This government still doesn't give a shit about schools or your kids

[noblegiraffe]

I've posted before about this government's catalogue of failure when it comes to our children and schools and unfortunately it's still going on.

Sir Kevan Collins, the government- appointed schools catch-up tsar has just resigned over their complete failure to accept his recommendations and their pitiful offer of a programme worth only one tenth of what he said would be necessary to alleviate the impact of the pandemic on children's education. www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57335558

Holland are spending £2500 per child for their catch-up programme, the US £1600. How much do you think the Tories value our children? It works out at £50 per head, and some of the proposed 1.4 billion is going on teacher training rather than tutoring initiatives so won't have an impact for years.

For the much vaunted national tutoring programme, have the government hired experts to provide this? No, according to Sam Freedman, former education advisor to Michael Gove "The DfE have also ballsed up the procurement of the National Tutoring Programme by scoring quality too low vs price so it's going to be run by a Dutch outsourcing firm called Randstad. They undercut all the orgs who actually understanding tutoring. So a lot of the high quality UK charities and organisations providing support to the tutoring programme will now likely pull out. Proper shitshow."

At the same time they have been cladding new and refurbished schools in Grenfell-style cladding www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/30/dozens-of-new-school-buildings-in-england-have-combustible-insulation, and have rejected calls from fire safety experts to install sprinklers in new school buildings. www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57335558

In January, Johnson unexpectedly announced the cancellation of exams for Y11 and Y13. There was no plan for what would replace them and the buck was passed to Ofqual. By March, Ofqual admitted that they had no idea what to do, and so it fell to teachers and individual schools to set, mark and grade GCSEs and A-levels - tasks normally done by exam boards who are still charging exam entry fees this year for doing what appears to be very little. Scotland is paying teachers £400 each for this extra work, England is, of course, paying nothing. Parents are reportedly already gearing up to appeal teacher assessed grades while the government dodges the blame for the impending fiasco.

As I have posted about before, the government have cut Pupil Premium funding by millions, so in practical terms the most disadvantaged children now receive less per pupil than in previous years when there wasn't a pandemic. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4227538-See-how-much-the-government-has-just-cut-free-school-meal-funding-by-in-your-area

And on top of everything else...GAVIN WILLIAMSON IS STILL ED SEC. It's inexplicable, he is widely regarded as completely useless and yet while others involved in education resign around him, he gets to keep his job.

YABU: This government really cares about education and children

YANBU: This government do not give a shit. Not just incompetence, they really don't care.

It's horrific. I'm on the app so can't vote but I don't think there's an OMG option

The funding for primary school children amounts , in fact , to £22 per head....

Sir Kevan's resignation letter is a scorcher.

You could not have put it better. Absolutely shocking.

I suspect it's mostly because the current govt have been independently educated, as are their dc, and the DC of many of their voters.

Improving state education for the masses isn't really going to make them richer, keep them in power, or have any benefit to them ( in their eyes).

I’ve surprised anyone even thinks they did. It’s a 19th century system for the 21st century.
It’s also why more and more people are home educating.

YANBU. They couldn't care less. It's appalling.

I agree. It’s disgusting. They have announced a £1 billion payout to TfL today - their third. The total amount the Government has spent in ‘protecting’ the capital’s transport system now totals in excess of £3 billion!!!

What is being provided to pupils is a drop in the ocean in comparison. How can one City’s trains/buses be more important than the nation’s children?

Oh yes it’s the Tories!

That and they want to pull the plug on Oak National Academy. They really could not be doing any less for our children but they will try

YANBU.

Teachers are on our knees, especially those with exam groups. What do they expect us to train in? The insinuation that making us better teachers will solve the problem of almost a year of missed education is insulting. Aside from the fact I have more marking than ever and no extra time to do it. Guess what I'll be doing for the rest of my half term.

Some parents just want their children to be in school. They don't actually realise what's going on.

Class sizes are far too large in this country. Money for books, resources and staffing is constantly being cut. Ow often can a teacher hear your child read individually? Not as much as in the past. Teachers have to cope with ever changing goal posts in assessment and curriculum. Funding for children with special needs including mental health issues is nigh on impossible to achieve. New initiatives from advisors every 5 minutes, faddy and ill thought through, increase workload and don't impact learning outcomes positively. Covid restrictions mean teachers are dishing up hot dinners in their classrooms due to bubbles not mixing in the hall, eating a sandwich quickly then taking the class out to play in separate playground zones. Staggered starts and finishes mean longer teaching hours.

All this with the general public calling you lazy, workshy and incompetent. It's a good thing I love my job.

@Bobbiepin

Teachers are on our knees, especially those with exam groups. What do they expect us to train in? The insinuation that making us better teachers will solve the problem of almost a year of missed education is insulting. Aside from the fact I have more marking than ever and no extra time to do it. Guess what I'll be doing for the rest of my half term.

It’s the NC and government at fault, not teachers.

Well said!

Difficult to imagine how much longer I can personally manage as a teacher. It is absolutely relentless. Surely it should get easier with experience but the constant changes, demands and monitoring are becoming unbearable. Mental health at an all time low. The biggest insult; a chunk of the money set aside to train teachers. Train them in what?

YANBU, really unimpressed with what I've seen so far.

Does anyone know, are they even planning any extra support at all for primary school children? I'm assuming longer school days / tutoring won't really apply to younger kids in the first few years of primary school (at least I hope not as it wouldn't seem like a great plan) I haven't been able to find any detail on whether anything will be available.

BLoody disgusting, I despair. Will probably gain even more points in the opinion polls! And i am sick to death of inquiries and recommendations just being ignored. Total farce every time.

Extended school days has been kicked into the long grass. There isn’t any money for it. There may be some money in the next spending review (long grass).

Not only is it peanuts financially, but it just shows total lack of vision. Who thinks the government are the kind to pay for tuition if they thought their own kid was falling behind, therefore their plan is funding tutors more universally? Next they'll be funding crammers for those students who don't pass their exams well enough.

This will turn into yet another teacher bashing thread, so I will say this and retire from this thread.

Teachers have worked their backsides off, state and independent. They haven't been paid a penny extra for it. In fact, many have come in voluntarily during holidays to look after key workers' children.
They've worked from home relentlessly, trying to engage children online, make sure they had the tech to be able to join in (still waiting for all those promised laptops...) They've put themselves in poorly ventilated, overcrowded classrooms in front of children with no masks.
They've not been offered the vaccine as a priority (other countries did offer education staff vaccines as a priority)
They've tried to support children who are disillusioned and anxious about their end of year grades.
They've fielded endless questions and concerns from parents re the above.
The exam boards provided sweet FA - a few past papers which many had already seen, but still charged for entries and expect teachers to mark and work out grades fairly across the board for children who have had varying levels of engagement, often due to no fault of their own.

They've been treated like utter shit by this government and have been called what for many members of the public.

I'm a teacher with 23 years experience and wish I could afford to leave.

YADNBU

My class are shattered by 2.30pm and a linger day will not help bring them on.

Tutors who are possibly unqualified, with no idea of their starting points, put on contracts because the company they work for is owned by a tory mate of the cabinet, will not be effective in improving standards for my class.

The end.

Longer day not linger.

Although I do linger until 6pm doing endless work.

Laptops were not provided for any key stage 1 children. My head teacher bought 24 extra ipads out of the school budget for families in need. I teach in an infant school.

I actually feel sick at the thought that anyone reading your OP could vote YABU. These are the pitiless morons we live among 😡

Well since I thought it was spending money on absolutely the wrong things I’m not distraught about this particular project fail, but the chronic and desperate underfunding of education on a epic scale, plus ignoring all developmental research about children is a national travesty.

@baroqueandblue

I like to think they haven’t read it properly and got their answer wrong!!!