unfair dismissal?

hazz21

Hi all,

Sadly I come to you under these pretences.

Basically my employer (a school) sacked me today.

They did so under grounds that I feel were not entirely fair.

They told me that a pupil and a member of staff had complained about what was occurring within a lesson of mine. I was a cover teacher at the school so I fall under support staff not teaching.

Essentially what transpired within the lesson was not worthy of the way they made it sound,

It was a double lesson and the pupils are allowed a 5minute break at the teachers digression, I allowed one and allowed two pupils to have their phones out for a few minutes as they were rather hyper and I felt it would settle them back into work.

Once the 2nd lesson began I tried to make sure everyone was on task, however, while I was talking to another pupil who was struggling to cope within the lesson itself and would have got themselves sent out if I hadn't of intervened a pupil had printed off something inappropriate and a head of department came in showing me the docs, I didn't know who it was but I endeavoured to find out and did so, following it up appropriately, however, in jest I made a comment that this pupils behaviour had 'taken the vibe out of the room' - this made its way back to my bosses.

Then we crawled to the end of the lesson, with many pupils off task due to the heat/ double period and lack of appropriately set work + covering lessons can cause this atmosphere due to lack of consistency for the pupils.

Yes it was a mistake on my behalf to allow phones for those 5mins, however, I deemed it necessary because these pupils were working well and struggled with the noise from the class. - They are also rather naughty pupils.

Anyhow... I was offered one of two choices. As I am leaving (in 2 weeks paid till end of Aug) it was go now and be paid till the end of July but I don't receive a formal warning or stay and receive a formal warning.

I have a very important course starting in September and at the time through sheer shock of what was coming at me I chose the former (however, didn't sign anything) and decided to go home. I have only been employed there for a few months having changed roles, however, it was very clear I was being forced to make a decision and not allowed to fight my corner or given a fair judgement - it was a 5-10 min discussion without any 'lets hear your side of the story' or 'while you did this we understand it was a localised incident' - which it was.

However, I'm not part of a union (dunce I am) and I need to know legally where I stand as I'm going to be a months wages out of pocket.

If anyone can point me in the right direction or give me some advice I'd appreciate it.

ALso what I wrote may seem convoluted and in essence it is, it's a school after all. So if you don't work in a school try to see that I made an error, it wasn't grave and I should have just been 'slapped on then wrist' - however, it seems that because I'm gone in 2 weeks, they could force me off the books and really knew I wouldn't want to fight it there and then. I wasn't prepared or given any notice, I walked in and was pounced upon.

thanks.

Hammyman

hazz21 wrote: »

I have only been employed there for a few months having changed roles,

As you have been employed under 12 months, you can be dismissed without reason.

LittleVoice

hazz21 wrote: »

I was a cover teacher at the school so I fall under support staff not teaching.

Essentially what transpired within the lesson was not worthy of the way they made it sound,

It was a double lesson and the pupils are allowed a 5minute break at the teachers digression, I allowed one and allowed two pupils to have their phones out for a few minutes as they were rather hyper and I felt it would settle them back into work.

Once the 2nd lesson began I tried to make sure everyone was on task, however, while I was talking to another pupil who was struggling to cope within the lesson itself and would have got themselves sent out if I hadn't of intervened a pupil had printed off something inappropriate and a head of department came in showing r or given a fair judgement - it was a 5-10 min discussion without any 'lets hear your side of the story' or 'while you did this we understand it was a localised incident' - which it was.


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viktory

LittleVoice wrote: »

...............

Quite. I find it frightening to think that someone is teaching secondary school pupils with such a lack of grammar & punctuation.

I know that a lot of people on here say that they can spell and punctuate perfectly in their jobs but don't bother on here, but it should be deeply ingrained in a teacher.

Reggie_Rebel

hazz21 wrote: »

Yes it was a mistake on my behalf to allow phones for those 5mins, however, I deemed it necessary because these pupils were working well and struggled with the noise from the class. - They are also rather naughty pupils.

What were the well behaved kids allowed, a DVD, free ice cream?

terra_ferma

Hello OP I suggest that you call ACAS, they will be able to give you some advice.

Don't take the posters comments personally, it happens all the time, it's just part of posting on a public forum, you'll get many people who are here to help and some who are not.

hazz21

thanks for the informative post terra_ferma.

The others well... I wasn't here to demonstrate my ability merely get advice. I don't need reassurance of my grammar and punctuation. This is a forum not a covering letter for a job.

Errata

If you're a teacher, speak to your union asap.

SarEl

terra_ferma wrote: »

Hello OP I suggest that you call ACAS, they will be able to give you some advice.

Don't take the posters comments personally, it happens all the time, it's just part of posting on a public forum, you'll get many people who are here to help and some who are not.

It is not an informative post at all. You cannot claim unfair dismissal (of any kind) unless you have 12 months employment. In any case you have not been dismissed - you were certainly given a hard choice - resign early or get a formal warning (which isn't a dismissal. But honestly? A teacher does not maintain respect in a classroom by permitting poor behaviour and rule-breaking. A formal warning was warranted. Remember - this is your version of the story, not theirs, and it shows you in a poor light. You made some very poor judgements. So you have a choice - you can go back on Monday, say that you do not agree to resign and take the disciplinary. Or you can keep quiet, accept this, and learn from it. If you intend to spend more time in teaching in the future it would be well to reflect on how things got so badly out of control, and set your mind to learning from this and ensuring it doesn't happen again. The nest time you loose control of a class the consequences could be a lot worse.

lucylucky

"Basically my employer (a school) sacked me today."

Better get the facts right for a start - you were not sacked by anyone.

terra_ferma

SarEl wrote: »

It is not an informative post at all.

Well that's your opinion.
Deciding that her warning was warranted is also just your opinion, not a fact, as if I remember right from other posts you are a solicitor and not a teacher.