To think school isnt a childminding service

[Xcountry]

So many posts about schools closing half day for end of term and god forbid you have to be there for your child.
Teacher strikes so you have to be there for your child.
School holidays so you have to be there for your child.
Child was ill and got sent home so you have to be there for your child.

Am I the only one who reads this and thinks well yes your career is probably important but you chose to have your children and this comes as part and parcel of being a parent? A school is not a childminding service. Yes it can be a pain in the backside to juggle and work around but that is what happens when you have children, they impact on your professional life and your social life.

Doesn't mean people aren't allowed to complain when these things happen because although of course it isnt a childminding service it does make life difficult especially if you have less than supportive employer or lack of other support at home.

I don't think it means people think of school as a childminder if they express their feelings about having to juggle things if a surprise day off leads to disruption.

What sirzy said

Also ime the juggling falls on the mother's shoulders

For those of us with a crap employer and without close family to help, it is a bloody nightmare.

I have virtually no annual leave left.

It's fine to be on a high horse when it doesn't affect you, but in my shoes I think you would be frustrated too.

Well the government appear to believe that schools are a childminding service, as do a lot of MNetters when they vilify single parents for not starting work as soon as their child hits 5.

Either they are available to work because their child is being "minded" at school or they need to be available for their child at all times because their child is not being minded. It's one or the other, you can't have both and expect people not to complain at the unfairness of it.

I think it's more the sudden days/half days off that people complain about isn't it?

I've never heard anyone complain about the children being home during the actual school holidays, but maybe I've just missed that bit!

Likewise, if a child is actually poorly, I think (or hope) that almost all parents will be prepared to either stay home with them/pick them up or make arrangements for someone else to look after them/pick them up. I have heard complaints about being asked to travel 45 minutes from work to urgently collect a child who is said to be "very poorly" and who is found to be laughing & skipping in the playground with her friends on arrival. I can see how that is frustrating.

I do agree that school is not childcare BUT I don't think it's too much to ask schools to consider whether some of the things they are asking (basically - events/days off/early finishes without notice), are going to cause parents difficulties. Most of the time it's just more notice that is needed.

im a single mum, DS is starting school in septmember and I am looking for work having just completed a degree. Thankfully I have a very good support network, but I am still worried about juggling things to be there for DS (who has severe asthma so will probably end up with more time off than average) whilst also earning money to support us. Thankfully I will probably end up working term time only which makes holidays easier but everything else will still require juggling.

school holidays are planned for - dates generally known. Child is ill - there is "family" leave in employment law where people can take a day, unpaid usually, to sort it out.

strikes ....mmmmmm .... we suck it up because it is usually to benefit the future of education etc....

half a day with less than a month's notice is just madness... sorry... it pisses me off - I have to book leave more than a month in advance - and would have if I had known. All we working parents are asking for is enough notice.

Yes, we ultimately juggle it around and it impacts on us, we chose to have kids yada,yada,yada - but don't tell me I can't be pissed off about it.

Xcountry do you have school age children and work?

I don't have a career, I have a job. Unfortunately part and parcel of being a parent is making enough money to feed, clothe and house your kids.

This is just a thread about a thread. Why are you re-hashing it? And who has said schools are a childminding service? No one has! You are being ridiculous, op.

here is the original thread if anyone is interested

Parental leave is meant to be booked 2 weeks in advance so not really an option for the sudden and unexpected. Also employers are allowed to turn it down and say it has to be delayed so an awkward employer can cause problems. And not everyone can afford to lose pay.

There are some employers who will sack a member if staff if they take too much time off or stop certain benefits. Of course when you have children you should expect to be there for them but some employers and some schools can make it really hard for parents. Which then makes it really hard for their kids.

As a working parent I would like schools to stick to an established routine. This would include ditching half days entirely and having robust contingency plans for bad weather. I would also expect minimum notice periods to apply for events that require parents to attend school or make additional provision (eg dress down days). Any pupil suspensions should also require notice with the exception of those where providing notice may put another pupil a risk. Any unplanned non-teaching days (strike action or unplanned school closure) should be made up at the end of term, without penalising parents for absence for those days if plans have already be made. Parents should not be expected to attend for swimming lessons and trips as these fall within the teaching mandate.
In the same way that employers are encouraged to allow flexible working, schools should be encourage to provide consistency to support parents and businesses.

Bugger. I hate falling for TAAT. Thanks for letting us know mintyy!

Totally agree with trapper.

Society as a whole can't afford to pay for a person to be at home on the chance that the school will strike, so they can attend sports day etc.

If the family Income is such that one parent can be at home - great.

If one parent can find a flexible employer who can take as much adhoc no notice time off as they like - great.

Retired able willing grandparents living next door - great.

Otherwise people have to work. This means taking on the commitment of working. You have to make a commitment to an employer.

Yes things happen - kids get sick that's an emergency.

Schools need to realise for society as a whole, to keep the economy rolling they need to think about working parents.

A text 2 days before to say that you should be at assembly at 11 o'clock is going to cause major inconvenience and will end up with disappointed children and frustrated guilt ridden parents.
Why can't the assembly be first thing ? surely a minor change which would make a massive difference. Coming in half hour late is easier for many parents than taking an hour in the middle of the working day.

3 different sports day dates - not possible to get all of them off.

Agreed, OP - if all of that (except illness, obviously) was done with a professional head.

But it's not.

The continuous complaint from working parents isn't 'I have to be there for my child...'

It's 'I have to be there for my child and you gave me five bloody minutes notice - again!'

Next week, my week looks like this:

Thursday morning - class closed, strikes. Told today - less than a week to organise childcare. Neither DH or I can take the time off - see below for why.

Thursday evening - parents evening - told with 10 days notice. Starts at 5pm, so I will have to a) finish work early and b) organise childcare as children are expressly and directly forbidden to attend because....

Friday afternoon - Class-Move-Up session. School is closed! and all pupils making significant 'moves' are to attend a half-day settling-in day with their parents. This starts at 1.30pm, so DD will go 8.45 - 12.15 - school closed, and then will have to go back at 1.30pm.

There's not even any provision to keep her on site for an hour, so I will be taking the whole day off and sitting in the car with her for an hour. We were told yesterday! A week's notice.

I had literally just finished begging my boss for the Friday off, rearranging several appointments, one of which is actually literally key to the business function for the next twelve months, when I got the bloody message from my CM with the details of the strike. If she hadn't done that, I would have found out at 6pm tonight, that I need an extra day's care next Thursday!

It's not possible for people with working commitments to do this. It does hurt careers, it hurts credibility, it creates incredible stress, and it is bloody unprofessional. If I thought managing my calendar like this was acceptable at work, I'd have been sacked years ago!

Schools would get a lot more support for attendance goals if they didn't pull crap like this! You cannot justify penalizing a parent for taking their child out school for a day, when they've just unilaterally deprived them of the same thing with less than a week's notice!

It really is about time the whole education system was overhauled to be compatible with modern society.

Our school just notified us yesterday that the last day of school will be letting out early. That's less than 3 weeks notice. For me, it's not a huge issue, but I imagine for some working parents that have to clear their time off or organise childcare much further in advance, I can see where it would be frustrating. Surely the school should have known months ago that they were letting out early on the last day.

For the vast majority of parents, it isn't the effect on their 'careers' they are worried about. It's the effect on their ability to keep the job that provides their children with, you know, basic needs like food, shelter, ...

And, yes, permanentlyexhausted it's that too...

I'm not at work because I don't want to spent time with my DD. I'm at work, because it literally takes both my and my DH working full time to make ends meet.

Its the surprise half days with a weeks notice or two weeks notice saying "by the way we're making the last day and inset day".

I know strikes are supposed to cause disruption but its blooming annoying when we still don't know which classes at school will be affected by the strike in 5 days and likely won't until two days before.

We've also been told this week that nursery (attached to school) breaks up two days before the rest of school. Luckily my eldest two wet to the school nursery so I expected this but it was a total pita when dc1 went.

Parents can't win really can they? They are expected to work to pay for their children's food and shelter but they are also expected to be available should the school wish to close with hardly minimal notice. At the same time, employers don't have to give parents time off without at least two weeks notice. Then you get idiots who don't have children and/or jobs telling us that we shouldn't complain because we chose to have children...

Parents can't win really can they? They are expected to work to pay for their children's food and shelter but they are also expected to be available should the school wish to close with hardly minimal notice. At the same time, employers don't have to give parents time off without at least two weeks notice. Then you get idiots who don't have children and/or jobs telling us that we shouldn't complain because we chose to have children...

Also, if you have been used to actual childcare 51 weeks of the year, it takes a while to get used to terms/holidays etc.

OP you don't have children and work, do you.