ATL

Teaching the family

It has potential for tension, or at least embarrassment, but many ATL members manage to work in the same school their children attend without disaster. Words by Alex Tomlin

It's a common scenario for many working in education:
"Anderson?"; "Yes, Miss."
"Brown?"; "Yes, Miss."
"Collins?"; "Yes, Mum."

What happens when children end up in the same school where their parents teach? Is it the stuff of nightmares or can both sides make it work? Many ATL members have faced this issue head on.

ATL member Alison Hampson's school was supportive when her son attended the secondary school where she taught. "They made sure that I did not teach his class and we rarely crossed paths," she explains. "However, I was never able to attend parents' evening as I was there as a member of staff, but my son and I were lucky to have the support of my parents. There were occasions when he used the fact that I was there to give me things to take home or leave dirty PE kit with me!"

Another ATL member, Jason Sharp's own experiences at school helped him to decide not to send his daughter to his school. "I went to a secondary school my mother worked at and I hated it. If I did well my peers said I was a creep because my mum worked there. If I did anything wrong my mum was the first to be told and I 'got it' when I went home!"

However, he adds: "The main reason my daughter would not want to go to my school is because she has entered that stage in her life where her dad is an embarrassment. He tells corny jokes, has absolutely no fashion sense, but he still thinks he is cool and trendy." Other ATL members report that their children have specifically requested that they not attend their parents' school.

However, in some areas it is almost unavoidable. Andrew McCandlish, ATL branch secretary for Norfolk, recalls that the headteacher's, three class teachers' and almost all the teaching assistants' children, as well as his own four, attended their small village primary school.

"School talk was carefully avoided at home by the teacher, and home talk avoided at school," he relates. "I taught all four of my children - some were in my class for more than one year and sometimes more than one of them was in my class. The eldest alone used the formal address that all students used, but the youngest three used 'Dad' when answering the register - which was accepted."

ATL Executive member Alison Sherratt was positively encouraged to send her children to the school at which their father taught. "We were given the opportunity by the governing body to accept the places, as did several other families, and the school used this as a publicity thing, saying if teachers bring their own children here the school must be good!"

ATL member and peripatetic music teacher David Forbes taught his two children (paying for the privilege), but "did not find it easy - to notice that your child is not in the playground because they are inside doing some extra work or punishment always hurts. Should I ask why? If I wasn't there I wouldn't have known."

Alison Hampson recalls a compromise at GCSE when her son chose geography over history to avoid being taught by his mother. However, the biggest problem occurred when he was picked to be head boy. "I felt that this could be seen as favouritism," she explains. "Thankfully I was firmly put in my place by the headteacher, who pointed out that there was no one else who was in the running!

"It was something that I should have felt proud of but it was still difficult as a member of staff. It was a problem when I had to watch him as head boy and when he received various awards - I had to do this as a member of staff, which meant it was sometimes difficult to keep the 'proud mother' emotions in check!"