To think that the difference between Leave entitlements for teachers in the UK and Ireland is crazy

No I just hate the bitching they do about never having a day off term time or having to pay school holiday prices for their trips!

Their total leave in a year is impressive!
And it can’t exactly come as a surprise to teachers when they train that they can’t have term time holidays - it’s a good reason why I’m not a teacher

It depends on the headteacher often. When I joined my current school 22 years ago I told the then headteacher at my interview that my sister had a different half term to me and was getting married during hers. He let me have the day off paid.
The school is now part of a large academy with a different headteacher. Husband on jury service ( unable to be released), his mother was going to have our daughter for a Friday training day but had a stroke. I was told in no uncertain terms that I could not have the day off to look after my child ( no other family and also a training day at my school) and was expected to be there. Mother in law died the following Monday morning. I was so scared they wouldn't let me have that day off to support my husband ( even though I was only working in the afternoon) that I told them my daughter was ill. Tuesday was my full day off so told them about her death on the Wednesday for advance notice for her funeral.
All my goodwill has gone as a result.

Yes, there are government school inspection reports, but I literally don't see anyone dashing about discussing reports on secondary schools the way UK parents reference OFSTED. I don't think the inspections are much different in intention, but they perhaps have a different audience -- OFSTED reports are so culturally crucial to parents' choice. I don't think they factor nearly as much into Irish parents' decision-making. I am sending DS to the geographically closest school, though it was fundamentally his choice, but DH and I didn't read their most recent report until after the decision was made.

There is a shortage of teachers in Ireland too. Especially in Dublin because of the high cost of housing.

Ireland definitely has a different attitude to education. Much less ranking and statistics driven than the U.K. but still ranks very highly in a lot of international rankings.

Yes I think (judging from MN which probably isn't the best way to judge anything!) primary school education is viewed more holistically in Ireland than in the UK.

But it's certainly not that education isn't taken seriously, education is highly valued and I think Ireland tends to out score the UK in international league tables etc and has higher educational attainment.

The whole set up does seem to put less pressure on teachers. I suspect teachers get a lot more support from parents as well in Ireland than the UK (again, judging by MN, so...), and teaching is seen as a relatively prestigious profession.

Most TAs in U.K. are 1:1 too.

A teacher asked if she could have a Friday off for her son’s wedding and was declined .

That's horrendous.

I think the problem with arranging cover is most people are right up to timetable now, and unless someone's got a big chunk of gained time they simply don't have the time.

I also know schools who don't allow these swaps because they want the staff member available for emergency cover- at a previous school when I was union rep I arranged a cover swap so I could attend an important meeting with the MAT CEO- the assistant head in charge of cover tried to tell me this wasn't allowed as the other staff member might be needed for emergency cover. We did eventually get it all straightened out, but some schools make this sort of thing hugely difficult.

It really is such a shame because schools buy a lot of good will IME by offering a small amount of flexibility around these sorts of things, but especially some MATs seem to solely want to take until staff are only willing to do the bare minimum.

I’m a HLTA and had 3 paid days for my mum’s death! I took a week but the rest was unpaid.

I would suspect because no-one has any availability to actually cover anymore because any frees are taken up with absence cover or they wouldn't have enough time to get their own work done if the covered.

I used to happily squeeze 2 classes in my classroom for an afternoon occasionally to help out, but the decline in behaviour and lack of TAs would make that impossible now.

Seriously? You’re that bitter? Train as a teacher if it’s that good, eh?

Quite a few would when you consider the commensurate pay rise that would come with so many extra working days...

I'm not sure what your AIBU is, OP? I'm not a teacher, but have had a child in primary school in the UK and Ireland and think being a teacher (at least in primaries) is certainly a nicer, less stressful job than it is in the UK. I know less about secondaries, as DS isn't quite there yet, but the summer holiday is three months.

I wasn't actually aware of those specific leave provisions, but I think part of it is that Irish people are in general, less anxious about their children's education than UK parents -- there's no equivalent of OFSTED reports, there's only a tiny private school sector, and most people are far more likely to send their children to the geographically closest school, with the idea that there's not in fact a whole lot of difference in the teaching.

Having said that, there's still a recruitment and retention problem here...

None of them? Not a single one? You must have forgotten to ask my nieces dh 😂

A colleague of mine was not allowed time off for their own graduation - as it was only their PGCE.

Another colleague was asked to come in work on the morning of their gran's funeral as it was not until
2 ( and an hour's drive away).

It used to be that if you could arrange a colleague to cover you, you could go and repay the favour at a later day - this seems less and less now.

And a corresponding pay rise to cover the extra days they will be working?

My DC2 had a tutor for a subject she was struggling with. The tutor was a teacher in her late 20s working in Scotland.
She desperately wanted to go back to Ireland but she told me many teachers in Ireland stay in a job for life so was difficult for her to get a job. Probably true if they get those sort of terms and conditions

YANBU. I'm not a teacher either, but I'm constantly bewildered at the seemingly terrible working conditions of teachers in the UK (GB? NI doesn't seem too bad) compared to Ireland.

Teachers in Ireland don't work anywhere near the hours of teachers in the UK, seemingly without any negative impact on the education system. As a parent I don't understand it at all, I want my children taught by happy, rested, well paid teachers with job satisfaction.

I don't think the tax payer would be happy with that arrangement though as it would mean huge increases in taxes to pay for the extra 8 weeks a year a teacher would need to paid for.

Do you want some ketchup for that chip on your shoulder?

Amazingly, out of the 100,000's teachers that have left in recent years, none of them miss the holidays because they are less stressed and have actual weekends and evenings to relax!