Bad feeling about supply teacher

[christmaslover88]

I want to start by saying I don't want to be "that parent" but I have some concerns. ds started reception in September. The school is fab and the teachers all seem really amazing. He's very happy there and always excited to go

Yesterday I dropped him off and his normal class teacher was there. However, when he got home he told me his normal teacher had to leave as her baby was poorly (absolutely no issue with this, kids get sick, it's really tough for working parents) and they had a supply teacher for the rest of the day. Ds talked about the teacher, he's 4 so no concept of what makes a good/bad teacher so it was all just general chat about the day. Not one thing he said sat right with me

• DS was unwell over the weekend with a stomach bug. He last vomited Sunday afternoon so I kept him off Monday and Tuesday due to the 48h rule. Somehow the supply teacher knew he'd been off sick. She told him he was "still poorly" because he had a cough. It's fucking winter, everyone has a cough. I'm not keeping a perfectly healthy 4 year old off school because he coughed a couple of times
• She told him off for coughing into his hand not his elbow because he "would spread germs". I've made a point during covid not to make ds paranoid about germs and teach hand washing and covering mouth when coughing without putting a negative spin on it. I saw far too many toddlers scared of germs due to lockdown and parents driving the point home too negatively
• She didn't take her coat off the whole time she was there. I know it's cold but the school is really warm. This one might be petty but it just doesn't sit right with me
• She sat them all down on the carpet to discuss "things we don't do at school". I appreciate this could have been prompted by poor behaviour, but the normal class teachers have never had to do this sit down chat
• They spent the afternoon watching Hey Duggee. I'm not against tv in school (I know they watch numberblocks as part of their maths lessons) but it doesn't sound like this was linked to a lesson, just a way for the supply teacher to avoid teaching
• They weren't allowed to play outside. Reception have their own outside area connected to their classroom and it is normally free flow in and out in the afternoon. They all have coats, waterproof trousers and wellies in school

Obviously I understand the class teacher had to leave suddenly and it's not easy to get a good supply teacher at short notice like this, but not one thing ds told me was (in my eyes) a positive. Would you mention it to the school or just let it go? To be clear, I wouldn't be complaining or anything, just sending an email saying this is what ds told me. The school may not know what she was like or how the day unfolded if no one else was around

Happy to be told it's not a big deal or to not get involved, it's my first term with a child at school and definitely don't want to be difficult but I just felt she wasn't up to the school's normal high standards

The truth is probably in there somewhere.

It's a POSITIVE thing that a last minute substitute teacher had been adequately briefed and so knew that your child had been off sick. (might be still a bit under the weather, watch out for him feeling off/tired etc)

The comment about his cough was either a) you germ ridden thing, you shouldn't be here, you're still ill! b) oh, that's a nasty cough, are you still feeling a bit poorly?
Which do you reckon?

It's a POSITIVE thing that he was told it's unhygienic to cough and splutter into his hands.

They sat on the floor and had the behaviour expectations reinforced. Nothing wrong with that.

They watched some telly. It was hardly the Emanuelle and I doubt it will affect his Oxbridge chances.

Don't be a nutter OP.

PS doesn't matter if you "have no problem" with his regular teacher taking what? Half a day? to look after her sick child. Magnanimous though you think you sound I'm giving your blessing. It's none of your business and she's entitled to do so. So, snout out on that one.

When I was a Reception teacher I did a whole activity on spreading germs every year including 6 step hand washing. This was way before Covid.

I am sorry but I do not see your logic here. These are things that kids are taught in school anyway and it is better to cough into your elbow rather than his hand. Would you be happier at him being exposed to someone else's illness because their Mom does not want to tell them it is better to cough into his elbow/cover hsi nose when he sneezes etc. Honestly I would be self reflecting and be glad the sub has taught your son something important.

Tbh, I think all the point you made is pretty petty.
The regular teacher had to leave so the supply was called. And do you expect that teacher to have proper plan for a day? No, I don't think so. Carpet time, not allowed out, TV, maybe it's all due to not knowing individual children.
I wouldn't say anything to school. He wasn't bullied, mistreated, etc.
If you complain, you really sound like "that parent" in a really bad way.

@Redebs thank you, I think you've probably hit the nail on the head. My youngest is 3 weeks old and my older two have had vomiting bugs over the last few days, so yes, I'm extremely sleep deprived and definitely blowing things out of proportion. I'm definitely on the school's side, as I said his normal teachers are absolutely amazing and I've had absolutely zero concerns. He was really anxious about starting school and they were truly brilliant with him and helped him settle in so well. It was just that nothing he said about this teacher seemed positive but I definitely think you're right and my lack of sleep is clouding my judgement and making me irrational

Genuinely think these things are petty AF.

This was a teacher drafted in as the regular teacher had to go home in an emergency - she's not going to have a full lesson plan to hand, and even if she does, she doesn't know these kids from Adam.

Literally not a single thing on your list would have given me any pause at all.

Same when I was teaching Reception! We even did the thing with flour where one person had it on their hands, touches a toy and passes it to a friend, they passed it on etc. The kids were amazed to see how far the flour "germs" had travelled by the end! The hand washing was very enthusiastic afterwards 😆

@PAFMO I don't think she "needs my blessing" or I'm "being magnanimous". I was making the point that I am not complaining about the teacher having to leave because I know how poor reading comprehension can be on this site and if I didn't point out that wasn't my issue then someone would accuse me of wanting to complain because the teacher had a sick kid to care for

Your kid had a different teacher for a few hours. Nothing bad happened to them. Let it go

Not a teacher but if I was left with a room of random four year olds I'd be glad if they were all alive and relatively happy at the end of the day. Regarding the coat thing, depending on how you dress, a dress of warmish material with buttons down the front might come across as a coat to a four year old. TV isn't great but for one afternoon it's not going to derail his future career in brain surgery.

Here's hoping you don't get too many nasty replies on here.
Enjoy your precious little family and try to get some rest. The world looks better when you've had a decent night's sleep.
All the best!

He is still unwell he has a cough, most kids (and teachers) do currently - not a big deal at all. He should have been taught to cough appropriately by you to stop the spread of germs.

Not taking her coat of literally none of your business - you have no idea what reason she may have for doing this and you have no right to insist she removes a coat.

Behaviour is always worse for supply - she just spoke to them, didn't shout or yell, oh my goodness how shocking 😂

Hey Duggee not linked to a lesson - supply don't turn up with lessons, the class teacher usually has to sort the cover work out regardless of the reason they are off 🤨 I suspect the poor class teacher didn't have time to sort much before they rushed off and helped their own sick child. If you complain about this that is the person you're going to get in trouble 🙄

They weren't allowed to play outside - again this will have been decided by the school/class teacher not the supply. I guess they didn't have time to make sure the supply teacher was up to date with all the risk assessments etc so they kept them in for one afternoon to ensure the safety of the students.

Honestly OP parents like you are the reason why this country has a massive shortage of teachers. Absolutely pathetic attitude. If it had been going on for weeks sure have a word but it was one afternoon of the most minor things. I hope you look back and are embarrassed you wrote this.

I did the same with glitter.

It's likely the supply teacher was rang about an hour at most before the school opened if the class teacher rang in unexpectedly. The supply may have been the third or fourth person the agency rang. They probably had a rush to find the school on the sat.nav and drive in. There may well have been no plans left or maybe the supply barely had time to even look at what was planned or barely enough time to talk to the TA or another teacher. Supply teachers in my experience are some of the best teachers around - certainly if they've been doing it a while and many prefer the work life balance as a trade off for a reduction in income - supply work is a fantastic way to gain experience of different school environments, and to gain confidence from having to handle very unsettling situations that you continually throw yourself into - they pick up a lot of ideas and bring them into the schools they teach at. I suspect that you have little understanding about the job of teaching or the role of the supply teacher. It's very good practice for a new teacher in the classroom to spend time with the class to say that today, while you are working with me, that these are my rules and this is how we are going to conduct ourselves, etc - it's can be very difficult to quickly take control of a class to create an environment where learning can take place. As teachers often say, don't be shy, all of there's something to don't understand - go and talk to the teacher - you might learn something if you are so minded.

You posted here for comments, talking about poor reading comprehension is a low blow.

Is the supply in again today or was it just for a few hours yesterday? If she is gone I would do nothing more, but if she is in again, perhaps you could talk to your son and see if there are any issues you would like dealt with.
The coat thing would worry me only that they must all be so cold.

I wouldn’t trust a 4 year old to be to able to distinguish accurately between an adult wearing a coat, blazer, long cardigan, gilet etc!

Oh believe me you are that parent 🤷‍♀️
Who actually listens to a four year old and believes everything that they say 🤣

I think maybe you’re not your normal self right now if you’ve only had a baby three weeks ago and habe three who are four and under, that’s a lot, tiredness, hormones are making you irrational. It happens. Try to stop stressing, it’s all fine, it really is.

Utterly ridiculous.
Sympathising and saying he is still poorly - OK. He is coughing. Why are you taking this as a criticism?
Asking him to cough into his elbow to avoid spreading germs. Good idea.
Talking about class rules - normal especially as a new teacher.
Leaving her coat on as she was cold - so what?
Class watching a bit of TV - hardly end of world.
Not playing outside as normal - very cold day, teacher not available to set up and explain routine - hardly an issue

Your reaction - very strange. You should complain. The staff will have a good laugh.

Just relieved you're not a parent in our school.

Every single one of your complaints is ridiculous. Cumulatively, you sound like a demanding nightmare.

All of your points are ridiculous but wanting to complain about a teacher keeping their coat in is another level of ridiculousness ... very , very petty !

Honestly parents like you should really give yourselves a talking to .

I think you're very probably knackered OP. A young family with recent illness can knock you sideways.
Let me just assure you that everything you have mentioned is totally normal.
In my school we can only afford the heating on for a blast in the mornings and the room I teach in is particularly cold so I have been known to teach in my coat before now (I couldn't bear taking it off on Tuesday, for example)
When I first meet with the class I'll be working in I will set out my expectations. It's not a bad thing to say how you would like the class to behave, children work better with clear boundaries.
Coughing or sneezing I will absolutely tell any child to do this into their elbow to avoid the spread of germs. I say this as I have had small children sneeze and cough directly into my face, kids love to share!! 😂

1- sounds like she was being sympathetic and no, not everyone has a cough, if he is coughing so much that a teacher is commenting on it then that is not good.

2- she was perfectly correct and it is the policy in most schools to make children aware of how germs are spread/hygiene.

3- ??? what is wrong with wearing a coat?

4- sounds reasonable enough if prompted bh poor behaviour, can’t really comment on this one.

5- it’s clearly an emergency supply situation and they are the end of the term. Watching a programme for a period of time as a one off doesn’t seem so awful!

6- there’s probably a reason why, eg risk assessment due to cold, staff ratios etc.

Gosh have you not got bigger fish to fry in your life!

You have concerns about one day of teaching by a supply teacher who might have been called last minute, might not work in early years usually.
As someone who works in a foundation unit please give yourself a head wobble!

DS was unwell over the weekend with a stomach bug. He last vomited Sunday afternoon so I kept him off Monday and Tuesday due to the 48h rule. Somehow the supply teacher knew he'd been off sick. She told him he was "still poorly" because he had a cough. It's fucking winter, everyone has a cough. I'm not keeping a perfectly healthy 4 year old off school because he coughed a couple of times.

Yes everyone has a cough and she probably knew he hadn't been in from the register and if coughing a lot might have thought he was back before he was fully better (like a lot of parents do)

• She told him off for coughing into his hand not his elbow because he "would spread germs". I've made a point during covid not to make ds paranoid about germs and teach hand washing and covering mouth when coughing without putting a negative spin on it. I saw far too many toddlers scared of germs due to lockdown and parents driving the point home too negatively

Coughing into elbow is much better for children when they are continually touching share resources- do we wonder why germs spread so quickly. Also strep a ???
Also remember if the supply teacher gets ill, they can't work they don't get paid!

• She didn't take her coat off the whole time she was there. I know it's cold but the school is really warm. This one might be petty but it just doesn't sit right with me

She might have been cold, have raynaulds(sp??)

• She sat them all down on the carpet to discuss "things we don't do at school". I appreciate this could have been prompted by poor behaviour, but the normal class teachers have never had to do this sit down chat

Bull - at the beginning of the term the class teacher would have sat all the children now and set their expectations. Good practice of the supply teacher to have done this with the children.

• They spent the afternoon watching Hey Duggee. I'm not against tv in school (I know they watch numberblocks as part of their maths lessons) but it doesn't sound like this was linked to a lesson, just a way for the supply teacher to avoid teaching.

This might have been a time filler/ assembly which the supply teacher wouldn't know to do) again no biggie.

• They weren't allowed to play outside. Reception have their own outside area connected to their classroom and it is normally free flow in and out in the afternoon. They all have coats, waterproof trousers and wellies in school

This might have done because of staffing and class management. We often shut our outdoors if we have supply in or short staffed.

But seriously it's one day, if it was the normal class teacher then yes have a bad feeling but you are being very precious! Next time maybe the school should send the kids home rather than have a supply in which isn't up to the normal standards.