Is everyone finding it as hard as me or is it just my school!?!

[Jamsanmum]

Hi all..
I'm in Y6 and until this year loved teaching but now I'm starting to hate my job because I'm feeling totally overwhelmed by the pressure. We are a one form entry school and I just don't have time to 'teach' because I'm constantly battling through other issues and demands - I have high needs in my class but across the school we are continually stretched. Despite covid, I'm still expected to get children to GDS and the kids are emotionally and socially immature.... they are simply not ready to tackle the y6 curriculum. I am literally expected to move mountains - and work around the clock. My eldest daughter is doing GCSEs this year and youngest with mental health wobbles. Husband doesn't / can't empathise. I'm wondering whether to try moving schools - but interested in how many others are experiencing the same overwhelming and constant pressure.

Yup, me too, and to such an extent that I’m actually leaving at Easter! And I’m not even year 6; I’m year 4!

I’m Y6. I’m an ECT and I feel the same. Fortunately, we don’t have pressure to get GDS but there is a lot of pressure to get expected in a cohort that is extremely low, with lots of SEND and behavioural issues.

The behaviour is horrendous across the school, but our cohort has gone through the school as notorious for challenging behaviour. They are even worse now they’re Y6!!

Every lesson feels like a battle.

Same here. The bickering and inability to get along together means that I'm sorting out fall-out from breaks and lunchtimes in lesson time. Parents are constantly in, complaining and making excuses for their children's behaviour. The class are unable to make links or connections across the curriculum, take ages to finish anything and expect help with everything. They are not ready for the Y6 curriculum and I'm terrified they will completely bomb in SATs, but we are having a huge push on getting more children to GD. We are also waiting for Ofsted any minute which means that instead of getting some additional revision lessons in the afternoons, there is yet more pressure to keep adding high quality work to their Humanities and Science books.

So glad its not just me...!! Is it just covid fall out or is this it or teaching now...???? I'm so, soooo tired and just feel like crying all the time..... 😩. I also good under pressure generally. I like the thrill of being rushed off my feet. But this pressure is like nothing I've ever experienced.....

It's unrelenting. I think it's post Covid fall-out but also the general expectation these days. There is too much to teach and nowhere near enough time to cover it. Social media is causing a lot of problems in our class too. There are a lot of under-currents caused by out of school chats and they create quite an unpleasant vibe in the class. There is a sensation of there being too many in-jokes that only part of the class knows about which can make things quite uncomfortable.

Yes @Ashard20... parent whatsapp groups are causing so much damage. They talk too freely in front of their children - who are becoming increasingly conflicted. Parents sense of entitlement is transferred to their children. The LACK OF RESPECT!!!!!????? from child and parents.... honestly - why the flip are we doing it?!?

I could have written this. This is my third year in Y6 and the worst by far. Their recall is terrible, behaviour for learning equally dreadful and they just have no drive.

We're being expected to get a very low cohort working at or at GD in four weeks time, with no TAs, work appraisals and observarion weeks to contend with.

As someone who came from a successful previous career, the temptation to leave has never been stronger...

@DiscoStusMoonboots same. I earned £5k more 15 yrs ago in another career!!!

I'm a secondary core subject HoD and totally feel your pain

I love my job usually but at the moment I often dread going in Y11 have so many gaps and a lot are not doing enough revision outside of lessons. Working our socks off constantly with them but I am worried it's not enough

I actually felt ill with the stress this week 😩

@DiscoStusMoonboots yes, lack of drive / ambition is extraordinary. They just don’t seem to give a sht - half of me thinks they actually don’t know HOW to give a sht! Feel like its a losing battle…

All of this. From all of you.
It does feel like a losing battle and I'm fed up with having to drag them through it with no positive energy coming from them.
It's completely draining the life blood from me. They are so entitled and disrespectful. I had one refuse to take part in a lesson today. The reason? Just that they didn't want to. Then I had a parent in to fight their child's corner at the end of the day!
Everything is said in front of them and you can see it in the way they look at me/eachother. We also have an awful problem with boyfriend/girlfriend issues too!
I was still playing with Barbie in year 6. I wish we could reclaim some kind of childhood innocence for them as I really can't imagine where this is all heading.
Teacher retention will reach a new record high - that's for sure.

@Ashard20 … and the stuff that comes from the mouths of babes!!🤯 - and it flows so freely….!!
I had one child respond to my ‘…and i’d like you to think about that’ with ‘and i’d like you to think about my f*cking arse’… right there in English! He’s 10 (middle class affluent / educated family)!!!
… and i know he couldn’t really see how appallingly disrespectful it was… that’s the worst of it. It was like he’d just said ‘i don’t want to’.
I have 10 SEND chdn in my class - 3 of those with high needs funding (one non verbal) but only 1 full time TA (who is actually the 1:1 for non- verbal child). The demands from my senco in terms of the amount of support i should be providing them all is extraordinary- and i have to provide this whilst dealing with victory laps round the classroom and constant disruption. The non SEND kids Have to simply muddle through…..

@Jamsanmum - That is really awful.
The language is shocking - I've had several instances of children saying the same to eachother. I brought it up with one parent at the end of the day and she lay into me for ten minutes, in front of her child, effing and blinding back at me.
Why are we doing this, exactly?

I agree with everyone else, despite me referring to exams every lesson a top set Y10 girl appeared genuinely shocked when I reminded her that they have exams coming up. Y10 are the worst, I must confiscate about 10 phones on average each lesson, homework is rarely done and they just don’t seem to care at all.

I’m secondary core subject and recognise your descriptions of Year 6 in my own Year 7 group. They are breath-takingly incompetent and in no way fit for secondary. I totally get the vibe mentioned by a PP of social media undercurrents running beneath the class and disrupting the harmony.
I see them 3 hours per week. If I had to ‘teach’ them all day every day I would have to resign.

Yeah, huge hugs and sympathy to year six teachers.
I am secondary too, and at least i get a different group of kids on a regular basis, the in joke thing must give an awful vibe.
My y10s are currently my classes of most concern, awful recall and retention and the vast majority don’t give a fuck, and rarely complete their homework.

I think a lot is covid fallout. With closures and lockdowns and then they were all just expected to get right back onto the treadmill pretending like it never happened.
That and decades of gentle parenting where adults have to "earn" a Childs respect - as opposed to an automatic respect your elders vibe has created some very entitled and rude children and parents.
It's not a fun place to be at all right now.

I very nearly resigned today. I'm currently job hunting. Not teaching. I'm devestated as I used to love my job but I dread going in now. I cried all the way home today.

@EmoIsntDead

I very nearly resigned today. I'm currently job hunting. Not teaching. I'm devestated as I used to love my job but I dread going in now. I cried all the way home today.

🙁

I'm a union rep and this is all so familiar.

If you've not joined one please do, they're there to support you if things turn really bad but you need to join before that happens.

Same here. The bickering and inability to get along together means that I'm sorting out fall-out from breaks and lunchtimes in lesson time. Parents are constantly in, complaining and making excuses for their children's behaviour.

Everyone is utterly exhausted. We have constantly dealt with low staffing levels due to covid, and there is very little support from parents, in fact the opposite. We have daily conversations with parents supporting their little darlings, picking them up early to avoid their after school detention, and their kids are absolute little shits.

We're got some vile behaviour going on right now, and too short staffed to deal with it. So many staff are still off very ill with covid or long covid and everyone looks miserable who's left to pick up the extra cover/duties plus their own jobs.

@gluteustothemaximus i could have written this…….

It's really isn't it.