back to article School worker's Facebook post prompts suspension

A member of staff at a school near Cleethorpes has been suspended on full pay for more than two months for briefly commenting on the behaviour of pupils on Facebook. The 35-year-old woman, Mrs M, who worked as a cover supervisor at Humberston Comprehensive School close to the Lincolnshire seaside town, is currently awaiting …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In my book, any teacher using "LOL"

    should be suspended

  2. neil
    Coat

    The truth will out!

    I hope they get their facts right and the truth does come out, too many schools, head teachers and governing bodies try to hide the truth. And that does them and the children who want to learn no good at all.

    Of course as a non-qual cover she has no hope of claiming the 'academic freedom' to comment a qualified teacher has...one of the problems of using non-qual's to do a teachers job perhaps?

    The lies told by some schools and their governing bodies, especially of former grammar schools trading on their past reputations, is much more of an issue!

    Yes I am a school govenor.

  3. Jim

    Facebook is social masturbation...

    ... so she's a wanker for posting that stuff. But yeah, year eight students are a pain in the arse...

  4. Lionel Baden
    Flame

    hmm yes i agree

    8g1 should never of been higlighted like this in the public

    WTF !!!

    who the fuck is 8G1 and 8G2 and who gives a Shit.

    anybody prepared to go to lengths to decipher whatever she was babbeling on about has an unhealthy intrest in schools and will probably get arrested in the current climate !!!

    as far as i see she did nothing wrong

    didnt release any names.

    The worst these kids would of got if any of school kids actually bothered would be a bit of teasing which may encourage them to work a tad harder in future !

  5. Waggers
    Paris Hilton

    Another fuss over nothing

    Firstly, "just as bad" isn't saying they *are* bad, it means the same as "just as good". She did not call the class "bad" as reported, she just likened it to another class. It's like saying "El Reg is just as bad as the best website I've ever come across" - does that statement say El Reg is bad? No, it does not.

    Secondly, doesn't "bad" mean "good" in some forms of slang anyway? Similar to "wicked" etc; think Michael Jackson...

    Paris because she's bad...

  6. Dangermouse

    Anyhoo...

    ...doesn't "bad" mean "good" in down-wiv-da-kidz-lol-speek these days?

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Pathetic

    Firstly, do we know if her profile was private or not? If it was a friend who reported her, then she should sue them. If it was public and somebody random saw it, well it's her own fault for having her profile public.

    And the whole thing is pathetic. I'm sure there's plenty of pub conversations where teachers say to their mates/wives/husbands/other teachers "the kids in my class were complete c**** today, I'm not looking forward to Monday". If that was overheard, would they also be suspended??!!?

  8. Greg

    WTF?

    What the hell?? She didn't do anything wrong, nor did she even mention the school. Whereas now everyone knows which school she means...

    Dumbasses.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    heh

    I remember 8f, man we were a vile class and only got worse as the years went on, two teachers left becouse of our class.

    "You can't call them bad, they're challanging" or some such shizz, well my class was down right evil, but we weren't an oddity in my school - if you didn't want to follow the rules the school couldn't do anything about you.

    Teachers on the other hand were easily got rid of.

    My little brothers year was worse, and I bet todays batch are worse still, challanging authority and being a toe rag is part of being a teenager, problem is, authority is pretty crap nowdays when you're a teen and you can push a hell of a long way to the point where you find that infact the teenagers are the ones with the power if they have a mind set that suits the current climate. (Say the teacher said something sexual to you and even if it is chucked out it'll go on their permenant rumour check.)

    oh well, glad I'm no teacher.

  10. Karim Bourouba

    Hasnt this sort of thing been going on for ever though?

    Isnt this the sort of thing people would normally say in a conversation? You know, those things you do between going on facebook?

    I am concerned as to how someone "discovered" this information though.

  11. Francis Fish
    Unhappy

    Why did you link to "the Mail"?

    Mail != truth

    I found myself reading stuff that made me feel ill

    Stop it

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    OMG...

    ...but now pedos and rapists and serial killers now the classnames and will attempt to loor theese innocent schoolkids into their blue ford mondeos!!

    What has she done. She should be sacked not just suspended on full pay - this is political correctness gone mad shes done something wrong and shoud suffer for it.

    And so on, so forth in HYS/daily mail commentard fashion (I find it mentally challenging to turn off my inner pedant like that :P)

  13. Dr. Mouse

    Idiotic

    Firstly, what people do and say in their own time is their business, IMHO, unless they are a public figure.

    What she said may have been made 'public', but I deride my employer in the local boozer after a few beers, loud enough for people to overhear, and I do not think this should reflect on my employment status.

    Secondly, as "Waggers" pointed out, "just as bad" doesn't mean they are bad, and she didnt name the school, hence it should not have brought the school into disrepute.

    And last of all, in starting these procedings, they have brought it into the public eye which HAS brought the school into disrepute.

    EEJITS!!

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @neil

    School Governor is one of those jobs that wanting to do it should immediately and irrevocably disqualify an applicant from ever being appointed as one.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    @AC, 13:13

    becouse

    challanging

    shizz

    todays

    challanging

    nowdays

    infact

    permenant

    "oh well, glad I'm no teacher".

    Yeah mate. I'm glad you're no teacher too.

  16. steogede

    @Waggers

    That is just what I was about to say. All she said is that the two classes are equal. Although, re-reading it it does say that a teacher said something(?) bad about a class - and the cover support worker likened the second class to the first - so by inference, she did say something bad about the class. Still, hardly a sackable offence.

    The best bit, IMHO is that she is being accused of "potentially bringing the school into disrepute" - when clearly the only people bringing the school into disrepute are those who suspended her - thus turning this into a newsworthy* event.

    *debatable

  17. steward
    Pirate

    And now the whole world...

    knows that the Humberston Comprehensive School has some problems they want hidden. Not exactly helpful to the UK guvmint considering everything else going on.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Forget the Darwin Awards

    I want to see the MySpace/Facebook "Public FAIL Awards"!

  19. Tom

    Wow

    If you think 8g2 and 8g1 are bad you should see 8g3. Now they're a bunch of right little cunts.

  20. Tom

    Granted I'm one of those redneck neanderthals you all love to hate

    but it seems to me that if there was any "potentially bringing the school into disrepute" that was accomplished by a school that has ability to discipline it's students and not someone making mention of it outside of the school grounds.

    Furthermore, I might have been willing to allow how as I'm not a Brit, perhaps to someone more familiar with the area, the comment was sufficiently revealing to provide specific information, but from some of the responses posted here, I take that being across the pond is not the cause of my inability to specifically identify the school.

  21. Michael
    Thumb Down

    Facebook trolls?

    I find it a bit worrying that some companies/institutions are so insecure they actually have facebook police!... Are they paid for their labours, or is this "concerned parents" ..etc.

    I've seen enough of this out-of-control heavy handed micromanagement to last a lifetime.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    makes me wonder

    Who would want all the trouble of having anything to do with children anymore? Especially teaching, years of training that can go down the toilet for any one of a number of stupid reasons.

    If this keeps up, in ten years time, the masses will be completely uneducated due to no-one being prepared to actually teach them. Try offshoring teaching to India!!

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    comprehensive success

    clearly she is highlighting the successful implementation of comprehensive education principles whereby 8g1 are just as bad as 8g2 instead of an elitist system where pupils would have been setted so that 8g1 where less bad than 8g2.

    Actually, her main "sin" is using the word "bad" ... schools don't want to make negative comments any more ... we got a missive from the English dept at my sons secondary school last term explaining how they would only ever correct at most 5 mistakes in any work handed in to avoid making pupils feel they were failing!

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    @AC - 14:48 GMT

    Who would want all the trouble of having anything to do with children anymore?

    HA HA HA...that's right. Just have the little buggers and turn them over to the gubmint to raise. Oh wait, that's what happened now, innit? No wonder things are a right mess.

  25. Alfonso Vespucci

    correcting 5 mistakes...

    Then stop. Cuts down on marking time. And teaching time.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Who's reading the teachers' facebook pages?

    Come on 6g2, I'm waiting for one of you to own up....

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    School league tables

    No doubt the school doesn't want it's name associated with words like 'bad' as it might reflect badly on them and sooner or later they might fall in the league tables as parents of 'good' children don't want to send them to a 'bad' school...

    Politically correct madness again...

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Only 5 mistakes corrected?

    Is that because the standard of pupils' work is so bad these days, and it would take poor teach forever to correct everything, or just because someone up in teaching 'authority' thought it better not to risk upsetting the poor lambs with too many red crosses?

    In my day at school, all errors in my work were marked in the teacher's red ink -- and then I could (1) see all my mistakes, and most importantly (2) learn from my mistakes.

    Shakes head and gets coat.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @AC 14:48

    "Try offshoring teaching to India!!"

    Uhhh, well, actually, funny you mention that......

    I've run tech for an academic study on exactly that. Mind you this was at the undergraduate level, so behavior problems aren't an issue. It was only marginally less effective than the standard university practice of having classes taught by LOCAL Indians with unintelligible accents, and was actually cheaper (even taking into account equipment costs and bandwidth)

  30. ElFatbob

    Thanks Labour

    for truly institutionalising the small-minded, nasty, politically correct, nanny-knows-best attitude up and down the public services.

    And you think you're getting routed because of the M.P.'s expenses fiasco?

  31. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge

    Just goes to

    Show the value of not using your real name on the internets

    Boris the Cockroach

  32. Marc-Oliver Kalis
    Pirate

    The only one who should be suspended...

    and eventually fired is/are the tosser(s) who suspended her in the first place!!!

    Ok, I know we don´t have any (or only limited) freedom of speech in the UK, but she has in no way divulged who the culprits actually are.

    If my kids where on that school, I would write a formal complaint against whoever suspended her, for really bringing the school into disrepute, since a quiet word on the side would have been far more effective!!!

    With formalising this it has been put out in the public and therefore really damaged the reputation, but not because of what a non-qualified teacher said, but what sort of brainless idiots they have who actually went through with a suspension!!!

  33. I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects
    Unhappy

    Whatever happened to the Nu labour ideals?

    I can remember long after they had real bread that the government were very keen on us helping them catch crooks by snitching to them.

    Now it appears telling the truth and shaming the government, school broads and who the hell else, isn't flavour of the month no longer.

    Shame

    and name em.

  34. Armus Squelprom
    Thumb Down

    Justice For the 8G Two!

    Silly, silly storm in a teacup. What would've happened if someone had overheard her making the same remark in the bogroll aisle of Tescos...? Clue - nothing, because no child was identified or harmed in any way. Shame on the school for over-reacting so absurdly.

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @@AC, 13:13

    Do you have anything useful to say? Or does it get you hard pretending to be smart by pointing out others failings?

    Anon would like to know.

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They Are Watching!

    This proves it! 'They' (whoever 'they' are- e.g. anybody!) are keeping tabs on us. A good reason to ALWAYS have your profile set to anon. My mother is a teacher and certainly lets rip when she's had a bad day. What happened in this case is pathetic and justifies the paranoia about the 'surveillance' state (though it maybe someone with a petty axe to grind). Pupils setting up a hate website defaming a teacher is on quite a different magnitude. It leaves me wondering whether this incident was just an excuse to get rid of a member of staff. It's like when staff are suspended or fired for distributing improper e-mails. Is it genuine concern or just an excuse to sack people without redundancy?

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    What's next ?

    I remember 8th grade (and I assume we are talking about that generally pubescent and volatile stage of school education), God, we were soooo bad...... That poor teacher, she simply slipped on facebook, spoke her mind and paid the price,

    Well anyway, this is why we all need to stay anonymous and not criticize any of our fine public institutions in public, because you can see what happens !

    No worries, one day, fixed IP addresses will be tattoed to our foreheads and then there will be no dissent, whatsoever. BWAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

  38. Charles Manning

    @Marc-Oliver Kalis

    "If my kids where on that school"...

    Read http://www.humberston-school.co.uk/report.pdf

    This is one of those fucked up schools that can't retain staff and score [poorly in the whole school's evaluation.

    If your kid goes to this school you don't care about them and couldn't be arsed to make a complaint etc.

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Striesand Effect

    All senior staff at said school will now undertake a course, so that the may learn the meaning of the 'Streisand Effect'.

  40. elderlybloke
    Happy

    Facebook?

    Didn't have no Facebook when I was at school recently. A mere 60 years ago.

    Come to think about it didn't have no stinking internet either .

    Gotnhimmel, I do waste a lot of my time on that internet,

    It should be banned as bad for the children.

  41. Steve Swann
    Thumb Down

    Hmmm, let me see here....

    You have no right to an opinion.

    If you have an opinion, you must not express it.

    If you do express it, and we see it, you will be sanctioned.

    We have people who will check to see if you express your opinion, so don't think you can hide it.

    Once you have been sanctioned, you may not speak about the sanction.

    You have no right to express your opinion about the sanction.

    How many more wrongs can we find in this?

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Dead Vulture

    Great

    You have an opinion, which is probably true, and you get suspended for thought crime - welcome to modern Britain.

    Last one out please punch gordo in the fayse

    Tombstone, cos thats were Britain is heading

  43. Adam West

    punished for telling the truth

    I live in the area. The kids in Humberston are just as bad as the kids in Grimsby or Cleethorpes. They're all gobshites.

    Fact is tho, she hasnt done anything wrong. I work in education and Ive made it very clear to my employers that they've got no say in my life outside of work hours. I hope she fights this one.

  44. This post has been deleted by its author

  45. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Is it just me...

    Or does it not concern anyone that she's being punished for making a comment that:

    1. Was Out of School operating times (9:10pm)

    2. Does not highlight the name of the school (just the year group, but not naming individuals)

    3. Was read by her friends and one of them has reported her (either that she's an idiot and she left it open to public viewing, but then if you think about it, someone actively went looking for her profile).

    I could understand the issue if these comments were made during the working day.. but alas they're not and basically the council is executing the "class supervisor" (not a fully fledged teacher apparently) right to freedom of speech.

  46. David

    Re: Is it just me...

    "either that she's an idiot and she left it open to public viewing"

    It seems to be a comment left by her on her colleague's status update, so if anything it would be her colleague's privacy settings which are to blame.

  47. Wayland Sothcott

    Fascist state

    We have citizens tattling on each other and the state encourages this. Confidential hotlines for just about everything. There is a hotline to report benefit fraud, you can get a criminal record for this, but if you are high enough up then you get let off with losing your job.

    It's divide and conqure.

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