These 6 Spooky Situations Will Scare Every Teacher Senseless

Our advice to the good people of Transylvania – next time Count Dracula creeps down from his musty castle to terrorise the townfolk, don’t call Van Helsing; enlist the local schoolteacher instead. Life as an educator can hold more unexpected frights than a fairground ghost train, but teachers don’t need to faff about with garlic and pointy stakes to do their job.  

As every teacher knows, fighting the good fight to fill young people’s minds isn’t always a walk in the park. To kick off the Halloween weekend, let’s take a stroll down the graveyard path to gaze upon the more gruesome bits of teaching life. Try not to shriek too loudly. 

You always know it’s on the way, with the grim inevitability of a werewolf bearing down upon its prey. Yet when the call comes, even the hardiest Senior Leader can turn as white as a ghost. 

But remember, the only thing to fear in an Ofsted inspection is fear itself. A confident school full of teachers carrying their heads high will satisfy even the most imperious inspector. The trick? Stay as cool as the abominable snowman and the danger will pass. 

If the Ofsted inspector doesn’t send a chill down your spine, your pupils’ parents certainly will. You’re tired and hungry after a long day managing classes of 30 kids, and now you have to keep their mums and dads happy too. 

So it’s happened. You’ve turned up to class after lunch armed with a lesson plan as big as a pumpkin and some killer tasks. You walk in, ready to impart some serious knowledge to your Year 9s, only to realise that you’re looking out at the expectant, eager faces of your Year 12 class. Not even H.P. Lovecraft could have imagined the fathoms of dread closing over your head right now. 

The horror! Some neuron has misfired in your brain and led you to make a clanger of a spelling mistake on the whiteboard. What’s even worse is that the precocious young soul in the second row has pointed it out to the whole class. 

The best tactic in this situation, mortifying though it may feel, is to laugh, acknowledge it and move on. Congratulate the bright young stickler for their keen eye, correct the error and jump back into the flow of the lesson. Kids might even relate more to a teacher who is unafraid to admit that they’re not perfect either. 

Teachers have a right to a private life of their own outside the classroom. Unfortunately, children and adolescents don’t always appreciate the importance of your boundaries. If you’re active on social media, the last thing you want is to walk into class one morning to find your pupils giggling about your latest Facebook update. 

What could be more relaxing than a glass of wine with a few friends down the local after a long week making the world a better place? That boy passing by the window of the pub looks dreadfully familiar. Could it be…oh no, oh heavens! The gangly teenager who usually sits before you in a tie and blazer is now gawking from across a pane of glass. ‘Miss’, he mouths, ‘it’s you!’