Teachers, teaching assistants, pastoral, etc, school work colleagues

[ton181]

AIBU for being a little peeved.............

I started work at a school about 6 months ago, on the school site support team (care taker / handy person type role).

I walk round everyday and say hi etc. to every adult that works there, and around only 5% acknowledge me; the rest totally blank me. Thats teachers, teaching assistants, pastoral, etc. After I have walked past them and they have ignored me, I can hear them say hi to a teacher behind me. For clarity, the office and kitchen staff do say hi.

I just think thats so rude; do they think they are better than me and my long standing colleagues, as they ignore them too???? My previous job titles have included Operations Manager and Office Manager. I'm in my latter years and wanted to get out of the office and have a more active role, hence this current job. (Alzheimers scares me, and being more active is supposed to be a good thing).

So, AIBU for being a little peeved.............

Yanbu
This is really fucking rude
Our site team are so valued and come on nights out/ are bought birthday presents etc
Chatting is bare minimum!

YADNBU
They are being cunts.
I’m friendly and chatty to everyone in school.

Bit rude. Still, you’ll know who to prioritise when people need a display board straightening/new shelves put up in the library/ that weird low level smell of drains haunting the corridor outside Class 2……
Have you been introduced to the staff, either in person, or via the Newsletter?

I once had a cleaning job and one man would look the other way rather than say hello. It's rude and snobbish.

Wow that's awful. That's nothing like the school I work in, everyone is super friendly.

How rude of them. I'm a teacher and the caretakers here are fab. I'm forever taking them biscuits as a thanks for the stuff they've done for me. (Fixed my blinds, sorted my radiator, etc)

I suspect some people are just ignorant. You are in a horrible school by the sound of it. Most of them aren't like this.

YANBU. As a teacher I always kept on friendly terms with the Caretaker and Cleaning Staff and they would often tell me about the teachers who treated them like shit. The school wouldn't function without site staff.

No they sound rude. I am a teacher and say hi to everyone as do my colleagues.

I have never worked in a school like that! I always say hi to anyone I pass and so does everyone else.

Oh my goodness. We love our site staff so much! I can't imagine anyone doing that! Site staff are in huge demand in our area I would look for somewhere you are valued more.

YANBU, do they not realise the caretaker is the number one person to keep on the good side of ?! (Along with the cleaners, the canteen staff and the cover manager )

YANBU! They are being so rude.
I worked in primary schools for 22 years. I was on good terms with the caretaker, office team, cleaners, classroom, kitchen and playground assistants. The only difficult members of staff in one school were the head and the deputy head. 😩

I always used to have a good chat with the cleaner and caretaking staff at the end of the day.
During the day though often I'd be a bit oblivious and thinking of other things.

There is a hierarchical feel in lots of schools though particularly between TAs and teachers so imagine it's the same with other support staff, it can be between departments too with say science and maths being chummy but not with English, particularly in schools where departments don't mix much.

Appallingly rude and there’s absolutely no excuse for it!! This gives me so much rage. What example are these teachers setting, behaving so rudely?

I always greet the support staff at my school, smile and thank them/wish them a good day etc. I’m a teacher btw!

Manners cost nothing.

Hi Saucery, yes I was introduced to them during their staff briefing and in their newsletter, I have also attended the numerous staff briefings every week since then. They know who I am, I've helped several with issues they have raised e.g. shelves, notice boards, radiators etc. etc. etc. the list goes on.

Thanks for all the supportive comments : )

Hi InsolentNoise, this really made me LOL

Yeah very rude. Everyone is included where I work.

In my experience all staff members acknowledge each other - it’s actively encouraged as it demonstrates to the children good basic social skills.

shame then into it by always giving a big breezy hello whenever you walk past them.

Hi Singleandproud, thank you for taking the time to respond. I did think this, and in reality, it could be the case in some instances - During the day though often I'd be a bit oblivious and thinking of other things.

Definitely not! At our primary school we had ‘John the Jannie’ who retired after working there for 40 years (when you still got accommodation with the job!) and was universally loved by the children. His successor was less gregarious, but unfailingly polite and helpful to parents and teachers, and he became a confidant to some of the quieter kids in the school who would come and chat at his office window at break times if the playground was too noisy. Both fantastic guys and valued members of staff - as demonstrated by the support all janitors/cleaners/dinnerladies got when the LA tried to screw them over when trying to change their contracts!

I've worked in support roles in schools, most staff were friendly and a few were not. So rude and unnecessary. Like you I'm polite and friendly to everyone regardless of their job.
Just remember it says nothing about you and tells you everything you need to know about them!

That is horribly rude, disappointing behaviour and has not happened in the schools I’ve worked in snd wouldn’t be tolerated by any of the heads I’ve worked for. I’m sorry to hear that it’s happening and would advise working in a school where a more respectful ethos exists. Your skills are greatly in demand so this shouldn’t be too hard. As others have said, it also sets a terrible example to the students.

My main classroom is opposite the site staff office. We always say hello and have a chat. School wouldn't run without them.I used to say 'hello' to all staff members but some would just ignore me 🤷‍♀️

I always used to have a good chat with the cleaner and caretaking staff at the end of the day.
During the day though often I'd be a bit oblivious and thinking of other things.

I was about to reply saying 'That's awful, how rude!' but actually I'm the same. I chat lots with site staff and cleaners at the end of the datly, partly because I'm often the last teacher in the building. I would never ignore a hello though, however busy I am during the day!

I always acknowledge our site and cleaning staff. I email to say thank you for clearing snow in the car park, and they repainted all the staff toilets over Easter - look a lot better - so I made a point of saying thank you for that too. But yes the hierarchy is amazing - I am fairly new to the education sector and am not very keen. I have been at my current school nearly 5 years and some teaching staff still call me Miss - because they cant be arsed to learn my name. There are only 2 Data Managers and we look nothing alike so it is not difficult to know who we are.