School Staff. How do you feel about summer schools?

[Witchcraftandhokum]

Just watched an ex-Ofsted inspector on BBC Breakfast talk about how important summer schools will be and how they should be staffed by the same teachers students have normally.

This hasn't been mentioned in our school yet but I really don't know how it will be managed. I can't imagine a lot of staff will be happy to give up their holidays. In our school a good number of the middle leaders and TA's salaries are pro-rata'd to term time only. I've worked full-time from home so it's not like I've been on holiday since March.

How would you feel about being asked to work?

Just some waffle about the summer holidays in answer to a keyworker wondering what she would do with her DCs with none of her ususal stuff.

He said something about'more money' already given to schemes. And something about food something. It felt like padding and waffle.

1 - Ofsted are the arch enemy of all school staff. Proper Voldermort shit.

2 - Teaching staff have been working the whole way through lockdown - both in school for the vulnerable and keyworker's kids & at home planning, marking, setting etc.

3 - The government don't have the right to change contracts and deny staff annual leave. They wouldn't be offering any extra money for it either. How happy would you be to work through your annual leave for nothing?

4 - The Unions could well ask for strike action if they try it.

5 - Teachers who (God help them) work in academies could get forced to work part of the summer holidays (and not in the usual 'could you just re-write the year 9 Science Scheme of Work over the holidays? Shouldn't take long' [just 2 bloody weeks] kind of way) as Their contracts are a bit different (they can be made to work some weekends in school).

6 - Unless your kids are in years 6, 10 or 11, you really don't need to worry. Teachers are great at recapping and consolidating. It's the job. Secondaries put time into helping year 7's settle in. The heads of year will be prepping for them.

7 - Apologies for the numericals - It's so annoying.

Positive that he didn’t mention the Great summer cock up plan as the solution, though!

Please no. I’m exhausted and we still have a month to go. I’d consider one week maybe, but not more.

What's the plan then?
Everyone needs to give a bit, we need people back at work and children back to proper education. Otherwise we have a massive problem with the 2021 exams... SATS, GCSE and A Levels... an other lost disadvantaged year group! Because let's face it, not everyone is capable of catching up on 5/ 6 months lost learning, plus following the curriculum within 8 months (September- Mai).

But most teachers in the state sector have been doing very little for 3 months

Based on your detailed survey of your DSis?

But most teachers in the state sector have been doing very little for 3 months so I don't think it's a lot to ask to expect them to work for a few weeks in the summer. They have a length of holiday that no one in any other sector would get to begin with.
A couple of issues here.

1. It's fairly stupid to pronounce what you think most teachers have/haven't been doing based on your sample size of one.

Even teachers on mumsnet have said that provision in some schools isn't good enough so if your sister's school have decided setting hardly any work is accept and they've directed staff to make no contact then that's an issue with her school's management, not the profession.

1. When some people are contracted to work 195 days a year and the pay is for that, how exactly do you propose people should be directed to work far in excess of their contracts because other people don't get the school holidays?

I hope you're on threads about furloughed workers saying they shouldn't have any holiday for the next few years because they've had a few months off now (quite literally being paid not to work). Somehow I doubt you will as people who are ready to be goady on teacher threads seem to ignore the fact huge numbers are being paid not to work in favour of having a good old jab at teachers.

My Dsis is a teacher

Well, that’s an extensive study.

So, all of the teachers on here must just be lying then.

@FireBeef

There seems to be this idea on here that teachers have been working 12 hour days flat out since March. While that may be true in a few cases, it is not for the vast majority.

My Dsis is a teacher and she openly admits she has been doing very little since lockdown. The unions have instructed teachers not to teach online lessons, not to mark work and not to call students, so all there is for her to do is send out worksheets and YouTube links on a Monday.

I appreciate that teachers who have been working hard delivering online lessons and marking as normal will not want to work in the summer break.

But most teachers in the state sector have been doing very little for 3 months so I don't think it's a lot to ask to expect them to work for a few weeks in the summer. They have a length of holiday that no one in any other sector would get to begin with.

I’m sorry @FireBeef but where is your evidence for this? Have you spoken to most teachers in the state sector across the country? I can assure you that my department are working hard everyday both in school and at home to adapt lessons or create new content that is suitable for the current context. They are marking work and uploading it to the system, which takes at least twice as long as marking by hand. To give you an idea, in ‘normal times’ it takes me four hours on average to mark a set of books and I teach 11 classes. They are communicating with parents and pupils to help them however they can. I know this because I can monitor what they are doing, not that I need to! I am sure that there are teachers who are doing a lot less that usual, and of course you have the right to be annoyed at that! I am, as it’s unfair on the pupils they teach. However, to suggest it’s the vast majority of us is quite insulting!

No, for all the reasons stated above by actual teachers. I'm one of these "retired" teachers (I quit to be a SAHM) and I am not going anywhere near a school, thanks ta.

The government will tell parents it's because teachers are lazy bastards who want it better than them, and plenty will believe them. Like they believed "record funding for schools".

The unions have instructed teachers not to teach online lessons, not to mark work and not to call students

Bullshit

To be frank I suspect most teachers have not been completing their full directed time over the last 3 months

To be frank, you’re making this up to be deliberately provocative.

This is like presenteesim for a job you don't even do!

@FireBeef your one person survey doesn't top the experience of all the teachers who are on here telling you a completely different story. You are being deliberately goady. And your 'I suspect' is utter cheek. The various Facebook teachers' groups I am on all tell the same story, that state school teachers have been working even harder than usual and are exhausted. Your sister in law is an exception, not the rule.

I also think this argument that teachers aren't paid to work holidays is a red herring. Teachers are paid an annual salary, not by the hour, so really the number of days don't come into it.

Well that's not how teacher pay works...

Teachers are paid a salary based on 195 days of work which is split across 12 months. No pay for holidays. If they had less holiday and worked more days, their annual salary would be more!

I also think this argument that teachers aren't paid to work holidays is a red herring. Teachers are paid an annual salary, not by the hour, so really the number of days don't come into it.

It’s a good job really isn’t it. If I was paid for the 60 plus hours I work every week and the days I do in half term, Easter, Christmas and the six weeks, I would receive a lot more money that I actually do. I worked out my hourly rate when I was an NQT, and it was below the minimum wage at the time!

As I teacher if I have to work all summer I can assure you I will be zero use to your year 10s because I will either be dead, had a breakdown, somewhere in between.

@FireBeef

Contracted for 195 days. Term days.

I have worked all through the pandemic. Do shove off.

I imagine they’ll ask for volunteers, as they did for key workers during Easter. But I really can’t imagine that it would be EVERYONE (I won’t be volunteering, because someone needs to be at home with 3yo DD), so how would they have a significant number of students in? And if social distancing is to be implemented, they would need MORE staff. So it won’t happen, or at least not on any scale.

firebeef I am a middle-leader in a school. My salary is pro-rata, term time only. I DO NOT GET PAID FOR HOLIDAYS.

firebeef either you or your sister is lying.

I love it, someones dsis is the majority of teachers.

We are not only contracted and paid for 195 days (in England, I know contracts in Scotland are different). You are confusing contracted time and directed time. In this case though, it doesn't matter because summer schools would be directed time, and therefore would need to be in the 195 days.