Is the fact that many of England's schools are closed today not newsworthy?

[Lonelyplanet]

If it was a snow day it would be on all the front pages.

However school funding issues that have become so bad that the majority of teachers are taking action and refusing to work, doesn't appear to be of any consequence. Do people really care that little about the state of our education system, or are we being manipulated yet again by the press?

I think sadly we're all a bit too used to schools being shut now? People round here aren't even batting an eyelid as if it's normal.

Was on BBC breakfast earlier. I saw a friend I haven't seen for ages waving a placard on the picket line.

"It's not 'teachers and their predicament' you should be concerned about, but your kids and their predicament."

This. (And no I'm not a teacher).

Dd's primary school and teachers are excellent but its impossible to ignore the impact of funding constraints.

A school that had never had to rely on supply teachers before, since it opened, now has to regularly.

It is struggling to retain teaching staff - despite them all being very positive about the school and leadership - as they simply can't afford to live in London.

School trips have been non-existent for Year 6. In past years they were regular and varied.

Its cuts, cuts, cuts.

Since Covid, my eldest is given online learning for the day and I can work from home. So the impact is a lot less now. I was talking to a teacher at the weekend who seemed very deflated that online learning was being given, as it defeated the purpose of the strikes.

Gillian Keegan will be in my local area tomorrow. I'm considering handing her (retinue) a typed list of concerns (I have a few: plus my Ds went through GCSEs during Covid & I'm still angry at his total abandonment). I expect she'd simply crumple it & bin it though.

DD’s primary school is only open to two year groups and vulnerable children today. same on Tuesday. School has been shut to all except vulnerable children on 2 of the last 4 strike days, so she will have missed 4 days of school due to strikes this year. Add to that the bank hols snd they’re out quite a bit- this week most kids are only in 4 days, next week only 3 days, week after 4 days then it’s almost half term. However, I completely understand why teachers feel they must strike and respect their choice to do so.

There are so many different groups striking, and so often, that, like anything, it loses it's impact, so becomes less newsworthy.

There'd be no room on news programmes for anything else if they put big stories on every day for one group or another were striking.

It was covered on Today this morning as one of the main stories.

You say this, but the NEU also suggested that reps negotiate with schools so that teachers could come in or provide cover for exam classes only.

Of course, most schools have been reasonable, but some MATs locally have refused! But perhaps that just shows that the MAT CEOs don't care about the kids?

Luckily my childrens school hasnt been shutting.

So I want even aware there was a strike today. As there has been little information on it in the news.

Maybe you should be asking the DfE to come back and negotiate then? The NEU will continue to strike until we have a decent offer, and with ASCL and NASUWT planning to ballot/reballot in the summer, it is likely this will drag on for longer. Plus the NEU are planning to reballot support staff, who are being forced to keep many schools open at the moment.

If anything, the strikes are gaining momentum- more schools are having pickets, more teachers joining the NEU- I know some teachers striking for the first time today because they found the pay offer so insulting.

The only thing that will stop this is the DfE coming back with an offer that teachers find acceptable- i.e. fully funded and at least approaching inflation, plus some serious discussion on workload.

If your MP is a Tory, why not write to them and ask them what they're doing to resolve the situation?

If you email your MP and ask for your list of concerns to be forwarded to Gillian Keegan, you should get a response from the DfE.

Yes it's newsworthy. But the people controlling the news don't want it to be.

TBF I am a bit confused as to why people are saying it's not in the news-

BBC and ITV both have stories on it:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-63283289
https://www.itv.com/news/2023-04-26/schools-face-disruption-as-teachers-across-england-stage-fresh-strikes-over-pay

So do a lot of newspapers?

If you watch the local news tonight, there will likely be a feature, I know ITV news have been out in our area speaking to people on picket lines and at rallies etc.

All those who are parents of a state school child and think that your child is unaffected, you are wrong.

Lack of adequate funding means:

Class sizes are bigger.
There is a shortage of suitably qualified teachers for vacancies that need filling.
Children at secondary level are not always being taught by subject specialists (this is especially a problem in maths and science subjects).
More lessons are being taught by temporary or supply teachers.
There are less TAs to support groups and SEN children.
There are more SEN children in mainstream classrooms with inadequate support.
Old buildings are not being repaired.
Dated computer equipment is not being replaced.

It seems to be 'news' to a number of people on this thread, so it needs reporting.

Not the purpose of this thread, but all these people wringing their hands about the lack of resources in schools (which has LONG been a problem) - are you also the same people who moan about PTA's and being sent pleading emails asking to help at the summer fair etc?

The PTA that i used to be on raised around 50k a year because we put on good events but mainly because they were so very supported both in attendance and in parents stepping up to help rather than just avoiding eye contact when we asked for help in the playground at drop off.

As an individual, we cannot really influence this Govt at this time in increasing school budgets, but literally today you can make a difference to your school by volunteering to be on the PTA and asking the Chair how you can help raise much needed funds.

"Is the fact that many of England's schools are closed today not newsworthy?"

People are growing bored - an odd day here tagged onto weekends and bank holidays isnt realy a strike, it just makes it look like they want even more time off.
When people had their kids off school for months at a time during covid, teachers arent going to make much of an impact with the odd day here and there.

parents stepping up to help rather than just avoiding eye contact when we asked for help in the playground at drop off.

Yeah, you don't actually know what other commitments/ work / family/ caring responsibilities people have. Many people literally do not have the time for this. And resources for schools should not be dependent on this either.

Not one front page. However thousands of children and working parents affected. It will be costing the country in lower productivity today. It should be reported. As should all the other strikes. Plenty of people care about our public services.

I would love our school to have a PTA.

It’s a big school with good grounds, so much could be organised.

And yes, I would do it. I did it at the dcs schools in the area we lived in previously. I put it to the head when we moved here, who explained to me that they didn’t have one due to the area and the behaviour of parents on the school run, let alone when they had organised events in the past so they now do nothing as it wasn’t worth the police being called all the time, and it al fell to the teachers to organise as no parents wanted to help.

It’s sad really.

Our schools are all open today. Although closed on Tuesday. I am sure it's just a coincidence that more teachers have chosen to strike the day after a bank holiday...

Worthy as much of the PTA work is, funding cannot be left to voluntary events run by parents. PTA events will raise far more money in schools in affluent areas than disadvantaged areas that will likely have even greater need.

For what it's worth, I broadly support the strikes but think that deciding to only strike on the Tuesday (round here ) is a crashing PR error/own goal, as I could hear my teens and their friends chortling about how the teachers just wanted a longer weekend off

That is sad but I think a bit of a cop out for your head…. And putting more strain on the teachers. I suppose secondary schools are different to primary, although I remember our senior school fair, it was great fun throwing wet sponges at my mats teacher!!

PTAs are great, but the money raised by PTAs can only ever go towards the "nice to haves". It can never be used for staffing, or utility bills.

The problem is as well, it widens the gap between affluent schools and schools with more deprived catchments.

Whilst PTAs do some amazing work (mainly in primary), they are in no way the solution, and honestly suggesting they are shows a level of naivety about the levels of problems schools are facing.