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.

kickassangel I didn't mean that my mother didn't turn up to events. I meant that there were very few events (e.g. assemblies) during the day that involved parents in the first place and there were no teacher training days.

X-country How do you know people just got on with it? Your parents wouldn't have moaned to you, they would have moaned to friends.

Plus were no internet forums to post on. I don't recall being off for teacher training days or my parents coming into school except for sports day. I have had 8 events to attend this term in the school day and that's for one child!

I was on the thread that I am pretty sure this thread is about. Anyway I think that one of the criteria on which schools should get judged by Ofsted should be how well they are able to work with and support working parents.

That would mean doing things like avoiding half days and working with childcare providers to organize wrap around care.

At the moment I don't think schools have much of an incentive to support working parents. Perhaps it needs to be made more formally part of their role.

It does surprise me people moan about the lack of notice about the upcoming strike - the date was announced back in May, with more press news in the middle of June. Ths school may not know which staff are going to be in or out as staff are not legalling obliged to inform the head, so decisions can be made late but most parents should be aware it may be a possibility.

I am a teacher but not on strike but it is supposed to cause disruption!

With half days I can tell you know when ours will be in the next year, same as the last 5 years! Last day of Christmas term, day of open evening, last day of summer term.

We also publish a calendar to all parents in September which has all key dates on for the whole year, including all parents evenings for the next year. I assumed all schools did this - in my school if its not on the calendar - it doesn't happen unless there is a really good reason - ie competion winners going to a next round etc.

Can I ask, who exactly are you hoping to get on side by striking? I'm one of Thatcher's children and I will never ever support industrial action.

Do you want to know why I do not have enough hours of annual leave left to take next Thursday off if I need to?

Because this month I have taken two half days leave in order to take my Brownie unit on an outing and a residential weekend. That's right - I have spent some of my limited annual leave taking other people's children to have amazing opportunities.

I wonder whether any of my Brownies' non-working parents will offer to have my children next Thursday...

Noodle - lack of notice is not the issue in all cases but the fact that the majority of working parents physically can't take all of the time of needed without a massive amount of juggling, stress and reliance on others (which I hate as I should be able to cover this myself) or risk to their job.

I just don't get why a half day is needed when working parents are clearly struggling. Also, with the number of times parents are invited into school - for me 8 this term for one child. How i will manage next year when I have two there and things like the termly class assembly and termly stay and play sessions are staggered by year group i have no idea and can't plan for it! I think its great that the school get us involved but there is a practical limited.

Schools need to work with parents to get the right balance. Its in the best interests of the school, parents and most importantly the children!

When my dd was in reception, all the things that made money were on after school and into the evening, or at weekends.

Things that didn't make money apparently couldn't be in the evenings as the pupils were too tired. So - I can bring her to the book fair at 8 pm and spend $$$, but not be there for other activities. It felt very much like an attempt at money grabbing from the working parents, and then ignoring us when it suited the school. Even consultation 'evenings' finished by 6 pm, not much use to working parents.

I was very glad to move to the US, as I was starting to get incensed by how much the school just shut out working parents, refused to include them in 'fun' things and then would suddenly be able to hold stuff in the evening when they wanted us to spend money.

Some schools sound organized and inclusive, but other primary schools really do seem very complacent about their assumptions that 'mum' will be there whenever it suits the school.

Here's why they're coming out on strike, Whitesands

www.teachers.org.uk/files/action-faqs-july-2014-final.pdf

There you go, Whitesands. I posted this for your edification on page 4 of this thread.

HTH.

As others have said, it's the sheer number of things we're expected to go to that messes things up. I've had 3 normal working weeks this term and won't have another one til September. It's one thing being flexible (and my work is super flexible) and another when the majority of your working time is spent going to school events!

I can see that the schools are under pressure from OFSTED to encourage parental involvement, and that this is being translated into more is better. I wonder if they have to provide data on attendance.

On the other hand, as I mentioned upthread, there were loads of things I couldn't get to see my child in, as I was teaching, so really don't see why anyone has to attend everything. If the school is putting on pressure, then that's a different matter and needs to be taken up with the HT.

there were loads of things I couldn't get to see my child in, as I was teaching, so really don't see why anyone has to attend everything.

Because it makes children feel left out/different when their parents can't and other children have their parents there which is why I do everything in my power not to put my children in that situation. The more events there are, the more left out they will feel. As I said upfront, it's great to do some things but once or a term plus special days (e.g Mother's Day) is plenty and a sensible IMO and doesn't risk making children feel left too often.

My DD's school publish the calender at the start of the year (i've just got the calender for next year) and the schools I work do as well so most events have considerable notice. If you wait until they send through the letter then obviously there isn't much notice, so I have no sympathy for those moaning about parents evenings etc.

As a teacher there are many events at my DD's school that I just don't get to see. My headteacher is pretty reasonable and as long as I'm not missing something very important he will give permission but not always. I have never been to sports day as it clashes with the run up to the exams and it would be wrong to take time off.

Strike days are supposed to cause disruption and bad weather/emergencies are in their very nature unpredictable. We do send out warning letters when snow is predicted.

However, I have sympathy for parents when primary schools have half days (really - do they have to?) and anything last minute and feel free to moan away as it is just poor organisation. I think the move to having parents evening during the day is just daft and the poster who said they had a half day for the classes moving up again is just wrong.

Last point - somebody way back mentioned exclusions (suspensions) and for this, I'm sorry but if your child is excluded then it may be a pain in the arse for you to take time off but it is clearly because your child has been a pain in the arse so lay the blame in the correct place.

PorridgeBrain That's why I said: so [I] really don't see why anyone has to attend everything. I'm well aware that kids can feel left out , so parents have a choice. If, as seems apparent here, there are too many days arranged, then it's for the parents to make their case to the school. An email to say they cannot come because they have work, and no leave left might give the school pause for thought, or at least an opportunity to make their case clear, that is, they're responding to pressure from OFSTED/this is an invitation not a summons/wow, we hadn't thought of it that way, we'll run some evening sessions. Who knows? Worth a try.

I went to everything because I was lucky enough to be a sahm but my goodness I felt for the the working parents unable to be there every time because I think the school really was leaning on (guilt tripping) parents too often for too much.

You're not supposed to say that. Because not wanting to be summoned to the school every other week for x,y and z must mean you are An Uninterested Baaad Parent. Not so I say.

Yes I can see why parental involvement in school life is important and I loved some of the things I went to. But our school got to the stage where it wouldn't cover a single topic without defaulting formulaically and predictably to 1: fancy dress and 2: parents being ''involved' no matter how spuriously. Both of which for those short on time must be nightmarish to keep organising.

I used to think just teach the thing without snowing us with all this hoopla which merely gives the impression that more is going on around this topic than actually is. Teaching imaginatively doesn't have to default to the same thing ad infinitum.

I don't see this approach at secondary school and everything seems fine without it.

Well I am secondary so am unaware of all the extra days you are requested to attend - all our parental involvement activities are in the evening. Sports day we don't invite parents to - bit tricky with 1400 students!

I appreciate that working and attending events would be difficult but then I work with a lot of parents of primary aged children who never get to attend these things so those horrible teachers are in exactly the same situation especially if students go to different schools.

Snow days as someone said are not planned events! We send a letter out to tell parents of the procdure when there is bad weather predicted - we have not closed totally for the past 2 years, however we have had to send some years home as we need adequate cover for the students for safety and if staff are unable to get in (some commute for up to an hour) and the site is not safe we need to adjust accordingly.

Strike days - I said it before are supposed to cause disruption but the date has been known for at least 2 months!

I am in the US. The school day stays at 8.20 and you can leave your kids from 8am and get to work. There is after school care available. Any events that parents are invited to start at 7.30am so working parents are more able to attend. The training days are tagged onto school vacation days and there is a community services camp that day. There are no strike days. Schools do close on snow days but no more than 5 days a year usually.

All of that makes it fairly easy to be a working parent.

Otoh no one I know can afford to send their children away to sleepaway summer camp, and although there are lots of local day camps it's hard to find any that are longer than 3-6 hours a day. It's common to hire a college student to nanny your kids for the 11-12 week holiday. I find the summer holidays by far the hardest thing to cope with as a working parent.

The cost of living in the US is not particularly lower than the UK btw.

Wobblyweebles your OK 5 snow days' closures would have the UK parents having conniption fits.

You say INSET is tagged onto the holidays: do you mean it happens IN the holidays, or NEXT to the holidays?

porridge so I'm going to make my DD feel like the odd one out as I won't be at school events? I'm a teacher and I know I won't be able to see her in plays, attend parents evenings etc as I will be teaching. Hopefully I've raised her in a household where even if I'm not there she'll realise she's loved and supported. Parents don't have to be at events to show their children they love them.

At my school all events are published in September. Actually in have received the school events calendar for next academic year and as staff we are not allowed to then organise anything that will interrupt or disrupt timetabled events. I have many friends who are teachers and that is common practice in their schools too. I really want to know where these disorganised schools are - must be the same schools who apparently don't do anything for a month before breaking up before the end of term!!

In regards to strike days, they are different. Strike action is supposed to cause disruption to cause maximum impact as possible. Actually by having a week's notice that doesn't cause much disruption at all - unions are well in their rights to give as little notice as possible but as we work in schools obviously safeguarding is an issue so reasonable notice IS given.

Thank you tiredbutstillsmiling, you expressed so well what is the reality for teachers. We get it, we know we can't always be there.

Still waiting for a parent to post on this thread and say they've actually spoken to their school about these demands on their time.

I'm really fed up with ds's school. This last term has been the worst, a constant stream of very short notice events and activities that require form filling, money and reorganising. Often conflicting with after school club - which is off-site. Two days' notice that they won't be back from an activity in time for the walking bus to after school club - for the third time in just a few weeks. School photos where you have to fill in two different forms, return in two different ways, and use two different payment methods.

I appreciate ds is in Yr6 and they've done sats and are on wind down but ffs give me - and my bank balance - a break!

So what are you going to do, edam?

At my school all events are published in September.

For starters, this should be compulsory. I'm a gran, and seriously, schools didn't used to do all these last-minute events, assemblies, half-days, what-not.

But our school got to the stage where it wouldn't cover a single topic without defaulting formulaically and predictably to 1: fancy dress and 2: parents being ''involved' no matter how spuriously.

^This. Don't understand it at all. Can any teachers enlighten me?