DDs teacher is constantly off sick

[northernnitemarrrr]

The school say this isn't an issue for her education ( year 1) But I just feel if a TA was a suitable teacher then they would be the teacher. And they having random Ta's or support staff cover the classes, so it's always a different person isn't really on. None of the TA's have been there all year, as they don't seem to last long in our class. Maybe it's the class or the teacher but AIBU to be pissed off ?

northernnitemarrrrSo if you had a long-term illness you'd quit work right away out of fairness to your colleagues, and live on the oh-so-generous benefits you'd get?

Like hell you would.

You might think the teacher 'needs to leave', OP, but presumably you don't actually know the details of their illness? The school will have to follow the absence policy like any other organisation. They have to follow procedure, and can't just make a teacher leave until circumstances and HR conditions allow them to do so.

It's not that I'm not sympathetic- I very much am. But there may be very little the school can do about it right now.

IMO ideally the teacher needs to leave. In many businesses you can be dismissed for too much sickness, this is excessive sickness
Wow. I truly hope you never get ill, OP.

So you think the teacher should resign because she's ill,

you think another class should be disrupted so your DD has another teacher 1-2 days a week.

I think you need to have a word with yourself, the woman is ill, not getting off on holiday. Good teachers are harder to find than unicorn tears.

why not home school? or move schools.

or you could just accept they're doing what they can & DD will learn from various people.

I think you need to get a grip, it’s year one, not a PhD in International Political Economy.

It’s not an ideal situation, but calling for the teacher to be sacked is ridiculous. It’s her employers job to manage her absence (and provide adequate continuity of cover, you have no idea why she’s off, she might be having chemo, who bloody knows? She could be trying meds to try and get MS into remission? She might have been diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s or any number of horrific devastating diagnoses to receive at a young age in the middle of her career. Do you think she should just be thrown on the disability scrap heap?

My late grandma was a primary head teacher who got a Parkinson’s diagnosis in her 40’s, she ended up retiring very early with her health, but you know what, people still stop my dad and uncle in the street to this day and tell them how much they loved her and enjoyed being at her school. I have lots of her precious things and in amongst them are some little gifts given to her by her pupils from their holidays away.

These are humans, and if you want your children taught with humanity and kindness and care, then you have to accept that they aren’t robots. The issue here is the school not providing cover, it is not this poor woman daring to be so inconveniently ill.

I agree with you on the evening out the score front by loaning a teacher from another class. The term is almost at an end. Right now, I’d be talking to the head to ensure your dd is in a class with a reliable teacher so as not to be further disadvantaged.

It's not on and that's coming from a teacher too. The TA probably doesn't want to cover and the teacher probably doesn't want to be off. The school should have insurance for staff so should be able to use that money for supply. However like others have said there's no supply teachers available 🙈

Oops - I meant discussing next year with the head.

Plenty of people with long-term illnesses go in regardless of how ill they are to limit the impact on other people.

Of course you've every right to want your child to have a regular teacher
But the teacher has rights that cover sick pay etc, presumably she has mortgage or rent etc and she can't just walk away and live on fresh air.
I was a teacher. I was off for about 6 months before I left. My husband was dying. Should I have just walked away and added financial stress into the mix?

And teachers are people too, so there's no difference there. Or are you saying that there is NEVER a time when it is acceptable to be off?

Plenty of people with long-term illnesses go in regardless of how ill they are to limit the impact on other people.

Okay Tory

*So you think another class should be disrupted so your DD has another teacher 1-2 days a week
*
At the moment as it's the third full week without a teacher. I do think the other year ones classes should share their teachers in this case. As if a Ta is no problem, then one day a week is fine for another class. This is a head issue of course.

Now I'm angry. Are you saying that my best friend - a superb and dedicated teacher should face not just the very real prospect of not getting through her cancer treatment, that her husband may lose his wife, and that their two small children may grow up without their mother - are you seriously suggesting she should also lose her job?

Bloody hell I have read some self centred, selfish posts on MN, but this really does take the biscuit.

This is what happens when professionals aren’t looked after properly. People can’t cope and are off sick and others suffer.

Wow! You sound utterly lacking in compassion, OP. This poor woman is clearly very unwell and you just want her employer to sack her without following due process?

If you have concerns about how the school is managing the situation, then by all means, write to the chair of governors to detail those concerns. If they are telling you that the teacher's absence isn't having an impact on your dc's education because they have implemented suitable cover arrangements, then present them with concrete evidence of the specific issues that you have identified that you want them to address. Simply stamping your feet and having a tantrum about how much time she has had off just isn't going to get you anywhere.

I think you need some perspective, OP. Your child is teeny and probably won't remember this academic year with any clarity in any case.
It's not the teacher's fault they're ill, any more than it would be your fault if you were ill.
It's not the teacher's fault there is a shortage of supply teachers AND the budget to hire them.
I think if you read your posts in a few years down the line, you'll cringe.

DS had this situation and his teacher sadly died before he had finished the year.

One of the first lessons of primary school for DC is that the world does not revolve around them as individuals, and other people have feelings too.

Come on of course you are NBU. I feel sorry for the teacher, it sounds like she has some kind of long term illness and obviously is dealing with something, fine good for her hope she gets better soon.

But of course that doesn't mean she should just "keep her job" just for the sake of being nice to her, when she clearly isn't doing it even if it's through no fault of her own. The school could move her to supply or something that she is actually able to do but this is clearly a situation where the job isn't getting done. IMO the head does have a responsibility to find another solution.

I suppose they might just be hoping to coast through to the end of the year and figure something out for next year's contracts.

That's so sad.

It literally says in the post it's Year 1

The school will be following an established absence management process. I'm sure they're not just shrugging their shoulders and ignoring the situation.

No sympathy for op at all. What an awful unempathetic me, me, me post.

Teachers have a tough time of it (many of my friends are teachers), stretched thin, working many many extra hours on top of their normal ‘hours’ and I’m not at all surprised they burn out and become ill.

I hope you aren’t raising your child to be so selfish and hard hearted.

madmog You complained to the Head about a teacher being off sick even though you admit it wasn't an issue for your daughter? Wow.

Mn always twists. It's not personal. Many people have genuine reasons for being off. I'm more concerned by how the school has said it's fine not to have a teacher at all at the moment.