Last day of term

[tazmaniandevil]

Why on earth does school have to close at 13:45 on the last day of term? What is the purpose of this? Confused!!!!

Reported.

I think there are advantages to get away on holiday for families and Good Luck to the teachers if they want to get to a pub- I would need to if I spent 10 hours plus a day in their job . To all teachers out there Cheers!🍷

My boys old school did too. Is inconvenient for working parents but just one of those things. As for the comments about getting enough holiday I grew up with 2 parents and 2 step parents who were teachers. They definitely deserve all the holiday they get in my opinion. The majority will be in school for at least half of that anyway preparing for the new school year. What an amazing job they do with a very low income and not much appreciation (obviously some do but they get a lot of unfair criticism in my opinion!)

Where I live all the primary schools finish at normal time (3:20) and secondary schools finish at 1:15, after lunch. Secondary school children are probably able to go home and potter about the house until mum/dad/caregiver gets home. We live in a village though so pretty much everyone can walk home or get the village bus.

As a teacher myself, it never ceases to astonish me how parents constantly slate teachers and the profession. As for the comment about the teachers going home early and the 6 weeks not being long enough, I'm sure you'd be ready for a break after having 30 children all day every day. Whatever happened to everyone supporting the people who dedicate alot of their time and effort to teach your children?! Oh and another thing, school is not child care, it's there to educate. It's this sort of attitude that is driving good teachers out of the profession, because the constant bad attitude of parents such as, " if you teach my child you will do as I say", makes you wonder why you even bother. This bad attitude consequently gets passed on to the children. It's a shame because all you do is give your child a bad name throughout the school.

My 8yr old DS finished at 12 noon on 27th June!
Yes, he gets almost 10 weeks summer holidays here in Ireland as well as the usual holiday periods throughout the year.
It's impossible to sort holiday cover if you both work f/t so neither of us do. There's very little afterschool support and holiday clubs (as they are) are just occasional short days so if you don't have family members to help, you're really stuffed.
Teachers teach to set textbooks (that have to be purchased by parents) so there's virtually no lesson planning required and limited marking at primary level.
Definitely should have trained in teaching and not law.

Complain. Complain, complain, complain.

At our school (primary) the children are going to school until Friday, 3.15. Every parent I meet is complaining about it. All the other primaries in the area finish Wednesday, Thursday or Friday midday. Schools cannot win. Parents will complain no matter what.

School is out, yay! We always finished after lunch on the last day. Spoilsport.

Disclaimer: I do not work in a school. I still love the last day excitement.

In the 60's we spent half the morning tidying our classroom, emptying desks etc then had a big assembly and left at lunchtime. Bearing in mind A level classes started after O levels and there was no study leave. In fact 1971 was the first year the upper sixth got to leave after exams. Happy days (not)

The school I work in is finishing an hour early for two reasons.

The high school next door finishes at 3 and an early finish time prevents our primary pupils getting caught up in the inevitable end of term fight/fireworks/asb that ensues.

Secondly, we have until 6pm to clear all classrooms, boards etc for the summer clean. The extra hour without pupils makes this easier. We can't delegate support staff to these kinds of jobs throughout the final week as they are busy with behaviour management and supervision.

all schools should finish early on the last day - poor teachers work their fingers to the bone all year, weekends and late nights - yes 6 weeks holiday is VERY WELL DESERVED!

No
You ANBU about the late notice - nothing annoys me more.
You ABU to slate schools for closing early/ teachers for having a teaching break for six weeks/ celebrating with their colleagues if they want or choose to.

Complain to the school.
Get over it - teachers rock!!!!

Ours doesn't. Closes at 3.30pm every day.

bastedyoungturkey
So the staff can all go home early, as six weeks off is obviously not enough.

I don't think finishing early is a bad thing, provided schools give enough notice so working parents can make suitable arrangements

Your school will more than likely already have published next year's calendar. Have a look on the website. Many teachers are also working parents who have the same hassle as anyone else trying to arrange childcare to cover slightly differing holidays, late starts, early finishes and INSET days. To add insult to injury, we rarely get to see our own children perform 'cos we can't just take a day off mid-term. In fact, I think you will find many of us put the needs of your children first. Hope that helps.,

Being a teacher is very hard but the fact is that most jobs are very hard. They deal with 30 annoying kids, other people deal with rude customers, nurses look after sick and dying people. The fact is - live is not easy for most people and work is hard for most. British kids already have more holidays than other nations. I don't think the schools should close early. Ours does too. Luckily I'm now a SAHM so can easily cope with it. Still, I really don't think there is a reason to close early and I don't think teachers should think they work harder than other professions. Sorry.

School is not childcare.
Happy holidays teaching staff.

Janeismymiddlename - you seem to think that people in other professions can easily take a morning off to see their children perform etc... What a lot of rubbish. Honestly. And if you think you don't see your children enough, you really should try other jobs to get a reality check...

One of the reasons I became a SAHM mum was that my job was so hard and I never saw my children and could never get time off to see them perform

Our school finishes at 3.30. so not a thing round my way. But this thread made me think a couple of things. Firstly, I don't remember inset days when I was at school (I'd have remembered). Wonder what that's all about? Second, I think teachers are bloody amazing; seriously, it's not a job, it's a vocation. Thirdly, there's something in the air about 'bashing' professionals - I;m a doctor and we feel resoundingly bashed. what's up that the vocational professions feel criticised? Strange times indeed...

School is not childcare

I actually think it is nowadays... we have before school childcare and after school childcare - are school not acting as childcare in between? 'Tis compulsory after all, unless you choose to home ed.

Ds finishes at 12 on Friday...about which we were told last week! Trust me, it wasn't on the calendar on the school website before that because I check weekly. Nor was it in the paper calendar we received at the beginning of the year. And on the council website it says the break up time is 3:30. Worse, he gets a school bus with children from several other local schools...when don't finish til 3:30! The school closes before lunch, so if he goes in he has to wait in town for 3 1/2 hours with one (equally muppet like) friend. I am at work in another town cos, well, it's a school day and the rest of the year it's drummed into us that every school day is important and none should be missed on pain of death.
I wouldn't actually mind if they had said they were finishing early when I was arranging my days off at the beginning of term, it's the late notice that sucks. Well, he's going to miss Friday and the school will have to take a hit on their attendance figures.

And if you think you don't see your children enough, you really should try other jobs to get a reality check

Hahahahaha....didn't start teaching till my late 30s. Done lots of other stuff. Never worked as hard, however, nor been taken quite so for granted, or lots of other stuff but unfortunately, my profession means I am fair game and even if there are many, many good reasons as to why school may finish early, I am not allowed a voice.

@angel I'm sure everybody has covered this so I apologise if it has.
I think you really need to respect the person who cares for your child during the majority of the day. Do you honestly believe they have six weeks holiday? Most teachers come in over the holidays and work. Do they finish at 3.30, of course not. The job of a teacher never ends! I'm not a teacher, and for this reason. btw they don't go to the pub. They spend the day cleaning/tidying/preparing and also training. Then they go to the pub usually around 5pm.

No tasmaniandevil you are not BU.

What is all this rubbish posted here about teachers and children needing an extra day off because they've had a busy term or they are too excited to work? They've got six week off lessons coming up (though I know that teachers do some work during that time, please don't shout at me!).

Our primary school used to have the Leavers' Assembly at the end of the last day and all the kids looked forward to going. It involved prizes, certificates, commendations and fun. Obviously the teachers not directly involved with the assembly could go home then, a little early. But why the whole afternoon off? It really is a pain for working parents - most of whom will be working for all but a couple of weeks during the summer holidays and have enough trouble organising child care without a last minute problem.