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Primary School Teachers-easy life?
18 Answers
Is it just me, or do Primary School teachers have the cushiest jobs in the world?
Why on earcth do they need to have 12 -14 weeks holiday each year? I can understand senior school teachers having this amount of holiday as they usually teach 100's of pupils, and they need time to do things such as mak exams.As far as I am aware, a primary school teacher has a class of about 30 kids that they teach all year, and when that class moves up a year, they get another class of pupils the same age.OK so there might be a bit of homework involved, and my 6 year old gets homwork almost every day, but it is nearly always reading, which the parents monitor and comment on anyway.
Also, I get really annoyed at some of the things my son's school does, and they give no thought to working parents when they organise things. For example, We recently attended a parents evening, but because the poor teachers had to spend a few hours in the evening talking to parents, the pupils did not need to be in school until 10 am the next morning. Another problem is, my youngest son, who attends the nursery attched to the primary school, went on a day trip to a theme park last week with the nursery. Instead of arranging the coach for about 9am so that the many parents who have children in both the nursery and primary school can drop the older child at school and then go on the coach trip, they organise the coach for 8.15 am, which means that other arrangements have to be made to take any older siblings to the primary school.The theme park is only an ours drive away, so 9 am would have been fine.
Maybe I am totally wrong about some of the above, and hopefully there are some Primary School Teachers out there who could put me straight on a few things.
Why on earcth do they need to have 12 -14 weeks holiday each year? I can understand senior school teachers having this amount of holiday as they usually teach 100's of pupils, and they need time to do things such as mak exams.As far as I am aware, a primary school teacher has a class of about 30 kids that they teach all year, and when that class moves up a year, they get another class of pupils the same age.OK so there might be a bit of homework involved, and my 6 year old gets homwork almost every day, but it is nearly always reading, which the parents monitor and comment on anyway.
Also, I get really annoyed at some of the things my son's school does, and they give no thought to working parents when they organise things. For example, We recently attended a parents evening, but because the poor teachers had to spend a few hours in the evening talking to parents, the pupils did not need to be in school until 10 am the next morning. Another problem is, my youngest son, who attends the nursery attched to the primary school, went on a day trip to a theme park last week with the nursery. Instead of arranging the coach for about 9am so that the many parents who have children in both the nursery and primary school can drop the older child at school and then go on the coach trip, they organise the coach for 8.15 am, which means that other arrangements have to be made to take any older siblings to the primary school.The theme park is only an ours drive away, so 9 am would have been fine.
Maybe I am totally wrong about some of the above, and hopefully there are some Primary School Teachers out there who could put me straight on a few things.
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My wife is a primary school teacher.
She works very long hours and much of her weekend. During reporting time she has little time for anything but work. She works through most of her lunch breaks supervising children and dealing with problems.
Each child has different requirements and these need to be discovered and dealt with individually by targetted programs.
It only takes a very small number with behavioural problems to make it a very difficult situation. It is made all the harder by some parents who refuse to accept their children have any problems and will back their child regardless of their socially disfunctional behaviours. Violence by children is disturbingly common.
Indeed many parents seem to think that it is the responsibility of the teachers to entirely bring up their children while they contibute virtually nothing other than modelling bad behaviour and disrespect for teachers.
Others refuse to contribute small amounts of money asked by the school to suppliment the paltry budgets they have to work with.
She works very long hours and much of her weekend. During reporting time she has little time for anything but work. She works through most of her lunch breaks supervising children and dealing with problems.
Each child has different requirements and these need to be discovered and dealt with individually by targetted programs.
It only takes a very small number with behavioural problems to make it a very difficult situation. It is made all the harder by some parents who refuse to accept their children have any problems and will back their child regardless of their socially disfunctional behaviours. Violence by children is disturbingly common.
Indeed many parents seem to think that it is the responsibility of the teachers to entirely bring up their children while they contibute virtually nothing other than modelling bad behaviour and disrespect for teachers.
Others refuse to contribute small amounts of money asked by the school to suppliment the paltry budgets they have to work with.
Maybe things are different in your area but my wife has 11 weeks leave. However virtually every public holiday that other workers have in additon to their annual leave is embedded in this time.
She can never have holidays any other time. Accomodation is always at premium cost during school holidays and tourist venues are always packed.
She also spends a considerable amout of time in her holidays preparing for the return to school.
She endures more illness than most other professionals due to the exposure to small children. Yet she recently dragged herself to school and worked extra long hours while ill to complete assessments and reports that had to be completed by a deadline.
She can never have holidays any other time. Accomodation is always at premium cost during school holidays and tourist venues are always packed.
She also spends a considerable amout of time in her holidays preparing for the return to school.
She endures more illness than most other professionals due to the exposure to small children. Yet she recently dragged herself to school and worked extra long hours while ill to complete assessments and reports that had to be completed by a deadline.
Thank you all for your answers, I am now a little wiser.
Beso, your wife obviously works very hard, but I also work very hard (60 hours a week) plus work a couple of hours every evening at home, and there are many working parents like myself who work these sort of hours. I also have to take my holidays during the more expesive school holidays, but I do not get 11 weeks annual leave.I do not dispute that the job can at times be diificult, but this could be said for majority of jobs.
Stonekicker, No I would not want to teach a class of under 10's, but school teachers obviously do as this is their chosen proffession. Difficult parents and troublesome kids are not a new phenomenom, so teachers would be well aware that this would be something they would have to deal with.
Thugulike, this is definately not a wind up. A senior school teacher will teach hundreds of kids throughout the year, whereas a primary school teacher usually has a class of around 30 kids which they teach all year.
Beso, your wife obviously works very hard, but I also work very hard (60 hours a week) plus work a couple of hours every evening at home, and there are many working parents like myself who work these sort of hours. I also have to take my holidays during the more expesive school holidays, but I do not get 11 weeks annual leave.I do not dispute that the job can at times be diificult, but this could be said for majority of jobs.
Stonekicker, No I would not want to teach a class of under 10's, but school teachers obviously do as this is their chosen proffession. Difficult parents and troublesome kids are not a new phenomenom, so teachers would be well aware that this would be something they would have to deal with.
Thugulike, this is definately not a wind up. A senior school teacher will teach hundreds of kids throughout the year, whereas a primary school teacher usually has a class of around 30 kids which they teach all year.
Teak, secondary school teachers have free periods for marking and admin built into their timetable. Primary teachers do not, and have a to battle to protect a paltry amount of personal preparation time in which to cacth up with marking and admin. Most primary school teachers are still on site at five pm after arriving at school for briefings and meetings at 8.00 am. Secondary school teachers frequently spend evenings and weekend marking and preparing work.
A huge amount of what goes into making a successful primary school classroom seem 'easy' is, like all such phenomena, down to the immense amount of work that goes on behind the scenes.
With respect, it is not the schools fault that you have children in several different years. It is a display of their dedication that teachers were prepared to start a school trip at 8.15 am - I am confident it was not done in order to inconvenience your domestic routine.
While the long summer break is one of the last perks left in teaching, many teachers also see its downside and resent having their school year timetabled by an ancient agricultural calendar - one that also suits westminster who also have a very long summer break.
Perhaps you might arrange to do a job swap for a week with your child's teacher, then you might have a greater insight into the profession and the teachers could also learn from your '60 hour week plus evenings'.
A huge amount of what goes into making a successful primary school classroom seem 'easy' is, like all such phenomena, down to the immense amount of work that goes on behind the scenes.
With respect, it is not the schools fault that you have children in several different years. It is a display of their dedication that teachers were prepared to start a school trip at 8.15 am - I am confident it was not done in order to inconvenience your domestic routine.
While the long summer break is one of the last perks left in teaching, many teachers also see its downside and resent having their school year timetabled by an ancient agricultural calendar - one that also suits westminster who also have a very long summer break.
Perhaps you might arrange to do a job swap for a week with your child's teacher, then you might have a greater insight into the profession and the teachers could also learn from your '60 hour week plus evenings'.
In Australia, teacher's (and nurses) are among the lowest paid of all professionals
A huge proportion of teachers will be retiring in the next decade and there are not enough being trained to fill the gap. There are so many better remunerated career opportunities with better working conditions that only very few take on teaching.
A huge proportion of teachers will be retiring in the next decade and there are not enough being trained to fill the gap. There are so many better remunerated career opportunities with better working conditions that only very few take on teaching.
Lil O Lady, many thanks for your answer.I think my original post sating 'easy life' was probably not the correct term.
I agree, it is not the schools problem that I have a child in the nursery, and another in the primary school itself, I was just pointing out that there are many parents in this situation, and I am sure that arranging a school trip half an hour later would not have been a problem for the school, and would have helped many parents out.
I understand what you are saying about secondary school teachers getting free periods to do marking and admin, but the fact still remains that a primary school teacher has a class of around 30 kids to teach for the whole year as opposed to secondary school teachers teaching hundreds of kids.How much time do you need to prepare and mark for 30 kids. Any written homework my boy brings home is the same photocopied piece of paper the other 30 kids have got for home work., is also probably the same that the prvious year got, and will be the same that next years class will get. I agree they have to be marked, but it's not as if 6 year old kids have to write 200 word essays. What I am trying to say is that although the setting up of things such as homework paperwork may be time consuming, once it is done, the same work is just photocopied and issued to the kids year on year.
I am not for one second saying that primary school teachers do a bad job or are lazy, in fact my sons teacher is excellent, and I believe my kids get an excellent education.
I think the main thing that annoys me is the 11 weeks holidays, which is over two and a half times the national average.Are we saying Primary school teachers work two and a half times harder than the rest of us.I think not!. People can say whatever they want to try and defend this amount of holiday, but I just do not believe for one second that primary school teachers spend most of ithese 11 weeks doing 'school stuff'
I agree, it is not the schools problem that I have a child in the nursery, and another in the primary school itself, I was just pointing out that there are many parents in this situation, and I am sure that arranging a school trip half an hour later would not have been a problem for the school, and would have helped many parents out.
I understand what you are saying about secondary school teachers getting free periods to do marking and admin, but the fact still remains that a primary school teacher has a class of around 30 kids to teach for the whole year as opposed to secondary school teachers teaching hundreds of kids.How much time do you need to prepare and mark for 30 kids. Any written homework my boy brings home is the same photocopied piece of paper the other 30 kids have got for home work., is also probably the same that the prvious year got, and will be the same that next years class will get. I agree they have to be marked, but it's not as if 6 year old kids have to write 200 word essays. What I am trying to say is that although the setting up of things such as homework paperwork may be time consuming, once it is done, the same work is just photocopied and issued to the kids year on year.
I am not for one second saying that primary school teachers do a bad job or are lazy, in fact my sons teacher is excellent, and I believe my kids get an excellent education.
I think the main thing that annoys me is the 11 weeks holidays, which is over two and a half times the national average.Are we saying Primary school teachers work two and a half times harder than the rest of us.I think not!. People can say whatever they want to try and defend this amount of holiday, but I just do not believe for one second that primary school teachers spend most of ithese 11 weeks doing 'school stuff'
Teak, the British school year and its lesson timetabling is a relic of 18th century society and teachers have had no say about it whatsoever. It is not their choice or decision and has been foisted on schools by government. Having said that, if it is a perk then it is a deserved one. You say they are not 'marking work' for 11 weeks, but why should they? Are they not entited to a clear "30 days plus statutory" rest time?
Take up the points about the school year with your MP but don't take it out on the teachers - they may be benefitting slightly but haven't created the work pattern you are up in arms about.
Take up the points about the school year with your MP but don't take it out on the teachers - they may be benefitting slightly but haven't created the work pattern you are up in arms about.
Lil O lady,
yet again you misunderstand me.
I am not saying that a primary school teachers should be doing schools stuff during 11 weeks holiday, I just think that an 11 week holiday entitlement is over the top and unfair to rest of the working population. The fact that it is an historical 'perk' is neither here nor there. Does the fact that they are teachers make them more deserving than the average worker to this amount of holiday?
You say that many teachers resent having their school year timetabled by an ancient agricultural calendar, but I would bet my house that if teachers holidays were reduced to the national average, there would be a backlash of truly epic proportions from the teaching profession.
yet again you misunderstand me.
I am not saying that a primary school teachers should be doing schools stuff during 11 weeks holiday, I just think that an 11 week holiday entitlement is over the top and unfair to rest of the working population. The fact that it is an historical 'perk' is neither here nor there. Does the fact that they are teachers make them more deserving than the average worker to this amount of holiday?
You say that many teachers resent having their school year timetabled by an ancient agricultural calendar, but I would bet my house that if teachers holidays were reduced to the national average, there would be a backlash of truly epic proportions from the teaching profession.
Considering the fact that the leave is so long because thats how long the children have off then prehaps school holidays in general should be shorter as that would mean the teachers get less holiday.
Seriously do you expect them to turn up everyday to an empty school just so they don't get 11 weeks off? What are they supposed to be doing when they have nobody to teach? Has it occured to you that their wage might well reflect the smaller number of working weeks? I've certainly seen school jobs that have wages reflective of the time you'd be at work.
Seriously do you expect them to turn up everyday to an empty school just so they don't get 11 weeks off? What are they supposed to be doing when they have nobody to teach? Has it occured to you that their wage might well reflect the smaller number of working weeks? I've certainly seen school jobs that have wages reflective of the time you'd be at work.
Thank you everyone for your answers.
My intention was not to have a dig at Teachers, and as mentioned in an earlier answer, perhaps my heading of 'easy life' was not correct and has upset a few people, but this is the answerbank, and my intention was to get a better understanding of the Teraching Profession. If I have offended any Teachers out there, please accept my apologies.
I have never ever thought Teachers were lazy, in fact I think they do a job that in this day and age appears to be very challenging. My original question was based on my own lack of knowledge regarding the Teaching profession, and is a view many of my friends and colleagues hold, which again is due to lack of knowledge of Teaching. My question also stated that maybe I was wrong about some things and I was hoping a few knowledgable people could put me straight on a few things, which clearly they have done.
My intention was not to have a dig at Teachers, and as mentioned in an earlier answer, perhaps my heading of 'easy life' was not correct and has upset a few people, but this is the answerbank, and my intention was to get a better understanding of the Teraching Profession. If I have offended any Teachers out there, please accept my apologies.
I have never ever thought Teachers were lazy, in fact I think they do a job that in this day and age appears to be very challenging. My original question was based on my own lack of knowledge regarding the Teaching profession, and is a view many of my friends and colleagues hold, which again is due to lack of knowledge of Teaching. My question also stated that maybe I was wrong about some things and I was hoping a few knowledgable people could put me straight on a few things, which clearly they have done.
I would like to reiterate that the 11 weeks includes the many of the statutory holidays granted in addition to the annual leave for other workers.
In New South Wales, Australia:
Always Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day, Labour Day. At least one and often two of Good Friday, Easter Monday and Anzac Day. So the 11 weeks is actually only ten or less.
In New South Wales, Australia:
Always Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day, Labour Day. At least one and often two of Good Friday, Easter Monday and Anzac Day. So the 11 weeks is actually only ten or less.
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