London headteacher sends letter advising ‘highly critical’ parents to retrain as teachers

Only the children of key workers are left in school

(PA)

A London primary school headteacher has told “highly critical” parents at his school to retrain as teachers.

Pupils in schools and colleges in England, except children of key workers and vulnerable pupils, were told to learn remotely as part of the latest lockdown.

Colin Dowland described how some parents of pupils at Woodridge Primary School in North Finchley had "taken advantage" of online learning platforms to send "highly critical messages of advice to teachers about how to do their jobs".

"The children have now received only 13 weeks of school (this too, restricted by Covid) in the last 11 months and this is set to continue for some time to come. Inevitably, there will be some gaps in learning for all children," the headteacher said.

However, he warned that if the critical messages continued it could lead to some teachers at the school leaving the profession by the end of the year.

Last paragraph! 😲 pic.twitter.com/SKLvmZICU5

— Mr B 🙋‍♂️ (@MrB_online) January 26, 2021

Not content with calling out the behaviour, Mr Dowland put forward his own proposal.

"Can I encourage all those particular parents, who now consider themselves to be educational experts, to sign up for teacher training at their earliest convenience, since there are never enough teachers and I suspect many will be leaving the profession after this year.

Mr Dowland went further still, advising parents that there were "a number of different access routes" into teaching.

He added: "I will also update you if we have any teaching vacancies at Woodridge over the next few weeks, which if such messages continue, I am thoroughly expecting."

It comes as Boris Johnson has said parents and schools will be given two weeks’ notice before pupils return to class.

The Prime Minister said the Government will “look at” the idea of reopening schools in areas where the virus is less prevalent, but he added that it was “pretty much a national picture at the moment”.

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