To tell teachers bashers to go and complain to their own fucking schools

[Frozenfan2019]

Aibu to be fed up to the back teeth of ignorant comments like "do your job like everyone else" and " it's your vocation" aimed at all and any teachers who happen to be on a thread. If you have a problem with the teaching provided by your own school contact them. People commenting have no idea of the workload that the people they are trolling online might be struggling with. It's bullying plain and simple and wouldn't be allowed to be aimed at other groups.

Do you honestly believe that every single teacher in the UK is lazy? If not why not contact YOUR school about the issues you have with YOUR child's teacher instead of starting yet another general teacher bashing thread.

As a teacher on here I have to say I have never been more demotivated. I work hard for my kids at school while also homeschooling my own three like so many of us. How dare you make me feel like I am failing because you have an issues, unfounded in some cases I am sure, with your school?

They are your children take some responsibility, contact the school if you have concerns and accept that most teachers are fired for the children they each but we don't make many of the decisions. They are made at a much higher level.

I don't understand why would some people think that teachers are lazy?! Genuine question. Teachers have been working through the holidays looking after key workers children. Did I miss something?

@fromdownwest - we’re not complaining about the job. We’re just hacked off at ignorant carping from largely misinformed people. Clearly there is very variable provision of work and feedback between individual schools and has already been said we follow the guidelines from our schools. I’m perfectly happy doing my job and adjusting to the circumstances but find the endless sniping annoying. It also doesn’t help when we have a hopelessly incompetent government who change the goalposts on a sixpence.

@YardleyX

Do you know what?

All the teachers that have failed to provide an education = work shy twats

All the teachers who continually defend this = work shy twats

All other teachers = many, many thanks for all you’ve done in very difficult circumstances

It has been pointed out many, many times (by teachers on here who are NOT "work shy twats") that the provision of education from individual schools is actually down to the Head Teacher/Governing Body/SLT of that school, not any individual teacher. They are presumably "following orders" and cannot randomly start teaching all-singing, all-dancing Zoom lessons on the direction of Mumsnet, when it is not their school's policy.

I'll make it easy.
If you have voted for the Conservatives, Labour or the Lib Dems since 1992 who have all at some point supported the ideas of league tables, market forces in education and choice then you need to take some responsibility for that choice. You also need to take some responsibilty for the lack of funding, shifting curriculum goalposts, soul destroying paperwork, massive inequalities in the system and low retention rates.
So if you are one of those voters who is unhappy with your current school, please feel free to either excercise the CHOICE that you voted for and more your children to a school more suited to your needs or you could actually do something to help the school that YOU chose.
Lambasting all teachers for something that you chose is not a good use of anyones time.

I do think the little that some schools have offered is appalling. I work in Primary and I know I've been working as usual. But it does drive me crazy when people say they've had virtually nothing in all this time and even I wonder what those teachers have been told to do by their SLT!

But it doesn't come from them, it comes from the school. That's why the first response is usually to contact the school, because the more parents they know are pissed off, the more they might look into how much teaching they can offer.

So I think parent concerns are valid and this site is a great way to get views from possibly hundreds of teachers in one go. I've offered advice and support on many threads.

All we ask is that concerns and complaints are kept about your children's schools. Please don't state in your OP that you're wondering what we're all doing, or that schools are failing our kids. The government have made this all very hard for schools, they're the ones who haven't helped all schools deliver a more uniform approach. Many, many schools are not failing the kids, and it's certainly not the teachers who are only following the policies set in place by their schools.

Set out your grievance about the school and leave generalisations out of it. It's generalisations that make teachers want to defend themselves.

move not more, Doh!

I would care more about the views of those bashing teachers if they gave a fuck at any point in time when it didn't affect their own children.

As has been posted on other threads. This different in provision isn't new and it won't go away after this is over.

All that will happen is that those on here notice it for 3 - 6 months and will then forget about it and go back to their cozy little lives.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable for parents to ask what provision other schools are having for their pupils - and that involves comparing what different schools are providing. How would parents know what is or isn’t achievable/reasonable otherwise? Especially when all we’ve heard for months is how hard teachers are working, how they’re working well over their hours, over weekends, not having had a day off since March...

When we see little evidence of this ourselves, and it’s our children’s education and therefore potentially futures that are suffering, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to compare provisions and question what all this work they’re apparently doing is.

I feel it would be unreasonable to start complaining to the school if actually the provision provided is broadly in line with what other schools are doing.

Could I ask what would a teacher consider good provision for children at home?

Not sure if possible to say. But if you think your school is providing it what is it?

@FrippEnos

I would care more about the views of those bashing teachers if they gave a fuck at any point in time when it didn't affect their own children.

As has been posted on other threads. This different in provision isn't new and it won't go away after this is over.

All that will happen is that those on here notice it for 3 - 6 months and will then forget about it and go back to their cozy little lives.

It will evaporate as quickly as all the concern for key workers, the vulnerable and mental health.

And the comments from the teachers on these threads are calm and reasoned? Between all the "teach your own fucking kids", "can't wait to palm your kids off" etc and taking every post referring to a specific case with "I do x, y and z so I am taking it as a personal slur" the teachers have well and truly made a battle line even in the face of quite reasonable and valid complaints.

@Musmerian - that is the point right there. Any one dare to raise a concern, or state that maybe not all teachers are as diligent as you would like us to believe and we are ‘ignorant carping’ ‘largely misinformed’ people.

That statement, smacks of your view being superior, and anyone who dare to challenge it is misinformed.

Maybe, they are not misinformed, and maybe their points are valid. Shooting down any naysayers with name calling, is lazy, ironically child like and speaks volumes as to how your pretension views others.

MarshaBradyo

I asked that the other day and asked them to include all the issues that it would entail.

I was told to stop navel gazing and go look at examples from other schools.

The truth is that they have no idea what or how it would work.

maddening

And all the parent posters have been reasonable and reasoned?

Much as certain posters would like to rewrite history about how this started, it wasn't the teachers that stuck the boot in first.

I'm a secondary teacher, teaching a full timetable in live time on Google Meet. I monitor all their work in real time (thanks to Google Docs) and provide plenty of freedback.

@MarshaBradyo

Could I ask what would a teacher consider good provision for children at home?

Not sure if possible to say. But if you think your school is providing it what is it?

We asked our parents. They didn’t want a rigid timetable or anything live. To be fair, internet access is patchy in our catchment to that’s understandable. We upload a weekly set of tasks to class dojo along with worked examples and links to video lessons if they can access them. We send home paper copies weekly as well as exercise books and stationery to anyone who asks. Work is uploaded to ClassDojo and we comment on every piece and offer points for improvement. We offer access to online programmes such as Reading Buddy, TT Rockstars and Mathletics (which all cost the school money). We post up good work and send out a weekly round up of what everyone has been doing. Vulnerable children are visited three times a week, we provide food parcels for those struggling (which all teachers are contributing to). We call home (when in a school) any child we haven’t heard from that week to see if we can help. If they don’t answer they get a home visit. Parents are free to message me and will get a reply the same day. I have rewritten the whole school schemes of work for science and DT, written my reports, planned my catch ups, updated all my data, done online CPD and on and on. We aren’t doing live lessons on any platform. We’re not set up for it and it wouldn’t really suit our school.

Are you in a state school @CraftyGin?

Pretty much identical, to Jimmygrimble, work is posted on padlets and parents given links via dojo, work uploaded and commented on via dojo. possibly fewer home visits but a zoom meet-up once a week for those still at home. We deliver printed off work to those that can't collect from school, usually with our food parcels. No live lessons, parents have said no because they prefer to work at their own pace.

Independent, Fourtea

You are so NBU. I don't know when the tide turned against teachers but I am very open mouthed at the constant teacher bashing on MN. In fact the overall key worker bashing really.

I'm not a teacher, but my DH has just been made redundant and is giving serious thought to retraining as a KS1 or 2 teacher. I was supportive until I found out the overwhelming view of teachers from Mumsnet and seriously fear for his mental health. The way some of you are spoken to is just astounding - the risks you are expected to take and to bring home to your own families because safe provision can't be made for you - I imagine the only way you'd get a harder time is if you were also step parents!

I think you're doing an outstanding job / my daughter is too young for school but my DSS has an EHCP and is very challenging to teach with significant behavioural issues - he has been well supported through out and whilst not able to attend school every day due to capacity support has remained on days we have home schooled to ensure he still has access to learning.

Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Same here - similar to jimmy.

We have opened to anyone in N, Rec, Yr 1 and 6 who elected to come, and will be doing the same from Monday from Yrs 2-5, so all staff back on-site pretty much normal hours. The numbers of children coming back (just over half) mean a rota system for them from Monday onwards.
Those in school will get the same planned weekly work in Maths, English and topic as those remaining at home.

I don't understand why would some people think that teachers are lazy?! Genuine question. Teachers have been working through the holidays looking after key workers children. Did I miss something?

Well each teacher wasn't there everyday. My sister did one day in the Easter holidays and had been doing one day a fortnight on KW duties. Now yrs 10&12 are in she is doing 2 half days a week. So no they weren't all "working through the holidays looking after KW children"

I dare say some teachers appreciated their days in school, especially if it meant they could just be a teacher rather than teacher plus handling children at home.

Unfortunately I think it has slipped into way of the mindset at the beginning, so if you weren't a keyworker then you were obviously just at home doing nothing, obviously this isn't the case but right now people are stressed because they are trying to work whilst also trying to get their children to do some work, it is no surprise people are getting tetchy.

Thank you Zaffa.
It saddens me to say that I could not in all conscience recommend teaching to anyone nowadays, and that's after a long and mainly happy career. I'm very glad neither of my own children have expressed any interest in it.

I am genuinely concerned that some of our most brilliant, hardest working teachers will throw in the towel after this.

There are still plenty of people who support teachers and are grateful to them.

@MrsBobDylan

I am genuinely concerned that some of our most brilliant, hardest working teachers will throw in the towel after this.

There are still plenty of people who support teachers and are grateful to them.

Sadly, I think you're probably right.

And just watch all the complaints there will be on here, about endless supply teachers and TAs covering, or no STEM teachers at secondary.