teacher off for more than a week - should we be told?

[fruitloop84]

My ds is in reception and loves it but his teacher has twice been off for more than a week (plus odd days here and there) which unsettles him. I don't doubt she has genuine reasons and I'm not asking for the school to say anything about the reason but is it fair to want to be told that they have a supply teacher for a week or however long? Am I being pfb?

Yes you are. Would you want your clients/ customers or whoever to know personal details about you and your health? I know you're not asking for specifics, but even to be told 'teacher will be off for x number of days' will start tongues wagging. 'She must be pregnant/ having a miscarriage/ anxiety/ depression/ blah blah blah'.

Why? What difference will it make to you?
And maybe the school don't know in advance how long the teacher will be off for?
I'm currently off school, but I'm not sure when I will be able to return, so I let them know on a daily basis. At the moment, I'm hoping to go back Thursday, but if I can't, I won't. It'd be unreasonable to expect the Head to dash off notes on a daily basis giving updates.
However, last year, when I broke my leg, a letter went out saying I'd be off for quite some time and detailing the arrangements for cover that had been made.

Our school would definitely say if longer than a week, but not less than that. They wouldn't give reasons for it obviously unless the teacher was happy They would also tell us what the replacement situation was. It's not as if the teacher or school can hide the fact that they are off.

ok fair enough I'm not asking for notes home or anything, just a sign on the door saying the supply teachers name would be good though, given we are not supposed to go inside. Communication is generally not good anyway, one of the reasons was me ruined in ofsted report they r in special measures.

2 weeks into Reception my sons teacher vanished!!
She was off for over 2weeks. I did hear through the grapevine that she had appendicitis and had to have it removed but we weren't officially told anything or when she would be back.
It doesn't seem to have bothered my don but not much does! Not sure if it affected any other children

Nothing to stop you popping in to introduce your self to the supply teacher. You may even gleen some information as to how long they have been asked to work for. Open door policy in school?

School are difficult places to run, the head teacher will have a million and one things far more important on their plate than worrying about letting parents know a teacher is off a couple of days. Though thy do try their very best.

As parents we are entitled to have our children educated to a good standard above that there is no "entitlement".

That being said we did move our son from his first primary school due to a very unsettled period during yr2. His teacher was off numerous times, once for over three months. The real problem was the school failed to employ good quality supply and provide continuity. We got through a difficult year only to be told his teacher was moving up a year to stay with them. With that news we decided to cut our losses and not take anymore chances.
Luckily we had another very good school within our locality. Very hard decision made worse by the fact my wife is high up in a school shall we say in the same LEA.