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Teachers and school support staff now eligible for a Blue Light card

352 replies

noblegiraffe · 09/08/2024 11:44

In case any teachers don't follow Mr P and aren't aware, teachers and school support staff (including sixth form colleges) have been added to the list of people eligible for a Blue Light card. If you pay £4.99, you get two years of discounts at multiple places.

https://teachers.bluelightcard.co.uk

Because teachers love a bargain there's currently over an hour waiting time to sign up, but it was only announced yesterday so will hopefully calm down soon.

It feels nice to be recognised as essential community workers!

Blue Light Card Teachers Discounts

If you're a teacher you can get access to the discounts you deserve, and access to exclusive experiences and rewards.

https://teachers.bluelightcard.co.uk

OP posts:
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8
kittylion2 · 09/08/2024 18:59

Dammit - I'm retired! 🙄🙂

TheChippendenSpook · 09/08/2024 19:01

I'm not bothered who is eligible. I hardly used mine when I had one but they should change the name of it.

Freysimo · 09/08/2024 19:02

kittylion2 · 09/08/2024 18:59

Dammit - I'm retired! 🙄🙂

So am I and I've got one.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

mytuppennyworth · 09/08/2024 19:09

TheChippendenSpook · 09/08/2024 18:38

No they're not. They don't pontentially put their life on the line every time they go to work.

bloody hell, really! yes, is some places they do! I have dealt with knives, guns, weaponised dogs, needles, machetes, stabbings, murders, drug dealers, deaths from overdoses, violent assault, threats, gang warfare, lock downs, arson, injuries from flying furniture, life threatening allergies, life threatening medical conditions, broken bones, giving first aid as someone has bled to death, children dying in stolen cars, (in the lunch hour as well as in the evenings and no, I wasn't actually a physical witness to that particular incident, just the poor soul who had to ring parents and say their children had left the school premises and not come back...) I have also dealt with criminal parents, child sexual exploitation, groomers, child abuse and neglect, children getting into county lines...

I made a light hearted throw away comment about teachers being emergency services, but actually, the response has shown that people have little to no understanding of what teachers are dealing with. I've stood between students and a knife killer more than once in my career , and dealt with all manner of violent crime and life threatening medical emergency. So have many teachers. I've been knocked out by flying furniture, and had blood drawn on other occasions, and lead children out of smoke filled corridors after arson attacks.

Some people have NO idea.

Lulu1919 · 09/08/2024 19:11

Independent schools are exempt 😡

TheChippendenSpook · 09/08/2024 19:12

mytuppennyworth · 09/08/2024 19:09

bloody hell, really! yes, is some places they do! I have dealt with knives, guns, weaponised dogs, needles, machetes, stabbings, murders, drug dealers, deaths from overdoses, violent assault, threats, gang warfare, lock downs, arson, injuries from flying furniture, life threatening allergies, life threatening medical conditions, broken bones, giving first aid as someone has bled to death, children dying in stolen cars, (in the lunch hour as well as in the evenings and no, I wasn't actually a physical witness to that particular incident, just the poor soul who had to ring parents and say their children had left the school premises and not come back...) I have also dealt with criminal parents, child sexual exploitation, groomers, child abuse and neglect, children getting into county lines...

I made a light hearted throw away comment about teachers being emergency services, but actually, the response has shown that people have little to no understanding of what teachers are dealing with. I've stood between students and a knife killer more than once in my career , and dealt with all manner of violent crime and life threatening medical emergency. So have many teachers. I've been knocked out by flying furniture, and had blood drawn on other occasions, and lead children out of smoke filled corridors after arson attacks.

Some people have NO idea.

I bet you called the actual emergency services when you spotted all of those things. I got bored with reading that after your second sentence.

sweetkitty · 09/08/2024 19:12

@rkahic I actually get 48K after 5 years as I’m in Scotland. I am not doubting others work harder for less. Yes nurses should be paid more in not disputing that but I don’t get all the teacher hate for our holidays. It’s the only thing that keeps most teachers sane at the moment.

TheChippendenSpook · 09/08/2024 19:13

Have a real go at dealing with all of that stuff before telling me I have no idea.

Namechangencncnc · 09/08/2024 19:16

Why are some people so mad that teachers might get a discount.

Longma · 09/08/2024 19:17

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines. at the request of it's author.

DarkForces · 09/08/2024 19:20

JSMill · 09/08/2024 12:47

I'm glad teachers have finally been included but it's a bit crap you have to apply for a card. I have a friend who's in the police and all she has to do is show her warrant card to get discounts. I have also seen NHS staff get discounts just by showing their ID.

To qualify for blue light discount you need a blue light card. Your work ID doesn't work as a lot want a qr code. It's a fiver for 2 years. Worth every penny

TheChippendenSpook · 09/08/2024 19:21

Namechangencncnc · 09/08/2024 19:16

Why are some people so mad that teachers might get a discount.

I'm not mad... I'm just saying that they need to change the name of the card now. Blue light professions are the emergency services.

3rdtimeinflorida · 09/08/2024 19:23

Namechangencncnc · 09/08/2024 19:16

Why are some people so mad that teachers might get a discount.

I was wondering this too?!

mytuppennyworth · 09/08/2024 19:33

TheChippendenSpook · 09/08/2024 19:12

I bet you called the actual emergency services when you spotted all of those things. I got bored with reading that after your second sentence.

You have no idea, none at all, so sorry if trying to explain what real life is like to you is boring you.

These are not things I "spotted". These are things that have happened to me or around me

What do you think happens, if say, an armed gang breaks into a school looking for rival gang members? yes we call the emergency services, but we deal with it alone until they arrive, and then along side them when they are here.

And twice in my career they have arrived too late to save a murder victim, and many times they have arrived AFTER teachers have already contained the situation and saved people

mytuppennyworth · 09/08/2024 19:34

TheChippendenSpook · 09/08/2024 19:13

Have a real go at dealing with all of that stuff before telling me I have no idea.

I have, hence the post.

Longma · 09/08/2024 19:43

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines. at the request of it's author.

JanglyBeads · 09/08/2024 19:50

School support staff are eligible too.

Blue Light have tweeted this re the queues and duplicate payments:

Teachers and school support staff now eligible for a Blue Light card
thebookdragonz · 09/08/2024 19:56

Oh my goodness I’m so glad I came back to this thread, if I didn’t, I might never have know I got a quarter of year off work paid !!!!
my work is obviously hiding this from me, probably because they think I have enough time off .

SirChenjins · 09/08/2024 19:58

sweetkitty · 09/08/2024 18:52

Quarter of a years holidays?!!?
This again! It really does get boring as well as the general hatred of teachers on here and in society in general. We get 30 days paid holiday, the rest of it is unpaid, each month a part of our salary is sacrificed to give us a July wage. We also can’t have any little cheeky weekends off or the odd day off as annual leave. We have to have school holidays which as everyone knows are very expensive.

I return to school officially next week but have spent much of this week in my new classroom, cleaning floors, scrubbing chairs and tables, cleaning cupboards etc, as well as bringing all the cushions and blankets home to wash. Deep cleans during the holidays are a thing of the past. I’ve also spent about £200 probably more in resources as the council is so cash strapped we get the bare minimum.

When I am back in school there’s a good chance I’ll have the hair ripped out my head, be kicked, scratched and bitten, as in previous years. Oh and the 60+ hour weeks working every night and Sundays.

And yet all anyone goes on about is the holidays.

I thought it was 40 days paid holidays (pro rata for p/t staff) plus public holidays?https://teachinscotland.scot/news/teacher-holidays/

Teacher Holidays

Do teachers get long holidays? Yes, compared to other professional roles, teachers do get a generous amount of holidays. This includes the long summer holiday and generous time off during the festive seasons. But teachers also work long hours during te...

https://teachinscotland.scot/news/teacher-holidays

Soreearr · 09/08/2024 20:06

Can MSA get it too? I mean lunchtime supervision?

narwhalsarereal · 09/08/2024 20:07

@SirChenjins you do realise that you have linked a Scottish website talking about Scottish schools & teachers?

Other schools in England and Wales have different holiday allowances....we don't all follow the Scottish schools such as we break up for the holidays at different times.

SirChenjins · 09/08/2024 20:08

narwhalsarereal · 09/08/2024 20:07

@SirChenjins you do realise that you have linked a Scottish website talking about Scottish schools & teachers?

Other schools in England and Wales have different holiday allowances....we don't all follow the Scottish schools such as we break up for the holidays at different times.

You do realise that poster I've quoted is a Scottish teacher?

Twonewcats · 09/08/2024 20:10

rkahic · 09/08/2024 18:57

Three daughters who teach so yes, understand the pressures and the hours, but be honest, you get £38 k after 4 years , compare that to DW who is top of her scale as a nurse , been doing the job 40 years and gets £2 k less, so don’t complain, others work hard too for less money and less holidays

Edited

This is exactly the issue! Teachers constantly talking about how they're not paid for the summer holidays, BUT they're on 40k+. Most people I know would love to have so many holidays on 40k.
I KNOW it's not an easy job, I know there are a lot of challenges and dangers, but please acknowledge that your hourly rate is clearly really decent if you're only being paid for 4 or 5 weeks of the holidays.
This martyr stuff is what irritates people.

Most of my friends/family are in the teaching profession. Half of them are really appreciative of their (in their words) nailed-on job security, great pension, and decent holidays/pay. The other half constantly whine about how nobody understands just how difficult it is for them, and nobody works anywhere near as hard as they do.
One friend is a school office worker and is completely sick of teachers coming in and moaning to her about how tough it is, when she's dealing with a lot of the same issues but is pretty much on minimum wage.

narwhalsarereal · 09/08/2024 20:15

@SirChenjins no, because the poster didn't state they were Scotland.
My comment still stands though

PurBal · 09/08/2024 20:15

@MsCookTeacher88 I’m with you, Indy school support staff. Also year round so I was working today. Indy school is our towns largest employer. There are lots of professions that support the community.

I used to work for a charity working with homeless, addicts, sex workers, asylum seekers and the most vulnerable in society. We ran a food bank too. But charity workers are poorly paid and not entitled to blue light card.