Little moan about the strikes…

[Postcovid]

DC has likely ASD and ADHD, year 2. His cohort I feel has been really affected by Covid as it is.

His school is 3 form entry. In the whole school only 3 classes are closing due to strikes - his class, one of the reception classes, and then one year 4 class. They’ll be closed on all of the four strike days while the rest of the school carries on.

This isn’t a direct attack at teachers striking, they have their reasons.

But I’ve just had to deal with a meltdown from my DC because we’ve booked him into (expensive) childcare for the day, we have no family nearby to look after him for the day and we can’t take time off work. His little sister is going to reception as normal so makes it very tricky for him.

I wrote to school asking if anything could be done for him on the strike days given he has SEN, and was essentially told “theme the breaks”.

I’m not interested in the “well if you care about your SEN child then you should support the strikes” because I’m dealing with the here and now, today, and a further four days where my SEN DC is going to feel the impact of the strikes. Whilst the vast majority of his school is able to carry on as normal.

Omg when will people get it into their heads - legally you CAN ONLY STRIKE ABOUT PAY. this is why when interviewed this is what striking workers discuss. But if you could be bothered to do 5 secs of research you’d find out it’s about a lot more than that, really. Seriously the ignorance across the public is ridiculous. How do you think workers got rights like holiday and mat leave? Because the employers were nice?

SCHOOL IS NOT CHILDCARE.

Parents really need to decide if they just don’t want their child at home. In which case, the Tory government is just perfect for them. If they would actually like their child taught, by qualified teachers who are passionate about education, then these strikes have never been so necessary.

OP, you sound really selfish!

It’s not all just about you and your child…think about the bigger picture, especially as you have a child with SEN yourself.

Selfish because I don’t agree with you! And care about the impact on my SEN child.

I work in the private sector and have only recently been able to pay anything into a private pension and I’m in my late 30’s. I get 23 days holiday a year.

If you read my OP properly you’d know this isn’t about childcare, it’s about the huge fallout that happens when a SEN child’s routine is disrupted.

But your child’s future education will be disrupted daily if this continues as it is? He will have many different teachers. Not all teachers are amazing teachers and it will be the amazing ones who leave for better jobs. There is no funding for SEN. He will suffer. I see SEN children suffer every day through underfunding.

You can’t enforce people to feel differently. I know you want to but tough.

I also have state school but they are opening for their year which is nice of them. I appreciate the state school too.

Can one or both of you use parental leave for the strike days?

If things keep going as they are it will be massively detrimental to all pupils especially those with SEN. He is still at the start of his school journey.

ds is in year 8 now and the decline has been massive because things have been stretched and cut so much. The staff simply can’t do what they want and need to.

they are striking to protect the education of children like yours. I get it’s hard today but this is about so much more than one day.

You could always become a teacher and get 12 weeks off a year as you have mentioned your 23 days of holiday, which is what most arguments about teaching ultimately boil down to.

Lots of us agree with you OP but you can't disagree with teachers striking on Mumsnet without a pile on from self interested teachers.

This is so sad to read. And shows once again how little value people give the teachers who spend as much time with their children as them.

@FestiveAF it's also sad that you can't disagree without being told you're selfish and awful

This. ^

OP, you say you didn’t care about what happens in schools in 20 years, but that is an over optimistic timeframe. It’s dire now. Your DS is only in Y2 - if things carry on as they are by the time he’s in secondary SEN provision could be virtually non-existent.

Why is your child's class being impacted by every strike day when others aren't impacted at all. That's really unfair and pretty poor organisation by the school.

Your child is in year 2, not counting the rest of this year they have at least another 1700 days in school before they leave in year 11. These 4 days could mean those 1700 days are funded with better provision for him. It's been said loads already but you're selectively ignoring it, this isn't about pay for most teachers but it's the only thing they're allowed to strike about. Governments putting teachers pay up but not giving the school additional money - which they have done this year, reduces funding for all provision in the school including SEN. Your attitude is utterly selfish.

I assum

I understand the effect in your son and the rest of the family. Is your sin classed as vulnerable? I know at my school vulnerable pupils are invited in. Saying that if your son's teacher is striking and ge has to have another teacher,this probably would cause him sort of distress too.

I wish I had the money to retrain! I did a brief stint as a TA when I left college and enjoyed it. I didn’t have the funds to do a further qualification and then PGCE at the time. I’m not saying I think it would be easy as my TA role was extremely busy and at times very challenging, and of course the money isn’t great. But I’m at a stage in my life where I couldn’t afford to retrain. People who’ve worked in the private sector all their lives will understand that. The people who are telling me to retrain, are coming across as not living in the real world money wise. It doesn’t grow on trees!

Personally I don’t think her view is selfish, I understand fully why she is focused on the moment.

however I do think it’s very shortsighted and lacking much insight into the massive issues facing schools at the moment.

the fact teachers striking like this is unprecedented shows just how desperate the situation is. No teacher wants to be on strike but it’s a last resort

Sorry op but you are feeling exactly how this government want you to feel - resentment about greedy teachers wanting more money and inconveniencing you. As usual the Tories are trying to ensure everyone else gets the blame. That is not what this is really about, you don't have to dig much deeper to realize this is about ensuring school has enough funding to help every child.

They should open for kids with SEN. Shame they only care about the ones who have completed the process of getting the paperwork.

So no chance of your kids ending up with a decent view of the world then.

And it’s uninvested parents like you who make teachers wonder why they bother giving a toss and flogging themselves to educate other people’s children.

P.S> I’m not a teacher.

I would speak to your school SENCO. My son doesn’t have an ECHP but has been offered a place today as a “vulnerable child” he does have funding for 1:1 support however so that might be the difference