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Whether you're a permanent teacher, supply teacher or student teacher, you'll find others in the same situation on our Staffroom forum.

Original poster

Teaching at your children’s school

29 replies

juliej00ls · 09/02/2019 15:41

I am a middle leader at a semi rural local school which is lovely. It’s a big secondary school and some teachers have their children at this school. I’ve always had mixed feelings about this as I think it can prevent children finding their own space and if things go wrong it’s a bit of a nightmare however I have seen it work well for some families...... so my question is send my children to my school or make them travel a little further ( 45min bus ) to another very nice school?

OP posts:
Artfullydead · 10/02/2019 08:40

Personally I would never send my children to my school and I feel really sorry for kids who have parents at their school. That's my personal view, though, obviously.

Bumbalaya · 10/02/2019 16:07

I would never do it because the staff would be too quick to accuse me of favouring my DD so I'm sure I'd compensate by being detached towards her, then I'd worry that it might damage the lovely rl I have with her.
If I were a single parent however, I would probably just suck all that up for the streamlining of our lives.

borntobequiet · 10/02/2019 16:14

My children attended the school I taught in - no problems. There were quite a few teachers’ children in both their year groups (including one or two fairly naughty ones). I thought it a good thing to have teachers who were also parents and who could provide valuable insights from a parental point of view to senior management.
45 min is a long time on a bus.

SagelyNodding · 10/02/2019 16:24

I'm debating this too... I have no idea what to do. In my case I would potentially be joining Ds's fairly large secondary school and he would be going into year 8. I think I can request not to have him in my classes though. Is it really so awful? DS isn't bothered either way.

WeKnowFrogsGoShaLaLaLaLa · 10/02/2019 16:31

I actually left an outstanding school because it was where my daughter wanted to go. I wanted her to be her own person, didn't even attend Open Evening with her. It was parents evening at the end of Yr7 when most people realised, by which time she had made her own impression.

Wellcolourmehappy · 10/02/2019 16:36

Have you asked your children how they feel? There was a high number of teacher's children in my year at school and they fell into 2 categories - those who were embarrassed and never mentioned it and those who felt they were "untouchable" , either treated the other teachers as family friends ( they probably were ) or were quite rude to them, never did their homework and were generally quite arrogant. That category also used to make a killing by selling answers to homework!!
Secondly a lot of teachers think that they are treating their children as a pupil but other members of staff would disagree!!

Lulutheboss · 10/02/2019 16:45

My son goes to the school I teach in. It’s the best school in the area. Numerous staff have had children through the school.
DS is enjoying having me there in the background and I am getting valuable insights from a parent’s point of view.
It is working very nicely and my younger son is also looking forward to joining.

whatsleep · 10/02/2019 16:51

If the school is good and your happy with the education she would get there then I would send her there. At least you have an inside view of how the school is.

Knackeredmommy · 10/02/2019 16:54

I taught at my children's primary school, didn't teach them and they mostly ignored me. It was fine

UnicornButterfly · 10/02/2019 16:57

Similar to pp but in senior school - I make sure that I don't actually teach my DCs and I ignore them unless they approach me first! All is fine and other teachers have their kids in the school, too.

Fifflefaffle · 10/02/2019 20:46

I started teaching on a last month at my childs school on a temp contract.
No difficulty with me treating her like the other pupils. The only issue I have is that what I thought was a good school has terrible behaviour. I'm now looking to get her out.
In terms of her not having her own space being at the same school as me, it isn't a problem.

Hangingtrousers · 10/02/2019 20:50

My dad goes to my school ( primary) lots of staff children are there too. It's a lovely family atmosphere. My dd has thrived there and she's only in term 2 of reception. It's made our childcare costs so much cheaper and family life easier. No regrets.

Hangingtrousers · 10/02/2019 20:50

Dd obvs not dad 😂

llangennith · 10/02/2019 20:51

Our local primary has 260 children and 11 teachers plus the headmistress. Four of the teachers between them have six children at the school. (The HT and two other teachers send their children to other schools.) It causes no problems at all.
I've been involved with the school for seven years on a daily basis so I know what goes on. Teachers are professionals. It will be fine.

Original poster
juliej00ls · 10/02/2019 21:47

Thank you .... it’s nof ideal but my options are a little limited but it is useful hearing different opinions.

OP posts:
likeafishneedsabike · 11/02/2019 21:36

Haven't taught in my children's school, but just thinking that if the other school is a 45 min bus journey then it could be difficult socially. Much better for your DD to have local school friends if at all possible.

Nacreous · 11/02/2019 21:40

I went to the same school as my mother taught at and it was fine. Definitely wouldn't have been worth being 45 mins from friends away to avoid.

YehUrStllADickhead · 11/02/2019 21:53

I'm in this predicament too...LO will soon start school but if I send him there it would only be because of the convenience to Me and OH. There are better schools near us but it just won't work with our work timings so not sure what to do Confused

Fizzyhedgehog · 12/02/2019 18:30

My DS attends the nursery class of my school. I don't usually see him during the day. I like having him close by just in case. However, nursery is quite separate from us so it doesn't really make much of a difference. I don't think I'd want him to join the primary school as he gets older. We've only got three classes and I think he'd be better off in a local state school if I had to choose between these two options.
However, I'm thinking of moving to a bigger school where this might not be such an issue.

shishnfips · 12/02/2019 19:33

My kids go to my school. It's fantastic. Same school holidays, daily logistics easier, can always go to their assemblies/ sports fixtures etc, fee discount. Loads of staff have kids there including Management. They love it. I love it.

muddypuddlejumping · 12/02/2019 20:36

I have my child at my primary school and I'm a senior leader. We have a few teachers' children at the school and it works very well. For me, with a lack of family around, it'll really help us out and in my opinion it's the best school around. I'm confident that the pros of this outweigh the cons - especially the sneaky calpol when DC's poorly that I'd otherwise struggle to find someone to administer!

Malbecfan · 13/02/2019 11:44

I've had both my DDs go through secondary school with me. DD1 is now at uni but was in school with me right through and taught by me once each week in year 8 and once each fortnight for half of years 11 & 12. Absolutely no problem at all and I got on very well with her friends too. DD2 is in year 13. I have only taught her for half of year 11 plus the odd PSHE session. Again, it wasn't an issue.

I work 0.5 so am not always there. I worked there before they started at primary school so they came to my school rather than the other way round. It'll be very odd this summer not having either of them there any more, and quite sad...

strawberrypig · 13/02/2019 11:52

My mother taught at the school I went to and there were both positives and negatives but overall things evened out. Most of the negatives were really positives though, I knew that anything I did would get back to my mum so it did stop me doing daft little things (never bunked off etc) but the same thing was true for the good things I did.

I don't think that having a parent at the same school stops a child from becoming themselves though, I think siblings in the same school have much more of an impact on how a child is judged.

qumquat · 13/02/2019 17:59

There are quite a few children of teachers at my school and I've never known it cause an issue. I'd say your school would definitely be preferable to a 45 Min commute.

Fifflefaffle · 14/02/2019 18:58

Just to update, I'll be teaching my child after Easter until summer, two days a week.
That'll be interesting! I think as long as you have set boundaries and you're able to treat your child as a pupil, it's ok...

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