Life as a teacher in Nottingham

“Just think how bad it's going to be in 2014 when schools are no longer allowed to exclude students, thanks government”

“Totally agree with "90% of teaching time is spent dealing with 10% of the classroom", that is my lasting memory of school classes. It can seem great at first getting to sit around chatting with your mates while the teacher spends the entire lesson dealing with disruptive pupils but after a while it becomes frustrating and looking back now it shocks me to think how little education and encouragement I actually received at school....and I went to a supposedly good school!”

“Thanks for the reply, David. I have worked for a few bad bosses in my time and I simply had to grit my teeth and do my job whilst looking for posts elsewhere. Schools are sometimes like totalitarian regimes with democratic window dressing. The power of a head teacher is immense (I think Churchill once said he wished a prime minister had the power of a headmaster). As in many institutions, people at the top ask for feedback from staff (either from genuine interest or just going through the motions) but often junior colleagues are afraid or too disillusioned to express their true thoughts. Those in middle management are often loyal to the regime that has rewarded them. Few with ambitions will criticise the person who holds patronage. That is why reform can only happen by either a change of the head or by bringing in an outside agency. Parents do have power but very rarely exercise it and governors tend to follow the lead of the head. I know it sounds defeatist but my advice is for your wife to urgently search for a post elsewhere.”

“Ted_Notts - my wife did read the article before I posted it and was comfortable with the sentiment. I agree there is little an article like this will achieve except perhaps the catharsis of publishing it in the first place. I agree that some sympathy won't change anything, but i'd hope that if the issue is publicly discussed enough, the people who can make a difference may start to take it seriously.... or I may be completely deluded! :-)”

“Just to add I am also the partner of a Teacher, albeit a one who works in a Primary school so the behaviour of the pupils is not such a great issue. But the poor management and leadership resulting in massive work overload and uneccessary stress seems to be a very common theme throughout the whole profession.

However as most people that comment on here seem to think teachers only work from 9-3 on school days, I guess until something happens to change public opinion the politicians will not do anything to make life reasonable for teachers... maybe we need a few suicides and a couple going postal.”

“D Bolton,
If the head teacher is likely to be there for a number of years your wife should consider moving schools, even in a sideways move or a demotion. Quality of life comes before career. If that is not possible then a letter to Ofsted might be appropriate but other members of staff in her school will not thank her if she is revealed as the whistle blower, or you for that matter. Whatever the line she takes I must state that publishing this article will achieve very little except gain some sympathy from total strangers. I hope you asked your wife's permission to write this.”

“If the pupils are above the age of criminal responsibility then any verbal or physical abuse should be treated as a criminal act and dealt with appropriately. The teacher, in this case, should keep a diary of all instances of abuse and report it, formally, to the head. If nothing is done then she will have a good claim against her employers. She should also get the police involved. That'll scare the life out of the academy heads.”

“dbolton

I am sure that your understanding is the same as mine. Whether they are academy schools or not, far too many of them have manipulated figures and taken action to avoid children being excluded. Some of the schools do seem to take their responsibility seriously and follow guidance. On the other hand, some schools have no regard for all the other measures they should take before they exclude.

I am in no doubt that the chaotic range of technically what amounts to independent school authorities will only serve to allow the poorest of schools to abuse the system for the reasons you have outlined.

Finally, I intended to pass on my sympathy and thanks to your wife for having the attitude she has in order to teach those children. I think she should have better support and the school should review its policies and effectiveness.”

“Earl_Manvers - my understanding is that kids who should be excluded are kept at the school for financial and 'target' reasons. If schools were to exclude the severe cases early on in their disruptive careers, it might actually make the kids see a cause and effect process in their behaviour. At the moment there is no consequence (which they care about) to bad behaviour and the majority are losing out big time to the minority in the classroom. My wife has had parents backing up kids, even with evidence of consistent abuse from other students. The bottom line is weak and ineffective senior management who haven't got the balls to get tough and exclude kids when they need to.”

“Jennywitch Saturday, October 13 2012, 6:47AM

"Go and look at your local GP's surgery notice board, where you will find the information that patients accused of being rude to members of staff will be refused treatment; imagine if the same applied to the children who regularly disrupt lessons, attack other pupils and staff, swear, steal and vandalise."

Yes, imagine that, I suppose that the schools would effectively have to send the children away, they could call this process "exclusion". Amazing that the schools have not already had this new idea yet. Oh, hang on a minute ….

Don't hide your light under a bushel Jennywitch, If you get a move on, you could perhaps get your other new idea for a "wheel" onto Dragons' Den.”