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? :)

If painting a classroom makes everyone else look bad, than so does every bit of work done outside the school day. It also becomes part of expectations of every teacher.

Are you OK with that?

Or anyone who goes above and beyond within their working hours.

I swear some of the teachers who frequent MN inhabit a different planet. Some of them are their own worst enemies! You give yourselves a worse name than the whiners who say “you go home at 3 pm every day!” Don’t you want your work place to be happy and supportive or do you enjoy criticising your colleagues for being overly enthusiastic because they come in for a couple of days to put up some nice displays?!

Teachers don’t do this. Fact

Despite some of us having already said that we have?

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

Exactly - and ditto the constant requests to parents for funding top-ups

My headteacher ex did just this because the LEA messed up the commissioning, and was disgusted to overhear the Chair of Governors remark "Well, that's something else we won't need to pay for next time"
Only he didn't do it next time, having learned a bit more sense by then

My classroom has been painted once in 19 years. Our shared office hasn't been painted in that time at all. Both are fairly drab north facing spaces and I would love to go in (with my 2 dc) in the holidays and give both a fresh coat of paint, but we have been told we are not allowed to paint the rooms due to health and safety. I would also love a new non stinking carpet and maybe a full set of working non flickering strip lights, oh and a door handle that works.

This only works when there's an assumption that the government of the day wants to fund education to the level it requires. This one doesn't and, after twelve years, funding is still lower in real terms than in 2010. The Tories would not increase the funding if teachers / ptas / charities etc. didn't fill the gaps, they'd just let the gaps happen.

After all, an education sector that doesn't work, and the general public demanding better, is just one more reason to move closer to privatisation, right?

When I taught I used to go in for a couple of days - basically because I loved the calm, quiet, TIDY space to sort out cupboards and the like and pencil pots on desk all neatly sorted (without that one table who seem to have the mission to acquire every red pencil in the building and the pot that has all the rubbers) and just potter - but it was me and my wind-down faffy streak and no one else's expectation and my classrooms were never as migraine inducing as the ones on tik-tok.

I've been on there trying to balance it out a bit with the advice to pace yourself, only do this aesthetic stuff if it's bringing YOU joy cos the kids really don't care much at all, and don't bloody break your neck balancing on tables to back boards!