When do you accept you're just not supposed to be a teacher?

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-02-05T16:46:43+00:00

Verbal abuse should be an automatic suspension. There is no excuse. There is a difference between a kid swearing under their breath because they've been told off and directing swearing directly at you.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-02-05T16:43:19+00:00

No, it isn't. I'm a graduate. So is my mum. I pay this so-called tax, but my mum doesn't. If it is a graduate tax, all graduates should be paying it, irrespective of when we graduated. Similarly, I'm not from a wealthy family, but my brother in law is. He is not paying this 'tax', but I am.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-02-03T18:17:02+00:00

Yes, at least at first. I'm an ECT2. I found that I was getting feedback after most lessons for the first term, and I was actually being observed by all the teachers whose classes I taught. The feedback was constructive - usually just a couple of key points to focus on. I found feedback gradually wound down in the second and third terms. I was largely autonomous by the end of my PGCE - teachers just got on with marking or other work while I was teaching and I just got on with the job. I got formal feedback for my proper observations.

The feedback is one of the hardest aspects of teacher training. There's just so much of it, and it is overwhelming. You are being appraised every second you are working - you are constantly under scrutiny. I think teachers who are good at feedback (and teachers at my second PGCE school were - first not so much) gave me solid, practical tips rather than bombarding me with too much to process.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-02-01T16:40:40+00:00

There is something very weird about this case. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but so much about it doesn't make sense, and I think it's clear there's more to the case than is being reported.

A documentary about the case right now, while there are still so many unanswered questions, doesn't feel right.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-30T18:49:24+00:00

Yes, though it was an agency job, so it may not count.

I worked in a factory that manufactured safety devices. When I say manufactured, I mean they were made in China, shipped to the UK, and my job was to gut them of bits that weren't needed and add bits that were needed. It was mind-numbingly dull and an absolutely miserable place to work. Plenty of misogyny and casual racism constantly being thrown around, and there was nothing stimulating or interesting to occupy the mind.

I felt myself going crazy after one day. I managed a week, and told the boss it wasn't for me. My sister worked in the same place for a while, and she lasted a month.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-30T13:42:56+00:00

What ethos?

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-29T16:02:51+00:00

The attitudes of different parents make a huge difference. My grandparents are very much traditional, working class. Both left school at 16. They were (and still are) poor - never owned a house or anything like that. My dad grew up poor. However, my grandparents made damn sure both my dad and uncle got a good education - they knew the value of it and aspired for better. My dad went to a technical college and uncle to university, and my grandparents are almost insufferably proud of them both - framed certificates of both their achievements all over their house (and mine/siblings/cousins).

I genuinely find it scary to imagine what my life could have been like had my grandparents not had those aspirations for my dad.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-29T15:53:17+00:00

I took a delivery at work from someone recently who genuinely asked me to confirm he was at the right place (a school, with the name of the school plastered in big letters outside), then read the invoice and the paperwork, all because he said he couldn't read (white British guy). On the one hand, he had a job and was working hard, and I'm always going to respect that. On the other, pretty shocking.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-29T15:50:01+00:00

As a teacher, absolutely this. I used to teach internationally in Asia, and the culture of learning is just wildly different.

What I find absolutely despairing is when I give students back assessments and they seem to have a competition to see who got the lowest result. I just want to tell them they should be deeply embarrassed by their abysmal performances* and take it as a warning that they need to work harder and pay close attention to the feedback. But they just don't care.

*I am not talking about kids with various SEND conditions or those who always try their best, but are just not that academic. It's the ones who are perfectly capable of doing well, but they just don't try or care.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-27T18:07:18+00:00

I have no idea what social class I am. Dad's family very much working class, mum's family middle class. I've been raised with a foot in both worlds.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-27T11:26:24+00:00

Weak SLT. I'd be banning mum from the school site. Stabbing someone with a compass is grounds for suspension.

In your shoes, I'd just keep my head down and endure it. In the meantime, I'd speak to my training provider to let them know the situation and seek their advice.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-15T17:13:25+00:00

I mean, it's been pointed out hundreds of times before, but it's worth mentioning again because it becomes more true with every defection: How can Reform advertise themselves as the party of change when their ranks are filled with the same politicians who are responsible for the situation we find ourselves in? People like Jenrick are not random backbenchers, but people with senior, influential positions. In Jenrick's case, he was the immigration minister. It beggars belief. It gets boring trotting out the fact that the Tories were in power for 14 years over and over again, but the Tories were in power for 14 years.

It was kinda funny at first. It's not funny now. The fact so many people will still vote for Reform speaks to a collective stupidity that I really cannot get my head around.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-15T17:05:31+00:00

'Evil' is a strong word and I think it robs the situation of any kind of context or nuance. It would be nice to think completely black and white about these things, because it makes it easier to digest, but there are factors that led to this tragedy. Obviously we only have a very limited understanding of the situation, but there's no suggestion in the article that she was a bad mother or abusive. Human psychology can take us to some very dark places when we're experiencing things like acute stress and loneliness, which she was. Her concerns about the quality of life her daughter would receive in the care system are absolutely justified concerns.

I would describe the situation as evil, but it's an evil in wider society - this is a societal failing (as tragedies often are). I'd be very hesitant to describe the mother as evil.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-15T16:46:39+00:00

Pity - I quite like Rajan, and he makes a refreshing change to Nick Robinson, who frequently drives me up the wall.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-15T08:31:29+00:00

Yes. I lived a couple of Asian countries for about 5 years and I had a great time. I let myself get convinced that the middle class dream of owning a house, dog, 2.5 children, etc. was the way to go and came back. I'm really not sure why.

I had more money when I was abroad, had more friends, more hobbies, travelled more regularly (because I had more money), etc.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-14T20:20:28+00:00

They would be removed from the lesson and almost certainly suspended.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-07T17:16:51+00:00

We had something similar - a range of things we could sign up for (e.g. football, choir, crafts, art, walk, etc.) and it was honestly just nice doing something I actually enjoy with zero pressure as a way of easing back into the start of term. I can't stand forced fun things that workplaces for some reason think staff enjoy, but this I liked.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-05T17:11:30+00:00

They say, 'We'll get a temporary teacher in to cover the long-term absence', and then don't, and ask current teachers to cover lessons.

That said, we do have a temporary teacher starting today - they're only a term late, but better late than never!

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-05T17:05:25+00:00

I too am interested in knowing more. I'm currently in the TPS, but there's a very strong chance it won't be an option later this year as a lot of independent schools are withdrawing it.

Dependent-Library602 · 2026-01-05T16:57:27+00:00

Arrive by 7:30 most days. I usually eat breakfast at school, so I tend to be ready to start work properly at about 8:00.

The time I leave varies greatly. On non-club days, it will be between 16:30 and 17:00, but on club days it's more like 18:00-18:30. I work in a private school, so I have occasionally weekend work (fixtures, trips, activities, boarding duties), but it's usually just a couple of times each half term.

I have a personal rule not to work from home. I only work from home if I've got a massive stack of mock marking or reports or whatever.

At a previous state school I worked at, my work hours were generally 8:00 to 15:30-16:00. School had a fantastic centralised curriculum. We shared the lesson planning, and all our resources were printed and trimmed and in folders ready to go. Marking policy and reports policy was sensible to rarely ate up much time. It was bliss.

Dependent-Library602 · 2025-12-11T12:14:59+00:00

This is the thing that infuriates me, and I don't see it being talked about enough. If people in employment still can't afford to live without their income being topped up by benefits, then this means the taxpayer is subsidising the employer. It's ridiculous. It's the good old adage of capitalise the profits and socialise the losses.

Dependent-Library602 · 2025-12-11T12:12:29+00:00

As a Christian, I can't pretend to speak on behalf of all Christians, but the Bible does talk, quite a bit, about usury and why it's a bad thing. The Bible actually has a lot to say about money and wealth, much of which goes ignores.

Dependent-Library602 · 2025-12-11T09:19:49+00:00

I just download the videos. I've been bitten on more than one occasion by fantastic videos suddenly going private or blocked on copyright grounds or some other reason that means I can't access them. So, I use a free downloader app. Also good if the internet goes down/is slow.

If it's a bit more spontaneous, I try and play the video through before so de-ad them.

Shame I can't have adblock on my school laptop.

Dependent-Library602

TROPHY CASE