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

The holidays are not unpaid! Teachers are paid a monthly salary all year round. Yes, I could be a teacher and certainly have the qualifications to begin teacher training

The holidays are unpaid. Yes, teachers get a monthly salary, but they are paid only for 195 days.

'Not my vocation' lol! Ok dear. And you clearly have no understanding of the concept of a salary. Teachers are paid for 195 days. This salary is divided by 12 and paid in equal installments over the year. I'm sure you have the intelligence to understand this, what with all your qualifications, but it's much more fun to pretend you don't and slag us off instead.
Or perhaps you're not as clever as you think you are?

Would you care to tell us what you do?
(Don't worry, I'll wait while you frantically google to find a worthy profession!)

We've had this for years, so not just a Tory thing.

I think the difference is that a lot of schools are being forced into doing this now due to extreme Tory budget cuts. They wouldn’t choose to do it otherwise.

Whereabouts are you in the country, @whitewavingcat? Midlands?

Not quite sure why teachers are being blamed for this, it won’t have been their decision.

Also teachers have childcare issues too in term time. As stated above most teachers stay on after 3.30 so wouldn’t be able to do pick up, and have to be at school in the morning before classes start so can’t do drop off either.

I am a school governor and I am in correspondence with the SLT this weekend on a number of issues, so they are not exactly on holiday.

Is there a local Facebook group for parents of children starting that school in September? Maybe it’s possible to find out about after school childcare options in the area or maybe share a babysitter with another local family. There must be loads of people in the same boat.

It's only NotBeingRobbed being a goady fucker.
Nod, smile and move on.

I'm amazed that someone hasn't found a reason to blame Brexit on teachers, most things are their fault.

This will really affect TAs (if the school has any left) as they get paid a pittance already and I expect will just have their hours reduced.

I wonder if any of them will start offering some sort of childcare on Friday afternoons.

Yep it’s budget cuts. Schools simply can’t afford to staff the classes anymore. The rules on top up finding have also changed so children with significant additional needs can no longer access extra support. It’s utterly dire.

If you don’t like this as parents, shout as loud as you can. Shout about the fact that you can’t cover childcare. Shout about the fact that your teachers have to pay for pencils and books out of their own money. Shout about the extra boxes teachers are constantly told they have to tick. And vote with your bloody feet, vote against any party which won’t right the funding wrongs. Visit your MP. Write letters. Contact your local rag. Kick up as enormous a stink as you can. Because that is the only thing which will effect change - mass parental objection.

I’m not a teacher by the way. I work Fridays. It would be a total nightmare for me. But it’s due to government funding failures, not the schools or the academy trusts.

They have been doing this in our area for years. It has a big knock on effect on the traffic and on the number of people who work on a Friday. Lots of people doing compressed hours or working from home so that they can be around on a Friday afternoon. Or working part-time.

Ghost town in my office on a Friday.

Local MP is tory so don't think he'll care!

ExH can't just change his hours either, he's a bit of a and has messed hiw own employer around with hours, and almost lost his job because of it, if he loses his job DD loses her home as I rely on his maintenance.

I will be looking round for good childcare options, I work 3 half days for the person who said I only work 2, but have childcare sorted for 1 day definitely as ExH will be collecting her. Will also see if the Nursery are aware as their current class of 30 will all be affected by this. You never know eh?

I was planning to go fulltime and use ASC but that's looking unlikely now, I'm basically stuck in a UC trap.

I don't want to give up work as it helps us both financially and in terms of my health; routine, activity and adult company all help (it's a mental health condition that causes physical symptoms). Seems unfair as I'm a single parent through no fault of my own!

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

It's good that there are some advantages to a teaching career, to encourage people to enter and stay in teaching. I want teaching to be an attractive career to attract strong candidates.

Although I know that my teaching friends work in the evenings and holidays (marking, lesson planning, paperwork).

If teaching was such a cushy job, they would be inundated with candidates, and wouldn't have to offer golden hellos in shortage subjects.

If you think they have so much free time you really should apply yourself!

I'm not a teacher and have no axe to grind, but isn't a fair chunk of that time off unpaid? It's just that the salary is spread over the year evenly? They also have no option of when to take their holidays so whether they have DC or not, they are limited to school holidays, they can't just decide to take a Monday off and have a long weekend etc or take a Wednesday off after a concert or something. Long breaks but not very flexible.

NotBeingRobbed - from what you've posted here, you certainly don't have the intelligence to be a teacher. You don't seem to realise how our hours or salary work and those are very simple concepts. I'd stick to your "vocation" if I were you.

Also, swearing isn't a sign of poor intellect. You clearly haven't been inside the staffroom of my university

It’s rare that I’d get to leave at 3.30 or thereabouts. I wish. However, even if I did I would have worked an 8 hour day by then so what exactly is wrong with that?

I am not refuting the logistical difficulties that this gives.

However, school is not childcare and The state is not responsible for arranging your childcare requirements.

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

For every hour of teaching there are 2 hours prep and marking.

And having to take holidays at the most expensive time even if you don't have children.

Then there is missing out on your own child's nativity play or sports day.

On top of that you have CPD and more and more often a part time master's degree.

Yep really cushy.

It’s a very sexist policy, obviously dreamed up by men. The vast majority of childcare is still provided by women.

Notbeingrobbed based on your logic anyone who gets paid monthly must also be getting paid for weekends?? You haven't a clue what you are on about. You clearly have an issue with teachers. Must've had a terrible time at school. Sorry you were let down by education but most teachers are in it for the kids and not the luxury lifestyle extras, yachts & fame etc.

I don't think NotBeingRobbed tried to blame teachers. There is often an attitude (mainly from the school office personnel) that the mother's job is something frivolous / hobby-like, and can be dropped or flexed with little notice. I am divorced from my children's father, and still it is me who is called on "his" days if there is any issue like D&V or uniform missing. For him, it seems to suffice to say "I am busy at work now", and no one is questioning / insisting further.

He/she implied that teachers get paid for holidays.

You are absolutely right though about women's jobs being hobby like. Most workplaces are still totally inflexible and don't allow employees out by 3 to collect kids. The woman then generally takes a lesser, more flexible or part time role to facilitate this. I also often see men 'working late' and being praised for it (faffing about in the office while their poor wives juggle pick ups/dinner/bedtime) when women are perceived as unambitious because they have to leave at 3. None of this is the fault of teachers or schools though. Teachers have just as much trouble finding childcare as everyone else and female teachers have to put up with these attitudes too.

This is 100% to do with funding cuts and if parents could only see the strings pulled every day to keep schools up and running with only a spine team they'd be shocked.

We recently had an Oxbridge student doing work experience. I asked him to deal with printing off some letters, putting copies in the file and sorting out enclosures so they could be sent out. He gave me back the files but no letters. When I asked where they were, he proudly pointed out where he had carefully hole-punched them and filed them with the file copies.

When I pointed out that the letters had the recipients' names and addresses on and we quite wanted them to receive them, which wouldn't happen if they were left in the files, he was genuinely baffled.

We recently had an Oxbridge student doing work experience.

I’m confused by what that has to do with schools closing early in a Friday?!

As PP have said it's budget related. since austerity cuts over 10 years ago, this really is the thin end of the wedge until the government start listening. My school is making TAs redundant and if that doesn't work, teachers will go, classes will be bigger, days may be cut.

Schools are not childcare