To think the long school holidays are not for the teachers' benefit?

[NotInMyDay]

Discussion on BBC Breakfast this morning re long school holidays. A rep from teachers' union was saying the long school holidays were vital for teachers to rest and recuperate so that they could do the best for our children at the start of the next school year.

AIBU to think that it's the children who need this break and therefore the teachers have it too? Rather than NEEDED by the teachers.

I think that most teachers do a fantastic and unenviable job but they don't need to recuperate any more than GPs, surgeons, nurses, bus drivers etc.

you are very curious noble. I have taught for over 30 years in state schools, private schools, further ed and supply. 10 years full time then p/t.

Half terms certainly are necessary. For the CHILDREN. They need a break, you know.

So you taught full time back when teaching was by all accounts a piece of piss compared to today and only part time since yet you think you can talk knowledgeably about teachers' workloads Amelia? Really?

I had no idea that the 6 weeks holiday was originally so kids could go and work in the fields! Mum phoned me and told me about the radio show this morning.

I think if holidays were evenly spaced it would be better for kids and teachers/school workers.

I am about you coming out with so many negatives about colleagues, amelia - why teach for 30 years if you hated teachers so much?

So you taught full time back when teaching was by all accounts a piece of piss compared to today and only part time since yet you think you can talk knowledgeably about teachers' workloads Amelia? Really?

Noblegiraffe makes a very good point

Feenie So you taught full time back when teaching was by all accounts a piece of piss compared to today and only part time since yet you think you can talk knowledgeably about teachers' workloads Amelia? Really?

Feenie I consider that a highly offensive post.

A piece of piss eh? By whose accounts are you talking about? I assume you weren't even born then.

I taught in a school where I was working in the school for 2 nights a week until 9pm, and a Saturday morning, and pastoral duties at weekends.

Don't talk to me about what I did being a piece of piss. you know nothing about what I did and I am not going to engage in exchanges with you when you are so ignorant.

sorry that was aimed at noble but the same comments apply to you feenie- without knowing what i did you have no idea,.

And just because I am not teaching full time now does not mean I have no idea what goes on in a school.

"Teachers complain that they cannot get through the curriculum these days before exams loom- but if holidays were slashed it would not be an issue."

If we slashed sleeping times imagine how much we could achieve!

oh how pathetic. There's always someone who wants to take things to extremes.

You want to "slash holiday times" for children because you think if the spend more time at their desks they will learn more.

That's pretty extreme.

Not to mention completely idiotic.

Thank fuck you're not in teaching anymore with that kind of understanding of education.

I said a piece of piss compared to today. Before the national curriculum, ofsted, league tables, national curriculum levels, performance management, inclusion, FFT targets, value added, modular exams and I'm sure a million other things that have been introduced since the 70s that make teachers' lives just a bit more stressful. Old teachers are always going on about how much easier it was back then.

And 'knowing what goes on in schools' now is no substitute for teaching full time in one.

ATINYL it's extreme is it to say that school holidays are too long? Oh I see. Right.

Take a chill pill darling- you seem to be over reacting a tad.

Are you a teacher noble? I assume so. were you alive in the 70s and in education- or are your opinions the result of what you think happened?

I don't think the long 6+ week summer holiday is vital for anyone to rest & recuperate. I think the current term system needs an overhaul. It is based on what people did at the end of the 19th century & beginning of the 20th century. Education was intended to look after small children while their parents worked and educate the workforce. As a single working parent - I can honestly say I find the really long summer holiday an absolute nightmare.

Of course children & teachers need a break - don't we all - but not 6+ weeks all at once.

I would much rather see shorter terms, with shorter breaks & much more holiday clubs provided.

well thank goodness i am not the only one!

Be careful or ATIYL will be saying you aren't fucking fit to be a mother as you think chldren should be at their desks longer.

Hmm, Amelia do you think the things that I have listed haven't made teachers' lives more stressful and increased their workload since the 70s?

Amelia, clearly you don't know what you're talking about 'cos you didn't even know that teachers are paid for a set number of hours a year. Despite having taught for 30 years.

My DP has been a teacher for nearly 16 years now and he thinks that profession now has changed beyond recognition in that time. league tables, OFSTED, curriculum changes, new initiatives year after year (or even term after term)

Unless you have taught over the past 5 years I don't think you do really know what the job is like now.

Take a chill pill? :o

I guess it's still the 1970s in some parts.

Your phrase was "slashing" school holidays, and that this "slashing" would mean pupils learnt more.

That's not a considered argument about the length if school holidays, it's reactionary posturing that shows up your ignorance of education.

Still, keep going. It's quite funny watching you make a complete twat of yourself.

School holidays aren't just for rest and recuperation.

They are for freedom, change, projects, difference.

The utter luxury of that amount of time to fill with whatever you choose.

A poxy fortnight every so often won't make up for that.

People just want school to be set up entirely to convenience them and their jobs, that's all this is about.

Of course, ATIYL, you are absolutely right. Spot on.

And everyone else- do you think I don't have friends who are teachers? I may not be in a school now but I don't live in a bubble.

Noble are you are teacher then?

I agree OP, the holidays are for the children.

I may be naive, trained as a teacher in the mid 90s but never taught, but I think we should go back to trusting our head teachers to run the school, the teachers to teach and we should have better ways, much quicker, to get rid of shit teachers (of which there are many).

Of course teachers do not need 6 weeks off, it is a perk of the job and a factor in my choice to remain in teaching. Other professions are able to have perks so I don't see why teachers can't.

To be honest as a secondary teacher I am probably less tired at the end of the summer term than the spring or winter term as I no longer have my exam classes which make up between a quarter and a third of my timetable. Now I am shattered as we are in the run up to exams and I know that after half term for the first few weeks every hour is vital . The pressure is immense whereas the summer is quite laid back.

I really hope I do not have the most stressful or hardest job in the world because! quite frankly, I am highly qualified and do not deserve to be taken advantage of.

Whoever posted about the way that teachers work for short bursts is right. I could not work the way I do with five weeks holiday a year. In the run up to exam time in particular I am working before school, every break and after school with students until 5pm. I then have my planning and assessment to do. It varies but I am in school from 7am until 6pm and then work a few hours every evening, probably about 3 although a key points it can't be longer. I am not saying that because I want to claim to be the hardest working woman in the universe but to point out that for me at least that is not sustainable for 47 weeks a year. I can sustain it in bursts of six weeks. Maybe other people can work these hours all year, I actually find very little that is admirable about making your career the sole focus of your life. My long holidays mean that I can work long hours in the term time and be a rather mediocre parent but in the holidays I can be totally devoted to the children.

I do think that the students also need the break, although again 6 weeks is not needed.

I know some people want to reduce summer holidays and make the earlier holidays longer, I do now want to lose time with my exam classes.

I have never met a teacher who claims to have a monoploly on hard work.

I have family who are teachers and they never ever mention working at weekends or doing really long hours during the week. It must vary from school to school? The same as I could do my job in a different organisation but expectations would be completely different...my job is not the sort where you can say 'I finish at 5 so I will do that tomorrow'.
Also once you've been through a school year, if you have the same age group the following year isn't all of the lesson planning done? I know you would have to tweak as you go along but wouldn't the bulk of it be there already? Not being presumptious but just genuinely want to know.