To not want schools to give up summer holidays

[littleblackdress04]

Just read in papers that it’s been proposed that kids go back to school in July/ August

I think this is a rubbish idea - if it’s going to be that long then just let them have a ‘normal’ summer and go back in September.

Kids have been cooped up because of this- I’d want to take mine to the hills, go camping & let them have some freedom. Then start school in September. This isn’t a holiday for them - it’s a horrible stressful period of being cooped up & not being able to live their normal lives.

While school gives a structure and is important, so are proper periods of holiday.

I’m really against the idea but aibu? Be interested to hear other thoughts. I’ve not been particularly worried about the kids education- they will catch up in time and it will be fine

@namechangedforthisreply7
Why don't you contact your child's school to complain?
You don't read or engage with anything that anyone has to say. You just state your own point over and over. I get you're pissed off but it's not every other teacher's bloody fault that your child's teacher is seemingly doing very little.

No my general consensus is from regional and national oversight that I glean through my work.

I’m genuinely fed up of working my ass off with my holidays cancelled and with no real effort going into my kids education and with (by teachers’ own admission) key worker care being babysitting not education to be told that teachers are working so much harder than anyone else. No you’re not

Nobody has said teachers are working harder than everyone else-you just made that up.

We are providing childcare because that’s what the LA instructed us to do. Moan at them if you don’t like it.

@namechanged

We are working Easter? Don’t know why you think we’re not, not complaining either.

I work a portion of all my unpaid holidays, not a moan, just a fact.

So you don’t think 3-6 grand per teacher is going to be expensive? What about the resources, the admin costs, the TAs, office staff, cleaners? They all have unpaid holidays too.

@pollyanna1962 still waiting to find out what a fair teacher wage would be.

I can see both sides to this. If it were to be an option the answer to paying teachers is to let them have a 6 week break prior to resuming classes in August.

Let's hope we actually have options in the next few months.

Beebie- I think your contract is standard in most school. In mine teachers are contracted to work from 8.30 until 4pm on school days plus training days and scheduled meetings outside of those hours (and have to be in school in these hours) Of course they all work many more hours than this. Holiday pay is not detailed in teacher's contracts- they are salaried, not paid weekly or hourly! However, if a teacher does decide to take a days unpaid leave, their loss of earnings is calculated based on the contracted day and a daily rate worked out for that purpose. So effectively a teacher working 40 weeks on a salary of 40,000 would earn £1000 a week. Teachers certainly earn every penny if they are doing their jobs properly- and most teachers I know go above and beyond what would be expected in most professions for that level of pay!

I think teachers are coming in for criticism because many people can see how little some are doing whilst moaning about their holidays.

I accept that’s not everyone but I think teachers on here need to understand that your wider colleague body are really letting down your profession.

If I can grab a topic off the internet, or a bit of the curriculum, and make it fun and engaging and more educational than a bloody worksheet, why are my kids teachers not doing that?

Maybe you should read the threads about teachers that have done just that and the parents just want worksheets.

I’m genuinely fed up of working my ass off with my holidays cancelled

And this is what its really about, you can't have it so others should lose out as well.
How very race to the bottom of you.
Surely those in the profession must see how that looks to the outside world?

Surely you must see how different it is when this is not a classroom and the the teacher isn't allowed to be there?

All of my lesson plans are geared up towards being in the room, something that I cannot do, so I have had the rewrite them to make them accessible. Not only to the children but to the parents.

My teachers set daily maths lesson with arithmetic, questions and reasoning, weekly arithmetic tests, daily writing ( so day 1 plan , day 2 and 3 write, day 4 edit, day 5 improve) daily spelling practise, weekly grammar session, and over the week we have history/geog activity, art, music, PSHE and PE. In fact, pretty much what the children would get if they were in school. Oh, and access to TT rockstars, accelerated reader and dozens of suggested "fun" activities to participate in. in fact they set and marked so much work that parents were saying they couldn't keep up! So they were told not to set work over the Easter holidays and instead they set project and art/craft activities the children could do if they wanted. They also record bedtime stories on video for sharing with children, lots of links to one off fun activities and personal notes and messages. In addition they have an inschool rota for key worker children. Again, work set during term time but holiday provision is fun based!
I wouldn't say they are working harder than anyone else but they're certainly not sat on their backsides doing nothing!

I'm out. Down money this month because we have to lose a day every time I go into work. Working from home with a toddler. Differentiated work set for all my classes and marking what they've done. Working no harder than anyone else before anyone pounces. Read crap like this every time I come on mumsnet. I am just doing what I'm instructed to do by my head teacher. How are is average teacher to blame for any of this absolute shit show.

Spaniel - that’s amazing. It’s not happening nearly enough country-wife as I’m sure you appreciate from the many threads on this issue. Your school sounds amazing snd your children are very lucky.

All of our kids deserve this though. I hope other teachers not stepping up will read this and take note.

MamaGee is that primary school? I can't see many secondary schools being able to concentrate on friendships and mental health. Not because they don't care (as many of them do) but because i I think they won't have time on top.if teaching and of course they only see children for 1 your a,day.
I know my daughter will struggle when she goes,back but I doubt there will be any support. The school is overstretched at the best of times let alone at a time like this and they'll still be feeling the after effects when think back.

If heads aren’t demanding enough or saying to do little or nothing then teachers need to fight this complacency?

Spaniel - that’s amazing. It’s not happening nearly enough country-wife as I’m sure you appreciate from the many threads on this issue. Your school sounds amazing snd your children are very lucky

Whereas I think the opposite, that there are many, many schools providing as much, if not more than we do and a few who don't!

Then why are so many parents complaining, on here and irl? I know people in London, the south, midlands, north east and Scotland. All saying the same thing. Teachers sticking up a few worksheets and internet links and doing nothing else at all with their classes.

Spaniel you show what’s possible which serves to show that many other children are being failed.

I can only hope that after Easter will be different.

Because parents complain! They complain when you set work, they complain when you don't. They complain it's too internet based, they complain it's too worksheet based. They complain it's too practical, they complain it's not practical enough. They complain if we set work for the holidays, they complain when we don't.
It's just the nature of the beast!

We've had complaints of too much work, not enough and quite a few emails thanking us for the great job we're doing. Honestly you can't win, parents will always complain. Wider society wants teachers to solve all children's problems and believe that teachers are lazy. Interestingly whenever my occupation comes up the reaction I get is "wow, I couldn't do that".
I'm bowing out at this point, I don't need this negativity, I've enough to deal with.

People are more vocal when they complain about something. Most people who are happy with something tend not to post a thread on it.

This is the only place I have heard parents complaining. In real life, the parents I've seen (key worker children), spoken to on the phone or heard from via email have been nothing but grateful and supportive.
I have DC in a different primary school to the one I work in. I'm on class WhatsApp groups for there and not one parent from that school has complained about anything either.

We must remember that MN tends to represent quite a narrow demographic and is not always reflective of real life.

Namechangedforthisreply7
Please point us to one, just one teacher on this thread or any other, who has said that teachers are working "so much harder than anyone else."

Your school sounds amazing snd your children are very lucky.
Yes and no. That is more standard than the exception.

There are 500,000 teachers in this country. But you say, "I know people in London, the south, midlands, north east and Scotland. All saying the same thing." Hardly a representative sample.

I have teenagers. They have had plenty of work set. The same parents who always complain, have complained. They complain all the time anyway whatever the school does.
I have not started a thread about the school because I am happy with them. The same old complainers may have. Don't confuse complaints on MN with the general view of parents.

Parents always complain whatever we do. Had two complaints in the same day. One who thought I was setting too much work and one who thought I wasn't doing enough.

Quite why parents hate us so much for looking after their children I don't know

And it must be hard with primary school because some teachers are still working. With teenagers key workers tend to be leaving their kids at home so the teachers do have time to set and monitor work. But if you are in school all day, then you don't have the time.

I’m still waiting for selfless non-teachers to do their bit and take up my offer of giving up their own annual leave to work unpaid as childcare staff in my school over summer. I will provide fully qualified teachers (also working unpaid during their unpaid annual leave) to supervise and can get DBS checks done for all volunteers. Selfless people that some of the posters on this site are! All in this together!

I am still waiting for those who say it is inevitable we all get it to volunteer in their local hospital.
Of course they won't. Because viral load may mean they will actually die and that is only supposed to happen to other people.