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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:
kmammamalto · 31/01/2019 21:11

I LOVE teacher bashing threads because, as a teacher, I'm just here for the amazing comments and replies that remind me we are appreciated by most Grin

ilovesooty · 31/01/2019 21:12

Teachers don't have total freedom to live where they work even if they wanted to.
I hope the OP does email the head asking for full details of staff absence. I expect s/he could do with a laugh.

I'd like to know how far she commuted to work today...

TinklyLittleLaugh · 31/01/2019 21:12

Hard to socialise if friends are parents at your school, you’re usually banned from having them on Facebook for example.

I didn't know this. DH has a teacher at our son's school on Facebook. They met through a hobby and the teacher friend requested. He knows DS is at his school.

JacquettaW · 31/01/2019 21:19

@MissMarplesKnitting OMG you've just reminded me of the time I was out shopping one weekend. I walked out of Ann Summer's with one of their bags containing my items and I bumped into a group of the year 10s from my school! [embarrassed]

Ontonumber2 · 31/01/2019 21:20

Mixed bags and OP.I had to wait over an hour at the doctors today with my 2 year old who is now in hospital because they were 3 out of 5 gps down because of the snow. Not a drop of snow at the practice but I am sure that they made sensible, hard decisions not to come in. Its life and we can't control the weather.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 31/01/2019 21:21

Why do so many teachers choose to live so far from where they work?

Look at the gossipy fuckwittery of the OP's posts and have a think.

Nah still not getting it. It would take a lot more than a few randomers bitching to make me drive a 60 mile round trip every day.

EyesUnderARock · 31/01/2019 21:26

Some people don’t like to live in a goldfish bowl. Some relish the sense of community. Some find that driving for an hour enables them to detox and to leave the stress and the shitty stuff at work, so they aren’t snappy at their own families.

furrysocks · 31/01/2019 21:26

Well, in my case I moved jobs but didn't want to move house.

ohreallyohreallyoh · 31/01/2019 21:26

I wondered why more people didn't do the same

You really can’t think round that one? Like all jobs, you get the one you get. It might not be within walking distance. Promotion may require people to move schools. Different specialisations mean you might need to travel further. Can’t afford to live in the vicinity. Don’t want to meet their students shopping in Sainsbury’s or whilst they’re queuing at the doctor’s. Partner’s job takes precedence. Don’t want to live in a crappy area. Want to live need family for support.

What no teacher has to do is explain why they commute. Utterly ridiculous.

AppleKatie · 31/01/2019 21:28

I merely said I was disappointed if some of the teachers who could have made it safely to work had not gone in.

But you don’t know if that has in fact happened. And you don’t have any business being ‘disappointed’ in teachers who are not working for you in the first place.

You mentioned 8 staff were off? Avg. number of teachers in a secondary school- 61. Avg. number of teachers a pupil is taught by in any one day 5. I think it’s statistically unlikely to have been a major problem for your children.

Teachers are professionals that are trusted to look out or their own windows and make safety decisions all on their own. Imagine them taking unnecessary risks, having an accident and being in hospital for 6 months? What would happen to poor Flossies GCSEs then Grin

SachaStark · 31/01/2019 21:29

Simply put, because living in close proximity with the teenagers you teach (plus nit-picky parents) would be dire. You would be expected to be "on show" all the time.

I like having the freedom to go out at the weekend and drink and dance and have free conversations with friends and even shop without feeling like I have to always be "an example" (see: OP) to the kids.

BenScalesIsAGod · 31/01/2019 21:29

Do people actually stay off work incase it happens to snow later and they can’t get home? 🤔

tillytrotter1 · 31/01/2019 21:30

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've heard this before. Safeguarding shouldn't be an issue, all teachers are checked irrespective of the school they're working in at the moment. It may be worth considering but at best it would be crowd control, lots of DVDs etc but it would allow parents to go to work if they could. SIL once had their house full because his school 30 miles away was closed and their's in the village was closed too.

BoneyBackJefferson · 31/01/2019 21:32

TinklyLittleLaugh

Those randomers are the same fuckwits that turn a trip to the pub, a talk in a cafe, a visit to the betting shop, in to a letter to the head.

In short these people have nothing better to do than to scrutinise other people's lives.

Or if you want other reasons
They have kids in school in the area that they live and they don't want to unsettle them.
They trained in the area that they live in and liked the area so want to stay there.
They met their OH there and their OH works in the local area.
They can't afford to move nearer to the school
Or
They don't want to live where they work.

WhatNow40 · 31/01/2019 21:33

My DS school was open but at drop off only 3 cars in the car park. I'm a parent volunteer and already DBS checked by them. I had to go home for online shopping to be delivered but called back at 10am to offer to come in. All staff were in, 100% including all support staff.

I was impressed and we even managed to get 5 volunteers to go in with hot chocolate and cake and serve it up to all the staff in appreciation. I love our school. I can understand why OP feels disappointed. We're not in a close village btw but suburb of major city. Lots of snow, majority of primaries near us were closed.

DailyMailFuckRightOff · 31/01/2019 21:40

Marvellously priggish thread OP.

Ineffective supply teachers usually = kids playing up. But of course your child was the one in the corner asking for more work please and telling the others to shut up because it’s an important year academically?

I feel your outrage is misplaced and ever so slightly wasted.

LJdorothy · 31/01/2019 21:43

But the OP doesn't have a genuine reason for her 'disappointment' as she doesn't actually know why the teachers were off. She and her friend are making up stories based on their very limited information.

Aridane · 31/01/2019 21:49

I hear you, OP!

Clankboing · 31/01/2019 21:58

Tillytrotter what about a teacher's knowledge of who can / cannot collect each child in primary school? What about allergies and health conditions of children?

myrtleWilson · 31/01/2019 21:58

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

no nuance, just disappointment but then lo and behold a couple of hundred posts later the OP now says

I merely said I was disappointed if some of the teachers who could have made it safely to work had not gone in

Of course the difficulty with statement two is that she has no idea if they could have made it in safely thereby negating the whole thread.. unless of course... no, it couldn't possibly be, no what mixedbags she wouldn't.. a goady thread about teachers, who'd have thunk it

MaisyPops · 31/01/2019 22:06

boney has a point. There are some people who turn every little non event into a drama (see OP which is essentially 'my child had a couple of supply staff so didn't work that hard and now I'm annoyed because someone said they heard that someone else might have been off because of the snow')

As people have said, there's many reasons someone may not live close to work, teacher or non teacher.

She and her friend are making up stories based on their very limited information.
I agree. Workplace gossips and drama llamas are especially annoying people.

EyesUnderARock · 31/01/2019 22:09

Clankboing, supply teachers deal with that every day.

IsobelKarev · 31/01/2019 22:12

I don't live within walking distance of my school because I can't afford to! There is a school nearer to my home (a good school within walking distance) but I don't want to work there and even if I did they haven't had a job advertised in my specialism since I became a teacher 5 years ago.

We had 5 teachers off today. But I know for a fact that at least 3 were nothing to do with snow. The kids never even asked why they weren't in - they know the answer would be "none of your business".

In addition to that, a lot of schools close because they cannot make the site safe for the children. My school (private) has had three ground staff working pretty constantly for two days getting and then keeping paths (and steps, car parks, pavements by the entrance etc) safe for students and staff to walk around. Most state schools simply don't have the capacity for that. And if our school is anything to go by, students don't wear weather appropriate footwear!

mumtomaxwell · 31/01/2019 22:15

A pp has mentioned teachers are meant to go to their nearest school... that certainly was the case in the days of LEAs etc. But now many schools are academies and doesn’t apply.

Also, as another pp said... if you seriously think I’m going to endanger my own children or myself just because your kids don’t want to do cover work or be taught by a supply teacher you can fuck right off!!!

Playmysong · 31/01/2019 22:19

Travelling to work in bad weather sometimes depends on the perspective of the person travelling. Some people use the slightest snow fall as an excuse to take the day off.
As a nurse, I was once phoned to see if I could get into work, as the member of staff supposed to be in had phoned saying she couldn’t get to work, due to the snow. I agreed I would try to get in (15 miles) and although it took a bit longer I managed to get there okay. I looked at the rota after I had got there and was quite annoyed that the person I was covering for, not only lived closer, but I actually drove past her house on my way to work!!