I don't want to be a teacher but

[Greenshoots1]

The pressure to return was huge.

10 or 12 emails every day, offering work in "outstanding" schools

Every job search I did coming back with hundreds of vacancies in education.

I left because it was slave labour. I took other, lower paid jobs ( which ended up as more per hour than teaching, and gave me a far better work life balance)

I have retrained in my own time, with my own money and am looking forward to an new career, and have big plans for the rest of my life!

But I am teaching again. I was promised good money ( it is) in an excellent local school ( it is, both excellent and local) with well behaved children ( they generally are) and a caring management team ( they are too)

The work load is horrendous. I spend more time doing something or other with meaningless, pointless statistics than i do teaching my lovely, well behaved, local students.

I don't see enough of my family.

I am in the school more than 13 hours a day in term time, and bringing work home. I have been in 3 full days so far this holiday, and need to do at least 2 more...

I am personally paying hundreds of pounds for resources, as are other staff.

it is wiping out my life.

I am in a department of 10, 2 of whom resigned at Christmas, 2 of who have resigned with affect from Easter, and 2 of whom intend to leave in summer.

I am just mentioning this, because I am close to the end of my tether.

If anyone of you parents complain that your child is being punished unfairly because you have believed them over the truth,

If any one complains that I have not differentiated enough for their child.

If any one of you complain that I have not marked the homework quickly enough, or my lessons are not interesting enough, or that I have only been on school trips two weekends instead of the expected four, or that I have not returned your email or phone call quickly enough, or that I was not tip toeing around your child with the proper deference and respect in some way...

then I'm out of here. I don't need this job.

I am just bringing this up, because of the number of parents I hear complaining that their child doesn't have a permanent teacher in one subject or another, are coping with constantly changing supply teachers, or the school can't get a subject specialist

when actually the previous permanent subject specialist has left BECAUSE of that child's behaviour, or that parents ridiculous complaint.

We are a rare commodity. If your child is being taught by permanent subject specialists, it would help a lot if you taught your child to be respectful and appreciative.

( help your child - I mean. Not me, it doesn't make any difference to me - I can take the job or leave it, and if people are unpleasant to me, I will leave it - as several of my colleagues have just done)

Oldbirdy, differentiation is not a problem. It's something most teachers manage without needing to put a lot of extra work in.

What a lot of parents don't realise about differentiation is that it doesn't mean a completely separate work program for each student. For example, we might be working on addition to two digits. Student A has demonstrated this skill. So A's parent thinks that we should be teaching him long division at that time instead. No, we'll be extending A within the topic of addition, not teaching him a completely separate topic, because that would be impractical.

Or the parent that decides that since B has rote learnt their times tables, that we should be teaching algebra. No, B will be demonstrating how they can apply their times tables to different tasks, because rote learning means squat if you can't apply it to real life situations.

Differentiation is not hard. If, for example, I'm planning writing, I know that C, D and E need to storyboard their writing, so I'll have one printed out and ready for each of them. I know that F has autism and will only write on topics that have enough interest for him, so I'll have a couple of options for him. I know that G and H are working above, so I may have some extension activities prepared for them. It doesn't take up a lot of time, when the expectations are reasonable and parents understand that means they work within the curriculum area we are focussing on, not on a completely different area of work.

those children, who should have ehcp and support or be in an alternative setting

exactly, should be in an alternative setting, but it the parents refuse to consider it, and insist all their needs have to be met my a mainstream teacher whilst they are teaching a mainstream class...
( by which I mean the children with severe or profound learning difficulties, not the children with VI or other physical disabilities)

SEN department?? My primary has a sendco who is a full time class teacher aside from her normal PPA time. Every time she needs to do SENDCO things she has to take time away from her class and leave them with cover (usually HLTA). School has to fund the first £6k of support PER child with SEND so can’t possibly do this for all the children we would like to. The system is failing children with SEND - not the sendco.

And yes it’s a huge problem when parents won’t consider alternative provision.

It doesn't take up a lot of time, when the expectations are reasonable and parents understand that means they work within the curriculum area we are focusing on, not on a completely different area of work.

exactly, there is differentiation which is within the bounds of what is possible and reasonable, and there is differentiation which is outside those bounds.

Hugepeppa I was referring to secondary sen depts, as the majority of teachers including the op were secondary based. I work in sen in both primary and secondary and am aware that most primaries rely on a single senco with little time to carry out the role.

I completely agree that the system is at fault, not the senco (or the children or the parents). Which means we all agree that teachers should expect to differentiate and parents should be entitled to expect it, and not worry that if they ask for differentiated work they are going to cause their child's teacher to resign, which is what was said (if not meant) in the original post.

Genuine curious question - I know that teachers have been unfairly managed out of schools through ridiculous performance management approaches, sometimes to get rid of expensive experienced staff to replace with cheaper staff - is that still happening with the chronic teacher shortages? Surely heads are under more pressure to keep their staff now?

I am with you on a lot of the things you say but parents are entitled to want their children taught by subject specialists and while moaning parents are one of the reasons teachers are under pressure from what you say, the long hours and admin and targets are bigger reasons.

When I started over 20 years ago (in primary) there was so much more support for SEN children. S&L therapists would be in weekly to work with children and would also be available to advise and support TAs and teachers. OTs were in regularly to give support. Children with an autism diagnosis would have full time support, we would have regular input from the autism team (1-2 visits per half term) as well as S&L and OT support if necessary. Support staff had access to training and advice at the LEA.
I can't remember any specialist teachers coming in to work with children in my last 5 years in the classroom. Sometimes people come and observe for half an hour and send lists of recommendations but don't come in to work with the children.
In my old school there are 4 children in Reception with a diagnosis of autism, yet none is entitled to 1:1 support.
We had lots of interventions in place to support children but these were carried out by TAs with no teaching qualifications, many of these TAs were very good, but the children with the greatest need were being supported by the least qualified, however I often felt all that mattered was that you could list all the things that were in place, the actual quality wasn't important!

‘parents are entitled to want their children taught by subject specialists‘

I guffawed at this. It is becoming increasingly uncommon. Since I have joined my school , I have taught 3 different exam subjects, completely unconnected, by the way. In my previous school I taught 3 as well, over the years. I was qualified in just one. Media teachers are teaching English, Anthropology graduates are teaching science, Teaching Assistants are teaching a whole range of subjects ... there is a shortage of Maths and Science graduates, especially Physics - the government is burying its head in the sand. Retention is the issue; teachers are starting the course, working for two years and quitting for good. The abuse from students is a huge reason as well. Who’d choose to stand in front of 15 year olds who hate you, your subject and school in general? And I’m a tiny lady; I can’t break up fights and so on.

As hugepeppapigfan says in my primary I'm the SEN department. I teach full time and usually do SEN paperwork in my PPA time which is a nightmare because often services I want to contact have no one working that day as their hours have been cut. My amazing magical Notional SEN budget, from which I'm meant to provide the first £6k cost of support, is a massive £15213 this year for the whole school! I can end up spending all of it and more on one child.
In my own class I have three children identified with ASD another with Attachment disorder and another with VI. Then of course there are the children who haven't yet got a diagnosis. That's just one class. I have 2 TAs to cover the whole school and rely heavily on staff goodwill so any suggestions would be very welcome Old

@Valerrie do you mind if I ask a question?
Is it pretty standard not to be able to teach if you are a wheelchair user or do you feel your particular school was difficult about it? Sorry to add a random question on the thread...

Norest
I don't have a pat solution, as you know.

However, I do continue to assert, and I cannot believe that this is even controversial, that the solution is not to threaten that teachers will resign if you as a parent ask for differentiation for your child.

As I said in my first post, the only way to effect change is to protest. Whether that is via parents or via schools or via the voting booth. Not to see parents as "the problem". Parents are not the bloody problem here; don't blame us for wanting our children to have a suitable education.

I'm certainly not blaming parents or threatening to resign but the situation is bad and getting worse. We've balanced our budget this year and hopeful for next but only because of staff goodwill. I don't sleep worrying about how we can meet the needs of all children. I'm lucky to work for a sensible sympathetic head yet put pressure on myself because I want every child to succeed. I'd hate to be in a school with SLT who heap on unnecessary layers of bureaucracy that do nothing to improve outcomes for children and are just hoop jumping exercises designed to impress outside agencies.

Norest:

Quote from the op below

*If anyone of you parents complain that your child is being punished unfairly because you have believed them over the truth,

If any one complains that I have not differentiated enough for their child.

If any one of you complain that I have not marked the homework quickly enough, or my lessons are not interesting enough, or that I have only been on school trips two weekends instead of the expected four, or that I have not returned your email or phone call quickly enough, or that I was not tip toeing around your child with the proper deference and respect in some way...

then I'm out of here. I don't need this job.*

As I said I work in sen and know how challenging education is. My comments on this thread are entirely a response to the original post which lumped in parents wanting differentiated work with a list of other "unreasonable parental expectations" that meant that the op was on the verge of resigning and a number of her colleagues already had. My purpose throughout my contributions in this thread has only been to say that parents worried about undifferentiated work is not the same as, and should not be lumped in with, that list of "unreasonable demands". It is not unreasonable for a parent to make an appointment to discuss with the teacher if they have concerns that their child is unable to access the work. And it is potentially damaging to make parents feel worried that their child's teacher will resign if they do voice that sort of concern.

It doesn't mean that teachers and budgets aren't overstretched or at breaking point. I think the education situation, like the NHS, is untenable. But trying to make parents feel bad that their child has Sen and is therefore causing additional work isn't a sensible way forward, is it?

That's the OP not all teachers. I don't agree with the sentiment but I acknowledge the problems in our schools.
I would also say that differentiation takes many forms and doesn't always involve giving totally different work and not all disabilities require a TA to be velcroed to the child. My VI pupil needs a few simple adaptations not a TA. My pupil with ASD is extremely able and needs nothing more than somewhere calm when he becomes over stimulated not a TA hovering around him.

Norest

I know differentiation takes many forms. 20 years in sen and 2 sen children of my own :)

The OP says If any one complains that I have not differentiated enough for their child.

That does not suggest undifferentiated work or a parental request for differentiated work but a complaint that the work wasn’t differentiated enough.

Let’s be honest, work will never be differentiated enough to exactly meet the needs of all students, SEN or not. There’s no suggestion that teachers shouldn’t differentiate or that parents shouldn’t make requests.

I find the parents at my school almost all to be reasonable people. My fustrations are not at all directed at parents - especially those with children of SEND. The system is broken.

If parents are making unreasonable demands then why can't teachers just say 'No, we cant provide that...' Its not like parents get to see most teachers for more than 5 minutes once a year.

But trying to make parents feel bad that their child has Sen and is therefore causing additional work isn't a sensible way forward, is it?

I don't see anyone trying to make any parent feel bad about a child with additional needs, just about being realistic and acknowledging what can and can't be done.

"What can we do to make sure that Sally gets the most from her education?" vs "Why haven't you given my child a completely different program of work and sat with them 1-1 in all lessons?" are two completely different approaches. One gets outcomes, the other is adversarial and not a good working relationship.

What a sad thread to read as a parent. I wish it was in the stuff room, tbh, so I didn't end up reading this.

*Staff room.