AIBU to expect teachers to strike in the school holidays and not in term time.

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow]

Well am I?

Considering that teachers are always insisting that they work during the school holidays, how come they never strike during the school holidays and always wait until term time to do so?

Odd that!

[thebody]

personally I really wish politicians just would stop meddling in state education when most of the government have absolutely no idea how the state system works as they all went to boarding school.

no wonder they want toddlers to teens at school for long hours, I suppose they was normal for them with nanny and boarding school.

thanks but I don't want to out source my children to the state.

pay teachers a bloody good wage, stop meddling and key them do the job.

[babybythesea]

souredstones - you have started a whole other thread on this.

Read the replies there....

[ShatnersBassoon]

I had an excruciating conversation with a grandmother at the school this morning. She was moaning on and on about how she and her husband have been paying for teachers' pensions all their lives and that teachers don't know how easy they have it with their short days and long holidays, and how she'll be missing out on her Tuesday activities because she has to look after the child whose parents both work...

It was just ignorance on her part, not malice, but it was hard not to suggest to her that she reads a quality newspaper and learn what teachers are actually striking for. She didn't know who Gove is for a start.

[mrsjay]

souredstones they are educators first and foremost and they have to make sure your child comes to no harm if you think the teachers are just childcare maybe you should hire a home tutor to babysit your kids,

[Souredstones]

I get that they work long hours I get that their terms and conditions change frequently but so does everyone else in local government.

Teachers have the best t&cs going when it comes to local government workers.

[Retropear]

What Clam said with bells on.

However I don't support the strike.Everybody everywhere has been and is having to work longer hours for less,teachers aren't special or different.

They have a far better deal than most.

I also agree with some of Gove's changes but not all.

Free schools,anti term time holiday measures,longer school day and academies are all crackers.

Teachers aren't however striking for the above but just for themselves and their gold pated pensions no body else can have but pay for instead.

[FactOfTheMatter]

"Teachers have the best t&cs going when it comes to local government workers."
Even if that were true, it would not be an argument for lowering them.

[mrsjay]

the loco parent is only part of a teachers job and if they are striking then they are not able to do that job as i said before striking is supposed to be annoying

[Retropear]

It would as we can't afford them and most people elsewhere manage on a lot worse.

[FactOfTheMatter]

Gold plated pensions. Bingo.

Teachers are striking because of the threats to their pay and conditions, but that's the only thing they're allowed to strike on.
Show me a teacher who thinks Gove's changes are good for pupils. I don't know any.

[babybythesea]

From the other thread - you queried why schools have a duty of care if they were not there as childcare. I replied:

No, they absolutely have a duty of care.
Which is entirely different to being there to provide child care.
Having a duty of care means (as I interpret it) that while the children are on the premises they have to make sure they are safe and well looked after. In the same way that an employer has a duty of care to employees. But you don't go to work to be looked after, do you? You go to do a job. They have to make sure the surroundings etc are safe while you are there, and that you have additional needs met, but that is not the reason for the existence of the company.
Same with school. The duty of care means that while the children are there they must be looked after, needs met etc. But the school is not there solely for that purpose. They are there to provide an education. Otherwise all teachers could forget about trying to teach a subject matter and only qualify in paediatric first aid and do child minder quals....


You then asked: If educators are not childcare providers then why do childcare providers (childminders and nursery) have to provide education? (Early years)


I replied:
Because some twat decided they had to! Not all children go to childminders or nursery - if this was really considered essential it would become law that your kids went into nursery at age 1 or whatever in order to receive the education. Many people think that there is too much emphasis on 'teaching' children too young.
Everyone does have to go to school, or receive an education at home, at the age of five however. Which is why schools exist.
Childcare before that age exists to allow people to return to work through needing to or wanting to. What the kids do there has become gradually more prescribed (in as far as having goals and the EYFS goes).
And also because it has been recognised that some children get a lot of stimulation at home and arrive at school ready to learn. Others don't. It was an attempt (and making it free helps) to get those kids exposed to some learning experiences before they get to school. And by learning experiences, I mean the chance to play in sand, or to build a tower of blocks and make it fall down. And thus, you have the EYFS - what should these kids be able to do/understand? But it's not obligatory. School is.

[Retropear]

Fact well do something about it instead of just focusing on yourselves.Sort your unions out.

[babybythesea]

Sorry my last post was to souredstones.

[FactOfTheMatter]

Teachers' strike = "doing something about it".

[sisterofmercy]

And local govt workers recently have been discussing possible action in Scotland. Not sure about England and Wales but there are disputes with individual councils like South Gloucs about closures and cuts.

There are disputes happening all over the country in lots of different public and (less often) private sector workplaces as we speak. They don't all get into the newspapers.

It isn't the same union for everyone. Each group of people must decide what the best course of action is, whether they want to take any or not.

We don't have to all get our pay and working conditions dragged down to sweatshop conditions just because they're the cheapest workers. If you are facing cuts and you are in a union, you get a vote in what happens about it. That's democracy.

[janey68]

It speaks volumes that the OP even asks the question. Would any one seriously ask any other profession to use their holiday time for striking lol. Apart from being completely illogical it shows a general mindset of prejudice

I think teaching must be one of the hardest jobs on earth. I have two teenagers and I cannot imagine teaching and guiding over 100 of them a day. Plus all the paperwork and other aspects. I have teachers in the wider family- SIL and also a few friends who are teachers and I can see the utter frustration at constant govt u turns and the blame culture for all the wrongs of society.

[Retropear]

Yes for yourselves and conditions we can't afford.

There is no bottomless pit of money.

Those in the private sector have known that for years,those in the public sector now need a reality check.Sorry.

[sisterofmercy]

"do something about it instead of just focusing on yourselves"

They are doing it for the children so they can expect a quality education provided by professional highly educated staff. They think the government's policies are actively working against this.

The only leverage they have is the vote and withdrawing labour.

[Norfolknway]

Ridiculous! Pahaha...YABU

[Retropear]

How exactly do unrealistic pensions help kids- aside from taking resources away?

[janey68]

And token- I totally agree with your dh's response: why don't all these people who think its the easy life with fabulous conditions and a gold plated pension try teaching themselves if its all so easy?!

Fwiw I work in the private sector at a managerial level so long hours and a pretty challenging job, but I still take my hat off to teachers; I couldnt do what they do

[sisterofmercy]

Retropear - if you fought for better conditions instead of just taking it and whining about other people who actually try to do something then you might have better conditions. You can't do it on your own but people who band together can have an effect.

There are huge profits being given to shareholders so don't tell me there's no money.

[MistressIggi]

[sisterofmercy]

Yeah like the money they take from pensions is going to be spent on the children.

And the3 pensions are nothing like what they used to be.

[babybythesea]

My parents (both teachers) have contributed to their pensions for years in a government scheme, way over what my relatives in the private sector have. Only to be told there is no money as mum approaches retirement (Dad retired a few years ago).
It is not as simple as 'the tax player pays the pensions'. My parents paid tax, and so in effect you could say they've paid twice for the non-existent money. Where the hell's it all gone???
My parents get/will get far far less than the rellies who work in the private sector whose companies put in, and they've done it all themselves. Gold plated pension? It's not if you've done the leg-work for it only to be told it's no longer there....