade seriously came down to 1 hour of missed teaching then something has gone drastically wrong at home with their revision. If your DC can't manage the same then there are much bigger issues at play.

So why do you think they were off Mixedbag?
If you truly believe there was no snow, why did they use that as an excuse? Seems an odd choice?
How do you think they convinced their line manager? (I’ve taken days where it was acknowledged I couldn’t get in and still had to lose pay - why is that a good idea?)
How much work do you think it was to set the class tasks and will be to mark them when they weren’t there to see them done properly?
What do you think they will say about any pupil who underperforms?
The lack of understanding of the work of a teacher is astounding.

I repeat, pupils are not informed of the reasons teachers are absent. They just aren't. Ever. Because it isn't their business or yours. Please stop with your 'poor message to pupils' nonsense. Teachers are allowed to be off sick, though a school staff room in winter is normally full of germ ridden teachers who should be in their beds but have dragged themselves in.

LJDorothy. Actually they are, at both my DC’s schools they are told if a teacher is off ill, clearly they aren’t told what the problem is, but they are certainly told if they are unwell....or on a course...or unable to come in due to the weather.

They are also told if a member of staff is off on long term sick because it may well affect them in terms of teaching continuity etc.

Exactly LJ.
Even before I went into teaching, none of my workplaces had this odd culture where the world should be given a brief overview of why someone is absent.
I find it odd that anyone would have the view 'obviosuly we don't need the full reason but we want a bit of gossip so wouldn't mind a hint' view.

And I've never in my 30 years of teaching heard of a school closing because teachers couldn't come in. The decision to close is normally made by the council first thing in the morning before school transport sets off or, if thick snow is forecast, the night before. Schools are not like other places of work and the children's safety is always paramount.

Well DorsetDays, I shall have to accept that there is an exception to every rule. At what point are your children informed the teacher is 'on long term sick'?

If you read the comments on the GMTV debate it was literally stating teachers should just drive regardless so yes it read to me as they should just risk their lives because they are are all lazy and get ‘too much time off’

And to sonny whatever your username is get that chip off your shoulder about teachers. Can only assume you got told off once and never got over it.

And at my school in all the time i have been there no teacher has had any say. The head chooses. He emails (even when some staff are in) at 7am due to safety of the CHILDREN eh fancy that a school that cares about the kids who would have thought it! Communication from bus companies etc. Also the staff to pupil ratio. Again this silly pathetic sweeping statements ‘people from other industries’ do my head in. In my village I can only
Imagine people work in many other industries (should I survey them to ensure they are not also ‘lazy teachers) , when we got cut off with snow no one got out. When I worked in research guess what, when it snowed I was still stuck!! This didn’t start to happen magically when I get I became a teacher, surprisingly my car didn’t like being stuck in snow then either. Who would have thought it!

LJDorothy. Try looking on any of the schools closure lists and you will see schools showing as closed with a comment alongside saying ‘closed due to not enough staff’ or ‘staff unable to travel’ and ‘low staff levels’.

The only people not to make it in around here were the 8 teachers. I feel sorry for the head of the school also.

GF still at it is see. The only people in your area who didn’t make it to work were these 8 teachers. You know that?

No plumbers having a duvet day? No maternity appts for temps in the office block? No snowy drive for Angus from finance?

Stop speculating about what you know shit. As they said in my yoof.

The local comp closed not due to teachers. Not coming in but due to health and safety. It maybe a combination of distance, lack of childcare and the litigious nature of some people that have made school risk averse. I am not a teacher but I think they do a damn good job and people are far too eager to complain.

LJ. My DC’s are toldwhen they get a supply teacher (and often at the same time that us as parents are also informed).

I'm in Scotland DorsetDays, and have never seen lists like that. Up here, as I said, the councils make the decisions to close. Teachers have no say in the matter. I'm surprised it is different down south as it doesn't seem either safe or sensible to leave the decision to close so late.

LJ maybe it is different in Scotland? I wouldn’t know, but in England every county has a website where schools list if they are open or not and the reasons/comments.

There is no snow here or around here or around where my friends and relatives travelled 50miles of here.

Since you still don't seem to be understanding how weather works, I took the liberty of making you a diagram.

The red is a 50 mile radius. The black dot in the middle is your home/your children's school. Orange dots and lines are your friends and relatives and their commutes to your town. Blue patches are where there might (shock!) be bad snowy/icy conditions. Green dots are where teachers might live.

Hope that helps.

I'm a teacher and didn't get into school 1 day last week. There was no snow at all where I work, however, where I live it took 2 hours (from 7am to 9am) to do the journey that normally takes me 5 minutes and I had another hour (on a normal day) on top of that. I wouldn't have arrived until at least lunch so I went home. I was in the following day and apologised to all parents in a personal message for each. I don't take my role lightly and I'm sure no other teacher does. Medical staff in my area were collected by army vehicles able to traverse the difficult roads. My class were told exactly why I wasn't there and the fact that I wouldn't do it normally. I don't think you can make a judgement unless you know exactly where they live

Christ Almighty, Mixecbags - you of all people having the cheek to complain of Chinese Whispers. You are whining on and on about 8 teachers (or so you have been told...) who you have been told by your teenage kids that they have been told that all eight of them were not coming in due to "inclement weather." Set your kids a good example and stop moaning.

My colleague lives 30 miles away. Last year, snow fell during the day and several cars were trapped in the car park. She had to leave her car, walk a couple of miles to a train station. Wait for one train that couldn't go as far as town, so more walking, trains cancelled etc etc. It took her 7 hours to get home. Now if there's a sniff of snow she won't come in through fear really. In our school as well, if you are off for snow but school is open you can take the choice of no pay or make up the whole day by working as a cover staff during your couple of frees a week ie no planning time until you've paid back your time. Hardly a cheeky day off then!