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 ?

• couldn’t edit loose to lose

I know teachers who have had time off for weddings and funerals of close family members. Holidays and house moving you can decide your own date for. I am open about graduations. Really teachers just can’t take time off when they want to. They have all their leave in set weeks. It affects too many other people. You have made your call and that is up you. Long time ago but at my children’s primary school the Head would allow staff to have days off on important occasions and she would fill in. In return they had to be a member of the staff rota for reading book exchange in the summer holidays. This stopped because the teachers didn’t want to come in during their holidays.

Just imagine:
youre a magnificent teacher, dealing with educating our young, dealing with all sorts of walks of life, let it be understood all what adults have to endure in life so do children, and very often it is staff at school (support staff and teachers), who they find safe and confide in, often with either horrific or cruelly sad stories. You deal with all of this with aplomb and still deal with the utter bureaucracy of everyday and the nightmare parents who shout and swear on a daily basis.

youre invited to your best friends stag DP and it’s on a blooming school day, you know they won’t allow a mates stag party. You make a decision, one which you try to hide. Wrong, but every other profession do it all the bloody time, just your very big boss make a play on children must attend school, personally you don’t mind parents taking them to Euro Disney for a long weekend as you hear all about it even when they’ve been signed off sick by parents.

you get found out, any other person gets a slapped wrist, you get plastered all over the news. Career of a much loved and needed teacher in tatters. Fair? Hell no.

I hope the kids and parents cheer him on his day back after this.

‘You have made your call and that’s up to you’. Totally disagree. Thankfully my school doesn’t have that draconian attitude. We allow staff time off for graduations, medical appointments, taking children to university etc and in return we have a dedicated and loyal staff group. Saying You have made your call and that is up you isn’t fair.

I wish the reporters mentioned that he had MND. It seems relevant.

www.thestar.co.uk/news/school-education/south-yorkshire-teacher-with-mnd-pulled-sickie-for-pals-stag-do-8660882

Yup. I have a disabled family member who needed a new piece of mobility equipment which you need to be trained by occupational health to use safely. We waited 3 years to get the equipment and then the training fell on a random Wednesday, we were only informed the week before. My elderly parents did the training but are not strong enough to use the equipment. So after all that time waiting we now have equipment e we can’t use because I, the only able bodied person, couldn’t get an afternoon off.

I am just saying that someone is entitled to make their own decisions.

Good for your school for allowing time off.

I do know quite a few teachers and some of them think that they are the only profession who can’t take time off when they want it or who work hours over their paid time.
I was at a weekday wedding a few years ago and quite a few of the Bride’s aunts, uncles and cousins couldn’t get time off work. They were not teachers.

But he hadn't had symptoms, let alone diagnosis, until last year and the incident was in 2023. It took far too long to adjudicate on the sickie and passport issue but the MND is irellevant.

Edit for spelling

If there was a reasonable policy this would never have happened….Teachers at the very least should be able to book off unpaid leave outside of exam season and school employ supply.

Oh! So I see... 🫣

Are you aware how complicated and expensive it is to get good supply teachers? And the impact on the classes?
The no term time ban on time off is very strict but the alternative is difficult and costly.

Sometimes it's easy to get sucked in by 'clever' journalism.

And yet some schools manage to make it work 🤷‍♀️

i’ve had some events where if they’d refused leave I’d have left (my sisters wedding, for example) - I got my request in early enough that I could have resigned in time if necessary. There aren’t enough teachers so nowadays I’d walk in to another job no issue. Meanwhile the school I was leaving might well need to use an expensive supply teacher - for weeks/months/terms, not just a single day. I know what I’d rather, as a school leader and as a parent! It’s basically no different to a teacher having a single sick day except you’ve been prewarned so can book someone and have planning ready.

especially if you don't read the article! 😞😬

He’s a total plonker but in the grand scheme of things I’m not really sure why it’s newsworthy. The lie he told wasn’t the worst lie ever, doesn’t sound like anyone was hurt by it. I guess he’s hurt now through sheer embarrassment. But apart from that, meh.

Bet he's got no regrets, especially now he's sadly ill.

I left teaching because of the lack of flexibility, I put up with it in the early 2000s when pay went further in real terms. Now it's an underpaid job with inflexible working conditions and declining behaviour. When you leave you think I must have been absolutely bonkers to put up that! I am now paid leas but with a much better work life balance.

I am. I really am. But it’s more costly to lose good teachers.

One important detail missing from this is that Joe has Motor Neurone Disease, and over £25k was recently raised in just a day to support him and his family.

This included many donations from parents of the pupils he taught. That level of support gives a very different perspective on how he’s regarded by those that actually know him!

For anybody who wants to know more about Joe’s fight and support him, his fundraiser can be found here:

I know Joe, hes a fantastic teacher. Everyone has really rallied around him in support during his diagnosis of MND. This is the last thing he needs to read while facing a terminal illness, while providing memories for his young child while he still can.

The school in question suffered a loss when he left, so did his students.

But a good teacher doesn’t lie and throw a sickie with no notice to attend a Stag Do and try to cover up with illegal document damage.

Good teachers would ask months in advance to attend life events like weddings, graduations, etc, for which they would know the dates of in advance. They would also have a plan to provide work for any stand in to deliver.With pre-planning the school may not even need to use supply.

I have said, the rules for term time leave are, in my view, stringent but there are ways of dealing with pre-planned events and emergencies. A Stag Do is not an emergency.

He may have been the best teacher in the world but he lied to go to a trivial event and then performed an illegal act to try to cover up.

All before his MND diagnosis.

I have sympathy for his current medical problems and have said the investigation and adjudication of his misdemeanours took too long but he still lied and broke the law.

No but the poor guy is going through something unimaginably difficult, so why do the news outlets feel the need to report this... Along with his name and photo...when it's something not even newsworthy.

It's disgusting of them in my opinion

I have already said, I have sympathy for his medical situation but he, a teacher, lied for a trivial reason and then broke the law.

The length of time it has taken to come to the public/media attention is unfortunate but it is newsworthy.

He has motor neurone disease according to some more recent reports. Puts a different spin on it IMO.

This. And I am not a teacher. It seems like some heads are just bullies and like to treat their colleagues as pupils.

It certainly isn’t newsworthy and how is it in the public interest as opposed to in the interest of the public. No wonder I don’t read newspapers any more. Most of them are just scandal mongerers. And I’m fed up with them trying to manipulate people’s emotions by making us angry all of the time.

I am registered with the health profession council that includes physios, paramedics and many other registered professionals. If you look on the website there are people "struck off" all the time. It's so commonplace and I assume it is similar for teaching professionals, doctors, etc.

None of these make it in to the news
..and some of the reasons they get taken to the hearings are FAR more shocking than this. There would be hundreds of news stories published every single day!!

The info is widely available for anyone to see as every outcome is published online.

It's not newsworthy. And it must be distressing for this man's family who are already going through a lot.