192. Cost Of Living Nightmare, Sick Day Pressure & Using A.I. Safely [Listener Q&A]

A teacher writes in saying she had to be talked out of going into work while ill by her own partner. Not because she wanted to be there, but because calling in sick felt worse than just turning up. Dylan and Hayden know exactly what that feels like, and this one opens a conversation about why sick days in teaching are genuinely broken.

Then a headteacher has announced that all staff are being moved to different year groups in September, nobody wants it, nobody was consulted, and the latest anyone will find out where they are going is the day before the May resignation deadline. Suck it up or leave. Dylan has a view on whether that is acceptable leadership.

There is also a really interesting question about why children's happiness drops so sharply between primary and secondary school, and what secondary schools could actually learn from the way primary works.

The reports question will resonate with anyone in the final stretch of the year. A teacher has been told by leadership that AI cannot be used to help write reports under any circumstances. Dylan and Hayden discuss whether that policy makes any sense, what you can actually take to your head to argue the case, and how to get through reports without losing the will to live.

And the one that might hit hardest. A teacher in their thirties, single, renting, cannot save a penny. Loves the job but is financially stuck. At what point does staying in a job you love become genuinely irresponsible?

Honest, funny, and right on time for this point of the year.

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