My placement school is a shit tip

DD's school gets painted by parents. The lockers and work benches get sanded and re-sealed by parents. The school grounds get refreshed by parents. This happens twice a year on a Saturday. Painting and cleaning materials, plants, skips and refreshments are donated by local businesses. Good sense of community.

Changebagsandgladrags
Perhaps as part of your placement you could start a volunteer army. Someone mentioned that their school only gets painted because parents do it.
OK, so how about encouraging that sort of thing. One weekend parents come in to fix the doors. There must be a carpet supplier amongst the parents, can they get a good deal?
Holiday deep clean?

These are super ideas. In the 1990s, my outstanding grammar school was painted inside and out by parents, who were also asked to donate the paint.

Perhaps as part of your placement you could start a volunteer army. Someone mentioned that their school only gets painted because parents do it.

OK, so how about encouraging that sort of thing. One weekend parents come in to fix the doors. There must be a carpet supplier amongst the parents, can they get a good deal?

Holiday deep clean?

No, flora, you could be right. A shiny new school next to me has just gone on special measures

Has anyone else noted a possible connection between the appalling lack of funding in many ( most ) schools and the tens of millions spent on the shiny new academies and the academy chains swallowing money lots of PPs mention? Am I seeing a connection that isn't there?

And it does sound like a shit tip, OP, so I have no idea why people are kicking off about your choice of phrase

It sounds appalling, OP and i can imagine what you mean. My DS used to have basketball training in a school that was really run down and dingy. I would not have been happy if that was my child's school.

And I am shocked at all this 'there is no money' narrative. Where is the money? Where has it gone? Somebody must have it. We are not living in a third world country. Theresa found a billion pounds all of a sudden when she needed to save her job.

Totally agree this is unacceptable OP . Why should our kids have to put up with this? I try and visit the toilets if I'm going to an interview as the state of the toilets is a good indication of how staff are treated and staff morale.

Re safeguarding, the OP hasn't said if her training provider has done her DBS mine has, unless of course the school is the training provider. If they have then the school will not need to do it. Even if they haven't done it it is also possible that school are assuming her training provider has done it. OP if it hasn't been done just say something to the school, talk first to your training providor then the school if no joy, rather than leaving them with egg on their face. I was once employed in a job where my DBS wasn't done it was totally accidental A thought B had done it and seen it and B thought C had done it, not great I know but we're all human, they were mortified when they realised it hadn't been done.

The security/safeguarding is really the issue here. My school got pulled up on safeguarding at OFSTED and they're very good at the ID badges/accompanied visitors/DBS check thing!

Sounds bad, some of the issues are of course funding as for some reason the government would rather run everything down. However, some of the issues sound like they are to do with the management of the school. I don't get why people are nit picking about your use of 'shit tip' it sounds apt to me!!!

My son's school is in need of a major refurb but it is still looked after well and broken items get repaired and it is cleaned well. There is a proper system for visitors too. It could well look like yours has been described if it wasn't for proper organisation.

"Shit tip" doesn't bother me either. OP you're right to voice your concerns, I've seen some shockingly bad teaching during my observation days at highly regarded sought after schools. It's made me realise that as parents we haven't got the faintest idea about what's actually going on.

I have "luved" in S Yorks but mostly i just "live" here.

I was brought up in the SE and luved in SYorks for 20 years and "shit tip" sounds the perfect description to me. And why the OP is getting grief for voicing concern over children being educated in one is beyond me. The smell of urine isn't a head nod to tradition, nor does it help educational attainment. Our primary struggles with maintenance but I'd be gutted to have to send my child to somewhere as uncared for as the OP describes.

Just want to add that during the last year Ive visited many school, very smart grammars, outstanding comps in very MC areas, good schools in pretty normal locations with mixture children and a rural school in a very deprived I've not seen anything like you've described.

I too start teacher training in September so am reading this with interest.
I currently work in another arm of the public sector even less well funded than education so I'm unlikely to be surprised by much.
TBH I'm not surprised by the OP's comment about the state of the buildings, loos etc, nor lack of input on fire procedure, although I acknowledge it's standard practice to make sure all new staff know but I'm not sure about "visitors". I think it is fair for the school to assume that your training provider had done you're DRB (have they? Mine have) therefore the school wouldn't ask to see it. I've visited lots of schools whilst making up my mind if teaching was for me and was never allowed to go anywhere unsupervised even though I have a current DBS and have subscribed to the data base do that others can access it.
What was you general impression of the school? Your mentor? The dept you are going to be working in? Can you talk to your training provider expressing your concerns?

I love in Surrey and "shit tip" is the phrase that springs readily to mind when I enter my daughter's bedroom. Extremely messy and uncared for.

It's really odd. I have a strange allergic reaction- I am just incapable of responding to anyone who uses the expression. "pearl clutch"........

Couldn't agree more unexpected

What is it saying to the students about their self worth when they have to spend every day in such a place?

Agree whole heartedly with this, why are people so accepting of low standards? Would you be happy if your kids' school toilets stank of piss?

And the fact that there are shiny new schools with problems is irrelevant. Schools should be well managed, have high teaching standards and be positive, pleasant environments for learning.

Get angry at the successive governments who have allowed this to happen!

So do you people Pearl clutch every time someone says 'oh shit'?

MN really is a parallel universe.

Don't worry, OP.

Schools vary massively - but I think some people underestimate what a drain it is to spend such a large part of your working life somewhere uncared for, dirty and ugly.

I think, with regards to the fire procedure, instructions about fire assembly points will be in every single room in the school.

No, I'm with doctor here. Shit = excrement. Foul. The connotations of wiping it off the bottom of your shoe. I don't think "shit tip" is a general colloquialism for a bit of a mess. It's much more degrading than that.

Well, as an illustration, I was explaining the connotations for me, in my own mind, so I can think what I like in there!