Have state school teachers faced redundancy for not working during lockdown?

[notevenat20]

I recently read

I think those of us who work in the private sector understand we are going to have to work during periods of self isolation whilst juggling family. It was the same during lockdown. We want to keep our jobs so we will have to provide the service.

This got me wondering, is this a pressure state school teachers feel too?

Certainly at DC’s school no educational provision was given for almost all of lockdown (there were 6 key worker children in the school, out of 420).

I didn't say there were bad

You said there were good and bad people in every profession at the end of a post detailing how some teachers at your kids’ school were sacked/let go for doing online tutoring during school hours. Was that not what made them ‘bad people’?

Of course the head teacher did that. Of course he did.

What do you mean by paid in full when not working?

@notevenat20

But notevenat20 most of your posts, and not just on this thread are criticising schools/teachers.

It is true that I don't post about the happy things in life much.

It is also true that the dismal support DC's school have given us over lockdown while I was trying to work combined with the astonishingly self righteous posts here from a minority of teachers have upset me. I just don't get why these teachers don't see that everyone in the country has been suffering. That millions of people have been trying to hold down a job while looking after children at home. That millions have lost their jobs or had their pay cut. That schools being shut damages women's lives potentially irreparably. I will stop there.

You do realise that a ton of teachers are also parents ? You do realise that we were also trying to home school or children while also working? You do realise that your constant criticism of the majority of teachers is disgraceful?

I will say it again- if I had a bad experience regarding the NHS, it would not cross my mind to keep posting about how shit nurses and doctors are.

I can guarantee that this never happened.

That's great. Can you find shergar too?

Trying to get to the bottom of what you meant, it is apparent that you think teachers only work on site in school hours.

You cannot conceive that a teacher who goes out for a bike ride may be sharing childcare so that his working partner can do their job for a while and that he might work flat out in the evenings.

I presume you wanted your DCs in school full time during your working hours ( which seem to include time at the park?) because you resent the in school provision afforded to the children of keyworkers to enable them (often women) to continue working in essential jobs.

I would also question what you mean exactly by educational provision. You could have just gone out on to the street and berated the head.

@noblegiraffe apologies, I dint intend to make that direct link.

I was trying to say that some teachers are good, others less so- for lots of reasons, just like in and profession including my own.

Private tutoring IMO has no bearing on whether a teacher is not a good one- unless providing that service means that less time or energy can be given to that teachers regular students.

It makes sense to me, and I apologise if I didn't make it clear.

The science teacher who I mentioned was my DC's science teacher. He set almost no work during lockdown and when we asked for feedback we were told that he was not able to provide this as he was prioritising Y11 students. That kind of made sense at the time, although I did raise the lack of work with the SLT as we been told to expect approx 4 hours of online learning a week. I gave up in the end, hence the tutor.... Turns out he didn't provide work for Y11 either but he did provide lots of private tutoring via an agency.

I realise that none of this would have happened if the SLT had been more effective. If I could move DC's school o would, but the nearest school with a space is 15 miles away, and has its own problem issues as far as I can gather.

[quote Ffsffsffsffsffs]**@SmileEachDay* Why do you think I do my job?*

Top pay, early finishes and long holidays innit [/quote]
Don't forget that you don't have to work at weekends 😂

Maybe I meant Lord Lucan :)

I don’t know why teachers are wasting their time
And justifying everything they did during lockdown and now.

Yes I worked less during lockdown, yes I got paid full, yes my job is secure.

I very rarely engage with goady comments like this. Agree with all said re teachers not homogenous group and always a mix of people in any job. You have an slt issue (and perhaps not even that...) and if you are unhappy you should move your children.
That said, as a state secondary teacher (and mother...a cross over example?!) I worked so so hard through lock down both for my students and my own children. It wasn’t easy. I’m not under the impression that everyone else had easy times however teachers seem to take a massive amount of bashing for doing their role (like everyone, in unprecedented times).
Also you seem to be under the impression that we decided on the school closures. It. Was. A. Pandemic.

You do realise that your constant criticism of the majority of teachers is disgraceful?

I am not sure it is the majority. It would be very interesting to see an analysis of school teaching during the lockdown.

I realise that none of this would have happened if the SLT had been more effective.

Ok, this is a case of a teacher not doing what was asked by SLT and then being let go because of it. Which is what should happen.

There was unfortunately not much that could be done during lockdown about it, it’s highly unlikely that a school could manage to sack a teacher on competency grounds while everyone was at home - competency proceedings take time, meetings, observations etc. If his contract ended in the summer then really the only practical thing to do was let it run out. Hiring a replacement would also be a bit of a non-starter.

@notevenat20, your last two posts suggest you posted this vitriolic, teacher bashing thread without even understanding your own motive in doing so. Perhaps you just need to slink away now.

These surveys literally exist.

However, even informal ones in here seem to suggest the majority of teachers worked pretty hard throughout lockdown. There is no justifiable reason why we should have worked harder. And no real shame in working slightly fewer hours seeing as English teachers already work the longest hours in Europe.

You then don't believe us.

You are right rainbow but it is hard to sit back and allow such myths and half truths and hyperbole to go unchallenged.

Can only comment on DS’s school.

Work provided and marked.
Regular calls to see how he was coping (he’s autistic)
Zoom meetings so the class could see each other

Got to know his teacher quite well who confided in me how anxious she was about her Y11 DD and exams.

The only teacher I know who did minimal work was my niece but that’s because she was on Mat leave for most of lockdown.

I think really most of my criticism is for heads and slts who did decide what to provide during lockdown. The self righteousness and exceptionalism of some teachers on MN did make it look like it was their fault ;)

Why is telling someone who is clearly ill-informed that they are, indeed, ill-informed, self-righteous? What do you mean by exceptionalism? Do you know?

Please stop winking at us. It makes no sense.

And if it's not the majority (despite your OP suggesting state teachers are one lumpen mass) what exactly is you point??

@noblegiraffe yes that's what seemed to happen. Parents were sent letters detailing approximately the amount of work in terms of time that each subject would be providing.

In science for example this really wasn't happening at all. I (and other parents) contacted the science teacher, to be told he was doing all he could, that the work was plenty and that he was prioritising Y11.

I knew that I her science teachers in ten same year were providing work so it was quite frustrating.

Then other parents realised he was providing private tutoring for the same children who he was failing to teach through school.

A similar thing happened with a maths teacher.

These teachers iMO were not doing right by their pupils. Other teachers woke have been doing a great job- because all teachers are different.

I am sorry but I genuinely don't believe your school provided no education during lockdown.

I also don't believe you would have passively let it lie.

Hey OP,

I'm a state school teacher and worked my arse off over lockdown. I am now at home isolating because I have Coronavirus and I'm still working. My symptoms are mild so far so I'm in constant contact with my secondary pupils. That good enough for you or do you want me to develop breathing difficulties and still work just to negate the few teachers you seem to know who didn't di enough work in your eyes?

I know a number of teachers - some were working but some were not really doing much at all. One of my teacher friends was bullied for doing her share at the key worker hubs by others who didn’t want to bother. As far as I’m aware, they’re all back now but it’s definitely the case from the teachers I know that absenteeism and poor attitude is not at all dealt with with any rigour In state schools (certainly not how it is in thE private sector). There’s definitely some teachers taking the proverbial and not much done about them. Not all of course but a significant minority.

@Chaotic45 the teacher you mention, who was not providing work but offering private tuition was way out of order and should face disciplinary action if the situation really was as you say it was. He is in no way representative of the teaching profession however.