Local schools shutting at lunchtime on Friday? And what do I do about childcare?

[WhiteWavingCat]

Is this common?

Seems the schools here are starting between 5 and 10 minutes earlier. Then the primary schools have cut lunch by 5 minutes and have no lunch break on Friday to then close at 1pm on Fridays. High School has cut morning break completely and lengthened lunchtime by 5 minutes (gone from 40 mins to 45 mins) but is still shutting at 1pm on Friday with no lunch break.
All bar one of these schools (6 in total) are academies, the none academy is religious and run by a local religious group.

Is this normal? And am IBU to think it’s ridiculous? Not just because it saves costs (I assume no meals on Fridays saves £££s) but the missed education. And what about the families who rely on Free School Meals? What happens to those children on Fridays?

Also we live in a town with several rural villages around who bus the children to schools in our town, surely the very young children (8 years and younger) can’t be left alone?

This actually worries me as I am single parent and my DD starts school in September. Her school only runs After School Club on Tuesday and Wednesday as it is, and my working days are Wednesday – Friday, I cannot change this as it works around her dad. But what the hell do I do with her on Fridays when I have no help? Her dad has her EOW Sat morn – Sun teatime but works 2-10pm Fridays, she’s currently at Nursery until 4.30pm Friday but they have all their spaces filled from September (which is understandable) and don’t run an after school club. Her dad will be having her Thursdays after school and her gps on her dads side will have her if she's ill and neither of us can but they're emergencies only.

My work cannot change my hours as I’ve had to change them this year once already. What the hell do I do? I have family nearby but they’re not reliable so I am literally stuck with giving up work or trying to find a job that will let me leave early Fridays which I don't want to do as I love my job and it saves my sanity at times

Teachers have been warning everyone about the impact of MASS funding cuts FOR YEARS.
Why are you surprised?
They want schools to be run ‘as a business’ and on a shoestring, well this is what happens.
This is not a decision that would have been taken lightly by a school. It’s a sign of schools on their knees.

However- schools are not childcare.

Not to worry - soon their won't be any teachers left.

Other L.A.s have been doing this for years. In some the pupils are free after 1 pm but not the teachers. They are given the time to do work they say they usually do at home so not a real saving in salaries as they are still paid. There will be savings eg halls etc no heating or dinners. FSM are usually still provided by lunch boxes. For childcare suggest you have childminder collect and keep until you can collect child. Will cost you nonetheless.

‘Must be dreadful for teachers only having 13 weeks holiday a year and finishing at 3.30 every day.’

I am teacher. I work 7.30-5.30 as a minimum day in school, then at least three hours every evening. Multiplied by five that’s 65 hours per week, regardless of Sunday afternoon catch ups, parents evenings, PTA fundraisers, all nighters for reports etc.

I’m not complaining, that’s my job and I love what I do.

However, closing at lunchtime on Fridays is not ‘free time’ for teachers; they’re still working, and actually many of us have children so would have childcare issues ourselves in this situation.

• a teacher

Nothing whatsoever to do with Conservatives who believe in high quality, high standard education. Messing about with the school day with shorter breaks and the continental pattern started with New Labour.

Manicmij they aren't saving the class teachers' salaries but no longer need PPA cover so may no longer employ a PPA teacher (if they previously did), or won't need PPA covered by a supply teacher or a TA. Also, TA hours will be cut as they are usually only employed during the hours children are there (many start / finish later and do stuff at home of course). So yes, there will be savings on salaries.

Education salaries (teachers, TAs and everybody who isn't required there all year) are paid for the percentage and then spread out over 12 months.

For example, somebody works term time + 5 INSET days.

Their salary says £20,000 pro rata, 36 hrs a week. (or teachers, x hours)

The £20,000 is for 52 weeks a year inc paid holiday. So you divide 20,000 by 52. Multiply that by, say 38 weeks. Gives an actual Gross salary of around £14.6K. Now take that pay for 38 weeks and spread that out over 12 months. Gross pay of about £1200 instead.

Were it actually paid time off during school closures, it would be nearer £1700 gross. Which is enough to make quite a difference.

In this particular case, the TA was probably 8.30 - 3.30 TTO.

So most likely 30 hours a week. Takes then down another 20%. So about £11.6K.

Take that afternoon off and their hours drop to 27. Now their gross is down to about £913. Their £20K salary with *so much holiday and finishing early is now just over ten grand.

And they then attract attention from Universal Credit for not working enough hours/Tax Credits reduce for working less than 30.

Pretty shit for them, too, really. But hey, people see the unpaid time off they have no choice about as holiday. It's all good, right?

The Conservatives believe in a small state.

Trouble is a lot of people think that only means benefits.

And vote to stop the "scroungers" Thats the way they are thinking when they vote.

They forget the state also means the NHS schools and hospitals.

Nothing whatsoever to do with Conservatives who believe in high quality, high standard education. Messing about with the school day with shorter breaks and the continental pattern started with New Labour.

Absolute and utter rubbish...do you work in education?
High quality education cannot be delivered without funding sufficient funding.

Did you see my earlier post about 1in 3 schools in my LA having a deficit budget, with 1in 2 by 20/21.
I have local secondary schools with deficits of nearly a million pounds. Just how do they carry on delivering a high quality education whilst saving that amount of money?

Parents are in for many more of theses changes, schools closing down (quite a few primaries in my area have already) , subjects removed/joint 6th forms miles away, pupils traveling further, less school transport, buying your own child's books, less teachers and teaching assistants, less experienced teachers, less head teachers (shared between schools), no LA staff to support and develop your high quality education

Vote Tory, this is what you get...and this is only the start!

@NotBeingRobbed I'm am contracted and paid for 195 days a year. My pay is them paid over 12 months. I do not get paid for the holidays. I hope this clears it up for you. I'm not saying you are uneducated/thick but simply incorrect.

You are indeed trying to goad teachers. We do not make the decisions to close school at short notice or any of the other thing you have mentioned. Perhaps you shouldn't talk about things you know clearly know little about.

When I'm teaching, my salary works out below minimum wage, when I take into account the amount of hours I work.

Nothing whatsoever to do with Conservatives who believe in high quality, high standard education.
And yet they've cut school funding by Billions.. even the ex chief of Ofsted says the Government and funding is troublesome. Unless you know more than him of course?
www.theguardian.com/education/2019/may/26/former-ofsted-head-says-government-school-funding-claims-are-misleading

Messing about with the school day with shorter breaks and the continental pattern started with New Labour.
Which was how many years ago?
Did conservatives stop it? Increase funding? Swoop in and fix whatever New Labour broke?
We've had Conservatives ages, they had their chance to sort it, they haven't, you can't continue blaming everyone else.

Not sure if this is has been mentioned yet by anyone, but could you swap your days off? Have Friday off instead of Tuesday? That way you could use the after school care on Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning the Friday early finish wouldn't be an issue.
It might also be worth seeing if there is a parents Facebook page for the school and ask on there for suggestions. You won't be the only person affected by this, so there may have been some discussion around on there already.
I hope you are able to get this sorted, I know how difficult it is sorting out childcare at the best of times never mind when things like this are sprung on you.

Mrs Tiredand is a part time teacher.

She is paid to work Mon-Weds.

On Monday she leaves home at 7am to be in school for 7.15am and returns home at 6pm having left at 5.45pm (9.5 hrs), similar on Tuesday (9.5hrs) . She doesn't take a lunch break on either day. On Wednesday she has less teaching in the morning so leaves at 7.30am for 7.45 arrival, at lunchtime she travels to another school to teach and leaves there at 4.30pm (8.75hrs). On Thursday is not paid and she catches up on Marking and start planning, probably about 5 hrs in total, and on Sunday she spends the day from 10.30am to about 5pm (6.5 hrs) planning for the coming week. So she actually works a full 39 hr week but only gets paid for 3/5 week.

She loves teaching and is a great teacher but full time isn't manageable without sacrificing your life and your family. I know that heads of companies (I used to be one) do that but they earn £100K upwards.

Fortunately I've got a good income and we have prioritised quality of life over money. It's paid off as we're all happier and our kids have been happy and successful (try asking your children if they prefer money or parents at home)

Until the government stop the constant inspections (3 this year so far) and paperwork teachers will continue to leave.

Everyone who has children of school age is limited to only taking holiday in term time!

I specifically said even if you don't have children.If you do then how many years of your working life are your children in school? I doubt they are in school for 40+ years.

How funny that if you disagree with teachers you are branded uneducated! Shall I go straight to detention too? I am allowed opinions of my own. I am past school leaving age.*

Well you are either uneducated about the appropriate use of exclamation marks or you are misusing them to annoy the teachers on here.
*

School is there to educate your child not provide childcare, that is up to you to sort.

To all saying that teachers will be loving this ‘extra’ free afternoon on top of all the holidays and already finishing at 3:30, please join the profession. You’re right! We get it so cushty and I don’t understand why teachers are leaving in their droves... Oh wait...

I get so annoyed with people saying “school isn’t childcare” on these types of threads.

No it isn’t but since most offices are open 9-5 (or longer) and school has been 9-3 for most people she needs to consider alternatives so what’s the point in saying it? I don’t get it.

Well said Tiredand

ODFOD It's something you need to consider before having children. I knew I wanted to be a SAHM for a few years so we only got a mortgage on my DH's salary. We planned for it. When they were at school, I got work around their school hours.

redspider1 - that is very smug of you. I hate to point it out, but you working around school hours was you relying on the school for childcare. If school had suddenly changed your children's hours but your employer insisted on keeping your hours the same, you would have had a childcare issue, because your usual provider was not forthcoming . Obviously, you could not have complained to the school about it as it was not their problem, but you were nevertheless relying on them for childcare while you were at work.

@redspider1 - Yeah but OP isn’t coming across to me as “school should provide childcare” it’s more of a what the hell am I going to do?

Good for you that you can afford to be a SAHM. The OP isn’t and not everyone can afford to be.

How would she have been able to think about this eventuality prior to when her DD was conceived?

Also, everyone on here bangs on about the world being over populated but you still need children being born to look after an ageing population. If only those who could afford to be stay at home parents or those who considered every possible aspect of childcare, barely any kids would be born.