Parents cleaning their dc school

[dizzybiatch]

My dh and I are having a debate.

This is more of a are 'they' being unreasonable.

So due to council cut backs our little school has had the cleaners hours cut. Teachers say she does the best she can in the time but its not enough and school needs a good spring clean which the parents have been asked to do.

My dh is outraged, thinks its a basic requirement and the council/school need to sort it out. I think if that is the situation I am happy to clean with the other parents.

How would you feel? My dh thinks the abu to ask the parents.

JumpingThroughHoops

I would hop that a new head would change most, if not all, of that.

Not everyone has a PC that is why where I work only those with no email address get printed letters.

There was also over £200 of directory enquiries calls by staff for non work related enquiries - eg deliveries, utilities, bank numbers. again (annocdotal) but all of the staff where I work use there own mobiles for this. Most schools have various numbers blocked to stop this.

Not to mention dreadful equipment maint contracts only and idiot would have signed up to.

This is the real problem though, in defence of the head he may have had very few options open to him as it is only recently that schools can search for quotes from companies.
Having said that the companies still take the piss.

fallen I started a thread once about the time his teacher took me aside and asked me 'to do something about his eczema, it's not nice for us to see him in such discomfort'.
So obviously I took him home that weekend and cured his chronic condition

He doesn't go to that school anymore.

i do after school clubs in a number of schools and I have to say over the last year or two a decline in cleaning standards has been evident.

postolympicblues

The quality of cleaning isn't down to the school, but the quality of the cleaners and the inability of the department heads to complain.

I have seen excelent cleaners forced out of jobs to be replaced by not one cleaner but groups of cleaners that are unable to do the same quality of job.

Re over staffing at a professional level. Small school pupil numbers down to 20, less now as more have left since me. Full time experienced top of pay scale for primary head, full time experienced top of pays scale for primary deputy head, teacher on three day contractbut topped up to four or five days to cover PPA days, four days a week all day nursery nurse when nursery children are in four days am only. It ment that the school budget, which is one of the top per pupil in county, went on the professional salaries which is why the PTA were working rediculously hours to raise money for paying the photocopying bill.

Dreadful - completely agree with your dh OP!

'fallen I started a thread once about the time his teacher took me aside and asked me 'to do something about his eczema, it's not nice for us to see him in such discomfort'

Fuck that for a game of soldiers. That is beyond vile and stupid as a response. I've never worked in a place like that and never will.

I agree with your dh too. I wouldn't do it.

ANT you cant sack someone because they are paid according to pay scale, nor make them redundant because they are over qualified for the job they originally were employed for.

I realise that you can't sack people or make them redundant. In the knowledge that the budget was tight the head offered the nursery nurse afternoons because she wanted more work as her own DC had become school age. The teachers post became available and rather than reevaluating the schools need, the post was readvertised but to make it more attractive extra days were offered.

In my personal opinion in this instance with two very experienced teaching staff and support staff they could have found a way of managing each others PPA time without employing extra staff. If one of them managed the whole school, not forgetting that there are the available support staff to help, we are only talking 20 children if they're all in.

My point is that up until this year budgets have been found for this school when they overrun on spend. As there is only the one pot of schools money for the county this comes from elsewhere. Now that penny's are rightfully being watched and councils are making very tough decisions the customers of the school (parents/ pupils) need to define our priorities.

In this case a clean school is a basic need.

Ghost can you quantify that? How do you know there's enough money to pay the cleaners?

In my school they're trying to get the parents and lunchtime supervisors into the kitchen to help out

anything to save money it seems...

I've worked in schools where the pupils do the cleaning, one day a term, all lessons have been cancelled. This is nothing new.

Japanese kids do indeed clean their schools, it's very much part of the culture. It works pretty well on the whole.

But if our school cut the cleaner's hours and asked parents to help instead, I would refuse. Not because I am unwilling to help, but because I'd far rather spend the time writing to the council and/or the head asking them to give the poor cleaner her hours back.

I am all in favour of schools being efficient and resourceful, and making the most of limited funds. But this job was presumably someone's livelihood, and I'm damned if I'm going to steal someone's job just so that I can have a nice virtuous glow for an afternoon. Cleaning in schools is a basic necessity, and as such, should be covered by core funding. Volunteers in school should be providing the optional extras, not the things that schools cannot function without.

What next? Shall we cut the teachers' hours and get a few parents in to pick up the slack? Sadly, I wouldn't put it past this government...

Do you think the MPs and Lords are going into the Houses of Parliament to give them a good spring clean during summer recess?

Turnip, if they were feeling generous I'm sure they could lend their own domestic staff for a day or so.

Thanks for all the replies.

I have to say i have mixed feeling on this.

Whilst i think it is pretty shocking to be asked to cover what is considered a basic requirement i also think (esp with it being a small rural school 40kids) that i am happy to support the school any which way i can.