Schools to be judged on their extra-curricular activities. Get in the bin, Bridget.

[noblegiraffe]

"The Department for Education will publish a new set of enrichment benchmarks for schools across five categories: civic engagement, arts and culture, nature, outdoor and adventure, sport and physical activities and developing wider life skills.
Ofsted will consider whether schools are meeting the expectations as part of its inspections, with information made available to parents through new school profiles, the Department for Education added."

This is nothing to do with the curriculum review that has just come out.

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/another-expectation-schools-to-be-judged-on-enrichment-benchmarks/

Fuck off. Extra-curricular activities are put on by teachers for free and in our own time. They cannot be an expectation when they are voluntary and unpaid. Should we publish a league table of how MPs meet benchmarks of volunteering and charity work on a weekend and in their holidays?

And if you are cutting school funding (schools are going to be told they have to fund future teacher pay rises out of their budgets by making 'efficiency savings' like there are any possible savings left to be made after the Tories cut everything), then you cannot demand that we do more.

Phillipson is apparently also unhappy that some schools are closing before 3:30pm. Yes, because they can't afford to keep the lights on that long.

You want extra stuff, you have to pay for it.

I'm not a teacher, I work closely with schools though. There are many things that are good for children, not all of them are the responsibility of teachers to provide.

Also, if it is so good for children, why should it not be paid for? Teachers already work for around 18 hours unpaid a week and you think they are unreasonable? They have their own lives to live and families to be provide and be there for.

Is it good for students? Is there any proof that unpaid clubs after school are good for students?

Teachers aren't just in it for the good of everyone else. Teaching is a job, and teachers expect to be paid for their time. Would you say to a lawyer "providing free time would be good for poorer clients, why aren't you doing that?".

If you think clubs are enriching then you offer to volunteer to run one.

If you haven’t time what makes you think I do? I’m already in school from 7.30-5.

If the answer is “it’s not my job”. It isn’t my job either - I’m paid to educate and I have a set of directed duties.

Exploitation?

Good god I’ve heard it all. Someone call the police and report the schools for modern slavery…

… teachers are being asked to offer students rounded opportunities at school, and in this case probably within the hours of their contract! If the teachers don’t want to work the directed hours then they don’t have to apply there.

Some of the reactions on here are just showing why teachers get such a bad rep sometimes. Education is about what’s best for the kids, surely they should front and centre of the conversation.

Exploitation.. FFS.

Education is about what’s best for the kids, surely they should front and centre of the conversation

Not when it leaves staff underpaid and with more responsibilities for stuff that isn't education.

FYI teachers aren't applying for jobs, most of them are leaving if you care to look at the latest recruitment and retention statistics. I'm not sure adding more unpaid work will help.

Unpaid, really? At my DD's school it's external providers, I just paid £45 for 6 weeks of a 45 minute after school art club and £55 for yoga Your school needs a new system. No-one wants exhausted teachers to run these clubs, but it's much easier for kids and parents for external providers to run them straight after school in the same location.

I think it's a great idea, my DD wouldn't get to go to anything if it wasn't for after-school clubs.

With respect, your lack of understanding as to how much extra teachers give already 'for the good of the children' is frankly astounding.

And I agree. All schools should be doing things. But to make that work government has to fund schools properly to allow teachers and support staff to be remunerated properly and the school to function financially at the level required. Just adding expectation without financing will drive more excellent staff away.

She’s an idiot- and this is the most idiotic thing she’s said so far. I’m so very disappointed in her.

The reaction isn't about pay, it's about continually adding to the ever increasing workload being piled onto school staff: one of the main drivers for so many of then leaving the profession.

I'll put it into an office-based context. Let's say you work a 9-5 in an office. There are times you come early or stay late but they are always connected to your role and the discharge of your responsibilities. However, your bosses have now decided that every Monday, you, Mary and Bob are all going to stay until 7pm to run cricket, dance and Christmas craft clubs for any of your service users that want to attend. It's not your work and, actually, it means the work you'd normally do after hours on Mondays will have to be squeezed in elsewhere but, hey! Do it for the service users: they'll like it. Plus, smile, because you've also got a mime group to run until 6:30pm on Thursdays too!

The school I taught in had enrichment. Teachers had to give an extra 2 hours a week for it.

Silly comparison - many lawyers are working north of 60 hours a week or more all year round, like many private sector jobs earning anything over £40k you get a salary and you have a job to do. No one gives two hoots if the job takes you 35h or 65h you have to get it done. And every year you get squeezed more because another role was cut and has to be absorbed into everyone else’s workload.

Just because it happens at your child’s school doesn’t mean that will happen as standard.

My school has no money. We have been “asked” to run a club in our undirected time (outside contract for those who are unsure if directed and undirected hours). However, it has been set as an appraisal target so if we don’t run one we will fail our annual appraisal.

You’ve literally just described what it’s like to work in the private sector.

Our roles change all the time, they have to because organisations have to change. Except that in our case, Mary gets made redundant so you and Bob have to do her job too. Then Bob gets made redundant so you have to do his job. Then you burn out and have to leave because there’s no orher choice and no one to stand up to the employer with.

Not silly at all. The lawyer wouldn't take on free jobs in the first place. Yet that's what you're expecting of teachers.

We're masters of roles being cut and squeezed workloads. There's nothing left to give, as evidenced by people leaving in droves.

I used to routinely run clubs and lead trips. But the more "extra" that is expected of me, the less I actually offer. I can't be a social worker in my "lunch break" and run a club.

Precisely, I'm afraid this poster just wants to get more hours from teachers for nothing.

Literally what school is like.

Have you seen how many classes are covered by supply or anyone with a pulse? The more that goes on, the worse the education for our children. See how treating education like the private sector doesn't work?

It's not within the hours of our contract.

My job is maths teacher.

When we were directed to 'work-to-rule' by our unions, that meant we were directed to not run extra-curricular activities. Because it's not part of our contracted job.

Honestly what a bunch of whingers.

It's a stupid idea. Sounds good at first glance but it will be shit, actually. Yet another recipe for giving middle-class schools a leg up and good Ofsted grades. So, the enrichment/trips/sports equipment difference a good well funded PTA is able to make is now going to be judged officially? How is that fair to schools without those resources? I don't see any funding tied to this either.

I'm sorry, teachers. I know it's a hard job already, you don't need this nonsense.

Whilst you just sound rather silly.

Which is what is happening in the public sector anyway due to massive lack of funds and lack of staffing. But what is not being asked in your private sector example there is for you to take on additional hours of workload for something that is not actually connected to what the job/company is simply because someone thinks it'll be fun for your service users.

That’s what happens when you push people to the point of burn out. Teachers are already working beyond capacity so when they get told they need to do extra then of course the initial reaction is frustration.

Oh, you're not a serious poster, just on the wind-up. 👍