Teacher odd interaction

[Letsnowalready]

So today a weird interaction happened. Im a TA in a primary school. My teacher is a new supply teacher to the school and is also newly qualified. He made a karate noise and then the class started laughing and someone shouted oh you werent here Mrs........ they then all began shouting and laughing and saying Mr ........ almost kicked this certain pupil in the head by doing a karate kick. I said what's that I don't understand. The teacher then said class what have I told you about telling tales and sheepishly laughing. Then he said you say someone did this and don't name names.
I later asked the boy who it happened to and he said yea it was so funny apparently I bent down and Mr...... almost kicked me in the head and said come on (pupils name).
This pupil it happened to seems to be one that this teacher singles out alot. He had previously called this child annoying to his face in front of the class. Always picks him out to tuck his polo in. Picks him out to answer questions and says oh I better do this otherwise (pupil name) would say something to me.
I don't know if he thinks it's just banter but I just feel weird about it. What do others think?

If you have a concern about any member of staff you need to go to the designated person, usually the head and let them know. The fact that you are worrying about it shows you need to report it. It may well be classed as a low level concern but if they build up it would be concerning. Just like you report concerns about pupils that build a picture for the safeguarding leads, it's the same with concerns about members of staff. I suggest you go speak with your head first thing Monday morning.

I agree with @SaltaKatten .

I later asked the boy who it happened to and he said yea it was so funny
It sounds as though he has a great rapport with his class.You sound a little old school and maybe a little jealous??

Trust your gut. It may be all be perfectly innocent - but that’s not your call to make. Talk to your DSL and let them decide what to do.

I can honestly say im not jealous and I haven't felt this emotion at all. I've just felt a weirdness about it.

Do you feel he is unfairly targetting this child ?

Or that the karate kick is inappropriate?

Or both, what would your concern be?

is he young?

I find it more concerning you are sharing this across different social media platforms instead of using the appropriate channels at your school to report concerns. You should have done training in this and know exactly what you should do 🙄

Don't know why you felt the need to post that. I can ask for advice in more than one place

Yes unfairly targeting the pupil. It's very clear he targets him.

Also the we don't tell tales thing I'm not sure on

So a pupil bent down and the teacher almost kicked his head, by accident.

A class in-joke has sprung up about this and everyone sees it as good fun.

The 'don't tell anyone' thing is an obvious joke. Like when I make a mistake and say 'don't tell the head, she'd sack me.' It's not 'encouraging secrets' when it is something everybody knows about and a very obvious joke.

I don't know about the other stuff - asking kids to answer questions or telling them to tuck their shirt in is all fairly normal stuff.

The 'annoying' comment - depends how it was said and the context. You can have those sorts of jokes if you've built good relationships and everyone knows it's a joke.

I guess you could talk to your DSL but what exactly is the concern? I wouldn't be damaging my professional working relationships over any of the things you've described.

The training didn't really focus on staff. I just want advice because I don't want to be viewed as causing drama

Not at all. They were given advice on a forum full of school staff and now they have posted their very odd interaction on another site. 🤷‍♀️

As a TA you should know what to do about this and many PP have pointed you in the right direction

I'm new to this job so actually I don't know. Why am I being attacked for asking for advice on something I'm unsure of. Surely this is the point of posting? To seek advice

Teacher and dsl here. You have a duty to report anything you are uneasy about to your head teacher. Sometimes just a feeling can be off but sometimes it can be right. Protecting a child is everyone's responsibility.

Because safeguarding training is mandatory for all staff employed in a school and it will have covered how to report concerns about members of staff, it is mandatory content for a mandatory course that you cannot possibly work in a school unless you have completed, even if you are supply or new or untrained you have to complete this training before you start working in a school with children.
HTH.

Yes it went over how to report those concerns but not what concerns you should report really. I just don't want to be seen making a drama out of something if the SLT think it's nothing

Talk to your line manager.

Have you been keeping a note (incl. date) of these incidents?

Go with your gut and talk to your manager. An adult telling children not to talk about something that happened is a red flag. The teacher targeting a pupil is also an issue.

I’d take the weekend to note down what you can remember has happened and then speak with someone come Monday

Ideally, Op. you should have reported this to the Safeguard lead before leaving school today. Obviously, you need to get in slightly early on Mon to report first thing . Then, you know you've done right thing and the lead can investigate.

Follow your safeguarding training protocol. If you have any doubts over any behaviours you need to inform your line manager or safeguarding lead who will then deal with it. This might form part of a larger picture. They might already be monitoring this teacher’s behaviour. There may be future complaints.

Also, you are not making a drama out of nothing. Very often it is the snippets of information that build a picture. Things that seem almost trivial when considered in isolation.

You will be doing this teacher a favour. He will hopefully get the guidance and training that he needs.

Or, you might save a child from being harmed…