Code of Conduct

..like in Hospitals and places like that.
If a member of staff is subject to abuse of any kind then the perpetrator could be refused treatment.

I think the time has come for teachers to have that kind of protection. I know some of our students are children but not after the age of 14 they're not.
I teach at a good school believe it or not and this week alone
* the boys toilets have been trashed
* more than one teacher was sworn at and their instructions ignored, and
* a young female maths teacher had a book thrown at the back of her head while she wrote on the whiteboard by a 6 foot+ 14 year old thug.
If they did that outside in their communities they could be charged.
All we have are detentions which half of them dont turn up to and temporary exclusions which they treat like a holiday and/or a status symbol.

Since our County Council stopped lunch time supervision we can't stop the increase in the number of fights kicking off either. It's like a ghetto on the yards some days

And sometimes.. after battling to do the job we're paid to do (no pay increase for 14 years) we have to take an extra 4 hours work home with us most week nights and weekends!

Re: Code of Conduct

Thanks for listening

I feel better now

Re: Code of Conduct

We used to have special schools for brats like that, they were called Borstals. They seemed to have been done away with, perhaps it's time they were brought back and we all stopped being so soft and silly, time to stop taking this type of crap from the little angles...not.

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Simple. Fine the parents. No more trouble from the kids.

Re: Code of Conduct

and all of this is the result of Corporal punishment being banned. Children have far to much rights and they know it. They can physically assault you, verbally abused you and there is nothing you can do. A child swears at a teacher, the parent say's there little innocent never does anything wrong child would never do something like that therefore it must have been something the teacher had done. The school head and school of governors back the parent.

It is a scenario that is played out up and down the country. I have relatives who have left the teaching profession just for that purpose, lack of discipline towards the children and lack of support given to the teachers.

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No way should you have to put up with that behaviour, Rhian.

Detentions are almost like a badge of honour to some children

Does the school send notifications to the individual parents of the children who are known to have misbehaved? They really need to know how disruptive their son/daughter has behaved at school.

I don't envy your job these days

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Honestly.. I'm one of the lucky ones.
I have experience to avoid nonsense and confronations
And mine is a subject most get along just fine with
So I do count my chickens regularly

But I worry how it's all going
And Dodge is right.. the parents are the sticking point
If they dont back the teachers then we have no authority
No other profession is viewed like that.

There is already a shortage of teachers in the UK now

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I feel for you Rhiann, I really do. It's this sort of nonsense that enticed me into early retirement, couple with the everdangling Ofsted Sword of Damacles and Senior Staff telling us all how great things are, but nevertheless hinting that we're not really good enough.

A friend of mine had her classroom near the head's office. The head came down one day to complain about the level of noise, and suggested that if her lessons were good enough then there's be more engagement and no misbehaviour and noise. She politely corrected him by pointing out that her lessons were fine, but some of the students were not.

Re: Code of Conduct

When i read articles like this, whether it be in forums or in the tabloid press i always look back at my own time and school. Yes i was sometimes naughty, shouting in the hallways, running in the hallways, throwing paper balls at friends in class so naturally i would be told off. It was school policy back then to have the school both ring the parent and write a letter to the parent explaining why their child had been disciplined. When i got home, naturally i would play the 'i am an innocent child' card towards my parents and the first thing my parents would say 'The teacher would not have had the need to discipline you if you did nothing wrong, so what did you do'. Basically this was my parents putting trust in the teachers that discipline would only be dished out if the child did something wrong and the teachers knew that they could trust the parents to back them up. In my case, my parents trusted the teachers and the teachers trusted my parents.

Regardless of what it is in life, there is always a rouge element and schools are not immune to this. There will be rouge teachers and as such these teachers should weened out and dealt with but do not handicap ALL teachers by bringing in rules and law with prevent the good and trust worthy teachers from being able to do their jobs properly.

Re: Code of Conduct

I know exactly what you mean Rhian. I took early retirement from teaching several years ago because I couldn't stand the stress any longer. My subject was English - both Literature and Language - and most of my classes were fine because I stood no nonsense. Even so I had my share of abuse to deal with on behalf of younger, less experienced teachers who were often out of their depth - I was deputy head of department so that fell into my remit along with mentoring NQTs.

In the end the burden of endless paperwork (reports and assessments on each pupil whom I taught) on top of the marking of essays and assignments plus lesson planning took its toll. Being at school from 7-30 until way after 5 o'clock, sometimes without a lunch break due to problem pupils who needed sorting out, then another four or so hours work at home each evening plus weekends left me completely drained.

You have my admiration Rhian - there are less and less teachers who are prepared to put up with what happens in school nowadays, hence the shortage.