I’m a Cover Supervisor and I just walked out.

[tellmesomethingtrue]

At the end of my tether. Pupils have been shouting at me, arguing with me for 3 hours straight today. I’ve told HR that I can’t cope with the final lesson and I’ve gone to sit in my car. I welcome the classes pleasantly, I am organised and the kids know me. Just because “I’m a sub” they are disrespectful and just awful. As soon as another teacher comes in to support me, the kids are fine. Today, I’ve sent 9 pupils to work elsewhere and called SLT three times. On the verge of (another) panic attack, enough is enough. I don’t think employment should be like this. Usually half the class are absolutely fine, do the right thing and work. Surely their parents would be mortified.

Sounds like a really demoralising job.

I remember the class acting up a bit and not much work getting done when we had a supply teacher. But we were never really nasty or disruptive per se.

It was kind of an unspoken rule that teacher just kind of sat there and chilled and you did the bare minimum with a fair amount of good natured chatting. But this was when it was rare to have a supply. And behaviour in general was less of an issue.

That reminded me of the morning I spent having wooden toys and ripped apart wooden furniture launched at me by a furious five year old child, as we’d had an electricity cut and I needed to stay with the child in a small side room until the school was secure again. Periodically staff would check on me by peering through the window. I ended up making a riot shield out of one of the cupboard doors 🤣. Happy days.

I did it for 20 years. There were really, really grim times. In fact it took a comprehensive change of leadership and school ethos (and fucking hard slog)to be accepted,still got told I wasnt a real teacher occasionally. I almost walked many times. But, I grew a very thick skin, management changed and had our backs as staff. It was still tough. I rarely "babysat", but would follow lesson plans. There were fabulous kids and parents, there were some who made everyones life hell.Saying that, no way could i do it on supply or at a really tough school. Life is definitely too short.

Don't blame you for walking out. I have been a sub (a teacher) and have experienced same including having missiles thrown. The case for permanent exclusion of disruptive pupils is massive because the impact of their behaviour on staff and the education of other pupils is so damaging. I don't have a solution for what to do with such pupils - and nor do I have to, as a teacher, it's not my problem - but they need removing. ❤

I’m in my sixties and remember supply teachers lessons as absolutely riotous.

Things thrown at their backs every time they turned to face the blackboard, general pissing about and no work done. Kids climbing out the window.

At least one of those kids is Director of a household name company now!

I don’t blame you OP. Teaching is way too stressful for the pay, and as cover supervisor you aren’t even getting the money.

And all those 'low level disruptions' should be penalised, which is what schools which have a good working ethos do. And parents and pundits who never sat in a classroom complain about as going too far because it's only a bit of chat, someone getting up and walking round, a child not having a pencil. Try having 30 children doing that - the pundits wouldn't cope (I suspect the parents would complain that their child could not concentrate and something ought to be done about it).
Bad schools blame the teacher and if its a supply teacher do so with knobs on.

I was a trained teacher, I did my pgce whilst working as a cs. But agencies have changed hugely since covid. Quality of staff has declined as "good" teachers either left or got permanent jobs. One agency i used to use a lot, recruited many West African teachers. They were dead keen and willing to travel, but lets say their pathway to teaching differs massively to the UK.

Unfortunately, the majority the children who think it's OK to be disrespectful to a cover teacher are the same ones who have no respect for adults in general. It's likely the same ones, who are known to be disruptive and a total pain in the arse.

I have worked in primary schools for 14 years, in a non-teaching role. You get children who rarely play up but when they do the parents are mortified. The children who constantly play up but it's the teacher/schools fault according to the parents. The children who are complete and utter little shits and their parents couldn't care a less. Lastly the child who is disruptive but the parents won't accept their child is to blame in any shape or form and it must be 'other children's fault', because theirs is a little angel!!

There needs to be consequences. A phone call home or an email, explaining why little Jonny has to miss some of his lunch break tomorrow etc. If the behaviour persists then the parents are called into school.

Sometimes schools are only as good as the SLT. If the SLT are poor, then it affects all aspects of the school, from staff to students.

I am not a lawyer or a police officer, but that isn't just a civil matter, that's assault, isn't it? If somebody in the street assaulted you or in any other workplace, there's a good chance the police would be called, and quite right too. I don't understand why schoolchildren are treated differently. If they behave like this at school it must be very likely that they are going to behave like that elsewhere as well. So sorry for all school staff treated like this. It's shameful.

@tellmesomethingtrue I couldn’t do your job. Anyone working in education deserves a medal. I work in acute mh and my days are often full of aggression and violence but I could not work in a school!

I hope that you have something nice planned for this evening.

YANBU

Yep.

Any their parents back their bratty disrespectful children. Zero consequences at home or at school.

Both posts are correct.But the earliest one is realisic and the second one is idealistic.
When I did supply, I too would greet the children pleasantly (secondary and primary) but I would be on the look out for chancers. Even if I didn't have a seating plan I would look at a hidden (from the children) piece of paper and say 'Right, you, you and you, get to your correct places please so we can get started with the lesson' and you'd be surprised how often it worked.
Cover supervisor is a horrible job and anyone who does it needs a medal; it is no shame at all that you find it hard.

Why wouldn't you let the parents know their offspring's disgraceful behaviour?

99% of us want to know

Why don't you? It is shocking that pupils get away with showing zero respect for their teachers. And as PP said, there will be some pupils who actually want to learn and their chances are shat on by the ones who waste everyone's time.

I have worked both in MH units and secondary schools.

The schools are beyond anything I have ever had to cope with in MH. Never, ever again.

Teachers, TAs and Covers deserve so much more than they get.

I worked in supply for a couple of years after qualifyin, in some awful secondary schools, and it was the best way to learn to manage behaviour. It is a tough job but if you apply the behaviour policy consistently and calmly the children will respect this and you will get a reputation as a fair teacher. But you have to be consistent, unemotional and calm. If you can’t manage this then yes you are in the wrong job.

Surely they had to ensure their training was equivalent to that in the UK? I would have assumed this would be checked.

I think that cameras in classrooms would be a good start. Don't leave it to the discretion of teachers to support or heads to action. Act on the data.Make them review their own behaviour and take structured consequences.

You can make disruptive behaviour a 6 step process: warning, lunchtime detention, afterschool detention, trip to the head, suspension and expulsion. Every single time. No excuses.
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I dont think Academies have to employ qualified teachers anymore. I'd be happy to be corrected on this.

It’s the worst. Thing is, I’m a full blown qualified science teacher!!! I just need hours to fit the school run.

Cameras would be a godsend!!!

I worked as a cover supervisor for a few years before training as a teacher and I think the school's attitude made the difference. They were zero tolerance on the students treating cover poorly and dealt with it swiftly, contacting home and throwing the full weight of the behaviour policy at them. That said, it took a few months to establish myself and some characters did still try and treat me with utter disrespect but SLT has them removed immediately, sanctions in place and home contacted. I also worked hard to run clubs, do duty, sit with students at lunch and build up positive relationships. I think this really helped as well because they saw me as an integral part of the school, not just an opportunity to doss about.

Is the standard of cover good enough as well? I asked to start teaching rather than babysitting and engaged students were much easier than bored students doing yet another worksheet.

I’m not agency. I’m employed by the school as a science specialist cover teacher. Secondary. I did have about 10 children ask me about my day, say good morning to me and wish me a nice day so not all bad.

OP, in my first year of teaching, I did supply at a really rough school. My second class of the day (year 9) got completely out of control, and the students started to get violent. A student threw a chair at me. Another student blocked the door and refused to let anyone out and told them that he’d kill them all. Several boys started speaking in a disgusting, sexual way towards me, telling me I’d should raped in the clothes I was wearing.

I called the SLT and he came quickly, unblocked the door, and removed the two primary culprits (although all the students were terrible!). He told me to go to the staff room and he would take the rest of the lesson.

I went to the staff room and cried my eyes out. I had just finished my Master’s degree, and all my study and hard work just felt like a complete waste. All the student debt for two education degrees for nothing.

OP, I know how you feel. I stayed in teaching, started working at some really good schools, and am generally really happy in the classroom now. But I remember those bad schools. I still have nightmares about them, and would rather starve than teach at a school like that again. Most of my colleagues there left the profession within 2-3 years and have never taught again.

People who haven’t worked in schools have NO IDEA.