To already be fed up with teachers/eduaction workers posting about their long holiday!

[Freshlysqueezed]

Facebook is swarming with people saying how much they deserve it and other people patting them on the back. It seems like the world and his wife are in education or SAHM's with 6 glorious weeks ahead of them. Apart from a one week holiday I have a juggling timetable of various childcare arrangements to run to and fro from.

Good point. There's more teacher bashing on MN than in real life. In fact when you see some of the attitudes from posters on here it's unsurprising that some pupils treat teachers like something they scraped off their shoe. You can see where they get it from.

I love my job. Working with the children is very rewarding and the holidays are an extra bonus that I was aware of when I decided to teach, but weren't the reason for choosing teaching.

I'm aware that it's not the most stressful or longest day of all careers. I've been in the same (lovely) school and year group for a few years now so it's less work to keep things ticking over.

Even with that there are the less than good things.

Not being able to have a day where you feel ill and let it show. No keeping your head down at your desk, you are on show and in charge of the full class.

And if you take the day off ill, you do so knowing that there is no cover for your class of 30 children and that it makes work for others. If you colleague takes time off then you could end up with more on your plate to help sort things out.

You don't leave your class unattended, so you can go to the loo at 8.40 (if you aren't on duty on the yard), 10.30 (if you aren't on duty again) or 12 (if you don't have a club that day, any pupil problems to sort out or a resource-intensive lesson to set up for the afternoon).

You can't be human and show irritation or frustration if a child is driving you up the wall with their behaviour. You have to be (of course) professional at all times. So a big part of teaching is acting. Maintaining that on a day you aren't feeling 100% is necessary, but hard.

You can't focus on one task at once as there are 30 children there, with all different needs, social issues etc. Then add in dinner registers, messages from the office about after school clubs etc and forgotten lunches/pe kit.

More and more is expected every year as new initiatives are brought in without others being dropped. None of them ever seem to reduce workload!

In Wales there's a new curriculum coming too, so all our planning and assessment will be out of date in one fell swoop. Just like when they brought in the LNF just a couple of years ago.... and the new curriculum in 2008 too.

The very worst thing is, no matter how hard you try, the nature of the job is that you can never say that it was perfect. There is always something that could be tightened up.

I still wouldn't swap it though. I've worked in good, outstanding and need improving schools and love the job through and through.

There will come a time, hopefully in my lifetime, when the six weeks of summer holidays no longer exists. Why are teachers the only profession who need weeks and weeks of annual leave every year? I just don't understand it. They never work a weekend, never work a bank holiday and are guaranteed every Christmas and Easter at home with their families. As a nurse, it is sickening.

What a load of drivel!!!

Don't the kids deserve a long break then? Can I take it that as a kid yourself you didn't look forward to the Summer holidays?

Doctors, Solicitors, Cops etc don't come in for as much flack as Teachers do as Teachers are only seen to be working part time. No Teacher I know arrives 5 minutes before the kids arrive and leaves the same time as they do.

They more than deserve these holidays. I hope each and every one of them has a fab time and goes back in September feeling much better xx

In fact when you see some of the attitudes from posters on here it's unsurprising that some pupils treat teachers like something they scraped off their shoe. You can see where they get it from.

Oh yes! Very true that.

There is no special skill set to be a teacher. It's a varied career. We are not born with skill sets. We can develop them. That's a very interesting notion. If you are worried that you don't have the skills don't be. That's why you do teacher training to develop those skills. You will find ex teachers being successful in many other areas. I hope you don't limit your kids like this. The invitation still stands.

To all the teachers on here, you need and deserve every scrap of vacation you have. I hope that you enjoy your summer holidays. I am not a teacher. I am social worker. I am envious about your holidays but never in a million years could do your job.

I think we may need to number crunch this.. It's one of the biggest professional work forces in the country. Providing a universal offer. Of course there are all types in the workforce. Statistically it's has contain whingers as they are referred to. I think being a whingers is a personal trait and not a teacher trait. I've met some right whingy people in lots of professions. MN is so funny.

Both I and my sister are teachers. Dedication is probably proved by the fact that she went to work the next day after finding our father had dropped dead. I went into work the following day. Think that speaks for itself.

They never work a weekend, never work a bank holiday and are guaranteed every Christmas and Easter at home with their families.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Every teacher I know has worked on a weekend.
Many teachers I know have worked on a bank holiday.
Several teachers I know have given up their Easter holidays, or part of them, to take other people's children away on residentials.

Teachers and schoolworkers deserve every scrap of leave they have and then some.
Anyone who thinks their job is a breeze needs to train and do the job for a few years I guarantee you wouldn't be whinging on here about their "long holidays" after that.

Btw, my friend who is a teacher spent all but two weeks of last summer in the classroom preparing for the next academic year. She's a newly qualified teacher...or was and is enthusiastic enough to do so. I can almost guarantee that whingy parents will grind her down eventually.

I think getting two weeks every Christmas with your family is worth its weight in gold.

Residentials are a few days out of two (or three!) weeks at Easter.

If it's so bad, why do it?

I wouldn't be a teacher for all their holidays!
My friend has just left the profession after 10 years...she worked 12 hour days and at least one day over the weekend.
It made her ill.

Well clearly it can be that bad if the teachers leaving the profession in their droves are anything to go by.

Residentials with kids are tiring but fun.

It's not two weeks ffs down it is about five days as due to looking after 'your' children we have to jump through hoops, and never relax. There is always something to do.
I just don't get why so many parents whinge about the 'holidays'. Do you not want to spend time with your kids???

Parents tend to assume that if their child isn't in school due to holidays, then neither is the teacher so therefore teachers must have six weeks off in the summer! But teaching isn't quite like that, I already have 8 days of school time booked in for over the 6 weeks ( meetings, training etc), I will also be in school at least 6 more days over the holidays to prepare my classroom and on top of that I will be working at home. The difference is that much of this I can chose when to do ( apart from the 8 days school time) so if I want to work all day Sunday during the holidays I can do simply because my cntract says "an as much additional time as is required to fulfill the professional duties of the role" When over the summer I do this additional time is down to me!

Sorry, I realise that was an inflammatory comment.

We can't spend time with our kids though because we have to work!

Your point is? Are teachers just baby sitters then??

Yes feelingsosad, that's exactly what we are, and the sooner we agree to working 52 weeks a year, in 12 hour shifts, the better I don't need to see my own children at ALL, obvs

Many many parents think education is free childcare.
So they get very angry when they realise it's not.

Hey baddz it just upsets me that we work our bums off for other people's children, and don't get to see our own. And then get slated when they need to organise 'child care' or whatever. Seems like most people view school as baby sitting, especially when it comes to things like homework, the amount of letters from parents 'x was too tired to do his homework' too busy on his Xbox stuff. It makes me want to give up as why should I try my hardest every goddamn day and try and give my students a good education when constantly being undermined by their parents...?

I don't get all the huffing and puffing over teachers getting school holidays.

Does everyone resent BA staff getting cheap flights?
What about Vodafone staff getting free/heavily susidised phones?
Should Sky staff not get discounted TV packages?
What about those tens of thousands of workers who get bonuses/overtime/shift allowances/private medical/car allowances/subsidised Christmas parties?

Teachers get the holidays off. Big deal. If you think it's such a cushy job, do it yourself!

Yes read!!!

Well said read