Teacher Talk - The Business of Teaching

Missed Lessons

Sarah Allen asks: I would like to know how colleagues treat missed lessons, where the pupil, often with good reason, has to cancel. My own view, is that, if I cancel, obviously, I do not get paid, but a pupil cancellation has to be paid for. This can seem harsh, especially when nobody is a fault, but a pupil books a slot for at least a term, which cannot be given at short notice to someone else. During a flu epidemic, one could otherwise suffer serious loss of income, plus some parents will want to cancel because a pupil is tired after a sleepover (I have experienced this). I would appreciate others' comments on this.