AIBU to think the teacher sickie story is not newsworthy?

[Imdefonotmaddona]

A teacher pulled a “ sickie “ to attend a stag do.

so he told them he was vomiting but instead went to Portugal for a stag do.
but despite lying was not banned from teaching.

this has been on on social media and news like BBC.

I get he did wrong but am I the only one a bit confused why it’s news worthy 🤣

I feel a little sorry for him. I understand he done wrong but surely this it not the level of misconduct that needs to his face splashed over the news ?

I agree! Is he the only one that ever called sick to go on holidays? Come on! I’ve done it more than once and most of my colleagues have done it too. Now most of the companies have introduced “wellness and mental health” days that most people use for an extra day of holidays. It’s a bit sad that in schools they don’t allow them to get time off easily.

Slap on the wrist, dock his pay for the days taken. Stern warning. I mean he won’t be the first or last person in the country to play hooky. Not really news worthy 🙄

The real villains in this story are the nasty colleague who decided to grass him up- what a horrible, sad individual and also, those who decided to pursue this in this manner given his MND diagnosis. It is highlighting the inflexibility in schools and actually much of the rhetoric I’ve seen around this has been massively in favour of the teacher and what an overreaction this is.

Poor guy. Bet the 'anonymous staff member' was popping when they saw the facebook pics. Couldn't wait to spill the beans.

He was silly not to just own up in the first place though, likely that would have taken the wind out of the investigation rather than fuelling it. If a nosey bugger sees a social media post, best to own up, otherwise you know that's going to give the story legs.

Yes he has MND now, which is a really sorry end to the tale. Hope he has a lot of support and doesn't give this any headspace.

Man pulls sickie is not a story.

School in ridiculous draconian overreach possibly is. The SLT members who decided to refer this to the regulatory body need to have a think.

Hope he had a fantastic time. I think it is ridiculous what a fuss has been made about this

The system in the UK does seem extraordinarily inflexible. In Canada where I live teachers can book a day off for personal reasons same as an employee in any other sector. I think they are kind of expected to find a substitute for the day, but these seem to be readily available. My daughter's teacher was out for an afternoon recently because he was buying a house and needed to sign the paperwork. Surely giving some flexibility like this makes for happier employees.

I read that as well-so he is not teaching and probably won’t be again.

I hope he bloody enjoyed the few days away while he could.

I think teachers should be able to take a few days of annual leave where necessary. I was a teacher (I’ve since left because it had turned into a bloody horrible job) and a bit of give and take would go a long way in supporting the dreadful retention issues in teaching. Even if was unpaid!

I don’t know anyone who thinks this. Mainly because teachers talk about it all the bloody time!

What's most unreasonable here is that teachers can't ever take leave during term time! I couldn't cope with that so I sympathise with them.

Yes but you did get to spend the summer holidays with your children.

Someone must have an axe to grind with him, but I think tearing pages from his passport made this a stand out story

Most teachers can get time off for important occasions. It is just they don’t want to loose pay. I just don’t think a stag do is that important.
He was very silly to let himself be photographed.

Yes, I read that too.
I would hate to be a teacher in this day and age.

Agree. There are too many column inches and news hours to cover these days. No one hurt, no real sanction, not banned. Not in the slightest bit newsworthy.

I know teachers who have been refused unpaid leave for funerals, weddings, moving house, child’s graduation and holidays.

All things that other jobs can take leave for.

I know people will say, ‘if you don’t like it, just leave’, and I just have. It’s great being able to take annual leave for things I want to do.

We do want to keep good teachers though and they should be able to have a life with options to take leave for important events.

Nrtft but there are reports of a Headteacher on the IoW who moved INSET days around so she could go on a cruise. Amongst other things. That is worse imho.

I completely agree. I lied to an old HT when my good friend had died. I said he was my cousin as I knew I'd never be allowed the day off for a friend's funeral. My request for a cousin's funeral was denied. Myself and friend were both in our early 20s at the time.

It's news worthy unfortunately because teacher bashing is popular amongst the press/media.

I agree with you OP.

Yanbu - should never have been near the media

Some schools will allow time off for this sort of thing. I have had time off granted (paid) for 3 weddings (both siblings and a friend) in 3 different schools. Another school let me have a day to compete is a prestigious sports event.

When my daughter needed major surgery I had a week off (I sent all planning) paid. I went back the day after she was discharged. My husbands job said ‘take as long as you need’ so he had a few days off afterwards to decompress.

I’ve been to funerals too but always unpaid (close family would have been paid I think).

Once my flight back from a weekend away was cancelled and I couldn’t come in on the Monday and they docked my pay for that too (despite the fact I contacted them on the Sunday evening and sent full plans in and had to do all the marking from that day when I returned.) Goodwill goes both ways. So I decided not to bother running a club the following year, so the students lost out.

There are good schools out there who do allow flexibility for family events etc. But there are plenty more who don’t and I’d imagine these days they’ll struggle to retain staff.

@Imdefonotmaddona where does it say he has been banned from teaching?

The only non paywall link I’ve seen is the Beeb where it says a ban would not be proportionate:

"A Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) panel ruled in April that a prohibition order, which would see Wilson banned from teaching, was not proportionate, but made its findings into his conduct public earlier."

So not banned because it would be deemed excessive.

Defacing a passport is also an offence - criminal from memory but others may know better.

So on the face of it, he cheated his employer to go on a drinking weekend, defaced a government document to lie about it and was stupid enough to post on Facebook about it.

Of course he was sacked, he wasn’t banned according to the Beeb. His medical condition is not relevant unless his is suggesting it affects his judgement and ability to be honest.

It's bad enough that you might be recorded for anything you say. It must be tough being a teacher.

I think the restrictions on allowing teachers to have term time off are too stringent and I have great regard for most teachers so I'm not teacher bashing.

However, lying to go on a stag do and then trying to cover up by illegally mutilating a government document is worse. Dodgy morals for a teacher.

The MND is nothing to do with the issue but it's a shame the case wasn't dealt with sooner.

Agree. It's absolutely pathetic and rather mean to embarrass him.

Having said that, I wouldn't want someone this dim teaching my children. Posting photos on fb, really?