To be really pissed off about constantly having to replace stuff?

[Opalsandemeralds]

Black pens. Purple pens. Whiteboard markers. Rulers. Glue. Pencils. I am a teacher.

I’m fucking sick of it (grouchy rant) and while I’m no Boris fan, it’s been like this since I started teaching so it isn’t a political rant, it’s kids being dickheads rant. For some reason it’s really got to me today.

I don’t think I’m particularly playing a moaning game, I genuinely do not think these strategies are workable and would add to, rather than alleviate, stress.

I think in some schools you might be able to implement such strategies with year 7s and then over a period of several years get a name for yourself as the teacher you don’t dick about for but that takes a long view (as you know.) It is also only a solution for forgotten equipment - not for misuse and breaking.

My piano teacher friend solves this by periodically ordering a box of pencils in a conspicuous colour with her name on. Yours could say 'Borrowed from Mrs X'. It would at least make retrieving them quick if they're lime green or something.

Reframe it. See it as a tax you pay in order to get work started.

Train those relatives who can never think of gifts to buy stationery.

Mind you, I tried this with Barbie branded rulers (for boys) (cheapest on Amazon) and they became collectors' items.

But my purple primary calculators (for 6th form doing Economics) always come back!

OP YANBU. It's soul-destroying.

Our PTA at primary would allocate around £100 a year for form teachers to spend on anything needed like pens etc.
Sorry you have to fork out for it ☹

We definitely aren’t allowed to ask for money for equipment. My school is in such a deprived area that they would be unlikely to have it anyway. I also wouldn’t be willing to take a shoe off a child, it’s time consuming and they would more than likely refuse.

We do a check every morning of equipment, I would say 50% of my tutor group bring everything. I used to provide them with what they are missing but I just can’t afford it anymore. Most days the same kids would be missing the equipment the next day. There would be smashed up pens on the corridors around school and ink all over desks that the cleaners would complain about. I would set detentions and they wouldn’t come back for them and I don’t have time to chase it up, parents wouldn’t be supportive because “it’s just a pen” so wouldn’t agree to me keeping their kid behind.

I now tell them if they can find a pen on my desk they can borrow it but I don’t buy any, the ones oh my desk tend to be what I’ve been given free or what other students have left behind. They always somehow manage to find one from someone in the classroom. I was easily going through 50 a week.

Reframe it. See it as a tax you pay in order to get work started.

Train those relatives who can never think of gifts to buy stationery.

Is this for real? Why the fuck should we be paying for it? I already work hours of unpaid overtime why the hell should I be paying extra to do my job?

I used to teach a practical subject.

Sometimes there’d be 15 different sets of equipment to come in. 7 of them dangerous. It was just a nightmare.

I didn't saybyou were OP.
I do think equipment is one of those topics where whatever someone suggests is easily dismissed as impossible.

If someone isn't willing to put a classroom strategy in place, dismisses strategies that are suggested, doesn't want to keep buying their own replacements and doesn't want to issue detentions, then what do they want?

Misuse and breaking would be treated as a behaviour issue in most schools I've worked in as it is deliberate damage to school property. If a member of staff opts not to issue a sanction then that's on them.

If a school is in such chaos that it's genuinely impossible to issue a sanction (been there, done that) then I'd always advise that teacher to consider if working in that environment is good for their health, wellbeing and career.

Yes it's for real. I make these sorts of decisions based on what makes my life easier. Creating a situation where half of most lessons is spent arguing over pens is going to have consequences down the line for me.

First of all ….. congratulations on baby, enjoy!
Then…. Omg thats why I simply couldn’t teach. I am completely in awe of those who can. Of course you are allowed to feel the way you do, it’s human. I have kids, they can drive me nuts, but I don’t have to teach them!!
I don’t have an answer to stiff going missing though. Maybe put in to all the parents at consults….. I wouldn’t be offended. I promise. Good luck OP, and rant if you need to. You’re doing an immense job

Misuse and breaking would be treated as a behaviour issue in most schools I've worked in as it is deliberate damage to school property. If a member of staff opts not to issue a sanction then that's on them

Which is fair enough if you sit there and someone breaks a pen in front of you. What actually happens is that you loan out ten pens and six are returned and you find the shattered remains of four others.

@Phineyj I hear you!

10 pens get given to students. Teacher knows who they've given pens to. 6 come back so teacher knows it isn't them. The 4 remaining pens are the people who are left on the list.

Either the teacher hasn't put a class system in place, or the behaviour in the school is so bad that students feel empowered to behave how they like and this affects a class teacher's capacity to manage their room. In that situation I'd be reflecting on whether SLT are promoting the right culture within the school and whether the behavior policies are working.

If a member of staff opts not to issue a sanction then that's on them

I would issue sanctions, but they very rarely would be backed up by parents and of kids ignored it and I went up the ladder there was very much the attitude of “well it’s only a pen so maybe just talk to them”

You very rarely can prove which kid has destroyed your equipment and a significant majority of parents would argue it wasn’t their child as they can tell when they are lying. if you’ve ever said these words as a parent I hate to break it to you - you probably cant

The best method I found was providing all kids with a pen at the start even if they didn’t need one and then collecting a pen from every kid at the end so that it was easier to track. This however was time consuming when done 22 times a week - it didn’t help with the lack of support when putting in consequences for the students that still destroyed them.

I have worked at schools where whole year groups are banned from science practicals due to misuse of equipment. It is sad

@LolaSmiles I will freely admit that keeping track of exactly who has borrowed a pen is probably not one of my strengths. The problem is, it takes time.

It doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

That may be the best method @GracieLouFreeebush although I don’t know if I have the patience for repeated ‘but I’ve GOT a pen!’

It's the parents these days.. Such a disrespectful, throwaway society. Parents should check their kids have the right tools...No excuses!

it seems in this country its always someone else's problem. Theres an awful sense of entitlement and abrogation of responsibility.
Don't see this in other cultures/countries

As a parent I wish teachers would tell us this. I'd be more than happy to stick a tenner in the pot to help cover this stuff.

It does, but it's one of those things that makes life a lot easier in the long run, even if it is frustrating at the time.

I didn't want to seem to supportive because I'm 100% up for passing stuff to SLT and being critical if SLT aren't promoting an environment where staff can manage their classrooms. If SLT don't back staff who issue detentions then I'm highly critical of them and consider it poor leadership. Just on some classroom management things then it can be a ballache getting systems established, but if we don't do it as class teachers then we are setting ourselves up for more frustration and workload in the long run.

GracieLou If the response from SLT would be to undermine staff who expect students to have equipment and/or return borrowed equipment is dismissive then they're poor leaders who aren't doing their job properly.

To be fair I think the pen battle is a long, long war, dating back many decades.

I think the pen battle has got worse in recent years and cynically think it's part of a culture shift where students are allowed to take less responsibility for their own actions, learning, and conduct.

We all forgot equipment as teens, but I remember boring from a friend in registration rather than arrive to class without. I don't remember the silly students in my classes destroying resources the way I've seen in some schools. In my whole time at school as a student I never saw a student rip a display board deliberately, but have seen it increasingly in recent years, from pulling staples out of borders to ripping them off to prove a point.

my whole time at school as a student

Were you in sets, though?

My top set y10 never break stuff … y9 on the other hand …

I'm so sorry to read all this. Our daughters secondary has a wide social mix but I don't think they have these issues. We are in London.
I would suggest strong sanctions for behaviour with support from leadership to tackle it. You cannot have the lesson wasted on shoddy behaviour and the basics going missing.
A pot of money of money for replacements from the PTA and a message out to parents to bring in stationary or to ensure their child respects those in the classroom.
I wonder if you could allocate classroom monitors who would collect back all borrowed pens/ equipment?
I agree with poster saying some parents absolutely take no responsibility and haven't a clue with what class teachers have to deal with.

they're poor leaders who aren't doing their job properly

This is most definitely true at my school. Panic is setting in now though because I think they’ve realised the kids are wild and OFSTED aren’t too far away. So they are coming down hard on us for all of the shit they’ve let slip over the years and don’t have time for our stuff.

I went to a few schools so was in mixed ability for some, sets for others and a mix of high and low sets for different subjects. There was some stupid behaviour at times, but not the sort of normalised disregard for property I've seen in some schools.

I'll never forget arriving to my classroom after someone else had taught in it and was greeted by a slightly hurried colleague and a couple of students.
Turns out my GCSE class stood outside the room waiting for me to arrive talking loudly about the fact that "Mrs Smiles is going to go MAD when she gets here" and apparently started passive aggressively talking about how unfair they'd have to go into such a scruffy classroom.