teacher off sick AGAIN

[HeisInfuriating]

Advice please
DD new teacher this year is off sick all week.
This follows a three year pattern of her returning every Sept and then going off sick by half term. Doesn't return at all until following Sept.

Teacher has been moved year group from 6 to 4 this year so I wasn't expecting to suffer this.

In previous years a permanent supply is eventually sought.

What sickness benefits do teachers have? How can this be still happening?

I'm thinking more along the lines of when will the head act and source something permanent?

I found this post very sad.
From a parent's point of view, I can understand the frustration of parents.
But "teacher" is only human. They get ill. They might want to work, but cannot due to illness. If she came back many times before, the school must have good reason to keep her employed.

I have a child with lifelong illness, but he doesn't look ill from outside.
Actually, he looks like he is full of life most of the time.

I can't do anything about it when he ends up ill after little cold and spend a week in hospital.

The teacher keep coming back to work make me think that she must love the job. Or she have to work for some reason even giving up might be the easier option.

It's not her fault, if the school is unsatisfactory regard teaching cover, It's school that I think is responsible.

It's a very convenient pattern of illness.

In most private companies she would have been sacked by now, or got back to work because she didn't have the sick pay.

I would write to the chair of governors expressing concerns.

"What sickness benefits do teachers have? How can this be still happening?"

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying here. Is it that you don't think she should be entitled to sickness benefits like other employees?

It is the Head Teacher's responsibility to ensure that there is adequate cover for the class, not the teacher's fault for being ill.

Then the fact that she won't be getting sick pay and isn't returning to work suggests she isn't able Hermione

Whothefuck that isn't correct - NHS sick pay is based on your number of absences over the 12 months immediately preceding the day you go off sick, so if you had the full 12 months off sick it would basically take a year of perfect service to qualify for the full amount again. Still very lucky compared to many jobs, obviously, but not quite as cushy as you'd assumed!

What is wrong with the teacher doesn't matter.

What matters is why the school can't find a good sub.

^this.

As someone who's related to a Teacher who had a long-ish spell of being off sick, I know she'd have been so upset at the idea of parents second guessing why she wasn't at work.

It's the pattern that is concerning. This is the fourth year running she's gone sick before half term. She has not returned to teach the rest of the academic year on all previous occasions.

It bothers me because of the lack of planning I mentioned.
It bothers me because the head made a song and dance that she'd had corrective surgery now. Whooppee, brilliant, clearly she's had a rough ride.
It bothers me because DC is on 4th supply teacher this week.
It bothers me that there isn't a precedent illness which would have more planning in place for a suitable supply rather than an ongoing parade of supply.
And yes it bothers me because I'm a professional and I would have got the sack in the first year (managed out of the business) for this loudly discussed in school and in newsletters 'illness'.

Thanks for the suggestions to write to BoG. I will write to head and cc them.
I just don't know quite what is and isn't reasonable for me to say.

really pisses me of this sort of thing.
I have 2 jobs, both doing the same thing, one in the private sector, one in the public.
My public sector colleagues take LOADS of sick time , and get Paid anyway.
Private sector get minimal sick pay and are a whole lot healthier

I have 3 dc two of which are grown ups now.
They attended several schools and in both Primary and secondary they both had teachers like this who were covered by different supply teachers for the rest of the year. They also had teachers on ml particularly in secondary including GCSE where no temporary specialised subject teacher was sought neither.
Some schools are like this and you just have to take the rough with the smooth.

The head should not have told you about surgery she'd had. That is a breach of confidence.
math was spot on. The reason for the teacher's teacher's absence is no concern of yours. What is your concern is how the head manages resources and ensures good educational outcomes for your child.

There's no breach of confidentially here to the teacher. It has been openly discussed on newsletters over four years now.

I wouldn't have been at all happy to have the details of my health discussed in newsletters.

"There's no breach of confidentially here to the teacher. It has been openly discussed on newsletters over four years now."

Then you must know why she has been off work so often. The head must have known the situation, he/she should have managed it better.

If she had corrective surgery, she must have been genuinely ill.
Yes you should talk to head or BoG, but please have some sympathy for the teacher... You can't choose not to be ill.

People questioning sick pay/benefits- teacher probably has a personal income protection policy which could potentially pay her 50% of her salary until she retires.

I know it sounds callous.
I am genuinely sympathetic to illness etc.

Hence having no idea what tone to approach head and BoG with.

The bits that annoy me is the lack of prep for the new class, it smacks of I don't give a monkey and won't be around to deal with the consequences.

I agree if she was a good teacher that must be the reason they keep having her back. Except she isn't. I've experienced laziness regarding homework, class activities how is it possible to read 8 chapter books in 4 weeks, behaviour control in comparison to previous teachers.

Your problem is a crap HT, not the teacher's illness. The start of the year is long past. The homework issues, the behaviour control, etc., all should be ancient history if the school admin had done its job and found a good sub. There are hundreds of women out there looking for school hours, but your child has had four subs in a week?

Are you concerned about the present or are you out to get this woman sacked?

Not sacked at all. It's an unpleasant situation.

I am keen to pressure the head for what it's worth, daily changing supply is worst of all.

I figure the heads hands are tied in that without a decent sick note, she can't get a more permanent supply. Bearing in mind the long time sick problem is supposedly solved, bearing in mind the huge volume of sick leave persistently taken, how quickly should a good head act? And I mean decent supply, not sacking which is none of my business.

You can't sack someone because they are ill.

I know it sounds callous.

That's because it is.

I am genuinely sympathetic to illness etc.

Yet you hide it so well.

I agree if she was a good teacher that must be the reason they keep having her back. Except she isn't. I've experienced laziness regarding homework, class activities how is it possible to read 8 chapter books in 4 weeks, behaviour control in comparison to previous teachers.

You come across as vindictive tbh.

I agree with SoupDragon

I think people should also ask themselves why teachers do have so much illness and also stress-induced sickness which requires a long time to get over.

Nobody selects a job because of the sickness policy.

We had a similar situation in y1, except the teacher had caring responsibilities rather than sick leave - her father was very ill and she's taken the previous year off to care for him.

At the start of term the teacher said her father had been given a permanent place in a nursing home. This fell through by half term and she had to take time off again.

The school dealt with it very well - they agreed.with the teacher that she wouldn't be back before the end of term - - so proper supply brought in for half s term. Towards xmas, we were told the supply would stay for the Easter term. A new supply was sought for the summer term.

I think it would be reasonable to ask the it yo out some sensible supply in place on a half termly basis and point out the effect on the class. The head needs to get a good supply, but the reason for the teacher's absence doesn't matter.

without a decent sicknote ... If the teacher didn't have a decent sicknote they would be sacked ... It isn't the teachers job to provide planning when they are ill. Teachers don't get paid if they are sick for a whole year. They might have private insurance that they paid for themselves.
Schools often have insurance that pays for supply once a member of staff has been absent for two weeks (with a sicknote). It is up to the head to see that classes are taught and they cannot ask someone who is ill to plan.

Iguana, there are people who do chose jobs because of their sickness policy.

Not as many as rumour suggests, but there are.

Private sector get minimal sick pay and are a whole lot healthier

I've been teaching in a classroom that has no way to open windows all week. Many children are in with nasty colds - attendance drive means they come in if it is a cold. I've even had some who have coughed all the way through my classes, sitting near me, not putting their hand over their mouth. We try and tell them. I give out tissues. I let them sip their juice even when they are only supposed to bring water. I give out cough sweets.
I use hand gel.

I still pick up everything. If anyone has a solution, I would love to hear it.

I have also picked up so many more sick bugs since working in a new build school that has internal classrooms where windows don't open. Many schools are like this now.

This isn't a comment about long term absence, but my DH is private sector, not education, and only seems to pick illness up from me, never work. But then, he is not immersed in germs where he goes.