AIBU Teacher letter

[Janemarpling]

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/opinion/letters/18209773.letters-become-teacher---three-months-holiday-year-work-will-closed-event-heavy-snowfall/

I mean why publish? Surely the person is just trolling though we know people do think like this. Sigh!

Same old, same old. If it's such an amazing and easy job why is there a serious recruitment problem and even more serious retention crisis? Boring troll is boring.

Teaching does indeed have its nice points, of which getting addressed as ‘Miss’ is the undoubted pinnacle.

Oh good lord.
If I was only expected to work 8:45 to 14:45 with all those breaks and holidays, I’d still be teaching now. Realistically I was in my classroom by 8am and rarely left before 6pm. Even then I often took work home. My children barely saw me!

How many full years did you put in?

In my first year of teaching I had a reoccurring uti For about four month because I could never go for a bloody wee.
Not sure where they’re getting this free time shit from. I was laminating world maps at our dining table until midnight 😂

I work 7.30-4.30 most days and barely ever take work home. I refuse to. I also don't work in the holidays, bar the odd set of mocks. However, I've been in the job long enough to wing it most days (5-15min prep per lesson, depending on photocopying needs), work through all my breaks (including "voluntary" revision, which I refuse to do after school) and don't do any unnecessary crap we're being asked to do until someone asks twice.

I'm still knackered and looking to get out, mostly because I'm too old to be treated like a child by managers with less than half my experience. I'm in a shortage subject, though.

The next job I have lined up has been promised to me, even with a few years' wait, because I don't piss about and they value all the skills my current managers take for granted.

I don’t think anyone, teacher or otherwise, needs to defend the hours, holiday entitlements or workload of the job they do, particularly not to ‘Name Supplied’ of County Durham. If it’s easy it’s easy, if it’s hard it’s hard. I smiled at some of the things that are listed as luxuries. Every weekend off. Dinner break. Free parking! Incredible perks.

Disclaimer: I'm a TA, not a teacher, but several family members are teachers, including dcs.
In the primary school where I work, I arrive by 8 am and I can see from the register that every teacher is already here, some having arrived at 7am when the caretaker unlocks. I can also see that most teaching staff left between 5:45 and 6pm, which is when the school is locked up. Breaks? Officially, we have a ten minute morning break, but in reality nobody has time to go and get a drink - if they are lucky, they might be able to go to the toilet. Lunch time is an hour. For the kids, anyway. Staff tend to take half an hour tops and then spend the rest of the time getting ready for the afternoon session. In primary school, the only 'free' periods are PPA times, which are taken up with the planning, resourcing and any other admin stuff they have to do. And, just like in secondary schools, marking etc has to be done - a total of around 100 books daily, but often more. I've never known a teacher who didn't go into school during holidays.
I get sick of people constantly teacher bashing and expecting them, and support staff, to do what parents should do. Trouble is, everyone went to school so if course they all know how easy the job is. And yes, I know there are other jobs where people work just as hard, just as long and also take work home. But they are not constantly being told they are lazy, rubbish and generally to blame for all the world's problems.
Rant over-the-top going in to work now.

To the teachers on MN-don’t worry, we know you put in the hours....I do remember my primary teachers zipping out of school when they bell rang, but that was in the 1970s!!!!
By the time I went to secondary school in the early 80s these days were long gone-if they had ever existed at senior level!

Clearly ‘Name Supplied’ of County Durham is referring to a school/headteacher in the local area - the County Durham school in my link does indeed finish for the day at 2.45 pm (every day). Perhaps there are other schools in County Durham with similar hours. I still think 'Name Supplied' is a teacher/ex teacher with a grievance.

Just a bored retired baby boomer, poorly educated with nothing better to do, sad really

Why baby boomer?

Why retired?

Erm so, if they only work 0845-1445, have a morning break, lunch break, free periods during the day, 3 months holiday and every weekend free.

I'm not a teacher, but I know a few.

But add to this, the ones that run after school clubs, GCSE revision sessions, etc. Hmmm, I'm sure, in fact I know, when 2:45 or 3pm comes they aren't out the door!

My youngest has a brilliant DT teacher who runs an after school engineering club and what he does with them is also brilliant. Building a racing car to enter a competition, I'm sure that takes planning on top of everything else he does. Add to that he actually ploughs his own money into the department to buy resources because his budget is ridiculously small. Hmmm, sounds like he's there just picking up a salary and waiting for his pension.

Yes, there are a couple of pretty poor teachers at my sons school, but the majority are excellent.

It's a job I couldn't do whatsoever.

@siring1I think my whole years worked out at 23. My pension isn't enough to live on, but I am happy to be out of teaching and I've found other, less stressful ways of earning money.