FFS - you have NOT had 2 days notice of strike action! Sorry, FB again.

[IHeartKingThistle]

School mums all over FB mouthing off about being given '2 days notice' about the strike on Thursday. We had a letter last week saying there may be action on that day and they would let us know. And IT'S A NATIONAL STRIKE! IT'S BEEN ON THE BLOODY NEWS!

If I hear one more person say 'let's fine the school, see how they like it' I may lose it. It's school, not childcare. It's a shitty time to be a teacher and no-one is listening.

Rant over. Feel free to ignore me.

Yy to what flowery has said - luckily our childminder only does after school and holidays so will take at short notice but otherwise would have to book and pay someone on the off chance - if all local options weren't already full.

Maybe your school has given out letters but you are naive to assume all schools have.

I didn't say anything about other schools NickNacks.

I do understand that schools don't know for certain any earlier though. So it's not blaming the schools, just disputing the assertion that there's been more notice.

YABU
There has been plenty of notice of the possibility of action disrupting schooling, but some schools have not confirmed which classes will be off. If you have to make arrangements for your children many parents will need to know whether their children will be required to be in school or not in order to avoid wasting resources securing care.

Given parents are required to have their children in school and can be fined if they keep them off as a protest, I think it's reasonable to be annoyed at the government for failing to keep schools open if it thinks attendance is so vital.

But teachers need to take notice of public opinion on their strikes or they face losing the little status and power they have. Strikes are PR campaigns as much as anything. I think teachers are foolish to strike when they don't have public support.

teachers striking is a joke, one rule for one and one for another !

You knew what you were signing up for when you took the job - anyone who strikes should be sacked on the spot -

But they do have public support.

No one is going to fine anyone who doesn't send their children to school on a strike day.

Some people know very little about employment rights or about how things have changed for teachers in recent years.

The current conditions are NOT what I signed up for when I started teaching. That's the whole point.

Howdareye - I assume you are not in paid employment yourself?

I think teachers should strike a lot more, until they get the terms and conditions they deserve. And then you might find that teaching is a career that attracts the best candidates who actually want to be there, not a group of exhausted, demoralised people counting the days till they can escape. I know which group I'd rather have teaching my DS.

Strikes do NOT harm 99.9% of children. Being taught by underqualified teachers / teachers on the verge of a nervous breakdown DOES harm children. Why is this so hard for people to understand?

howdareye - what? Is that what you actually believe?!

So, no employee has a right to complain about poor conditions or pay or a litany of appalling political manoeuvres because 'they knew what they were signing up for?'

The job has changed beyond all recognition even in the last 10 years. Trust me, we did not know we were signing up for Gove.

Howdareye posts like yours make me snort at the stupidity of some people. I have three family members working in education and the job they do now is completely different from the job they started doing. The most recent entrant was within the last ten years. That's how quickly things are going down the shitter. They are NOT doing 'the job they signed up for'.

Q for the teachers:

Do you think this strike on 10th July will ensure Michael Gove changes his policies?

Honest answers please.

X-post OP. I rest my case!

And it isn't just teachers striking this week. Should we sack all the striking TAs as well?

We are yet to get official conformation of whether DD and DS's teachers will be striking or not.
We got a "there may be some teachers striking" letter just over a week ago, but it leaves parents who work not knowing whether to take the day off just in case, or to organise child care elsewhere if possible, to then have to cancel it. Also when I was working we needed to book days off a minimum of 2 weeks in advance, so I could not have even booked it when we got the letter.
I understand the point of striking, and that giving us a definite answer might undermine their intended impact, but I feel they may get more support if parents were given a clearer idea of which teachers were intending to strike maybe a week or 2 before the date, or names of teachers who were not striking 2 weeks before.

That said I do support the teachers striking, and I think they should strike.

Oh look a goady person turned up to derail the thread and try and make it all about them ...bless

I would book the day off as leave if I felt we may be effected and go in if we weren't but I know I am fortunate to be able to do this

However I am on strike so its moot ...and I won't ne sacked for it . Yay!

Nicknacks I'm not a teacher. But I think it will show Michael Gove that teachers cannot be walked all over.

Teachers need to strike MORE not less. They need to do this because you see they have the power to bring the economy to a standstill. And the sooner they realise this and stop being scared of bad opinion, the sooner governments will realise they can't steamroller over an entire profession especially one used as state-subsidised childcare by some

IgggiMon 07-Jul-14 13:59:47 - I am in paid employment, would never expect to be a strike here ?

OK, so yes, I do agree things have changed over the years, but is that not the same at a large amount of private sector jobs ? - Extra hours to keep up, restructuring left right and centre, what do people do - head down and work harder - its seems so easy for the public sector to stamp their feet just because they want their own way..

Our school sent out an email of the proposed NUT action may be held on 10th of July. This email was sent on the 2nd July saying they will update at the end of the week, so we should have been updated by Friday the 4th. It is Monday today and as of yet no further email has come through.
It's like waiting on tender hooks to see whether you need to organise yourself or not!

howdareye Your attitude is very depressing

You do realise how much teachers do right? 'head down and work harder' just is NOT possible for a lot of them as they're already up to their eyeballs in work

I would have thought that is because in the private sector you can apply for similar jobs with a new employers if your working conditions change to a point where you are no longer happy in your job.

Public sector workers don't have this option, so they strike.