Teachers who paint their classrooms themselves in school holidays

[Cloggyy]

I’m against.
I can see the young ones think this is a really great, but will soon regret it when they realise that this means budgets are adapted so that everybody is expected to do it. Also when they have preschool school-age children and can’t just go and work in time when they’re supposed to be resting. My main point is that although they feel it’s their holiday to do what they want in, it actually has a knock on effect with other colleagues

What do you all think? am I a moaning curmudgeon? :)

Wtf?

Why would anyone do this?

Surely most teachers are rotated class rooms rairly often anyway?

Yes, I saw TikTok on it and pointed out that perhaps it wasn’t very considerate

I seem to remember painting classrooms as a kid in school time, is that not a thing any more?

All the classrooms in my school are on a rotating decorating calendar. No need for me to do it. They get done every few years.

Was your teacher a Victorian ? ;)

hhhmmm hard one. On the one hand I get your point and I also think it could leave to some blurred boundaries between work and personal time. On the other hand I can imagine that for new teachers in particular it’s a way of making the classroom their own.

I think this happens in lots of job where people give more of their own resources (time or whatever) than should be expected.

I think the vibe is probably well-intentioned, and a little bit self-serving/social media attention seeking, but I don’t think young people realise that you have holidays for a break and doing something that could potentially take that right away from other people is a little bit badly thought out.

It’s a bit like when teachers used to be under a lot of pressure to run revision classes in holidays for children who had had all the chance to learn in term time!!

Absolutely ridiculous! Who else has to decorate their work place. Bad enough the cleaning we have to do

Painting classrooms is rare, I've only done it once during my time as a teacher, but preparing classrooms (displays, resources, set ups, etc.) is expected within the holiday time. As such, many teachers go in during the holidays either in bits and pieces or in blocks. My school is open to staff for the first week and the last week of the holidays so most teachers clear up from the last class during the first few days and then come in for the last week to get ready for the next class.

It shouldn't be expected but it's the only way it gets done and if it doesn't get done then it causes problems.

Just because some do it it won’t affect what others have to do , perhaps some people just don’t like working in grimy conditions .

Nobody absolutely nobody should have to go into school during holiday time. Certainly not put stupid displays up

Yep I would say this applies to the whole teaching profession who are largely goody goody overachievers who willingly work far more hours than they are paid for, deal with shit on a daily basis that is not their job, soak up abuse from parents with a smile and then wonder why the government heap on more pressure and the profession is on its knees. They are victims of their own making.

Whoever painted their own classroom is probably smug AF but in reality thick as shit if they don’t realise what an own goal that is.

If head teachers expect teachers to do this in holiday time then they need to look at use of their training days

I think teachers who do this are really lovely and it does make the others seem lazy in comparison which isn't fair as paint jobs should be done by a hired person. I have heard of teachers buying supplies with their own money but painting classrooms is a new one for me.
Where I went to school the school had painters come in during the holidays for a spruce up.
It's any time a person goes above and beyond their role some colleagues get annoyed and hate them because now they have to do it too or they will seem uncooperative or less caring. The fault is at the lack of funds, not colleagues who are trying to do something practical about it. And no, leaving them in a terrible state won't get the people above to spend some money either. So yeah, those teachers are worth their weight in salt but probably are the ones who would leave due to disillusionment and burnout... because they have such a conscious and ambition for how things should be they end up doing too much, resented by jealous colleagues and taken for granted by management add on ungrateful entitled parents and it's a perfect storm.

Nope this was late 90s early 00's secondary school

To be honest I've painted more rooms in my adult life than I have needed to know trigonometry so it was a useful life skill to be fair, and one of our class wen't on to be a painter decorator so it wasn't necessarily wasted time

Slightly horrified by the comments here about teachers who don’t paint classrooms being lazy, what if they have family to look after or work in other ways that you don’t see.

Bloody hell

I think it sounds like a potential health and safety issue too.
As a matter of interest, were they painting it because it was in disrepair, or just because they wanted to jazz it up? (and if the latter do they realise that some children need 'quiet' classroom walls?)

ditto learning time for kids taken up painting!!

If teachers keep plugging holes in budgets then where is the incentive for schools/politicians to ensure there is adequate funding?

@Cloggyy You misunderstood. What I said is
it does make the others seem lazy in comparison which isn't fair as paint jobs should be done by a hired person.

There's never incentive and what teachers plug up is do is a teardrop in an ocean so let's not turn on the good guys here. How lovely of those teachers to want to make their classroom joyful and welcoming. I'd love a teacher like that for my child for sure.

absobloodlutley OP- why can’t they just be patient and wait for the display pixies to appear and do their magic??

Oh I see. Apologies

Decorating classrooms or putting up displays is not training.

Or schools to find time 😉