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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:
namechangedtoday15 · 31/01/2019 17:30

@Mixed - you dont know where the staff are coming from!!! And even a covering of snow can cause dangerous conditions on the road when it freezes / melts and freezes.

And you're really not helping your cause but comparing a teacher to a GP. It would be interesting to hear you articulate how your child is in a life or death situation having missed a day of school Hmm

TopBitchoftheWitches · 31/01/2019 17:31

Stop being a twat op, at my children's school only a few live in the same village.
It's a couple of days at the most. I would rather people were safe than attempt to drive in and the worse happen.

Bringbackthestripes · 31/01/2019 17:33

I wonder how the supply teachers made it in?

Presumably the live nearby and not down any roads that are problematic.

I wonder if said people disagreeing with me would feel the same if GP surgery staff didn’t come in

I can walk to my local surgery, despite the snow, not all our gps could get in as I heard the receptionist explaining the delay to patients. They were waiting for a hastily called locum to arrive.
I wouldn’t expect anyone to risk their life driving in dangerous conditions for me, I would suck it up and wait for the locum or book another time.

So yes. YABU.

Racecardriver · 31/01/2019 17:34

You have to remember that snow acts very differently out of town. If they live in villages/middle of no where it’s more likely to snow in the first place and the snow will persist longer and the risks of driving on country roads with snow or ice are much greater. I would happily drive in town in snowy conditions but when it snows I generally don’t take my son to school because the drive can be fine but suddenly become trecherous or completely unworkable if additional snow falls. There is also a possibility that some of them live down roads that aren’t gritted or cleared makingit even more difficult to backs gate safely.

Bombardier25966 · 31/01/2019 17:35

How many teachers were off Mixedbags, and how many supply teachers were in?

Not unusual for a teen to exaggerate, and "many" could be as little as two or three.

Theimpossiblegirl · 31/01/2019 17:35

Also, you don't know the teachers are not in because of the snow. They could be ill, on a course or any other reason.
Teachers are not our property, they are real people with lives.

AmIReadingThisCorrectly · 31/01/2019 17:35

How on earth do you know that “the majority of the teachers live fairly locally”...I would put money on that being something you’ve made up just now.
And as for asking how the supply teachers made it in, well maybe they live closer than the regular teachers?! Although you would know better than me, given that you know the addresses of all teachers within a 20-mile radius...Hmm
I just think you need to accept the rational reasoning the other posters have given you and accept that you are maybe being a tad unreasonable?

roundaboutthetown · 31/01/2019 17:38

Mixedbags - you have bugger all idea on the state of all the roads within a 60-mile radius of your house, so don't pretend that you do. It could be snowing in one area and not snowing at all a mile away from there; roads can be well gritted in one area and ice rinks a few roads away. Towns, villages and remote houses down country lanes will all be affected differently. And you do not need much snow at all for black ice to form. It is for the individual to decide whether or not it is safe for them to travel, based on their very local conditions and the transport available to them.

RepealTheGRA · 31/01/2019 17:38

YABU

As PP’a have said you have no idea where they are travelling from and/or if their kids schools/childcare have been shut by snow.

RomanyRoots · 31/01/2019 17:39

I don't think any other profession has all this animosity towards them, except for job centre/ welfare staff, and this is understandable at times.

garethsouthgatesmrs · 31/01/2019 17:40

i work in a school and we have had a lot of absence this week due to flu and tummy bugs. I doubt the children have been told the reason each teacher is not in. Its very possible your children have just assumed its because of the snow when teally ita illness or personal reasons. Its like any job really if a persons line manager suspects they are taking the piss and snowfall wasn't that great in their area they will follow it up and won't just let a member of staff get away with it.

ohreallyohreallyoh · 31/01/2019 17:41

OP - we are real people too who have responsibilities just like you. I am a single parent with children in primary school. I also have caring responsibilities with my 83 year old mother. If there is a possibility that I won’t be able to get home, that getting home will be long and arduous or dangerous, then sorry, I am not going to school. Not because I don’t care about your child’s exams - because I do and somehow I will need to make up the missed lessons and make sure your child doesn’t walk into an exam room at some kind of disadvantage - but because my personal circumstances are such that I have no back up. If you think that my children should spend a night c/o Social Services and my 83 year old mother should go without a visit because your child has exams in 5 months time then you are everything wrong with the system and why teachers are leaving in droves.

Shit happens. We are able to make up for the lost lessons because we are, you know, experienced professionals who get on with it.

Your son may just have had teachers who were absent today but all the others were in. And don’t get me started 9n the way supply are treated.

EyesUnderARock · 31/01/2019 17:41

We haven’t had proper snow yet. We had sleet, then a freezing cold night that turned the roads into bobsled runs. Even in most primaries, teachers often live 15-20 miles away and set off early. A lot of teaching is paperwork and assessments that can be done at home without pupils present, so maybe that’s what happened.
I’m supply, so I can make an assessment in the day about how far I feel like travelling. Some days it’s 20 miles, sometimes I turn down anything more than a couple of miles.

holasoydora · 31/01/2019 17:42

I live in a county where I, near a the sea, generally have next to no snow but 20 miles away, rurally, the ground is high and snow is often bad. It’s also the county with the most vehicles so any snow = gridlock for everyone the minute a snowflake falls.

Original poster
Mixedbags · 31/01/2019 17:45

8 teachers, I have a friend at the school also

OP posts:
purplemirrors · 31/01/2019 17:45

Are you sure it's due to the snow OP or are you just assuming that?

Greensleeves · 31/01/2019 17:46

I would rather my children's teachers were safe. You have no idea where they live/what their journey to work is like, whether their own children's schools are closed. They also have to consider the likelihood of disruption on their return journey, especially as most of them have families of their own they need to get home to.

You're being a bit selfish.

NannyRed · 31/01/2019 17:48

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

⬆️ This to infinity and beyond.

BritInUS1 · 31/01/2019 17:48

YABU - you don't know their circumstances

And you can't compare teachers to GP's !

Optimist1 · 31/01/2019 17:49

you have bugger all idea on the state of all the roads within a 60-mile radius of your house, so don't pretend that you do

^ this

MissMarplesKnitting · 31/01/2019 17:52

And if my kids school is snowed off, even if I could get out the village wtf do I do with my kids for the day?

Maybe that's why they had to stay home?

WaxOnFeckOff · 31/01/2019 17:54

Well, it's either safe to travel or it isn't. Unless there is a specific warning from the police saying do not travel, we are expected to come into work or take a days holiday or lose a days pay. Where you live is really not the company's concern.

I presume this is applied across council staff also? When we have extreme weather, teachers are supposed to travel to their nearest school for work regardless of whether it is their own school, a primary or secondary etc. Most people (rural areas excepted) have some school within a reasonable walking distance.

I'd presume that the teachers who didn't make it in for whatever reason get docked a days salary if they haven't reported to a local school.

This isn't teacher bashing, just applying the same principles that apply to most other workers.

If please advise not to travel in the locale of our office (which they have a couple of times) staff are not expected to attend unless they are within safe walking distance and do not get docked holidays or pay. This seems fair.

WaxOnFeckOff · 31/01/2019 17:55

*police, not please.

RavenWings · 31/01/2019 17:56

Yes of course, the example set to your children is by far the most important thing here.

Not the safety of teachers driving in, not the caring responsibilities any of them have. The most important thing is the example set to some ickle preshushes (who should really just get their arses in gear and study for a day or two instead of whining - if it's a crucial year, there should be plenty to do).

C8H10N4O2 · 31/01/2019 17:56

So the head has confirmed to you personally:

  • the teachers who were absent
  • that the reason they gave was snow
  • that they all live locally

?

Anything else is gossip and speculation. Including by "your mate the teacher".