Is contacting the union considered taboo?

I have felt for a while my fellow PGCE students from last year have all moved on to some really good schools, they have no issues at all and they’re having a lovely time. But ive just had the opposite experience

I found a job quite late in all fairness. It’s all there was. So I took it, but it’s been a little let’s say testing.

Today a boy became verbally aggressive towards me after a lesson. He got vet near me almost as though he was going to do something to me. I was quite shocked and all the other kids laughed at it. All he said was “****ing move out my way I swear. I’m telling you now move from my way.”

So I did but a mix of shock and anger came abouy after. I just felt stuck. I spoke to his form tutor and then the HOY. HOY let him off from his detention and he’s going to serve a day in isolation tomorrow. Normally it should be an exclusion for any verbal aggression. But it’s not so I feel the rules made no sense here.

I rang my union and told them all this they said I do need to check the policy about this stuff but I should not have been given near bottom sets for all my classes and I need to think about getting union intervention.

What do you guys think?

Don't feel embarrassed about going to the union - some schools are better for a first post than others. Are there other new teachers and what sort of timetable have they got? For example, we don't give new teachers Year 11 or 13 to allow them to find their feet a bit and not take over a group.

Go back to the HOY and ask why he did not apply the behaviour policy ...

I feel really unsupported at the moment. The hoy just told me to look happy it’s not the end of the world.after I was spoken to like crap. Long story short they didn’t wanna deal with the student

What do your union suggest? Are they wlling to get involved?

They said yes. They’re willing to support because I can’t progress if I’m being given kids I can’t move foreword with. It also states in the ECF guidelines we shouldn’t be given kids that are significantly causing disruption on a daily basis. I feel it’s always a bit of a difficult one getting unions involved straight away but nonetheless not sure where else to go. I’ve done everything I can.

They said yes. They’re willing to support because I can’t progress if I’m being given kids I can’t move foreword with. It also states in the ECF guidelines we shouldn’t be given kids that are significantly causing disruption on a daily basis. I feel it’s always a bit of a difficult one getting unions involved straight away but nonetheless not sure where else to go. I’ve done everything I can.

You need to be careful because if your school is unsupportive they’ll simply manouver to get rid of you rather than put changes in place to support you. They’ll probably begin that process by putting you on a support plan regarding some aspect of your teaching or behaviour management. The school will protect themselves by positioning you as the problem.

I don’t really understand why your union haven’t suggested that you take this forward as a staff safety issue. This isn’t the first time that a student has threatened or verbally attacked you while other students looked on and laughed (the change in username fools noone, sorry). From what you’ve described over the course of this term, I would say that your physical safety is at risk. One of these young people could really hurt you and it sounds like they are increasingly bold about their desire to do just that. They sound like they’ve decided that they really dislike you and they are being encouraged by the approval and amusement of their peers. You’re effectively being bullied by the kids. It’s an extremely dangerous situation for a young member of staff to be in. This should be the primary reason for requesting their removal from your class rather than a concern about the progress of your teaching (which the school can easily deny by using data to show that the mix of students in your classes is representative of the school population as a whole).

Teachers have been seriously injured in attacks by students.

Ah, my suspicions were correct then? This is that Jammy character right?

I have felt for a while my fellow PGCE students from last year have all moved on to some really good schools, they have no issues at all and they’re having a lovely time. But ive just had the opposite experience

I found a job quite late in all fairness. It’s all there was. So I took it, but it’s been a little let’s say testing.

Today a boy became verbally aggressive towards me after a lesson. He got vet near me almost as though he was going to do something to me. I was quite shocked and all the other kids laughed at it. All he said was “****ing move out my way I swear. I’m telling you now move from my way.”

So I did but a mix of shock and anger came abouy after. I just felt stuck. I spoke to his form tutor and then the HOY. HOY let him off from his detention and he’s going to serve a day in isolation tomorrow. Normally it should be an exclusion for any verbal aggression. But it’s not so I feel the rules made no sense here.

I rang my union and told them all this they said I do need to check the policy about this stuff but I should not have been given near bottom sets for all my classes and I need to think about getting union intervention.

What do you guys think?