Told my agency I wasn't going back to this school, feel guilty and unprofessional

[Cheeseburger43]

I only had 5 days left but couldn't face that.
I did post about it on here and received a lot of good advice.
The behaviour was disgusting, it felt very unfair on the good students and I made sure they were rewarded.
I've inconvenienced them as they'll have to get another supply for next week now. But I'm sure anyone would be better than me.
The noise levels were a joke, and I had older classes were 75% of them spoke to me like dirt.
I'd tell the class something and they'd all start shouting/screaming at me in protest, all at once. I couldn't hear myself speak.
What gives them the right to talk to me like that?
I followed the behaviour policies, it helped for some students but sadly not many. They just saw it as another detention or head of year speaking to under their belt.
They'd literally not look at me and just talk loudly to each other like I was invisible. I just didn't matter at all.
I'd stop talking, sit/stand and wait, just put instructions on the board, move seats etc. But some of them just didn't care.
I had a student tell me I looked like I had cancer?
One threaten me that there'd be consequences if I gave him detention as his family were well-known in the area.
Told to shut up by an 11 year old. Called a bitch.
A lot of the books as a result were not beautifully presented as the teacher had requested and I feel bad for this.
On my last day I tidied up the books I did have

I just emailed the agency and explained why I wasn't returning. They did understand, were apologetic and said they'd report it.
I gave in my lanyard at reception and told them I wasn't coming back.
I'm looking for a new career path for different reasons, I feel that I let the school down.
Honestly feel that the only teacher who could get those classes to listen to supplies is somebody they're afraid of/intimidated by, which is sad.

Nothing to feel guilty or unprofessional about here, you did the right thing.

I supplied for a couple of years. I tried all schools in the first instance when asked but there were a small number I would not return to. It is a tough job and very different to being a permanent teacher. Don’t beat yourself up.

Nah, don't feel guilty at all. You have a right to do a health & safety assessment and you've made a decision to remove yourself from a place that is clearly unsafe.

As you said, you received lots of good advise and reassurance that is was ok not to go back on your previous thread. Well done for saying you aren't going back. Move on & forget it.

Sounds like the school let you down - and is letting everyone down including the kids - not the other way around. Presumably they knew you had difficult behaviour to deal with and they left you in a bit of a lurch with them. Behaviour can be notoriously difficult in many schools but it sounds like this school have pretty much no handle on it - that’s a whole school issue, not yours.
Put it behind you - and well done for leaving. You don’t owe them anything.

Look in the mirror and say NOMFUP in the style of Malcolm Tucker. It means not my fucking problem.

That's absolutely a benefit of supplying! You can walk away. Don't feel guilty. It's anticipated both ends. It happens.
I wouldn't give it another thought now.

Well done for leaving. The school sounds horrendous. You have no reason to feel guilty. If anyone should feel guilty, it's the parents of these badly behaved teenagers and the teenagers themselves.

Far more professional to walk away IMO, than to carry on being treated like that.

Onward & upwards!

You did your best in a difficult situation. The school will know how difficult these classes are to teach. It’s not worth putting yourself in harms way for a teaching job.

Thanks for the support!

You've done nothing wrong. The problem is not with you but with a society in which this happens. I've seen this happen in both private and non private secondary schools. Children have absolutely no respect for teachers or learning.
I blame a society that has so little respect for teachers. I blame parents - and I'm a parent -and a society where so many people won't take responsibility for their own actions.
Take care of yourself

I was in a school like this last year. It was horrendous. Kids fighting in class, swearing at me, shoving me in the corridor. Physically manhandling me to get oht of the class

I left too at short notice and it left them understaffed big time as two others quit too.

Management were no use and wouldn't back me up - they were only interested in building relationships with the kids. They needed discipline!

I cried so many times and used to feel sick going into work. After one awful lesson I cried at my desk and didn't go to my next class as I couldn't face it. I knew I had to leave then. One of the senior students saw I was upset and fetched the HOY and I told her I couldn't carry on.

The day I left was such a relief! I'm so glad you got out too. You didn't let anyone down, they let you down.

You have to put your own health first, especially if you have family depending on you. Thank you for trying, but it sounds like that school is beyond what anyone other than Attila the Hun could tackle, in the short term, anyway.

Wow that sounds terrible, I'm sorry to hear that! So glad you got out too!
Had the same, students fighting in the class, throwing water over each other and over books, walking round and ignoring me when I told them to sit down.
Then coming up screaming at me when I informed them they'd have a detention.
Throwing paper, rooms were absolutely trashed by the end.

Absolutely this! I am so fed up with bad behavior but don’t want to give it up because there are so many lovely kids. I’m in a great school now but have to deal with a very bitchy TA, something I’ve never had to deal with before. Generally TAs are worth their weight in gold but in the morning I have to see the HOD about this particular individual. 🙁After 20 years I’m so ready to leave. We’re going to have no teachers left in the country if the whole system isn’t overhauled!

Take it as a learning experience for you and don’t feel bad

By that I mean look after yourself as someone who people see as a resource

I say this as a SE person who was fine with adhoc work as it suited my life, but it became easier to disconnect emotionally when I realised I was a resource when needed and it suited me. In the opposite direction I could say no thanks for whatever reason. I still did as best I could whilst working but got better at switching off

Good luck at your new placement hope it’s much better

The advice we were given on inset day was "Don't reprimand students in front of their peers as it will embarrass them." Well they shouldn't bloody misbehave in the first place.

I'm glad you got out, OP. You had scissors pointed at you, if I recall correctly from your other thread? You made a good call.

You do supply = you're a disposable teacher the school can (and will) get rid of the second your use to them has gone. Trust me - the school will have zero loyalty to supplies when the chips are down (I think in the years I did it I came across one school who did and I ended up working there for a good long while), so since you're doing a role where you've got no ties and can pick up what suits you - do it with a free conscience. As long as you're not a total diva with a bigger list of demands than Mariah - there are plenty of other schools in the world.

I'm a primary supply teacher, and feel your pain. I've learnt though that it says more about the school and their ethos, than it does about it.
Generally, I find that schools that use supply all the time (because they can't keep hold of staff) are the ones that have the worst behaviour. Those schools where supply is a rarity, I tend to have a much "nicer" day.

I worked in a school like this for ten years and still found some classes a struggle. Things only worked because they knew I was a permanent fixture. It was impossible for supply. You have done nothing wrong and I'd imagine the staff understand.

Blimey. Schools have changed since the Dark Ages when I was a child. Many teachers then kept order by fear and humiliation, not to mention actual physical pain from the assorted corporal punishment methods in use. That wasn't right, but the pendulum seems to have swung far too far the other way.

@Sunshineday2 that's horrifying, how can a school be like that for 10 years? How did anyone learn anything?

Do what is right for you. No one else will look after you in education these days which is one of the reasons I left. I suppose the apologists for terrible behaviour will make the excuse of SN (surely not every misbehaving child comes within this category and anyway most SN children behave before someone picks me up on this). Then of course there’ll be the handwringing about education disadvantaging children and their future. Well if their parents emphasised that education can override disadvantage and their children really need to be present and engage with school they’d have more choices later.

Agree that respect for others and sadly themselves is becoming less common.