Why are bloody teachers striking AGAIN?

[noblegiraffe]

Because, dear hearts, the government, when they offered us a pay rise of 4.5%, mostly unfunded for next September and all 4 teaching unions thoroughly rejected it, Gillian Keegan said that teachers would then have to take their chances with the independent pay review body and that there would be no further negotiations.

So teachers did. And the independent pay review body, who seem to have rather more of a handle on the current crisis in teaching than the government, recommended that teachers should get a 6.5% pay rise to introduce some stability into the system.

We only know this because the independent pay review body findings have not been published, but this figure was leaked.

Calls for the government to publish the report have been ignored. Most recently, a freedom of information act request to the DfE for the report was rejected, because the DfE says it's "not in the public interest".

Why is it not in the public interest to know what the independent pay review body has recommended? This report is published every year.

In the meantime, Rishi is briefing the press that he will reject the independent pay review body's recommendations, after making a huge fuss about how he always accepts independent pay review body recommendations.

Why should this matter to parents? Because headteachers are currently trying to write their budgets for September. The end of term is approaching. This job is currently impossible because headteachers don't know how much more they are expected to pay teachers next year, (6.5%? 5?% 4.5%?) and they have no idea how much extra money their school will be given to account for the pay rise (all? some? None??). This makes a massive difference as staffing costs account for the vast majority of school budgets. Should they be planning to cut GCSE subjects? Make staff redundant? Or will they actually be able to plan in some literacy support? That they don't know is intolerable.

A senior government advisor said that school budgets last year weren't worth the paper they were written on because of this same issue, and that it shouldn't be allowed to happen again.

Yet here we are.

The government are trying to drag this out to the summer before they make their pay announcement because then they'll be on their holidays and the 4 teaching unions' ballots will have closed.

I've been on a picket line today.

I'm striking for better funding in schools.

In my subject (state secondary school), classes have been cut from 14 in Y9 to 10, for example. So there are now over 30 in every class, including for the weakest students.

It's being taught by staff who are not well qualified - one colleague has a GCSE in the subject and nothing more.

This is in an OFSTED 'Outstanding' school.

And that's the reality of what is actually going on in schools - and it will get steadily worse.

Incredible! You couldn't make it up could you. The government refuse the teachers pay claim, won't negotiate further and tell them to take it up with an independent pay review. This review finds in the teachers favour ...so the government refuses to accept the findings. Then says it's not in the public interest for this information to be made available to the public. I wonder how quickly they would have said it was in the public interest to know if the independent pay review had found in the government's favour. Not very honourable dealings is it 🤔 But pretty much on a par with this governments dealings all round fron Boris down. I had hoped for better from Ricki ...but looks like Tories with Tory ...who ever they put in the top jobs.

Fact is they’re offering neither (improved conditions or decent pay). Improvements cannot be made without enough teachers anyway and we lost 9% last year alone.

Currently they’re refusing to even negotiate. Striking is the only option if you don’t want to watch education totally fall apart except for those who can afford ivory towers.

The government should just pay what an independent pay review body says is fair. At the moment teachers are striking but eventually more and more will leave teaching for more lucrative jobs.

I mean, if you want to know how the government is treating the shortage of teachers and headteachers without the slightest bit of concern - remember that a headteacher, Ruth Perry, died by suicide earlier this year, most likely contributed to by a recent inadequate Ofsted inspection. Not only did the government refuse to pause Ofsted inspections while an investigation took place, but then concluded that it was better to have an intolerable burden of stress placed on schools and headteachers by single word outcomes than it was to change the system.

Suggest to your teacher friends that they look more widely than their current situation. It may be fine now but as more teachers leave and there are no teachers coming through the system to take their place, they may find that their workloads increase and their pay and benefits might not seem so shiny.

If they don't support strikes, what measures would they support to get more subjects specialists into classrooms and to fund schools better so that the system doesn't collapse? Because continuing like this, it will.

Another example of the government not taking the lack of teachers seriously: Rishi announcing as headline news that all pupils will be expected to take maths till 18.

We don't have anywhere near enough maths teachers to teach all kids maths to 16, which is what is currently supposed to be happening.

What planet is Rishi on?

Solidarity. How much longer are people supposed to accept getting poorer every year?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/29/private-schools-help-taxpayer-rich-study-billions

Regarding stress, I would say teaching is not the most stressful job ever. I think it needs a bit of perspective.

Again I'll say it, the private sector has its fair share of stress. There are redundancies, people going off sick and with mental health issues. I mean computers are literally taking over some sectors... we don't even need till operators anymore! Cost of living is getting us all right now. Figuring out how to look after my kids a year on 28 days holiday is... interesting. Especially with all these strikes.

It used to be a great job teaching. Well respected. And not too stressful. What changed?!

Have you considered retraining to become a teacher?

I'm not having a private Vs state discussion as this thread isn't about that.
Fundamentally the state system needs a complete overhaul eg Ofsted, recruitment etc and the length of time it will take to remove VAT exemption on private schools will have no impact on state schools in the immediate future.
Labour are already back peddling on exempting private SEN schools and more will follow.

You are a legend @nonoblegiraffe 🙌

Well if it’s not the most stressful job ever that’s ok then. Exhausted, stressed out teachers in crumbling schools with no funding is fine for our young. Shit education for the masses won’t effect the economy going forward at all.

Tea gets aren't just teachers though.
I'd find it difficult to switch off.
They have to deal with kids telling tales, falling out, try to spot abuse, having parents complain, kids not being fed, social media arguments. These days they can't use certain words and have the possibility of being filmed. That's before pay.

Well said. At the very least you should be getting what we got here in Scotland, which I believe was a similar number to Wales. Keep going 💪

Funny enough teaching does appeal to me.

I'm a science graduate and enjoy working with young people having volunteered in a young persons group for years. I'm passionate about learning, science and education.

What puts me off is honestly:

• I can't afford to get zero pay whilst I train
• I am not able to drive so I can't be running around between different schools. It would need to be local.
• I don't have a uni near me to do all the classroom bit
• I'm a mum myself and I can't be running off to uni classes etc

It used to be a great job teaching. Well respected. And not too stressful. What changed?!

13 years of Tory underfunding. Schools have made so many cuts to provision over the last decade that they are now beyond cutting to the bone. Teaching assistants are long gone unless a child has an EHCP and sometimes they don't even get their legal entitlement. Class sizes have increased. Teacher experience has dropped. There aren't enough teachers to go around. There's a lot of time and energy now spent picking up the pieces from a class that didn't have a qualified teacher, so endless cover, or who had an an inadequate teacher because there was no one else.

SEN figures have shot through the roof. Child mental health problems have shot through the roof. At the same time funding for SEN and children's mental health services have been cut and external services have basically collapsed under the weight. The burden of dealing with the fallout has fallen on schools, with even fewer resources to deal with it.

There has been a pandemic, with a huge impact on education, where pupils were out of school sometimes for months at a time with lockdowns, and sporadically at other times with isolations and sickness. The government rejected its covid catch-up advisor's recommendation of a £15 billion plan to support children in recovering both educationally and socially from this. The impact of the lack of support has, again, fallen on schools to sort.

Pupil absence has shot through the roof post-pandemic. The responsibility for trying to get kids back to school has, you've guessed it, fallen on schools.

@SpringPop - there’s lots of school based, paid training available. You work normal teaching hours and learn on the job.

If you're a science graduate and had done the slightest bit of research into teacher training you'd have noticed the massive tax-free bursaries available to train as a science teacher.

Who else clicked on the thread to tell off the OP for moaning until they read her wonderful post?

Solidarity to the teachers everywhere ❤

Some people (I CBA to go back and find who) have said they know teachers who are happy with their pay and live in big houses, etc. I also know teachers like that. Their partners tend to be in better paid jobs or they bought their houses years ago before house prices skyrocketed.
I also know teachers who are single parents (to older children and so little/no childcare costs) and have to claim universal credit to make ends meet. Think about that. Should we really be satisfied that there are people doing a professional job can't afford to house themselves without claiming benefits. Yes they may live in an expensive area, but expensive areas still need teachers so teaching needs to be able to pay enough for people to live.

In that case, can they decrease work load of teachers?
Maybe have fewer classes for students. Cutdown on curriculum, essential chapters and optional ones for reading at home.

Ha I came on to say this!!!

Yeah I did know about the bursaries but is that definitely in my local school that I can walk to? I just can't see that it would all be based in the school in my town. There would be university components etc or the need to travel to other schools.