‘Teachers must run summer schools to help pupils to catch up’

[DNAshelicase]

...said the children’s commissioner. Uhmm no hun. I’m a teacher and have already worked through Easter and half term for free, contrary to popular belief we are not paid for holidays. If I’ll be paid handsomely for overtime I’d consider it but tbh I need a break. Wouldn’t get into the profession if we didn’t care about the kids but they aren’t more important than our own kids, the suggestion is a piss take.

Of course it should be voluntary. But you do get paid for holidays, teachers are on a 52 week contract. It’s support staff who aren’t paid for the whole year, they are normally on 39 working weeks contract plus 6 weeks paid holidays.

🤣 I know the poster has already been put straight on this but honestly!

I love how someone who doesn't teach thinks they know my work contract better than I do!

As someone else said, you get paid for 190 days a year. The salary is then divided equally over 12 months. But we do not get paid for the holidays and we already work through them planning and getting the classroom ready for next term.

The level of ignorance and arrogance some people demonstrate when it comes to teaching is astounding sometimes.

My year 10 dc has barely engaged with school not for my want of trying to get her to and would benefit from this in terms of catching up but I wouldn't want teachers to miss their time with their dc. So much Blake seems to have been put on teachers throughout this-Coronavirus is not their fault.

Blame not Blake

The supply teachers that haven't been used whilst schools have a very small number of pupils in could be used...

The work sent out from my DCs school has hardly been time consuming for them. As far as the school know, DC could not have looked at a book or been locked in a cupboard since March as there is no work to submit or personal contact (the work is White Rose Maths, an English exercise for the week (about 30mins) , 20 mins of reading a day on the online books or stuff you have at home, a 'topic' exercise that takes 20mins, and 'Wellbeing' such as make an obstacle course. ) I think it's most time consuming for the school secretary, as the sheet if activities is split between 4 teachers to compile.

I do know they have been doing food parcels and KW provision.

Pretty much every teacher is now needed for Reception, Yr1, Yr6 and Keyworker classes.

Still don't think teachers should be made to give up their Summers!

However there are lots of extra curricular providers who would happily do 'Summer Camps'... But they would need paying by someone.

Teachers are only paid for the number of working days per year, it's just spread out into 12 monthly pay checks.

I have no intention to bash teachers, but that is exactly the same as any salaried job.

But a normal salaried job pays for the whole year as working days or holiday pay (excluding weekends or days off of PT). A teaching contract is for 195 days work per year. So teachers are not paid to work during any holidays.

Can’t see pupils who haven’t been engaging now will engage in Summer school. If Summer school does run it will probably be filled with pupils who have already engaged and will then get further ahead.

Completely agree with this.

I have no intention to bash teachers, but that is exactly the same as any salaried job.
Except it's not. Teachers are not paid for the summer holidays. It's not part of paid annual leave, it's time they are not working.

I have no intention to bash teachers, but that is exactly the same as any salaried job.

Except it's not. Teachers are not paid for the summer holidays. It's not part of paid annual leave, it's time they are not working.

Exactly.

There are three months of the year when we are not contracted to work. And, for this, we are not paid. But we are already required to work through it. You won't find many schools that are closed during the school holidays for teachers to go in and work.

If they want us to work over the summer, then they will have to pay us. 6 weeks full time unpaid overtime plus the extra time required to mark and plan/prepare, is an unreasonable ask.

And no school has the budget to pay it's cleaning staff, support staff and teaching staff for another 6 weeks.

The summer holidays are when most schools do big maintenance, repair and building works-that’s the only time they can have ladders/scaffolding etc up when there are no children there. If these works don’t happen, many schools will be unsafe to use.

That’s why many schools (especially older ones) aren’t used for summer holiday clubs.

Tbh, I think people genuinely don't understand how teacher salaries work and it sounds so unreasonable that they assume we must be lying or misunderstand it ourselves!

Some teachers are working very hard, others not so much. My friend has freely admitted that it hardly takes him any time at all to put work online and he is currently being paid by the govt to sit on his arse. He has no kids of his own at home though.
My dd's school is mixed - she technically has work set to follow her normal school timetable, but I wouldn't say it all constitutes quality teaching. Quite often no work is set for a particular class and a fair amount of it is just stuff to keep her occupied. Some of her teachers are doing their best to maintain proper teaching though. It's hard, since most subjects can't really be taught online easily and certainly not when staff have their own small kids at home. I think it's like most jobs right now - some people have it harder than others.

But the state can't just demand that people work through their holidays. That's cheeky as fuck.

Krakow you can't just tell a parent to do the teaching themselves if they aren't happy. Teaching is a skill that not everyone possesses. That's why we have teachers in the first place. The parent isn't unreasonable to expect school to make some educational provision during term time, since those teachers are presumably still being paid.

I think for some parents it rankles a bit when they've had years of bring told to take kids to the dentist after school, don't book term time holidays, having to ask permission to take kids out of school for family weddings/funerals because 'every school day is essential' and then seeing your child's school do fuck all for months on end and take the attitude that kids will catch up in September.

I would hazard a guess that there have been hundreds of Ofsted inspectors doing absolutely nothing for 3 months who will be extremely happy to provide ‘catch up’ sessions for any children they feel needs it over the summer. They are all ex teachers and would be ideally placed to do this.

Or just thought you'd ride it out and vent here on MN and tar the entire teaching profession of half a million teachers with the same brush?

Ah so it’s only a one sided opinion that’s allowed on threads - if your opinion isn’t that ALL teachers have been working incredibly hard that you shouldn’t post?

Some teachers have been working very hard. Some have not. Some schools are providing fantastic home schooling. Many are not.

Some schools are making regular contact with pupils. Many are not.

Why will teachers not accept what many parents are telling them - that some schools/teachers have been woefully inadequate

Not ALL teachers have not been working their fingers to the bone, despite what those on MN would like us to believe

I have averaged 3 hours a day teaching and marking from home. The weeks i have been rotared in for keyworker/vulnerable have been full time, plus an hour or two each day for planning and marking. My GCSE groups have made excellent progress.

So yes working around 60% of what I usually do for full pay. We are lucky but so are the furloughed. My DH gets to 0% for 80% and then topped up by his employer.

I would volunteer to do one week in summer but would expect that to be paid.

I can understand why people assume teachers get paid for their holidays - everyone else who is on PAYE gets paid holiday by law - even the zero hour contract, part time workers in our company get paid holiday - they wisely choose to take money instead - but it's still paid holiday. So the teacher's contract is particularly unusual. Are they not on 5 weeks paid and the rest unpaid? Is it really legal not to be paid for holiday?
And teachers please don't start shouting at me for not knowing how your contract works and asking a question, if you don't wish to tell me - sit on your hands.

@Whaddyathinkofthis
Tbh, I think people genuinely don't understand how teacher salaries work and it sounds so unreasonable that they assume we must be lying or misunderstand it ourselves!

It has been explained many times on MN.
TBH, if posters where that bothered about teacher pay and conditions you would think that they would research it before posting bollocks about something that they know little or nothing about.

I’d like it if the teachers from our school volunteered to do this, but I strongly doubt they will. I would expect anyone who volunteered to be paid.

My dc1 was already 6-9 months behind the year and this has now widened that gap despite all the will in the world I am not a teacher.

As with every profession some teachers are bloody amazing (the ones at the school the kids go to now are) and some teachers (kids old school were fucking awful)

Dc2 happily skipped off to school this morning, and has the best day ever yesterday all because the teacher is absolutely fantastic

2 DSC aged 10 & 13 schooling during lockdown has consisted of online workbooks. Absolutely no online teacher led lessons at all.
Friends kids in other areas of the UK and overseas have had circa 2-3 hours of teach led online zoom classes daily. With the teachers available outside of this time for 1-1 questions.
It goes without saying their learning over this period has been reduced in comparison to what it would have been if they had been in school.
IMO their experience is frankly not good enough. I would expect their school to run all the way through summer.
I'm very annoyed having reviewed their online work activities set for them.
For info they're at a non-private primary and secondary school, both rated good/outstanding by Ofsted.
They need the extra teaching time and the structure that comes with being back in school, or at the very least better online support. Their DM is very loving but isn't academic and doesn't make them to do their schoolwork. They are frequently awake during the night on their mobile phones on SM. They wake up grumpy and tired and sit around watching films and YouTube all day. When DSC are with us I ensure their schoolwork comes first and that they have routine and structure. After that is their free/fun/play time.
Sorry for the rant but I despair over the DSC's schooling.

@MistyIsland

The problem is that it puts pressure on staff in your school to volunteer.

Its all well and good HTs and governors saying that their will be no ramifications if you don't volunteer, but we all know what rubbish that is.

It will also set a precedent for every year moving forward. It would be a perfect time to change teachers pay and conditions, and lets not forget that the last time teachers lost holidays they didn't get paid for the change.

A level students won't get years to catch up. So why aren't year 10 and 12 (GCSE also a problem) the first back? Three and 4 year old have year to catch up, year 10 and 12 should be back in full time and let the little ones stay home safe. The 15 and 16 and 17 year old are going to be much more capable of safe social distancing.

Maybe the children's commissioner could have a little chat with herself about that.

Well how rude. I do know about teachers pay, my husband was a teacher before he retired and I worked as support staff. His pay (as published in the tables which can be found on your union’s website) was for the whole year, he worked full time and it was not pro rata for term time only. My published pay (Local Authority) WAS. By law you have to be paid a minimum certain number of weeks holiday (5.6?) so you are not only paid for term time.

Your 195 days are those you are required to work, teaching. This is from your pay & conditions document:

In addition to the hours a teacher is required to be available for work under paragraph 51.5 or 51.6, (that is your 195 hours) a teacher must work such reasonable additional hours as may be necessary to enable the effective discharge of the teacher’s professional duties, including in particular planning and preparing courses and lessons; and assessing, monitoring, recording and reporting on the learning needs, progress and achievements of assigned pupils.

@WoollyMollyMonkey

Not as rude as posting rubbish about other people's pay when you know very little about it.

I am still waiting for posters to prove that teachers are paid for the holidays, no-one has yet managed it.

I know more than you think - I worked in school finance.