To think on hindsight this was a massive safeguarding breach?!

[Hindsights2020]

Namechanged for this but was thinking recently about something that happened when I was a kid and it's only now I'm an adult with children of my own that it feels really weird, but not sure if times have changed since then (late 90s)

My Y6 teacher (female) lived fairly locally but In a different village. I happened to be friends with an older child who lived nearby which I mentioned in passing to my teacher who said something along the lines of 'oh you'll have to pop round one day'. Being that age I took her at face value and I somehow ended up with her address and we did indeed go round one day after school. I'm not really sure why. She gave us a drink and a snack, we chatted for a bit in her front room then left. I don't think we ever told our parents where we'd been, I expect they thought we were at the village park.

Absolutely nothing bad happened and I don't for a second think that she is unsafe in any way, but aibu to think on hindsight this was over familiar, inappropriate and probably broke all sorts of school safeguarding rules, or were things different back then?!

YANBU - That was weird and inappropriate even then
YABU - things were different then and she was doing no harm

I have been teaching since the early 90s. A head teacher in my placement school used to take a group of boys sailing every Friday afternoon on his boat on his own. It was definitely a different era. Imagine the risk assessment now!

My brother did A level English in the mid 80s - the teacher (who was universally adored by her students) had the class round at her house for get togethers, with wine IIRC. She treated them more like university students - they loved it and nobody gave a toss.

I also remember being given a lift by a teacher often in the late 80's as she was going my way. Didn't go to anyone a house but I have known people who had even been taken to houses from school like a mini trip. Now sadly it's a safeguarding concern but it wouldn't have been seen as one then. It's a shame as there are a couple of dc I work with that I'd love to take home or out for the day from time to time.

We had a popular teacher at our primary school in the 90s who was gay. It was an open secret among the parents. He used to invite boys back to his house sometimes (primary age) and I remember my dad expressly forbidding my brother to go if he was invited.

Not sure what happened but he was sacked because he was caught doing something publicly with a man (a bit of a George Michael situ).

Amazing that the school and parents knew he was inviting boys to his house but no one did anything about it. Being gay seemed to be more of an issue.

Not true ... some schools have 'collectors'. They do exactly this .

When we finished 5th year in 1983 (yr11 now) our form teacher squashed many of us into his vw camper van and took us to the pub for a couple of hours. We were joined by the metalwork and woodwork teachers and had a jolly time in the pub garden.

This.

My mum was a teacher in my school.

We often had kids turn up to call for me who would wait sit chatting to a teacher from school whilst I got ready.

No one batted an eyelid.

And on the flip side it also meant teachers came to our house for BBQs etc as they were mums friends and I went to teachers of the schools house for exactly the same reason.

Ok, my parents were there, but I was alone with them outside of school.

Fwiw I live in Scotland and the gates of schools in our city are only locked when the schools are closed. You need to be buzzed in to the buildings (although in hot weather classroom doors can be open) but the grounds aren't locked

@Hindsights2020 Is there something that's troubling you about this in particular?

My brother and his school friend (aged 10/11) used to be taken abseiling and on other activities by our PE teacher in the school holidays (she never took me or anyone else, she didn’t have children of her own). I always found that weird, my parents didn’t bat an eye lid.

When I was at school, if you had a public exam clash and couldn't sit one of the exams until the next day, you went home with a teacher and spent the night at their house to make sure you weren't in contact with anyone.

Unthinkable now, but totally normal for the 1990s!

I can remember way back when I was at school and the children in what is now Year 6 would be sent in pairs to the village shop to buy the Headmaster's ciggies and pop. We considered it a great treat.

My head teacher in the early 60’s used to drive me, and two other children, to and from school. On the way home we would go to count the cows that she and her father owned in a field. If it was bad weather in the winter my father would drive us all in his breakdown truck. I also got lots of lifts home from sports day and after school events with the vicar. People were just nice and kind in those days.

A couple of kids you would love to take home or out for the day?

There's so much wrong with that statement. Thank goodness things have changed.

Why those kids? What about the rest of the kids?

I had forgotten this but it happened at our school too! We all used to quiz the people who got to stay at teachers' houses.

yes. @RockaLock !

teachers’ decor and food offerings was a topic of gossip, like Come Dine With Me with teens and exam angst!

Things were very different then. My friend and I used to go running with our coach from athletics club, just the three of us. We were about 13, and he was well into middle age. No way would that be allowed now.

It used to annoy me when older children who had left school and gone to Sixth Form College would turn up at my house to get their passport application signed. I lived very locally to the school I taught at so they knew where I lived. They also would turn up in my classroom at Break or after school with instructions from their Mum that I was to sign it.( There is a lot more than just signing)
Another free favour teachers were expected to provide. Hope students don't ask any more.

Village primary school in the 80s, no public swimming pool near by. A couple in the village let the school use the pool in their garden during the summer term. No changing rooms, we just changed on the grass by the pool.
The list of problems there would be with this now would be very long but it is one of my best memories from primary school.
I also used to get lifts to secondary school sometimes with a teacher who was friends with my parents as she drove past our house anyway.

Agree, a teacher at our local high school does this (it is designated and checked Vs casual, but that's probably better and also means more kids can be benefit).

I used to get dropped at sports competitions by my a teacher because they knew my family couldn't and otherwise I couldn't go, it was great but also can see how it would have been easy for it to go wrong. We also had quite a few creepy teachers and one 40-something teacher who had to leave after they discovered that a17 year old student had run away from home to move in with him, so there were real safeguarding issues, it's not just crazy bureaucracy like some posters here seem to think

The safeguarding rules now are to protect teachers from allegations too as well as of course to protect the children. It's quite common that children will disclose or accuse a safe adult as a test to see if they are believed before they then go on to say who the abuser really is.

If a teacher has been in a room alone with a door closed with no window with a student, then it's their word against yours.

I remember when I was in 6th form
Some friends lived on the same road as a teacher and told her they were going trick or treating and might knock on her door - the next week she said in class she was disappointed she didn't see them as she'd got some prosecco in she'd have given them a glass 😂

I think since the holly and Jessica murders we are all more aware of what could happen in a member of school staff home

This was the pre-Soham era, safeguarding changed a lot after that