To think the uk education system needs a complete overhaul and parents need to be more accountable ?

[Schoolscool]

I mean teachers don’t have pencils for classrooms (and that’s the least of their worries!!) why not take a few leaves from Ireland’s book and do the following to save money!

1. Each child needs to have their own resources! Yes! We do that. We have back up stuff in class but it’s not bought for “everyone”
2. Families buy the school books and workbooks themselves from an independent school shop or the school themselves or use the school rental scheme (pay a minimal amount to rent the books)
3. We pay photocopying/admin fees (varies per school) but it could be nominal 5 or 10 etc

These are just basic suggestions I suppose but surely it can’t be up to the school to provide everything!! Some of the onus must fall on parents!!

@Helix1244 fgs really!! I bet it’s the same parents who can sit on Facebook or chat to a friend on the phone, I have more than one child, I work and my husband isn’t home until late and I still manage to hear my children read!! That list of “excuses”is exact the kind of crap I’m talking about too!!

@StripeyChina please see my point about the rental schemes and free book schemes that Ireland has in place too!

@BloggersNet no not everything as I have stated there are schemes in place for those who are not able to cover the costs!

sassh really moving poem, thank you

Yabu three kids in school is crippilingly expensive in Ireland. It costs a bomb.

@Cyberworrier yes of course there is provision (free book scheme that you apply for) and as I said we have book rental schemes also.

For primary? Not around here?

How about the. Government just properly fund all schools so that everyone has the right to a equitable education.
Education and healthcare should be top priority for every country

“i think the poem is to remind staff at school that what goes on at home, really effects what goes on in the classroom.

Trust me teachers and school staff know what goes on at home affects what they experience in school, because they deal with it every day.”

I don’t think teachers necessarily need to be reminded. But other parents sure as hell do. The OP shows that depressingly clearly.

I think there should be less pressure on schools from the government and the schools should be allowed to use their discretion and common sense rather than threatening parents to try and show the government/ofsted that they are trying to improve. Children are not all the same and families are not all the same. But we seem to have this one size fits all approach to education. It's ridiculous that headteachers are expected to tell parents that their child who has cancer has unacceptable attendance or that their child with development delay is behind because he/she isn't reading enough at home.

Also more money for education would be nice (watches pig flying past window).

I put my foot down about school homework recently. You couldn't really get a more supportive parent than me wanting to work WITH the school (despite me having to query umpteen times this year why DD2's SEN provision isn't happening like stated - not a bad school, the SENCO is fab, we just have a bad apple for a class teacher this time around) - I'm in as a volunteer several times a week, I'm on the PTA committee and school know if anything needs doing and I'm at all available just yell and I'll be there. However when they started sending home another daily learning task I did end up replying that we would try to fit it in as much as we could - but since we were already doing daily reading for two kids, weekly project type learning tasks for both of them, homework from intervention groups DD2 was in a couple of times a week, greater depth Maths homework for DD1, plus DD2 had speech and occupational therapy home tasks to do daily... we were hitting the limit of what I could do without the kids becoming completely overloaded so I wasn't going to push it and if it didn't get done I didn't want the kids being pressured over it. School were fine about that and accepted that we did a hell of a lot more than many families and were happy to back off on that particular one a bit.

There's a limit as to how many hours there are in a day and even juggling things so some stuff gets done on a morning before school (and getting up slightly early to ensure that we've got time for it), and then being a SAHM so I can get straight on with reading and homework when the kids get home... there's only so much you can do before the kids become completely switched off and you end up in a spiral where the shutters are down and you're flogging a dead horse on an evening really.

Yes there are families where they don't do anything at home, don't even open letters from school and you're not going to get them on board with reading books and homework - but it's how you balance getting the message through to those families - without piling the pressure on families like ours - where a "you must do this every evening" chat in school gets the kids all in a tizz that it needs to be done and upset about it all, but where we're at the point where we can't really take on much more some evenings. Hell, I spend two afternoons a week hearing everyone else's kids read in school on top of my own (that much of Kipper's Fucking Shoelaces is not good for the sanity btw)!

@Cheeeeislifenow yes there is I work in a DEIS school and we have this scheme.

@Cheeeeislifenow and yes it costs but we still do it! As I said there is the rental program in most schools too. Maybe that’s an option for you?

@BertrandRussell yes I am aware!! As I stated there are provisions put in place and I am well aware there are exceptions to EVERY rule. Btw I am also a teacher...funnily I work in a school that is considered in a deprived area! I see it daily, but they still have books and pencils and lunches. (Not provided by the school)

“ I work in a school that is considered in a deprived area! I see it daily, but they still have books and pencils and lunches. (Not provided by the school)”
Maybe not as deprived as you think it is?

Totally agree @HexagonalBattenburg My 4 and 5 year olds keep bringing home extra homework because the teachers are desperately trying to get them up to "expected" by the end of the year. Then we have the usual reading, plus daily physio and speech practice, weekly appointments. I do it all and drive myself insane making sure it's all done. Then we get one of those generic "your child is behind because they aren't reading enough at home" letters.

Are you telling me I don't know my own school? There is no book rental scheme. Back to school allowance is notoriously hard to get as you need to be in a low social welfare payment.
And yes we manage but you have no idea what gets scarificed for that to happen

“Are you telling me I don't know my own school?”

If said school is in a properly deprived area and you think all the parents have the money, the time, the will and the ability to regularly provide their children with lunches, books and pencils then yes, I am.

@BertrandRussell I am in Ireland and there really is a different attitude here as regards school and school supplies. I grew up in a very deprived area and my old schools are both now DEIS schools which are schools that receive special funding due to being in deprived areas. It just wouldn't enter anyone's head to expect the school to provide stationary. However just from being on MN I do think social welfare here is much better so that probably makes a difference.

This is a bit old, but relevant to the thread:

www.tes.com/news/parenting-not-schools-has-biggest-impact-student-outcomes-so-why-are-teachers-blamed-results

I can't find a report I saw recently, but a university had done a study on funding v. parental v. economic circumstances on a worldwide basis. There was no firm link found between the amount of funding, or class size, or teacher numbers, or background and educational outcomes. Parental support and how education and teachers were viewed, however, were the main criteria for success in education. The UK in particular suffered from this lack of aspiration, and the circumstances into which a child is born was the most important factor in their educational outcomes.

You only need to watch programmes like "School" or "Growing up Gifted" to see how chaotic lives affect childrens education.

@Cheeeeislifenow no that’s not what I said I’m sorry if it came across that way.

@BertrandRussell that comment wasn’t from me. But as another poster said the general attitude of parents here is more accepting of the fact that gender a school does not feed your children 🙄

Very interesting article, Silent. It is interesting how it compares a child with financially secure but disengaged parents with a child from a poorer but more supporters family. It’s not finances, it’s attitude/values and ethics. Certainly there are stresses and challenges on lots of families, of different backgrounds. But ultimately parental involvement is so key, schools can’t be expected to make up for a lack of support or structure at home. I also don’t see how a class teacher reading with every pupil can be expected to replace parents (or grandparents) reading with their children- the teacher reads with pupils in addition/in a different role to what parents need to do at home! It really should be a priority, and an opportunity to bond with and support your child, to model a positive attitude to learning that will help their child at school... not prioritising reading at home sends a child a message that learning is not that important that they may take to school.

I do agree some if the financial burden should fall to the parents, obviously some DC need extra help. There are set ups in Ireland for under privileged DC, I do complain and grumble at school expenses but I think it is madness in the UK, between the schools and the NHS, certain things need to be paid for again even if you pay tax.
For a school tour it is usually an extra 2euro, so 20 per trip which I suspect and hope it goes towards the DC who can't afford to pay.

“It’s not finances, it’s attitude/values and ethics.“

Well, it often is finances. But it is also often time, energy, will and ability.

Yanbu. Far too many parents seem to think the financial responsibility for the children they chose to have is someone else's responsibility. Before anyone jumps on this with the ridiculous 'so only rich people can have children then', no I'm not saying that, but possibly if you can't afford to buy tampax or a pencil for your child, then don't have four kids.

@arethereanyleftatall yes!!