Kids Away From School

[sir.prize]

Recent news has shown headteachers and union heads say that children should not be deprived of their schooling by taking holidays in school time.

On Wednesday I see the NUT are taking strike action. Maybe they have forgotten their earlier grouse about kids being excluded from school.

[jno]

alternatively, anne, perhaps all those people grumbling about all the time off teachers get should ditch their jobs and become teachers themselves?

[sherrardk]

AA, one of the biggest problems with teaching is how it is perceived by others. Because we all went to school we presume to know what it entails. Those that bang on constantly about the long school holidays are free to re-train and become teachers.

[anneasquith]

im not grumbling about the holidays teachers get, but I know no other profession that has to 'do' so much work at home. maybe if all teachers only worked whilst at school the problem would be solved.

[ludwig]

I think the point of the question is that they shouldn't lecture parents about depriving children of a couple of days schooling, as long as they're happy to do the same thing. It isn't a complaint about going on strike per se.

It's not as if they give care anyway. other than about keeping the 'unauthorised absences' figure to a minimum, for the benefit of their league table position.

[factor-fiction]

>we very often hear from teachers about the extra hours they must do at home................why not change professions, or do the generous holidays make it worthwhile ?

I will be doing, anneasquith- as soon as my 55th birthday comes I'll be getting out of it, or at least being very selective about when and where I work.

[humbersloop]

quite sherr, as any fule kno, teachers only teach when they're in the classroom and even then they're just glorified childminders

[Tilly2]

The strike is actually to do with pay and pensions. It is not to do with how much work teachers do at home.

[sherrardk]

This 'new' ruling is direct from Gove and the LEA's enforce it. It is not down to the teachers, head teachers or schools - many of whom feel sympathetic to families who are unable (for whatever reason) to take a family holiday in the specified school holiday period.

[Prudie]

Absolutely jno. We often hear from teachers referring to the work they have to do at home as they need to defend themselves because it's a profession that is constantly knocked by those who don't do it and have absolutely no idea how draining a job it is - nor could most of the knockers go into a school and cope with it themselves. Most teachers who stick with the profession do it because of the rewards it can give. I doubt any single teacher took it up because of the holidays.

[factor-fiction]

It's the pension dispute I disagree with- but that's because I've also worked elsewhere and can see that the new scheme for teachers is still more generous than those in existence elsewhere, particularly in the private sector, where even bigger changes have been necessary

[anneasquith]

ff. you are doing 5 plus hours unpaid work on a sunday, is this normal for all teachers ? I know of no other profession that would do that ,

[sherrardk]

AA, teachers do a huge amount of work at home. A classroom teacher needs to mark all of the kids' work and set them targets, plan each lesson with differentiation for those students who need it, prepare resources, write reports, write references, email parents, sometimes even telephone parents, mark exam papers, etc, etc - when do you imagine this would get done?

[Tilly2]

Yes, anne. I would say it was normal for most teachers. You have no idea.

[factor-fiction]

As a teacher I've always had to spend most of Sunday marking and preparing work. I now just do short term cover - often only a day or two- at different schools, but I try to plan and deliver meaningful lessons, mark some of the work and leave notes for the normal teacher or next cover teaching so there is continuity. I suppose I could just pack my bag on a Friday, forget helping the pupils and then come in and wing it on a Monday, but I want to help the pupils

[black_cat51]

anne, i believe you used to work as a nurse, didn't you?
Are you truly saying that nurses never stay on late and do extra unpaid work?

[anneasquith]

indeed bc. we did. as do lots of other professions do. because there are just some situations you would/could not leave. but I never spent my' off duty 'working'

[sherrardk]

Anne, when do you expect this 'extra' work to be done? Until recently, primary school teachers taught all day every day (they now get 2 1/2 hours of non-contact time). Secondary teachers have always had some non-contact time (impossible to timetable everyone to teach an appropriate subject 100% of the time plus you need 'spare' teachers to cover for absent colleagues).

[anneasquith]

sher, that's my point, why are teachers in this position, surely they should not just accept the extra work at home is '' part of the job'' ?

[DaisyNonna]

Pity the poor child who is off sick for a week.

[sherrardk]

It is part of the job, it's just most people don't realise it and can't see past the 'holidays'.