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The Secret Life of Teachers

<p>Step inside Mehreen Baig’s virtual staffroom to hear what the UK’s teachers really think. As the new term begins amid a global pandemic, we get the uncensored views of what it’s really like behind the school gates from the people who spend more time with our children than we do.</p>

BBC Radio 4

In the final episode of the series, Mehreen Baig hears outrageous stories of teachers having sex in classrooms, taking drugs in the staff toilets and engaging in other forms of illicit behavior in schools. What happens when a teacher’s dating profile is discovered by the students? Is it ever right for a teacher to have a relationship with a student, even when they have left the school? And what happens when a teacher’s past social media posts come back to haunt them in the classroom?

8. Teachers Behaving Badly

Host Mehreen Baig is joined in the secret staffroom by three teachers to talk about coming face to face with sweary dads and badly behaved mums and breaking the news to them that their precious child may not be the angel they believe them to be. Would you want your parents’ evening to be conducted via Zoom? Are they still an essential part of the teaching - and parental - experience? Or are they just a waste of time?

7. Parents’ Evening

Host Mehreen Baig is joined in her virtual staffroom by three teachers to discuss field trips, residentials visits and the joys - and horrors - of school trips. What are the benefits of taking students out of the classroom? How do teachers ensure everyone stays safe and well? And will these excursions become a thing of the past in the age of Covid-19?

6. School Trips

Host Mehreen Baig is joined in the virtual staffroom by three teachers and hears their stories of bad behaviour in the classroom and how they manage it. From their worst experiences to the heartbreaking decisions they have had to make on the grounds of safety of other students. Mehreen asks: what is failing? Is it the education system or the home environment? And how can schools ensure that no child is left behind?

5. Bad Behaviour

Host Mehreen Baig is joined in the virtual staffroom by three UK teachers to discuss the increase in mental health issues among students. She asks whether it's a recent development or if the problem has been present for years without much public acknowledgement. Are we likely to see an increase in cases as students process the events of the pandemic? And just what are the expectations on teachers as the lines between educator and counsellor become blurred?

4. Student Mental Health

Host Mehreen Baig is joined in the virtual staffroom by three UK teachers as they discuss the return to school after lockdown. As traditional concerns of children not having the correct equipment for lessons are replaced by fears of children sharing equipment, just how are our teachers managing the adjustment period for both the students and themselves? And is it even possible to convince hundreds of teenagers to follow one-way systems and social-distancing rules when they have not seen their friends for months?

3. The First Week Back

Host Mehreen Baig welcomes a new group of teachers to her virtual staffroom to discuss how they really feel about Ofsted inspections. What is the purpose of these inspections and who are the people behind the Ofsted badges? Can the word that puts dread into the hearts of teachers across the country really claim to be an effective way of monitoring our nation's education system? And is it helpful for the inspectors be a presence in schools so soon after the big return to classrooms?

2. The Ofsted Inspection

Host Mehreen Baig is joined in the virtual staffroom by teachers from the UK to discuss remote learning, the exam fiasco of 2020 and returning to classrooms amid a global pandemic. Hear what teachers really think as they are tasked with guiding the nation's children into the new normal and picking up the pieces of an interrupted education system.

1. Back To School

Mehreen Baig hosts a weekly discussion in the secret staff room as UK teachers take us beyond the headlines. As the new term begins in the midst of a global pandemic we get the uncensored views of what it’s really like behind the school gate from the people who spend more time with our children than we do.