Should schools shut for Good Friday/ Easter Monday?

[ringletsandtwiglets]

Curious what the general public think about this. Schools are being asked for staff volunteers to provide childcare over the bank holidays.

YABU- no, schools should stay open for keyworkers and/or vulnerable children

YANBU- yes, schools should be closed entirely on those days

I'm an Advanced Nurse Practitioner who entered a career knowing that I would be working weekends and bank holidays and my contract states just that. While I will complain about a lot of things related to corona and not signing up for the lack of necessary equipment and unsafe conditions, I can not and will not complain about working unsocial hours and am compensated for them.

Teachers, however, chose a job which has specific directed time hours and does not include weekend and bank holiday hours or pay.

While they often do undirected hours at those times it is not the same as forcing them to work the days they are not contractually obligated to do so.

We are not yet at the stage of forcing people to work!

Jane, we are at that point. We are being forced to work days like weekends and evenings we are not obliged to to support this cause, we have been told to expect to work Easter and possibly the summer leaving no rest time for teachers. We are told as we are salaried this is tough regardless of our contracts, plus it also means those on lower pay grades are working for less than minimum wage if we are to make them work during the breaks.

In London and surrounding area perhaps as this is where the pressure is. It is possibly (currently) less needed up north where there are less cases and hospitals are not under the same pressure - the teachers stepping up also deserve some respite where the need is not so urgent.

@thegreenlight so does that make me a cheeky fecker? I am currently teaching from home and have to isolate because both of my parents (who I live with) have both had kidney transplants and diabetes. If I could work at school I would, as a fellow teacher I would have thought you would have understood that.

A lot of key workers with families would normally either take holidays or make childcare arrangements that are no longer feasible- eg with grandparents. That’s not going to be possible this year so yes, provision should stay in place.

NewloveCG of course you should be at home. I sent staff home who were genuinely at risk myself. However there will always be people who call in sick for the slightest thing and surprisingly they are the ones ‘self isolating’. When you work with people for years you know them well enough to see when they are taking the piss. It puts more strain on the people that remain.

So is everyone who's not a teacher going to volunteer to help???
Thought not!

Teachers deserve a break too!

What is going to happen when we are going to be working through every holiday and some of us weekends too?
I can't imagine parents being happy when teachers are too exhausted or nor prepared to go back to school. For example transition projects haven't been completed etc. At this moment even in the NHS holidays over r Easter are being honoured, although that could change rapidly.
I am juggling going onto school on my rota days, uploading work and answering copious emails from parents and pupils plus trying to support 3 vulnerable people who all live in different homes.
I will do my bit and I hope we can keep the KW pupils in school so that their parents can keep providing the essential services around the clock.
I just don't want to get to september where the schools open and I can't cope as I am too exhausted mentally and physically.

Walker1891. We were asked to volunteer over Easter. Everyone volunteered. Nothing has been said about weekends or summer yet

TheEmoji, sounds like your head has her/his head screwed on. We got told not asked. Extended hours, weekends (thankfully no one has requested it yet but parents can as shifts change) and the holidays. Some parents have requested holiday care so far so that's a given. We have been told that we go where we're needed, when we're needed.

We are in a rota, so one day per fortnight at the moment, although this will change if people fall ill/have to self isolate. We will continue 5 days a week through the holidays. Someone phones all the relevant parents/carers the night before to check whether they will be in.

We do not have parents who are key workers , or at least send their children for that reason. We are open for vulnerable children.