To rant and rave about the december day off school for Queens Jubilee

[campsiemum]

So my DDs school has announced that they are closing a day early for Christmas so the children can celebrate the Queens Jubilee... which is in frikkin JUNE!

It seems to have been decided that as the jubilee is during half term, an extra day needs to be awarded..

As someone who has planned child care for the whole of Christmas already I am pissed off to now have to somehow cover an extra day.

So come on... just how unreasonable am I being?

(bonus points for "School isn't free child care" and double points for "you choose to work as well as have children so suck it up")

Same here Tarquin-I think if only I had worked until 5.30pm!!
In school about 7.30am always before 8am, leave about 5-5.30pm spend time with DCs cook, eat and work again. Friday evening and Saturday off, work most of Sundays.More if reports to be done, plays to be performed etc.
I'm not even going to start on what I did in the holidays!
I went down to part time and supply and have now stopped.

lovingthecoast - this term the HT suggested that we run afterschool clubs only until the end of November (working on the principle that we'll all be knackered by Dec)
She's been inundated by parents complaining - all of our afterschool activities are free and run on a voluntary basis by teaching staff.

The thing is, I don't consider my workload to be a problem - I love my job and in order to be a good teacher I need to work this hard.
I do resent the perception that I'm a part time slacker worker

Oh ffs, by part-time I was refferring to the inordinate amount of holidays not the day time hours.

I must have imagined my mum being home playing with us all throughout the holidays when I was small... and my best friend sending me jokey text messages about how when she was getting out of bed throughout the summer I'd already done half a day's work.

Of course tecahers work hard. We'd all be lost with out them. I have a lot of respect for the profession, of course I do.

But with 13 weeks holidays a less core hours than full time workers, I stand by the fact that it is essentially a part time job, with over time. That's my opinion and I'm entitled to it.

Impression of OP:

La la la

Well, if Christmas etc falls on a weekend then an additional day off is given to replace the missed bank bok, so it does happen..

Oh, and things like Aug bank hols are missed by schools.

Of course it happens, but not 6 flipping months before the bank holiday and at a time that suits one specific business!

12 weeks' holiday, actually. Unpaid.

Just saying.

It's not really unpaid though is it... Wouldnt that put teachers on nearly 40k starting salary if the current salary is in fact pro rated? I confess I'm not sure of the exact salaries so please do correct me if I'm wrong.

Any way if we're saying the slary is pro rated because teachers don't work the full year that others do then, er, doesnt that make them part time..? Else why would their pay need to be pro rated

As I've said, I know teachers work hard. And I wouldnt do it for the world. But I can't understand why it's so easy for me to say that i work ridiculously long hours and I get bugger all holidays... but I get wicked bonuses most months so the good outweighs the bad in my mind - et hardly any teachers (on MN, not in RL) can actually say, yeah - know what, we get shit loads of holidays and now we're getting an extra day in the Christmas hols and we're lovin it!
It's always, woe is us, no one understands, look how hard we work... blah.

Anyway, I digress. Most people agreed that I wasnt BU to be annoyed about the lack of notice so I'm off now as thatw as my gripe, not teachers holidays and working hours. It always goes thatw ay on here though. Many chips on shoulders I feel.

Yes it is unpaid. We get a salary cheque every month of the year, but that's for ease of budgetting. We are paid for 195 days, but spread over 12 months.

And any chips on shoulders by the teaching profession are probably due to attitudes like yours.

Yes... I GET it! I understand the concept. You miss my point entirely.

God I'm so bored of this.

Hides thread.

How is that 12 weeks unpaid then? Are your annual salaries pro-rated? Genuinely interested btw!

What's the betting she hasn't actually hidden the thread?

It is all to do with the number of days teaching/ teachers work and they are entitled to the extra bank holiday as it's national as much as anyone else as the holidays are paid - pro rata salary.

My school (as it always does) is having the last day of term as inset (July). However this year because it's a Monday most schools in the LA are also giving the teachers/ Ta's etc the day off and the time is made up with twilight training sessions.

So if a job is advertised at £35K, then because you only work 39 weeks per year you actually only receive 40/52ths of that £35k - but spread over 12 months?

sorry, not 40/52th, I meant 39/52ths

Firstly, teachers/school staff do not just 'decide' when the school is going to be shut. They don't wake up, decide it looks a bit parky and ring the head to say 'Better shut the school mate' Nor will they be plotting to have an extra bank holiday. It will be the LA/Head/Governors etc who will take these decisions. So save your ill informed invective for them.

Secondly, here is the info re the golden jubilee from Direct.gov

"Schools in England and Wales will be able to close on Tuesday 5 June 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. If a school is already closed on 5 June for half term or another reason, it will be able to close on an alternative day. Scotland and Northern Ireland will be making their own arrangements."

You might as well just write directly to the queen TBH. It is her fault, unless there is a cabal of teachers plotting to keep her on the throne for as long as possible thus facilitating more holiday for them.

Maise, I will explain it very clearly to you. Teachers are paid for a set number of hours, That pay is split up into 12 salary payments.

Do you understand?

To make it even clearer-when I have worked on a contract it has been divided so that I get paid for the holiday. When I do supply I get more because it is divided so that I don't get paid in the holiday.
The school has nothing to do with closing in lieu of the bank holiday-it isn't their choice.

Nope, not getting it (and no need for the attitude Alistron, I'm sure you don't tolerate it from your pupils - I'm asking because I genuinely don't understand how it works)

So, if you are paid for X number of hours (as we all are), and then the pay is split up into 12 monthly payments - then when do the unpaid hours kick in? As I said, if the salary is advertised as £35K, then do you only get 39/50th, but paid over 12 months?

So, if you are paid for X number of hours (as we all are), and then the pay is split up into 12 monthly payments - then when do the unpaid hours kick in?

Usually by Feb half term

Know that feeling!

If a salary is advertised as being 35K it is 35K for the contracted hours (which are 1265 annually iirc) the unpaid overtime kicks in when those hours are exceeded.

For example, my DP is a teacher and generally does 50% more hours annually than he is contracted to work.

A job offering a 35K salary though would be for an experienced teacher who has passed through threshold a couple of times, or a mainscale teacher with a TLR (i.e a department head/assistant head teacher)

I am a part time TA and am contracted to work 21 hours a week. I regularly end up doing 3 or 4 hours extra 'unpaid' over the course of my working week.

Schools operate on a lot of unpaid goodwill. But salaries, holidays, contracted hours, snow closures, bank holidays, teacher training days are not decided by teachers.

HTH.