Schools closed for the Queen’s funeral

[Notme1980]

First off, Queen Elizabeth II was an amazing ruler and an inspiration, we are a forces family and my husband has served her for 30 plus years.

but - I do not want the schools to be closed for her funeral (or for any reason at all), I want us to do what I believe she would have done, press on.

But it isn't any fault of us teachers though, the fact there is an inconvenience of finding childcare is completely irrelevant and shouldnt be a thing. The Queen passed away, if your DCs teacher's were given a choice to have the day off, and the vote was a resounding yes...then that's a separate issue, but this is what has been decided. It just confirms that some parents see teachers as childcare, which is annoying when that childcare sees me have to ignore my own child just so that i can give other people's children 'childcare' otherwise known as an education...by ignore i mean spend time planning lessons away from my child (who is being looked after by his father in those situations)

Nobody said every child who attends school requires childcare.

Oh I don't blame teachers, I used to be one. I'm now SLT, still in education, and don't blame any teachers/tutors in the slightest. I think it's unfair that some parents will be put in a very difficult position, but it's not the fault of those working in the education sector.

I am a teacher. I will miss lessons with GCSE classes that day. It is out of my control. I will watch some of the funeral but will also care for a disabled person and go for a lovely walk, weather pending. 🙂

There is, for sure, a definite primary focus around the discussion, as always.

Parents needing childcare. Wheeling the telly into the hall for kids to watch. Getting them to do activities around the Queen.

So our King has committed the tax payer to pay millions of public sector employees for a day on which they will do no work? He has also committed millions of others on zero hour contracts to receive no income for a day?

Is that even in his power to do? I thought our elected parliament debated and decreed such things.

It's a Bank Holiday, so schools will be closed. I am, however, hoping that pubs and restaurants will be open (as they usually are on a Bank Holiday).
I will probably record the funeral, then I can skip all the boring bits.

I doubt he would of done it if it wasn’t within his power.

It’s not like he just blurted it out and didn’t know what he was saying.

Well, there will also be some DC in secondary who will require childcare too. It's not the same picture as primary, of course, but neither is it a completely irrelevant concern. Secondary schools and mainstream secondary schools are not synonymous terms, and even within the mainstream, having blown out 11 candles on a cake does not mean a child is automatically capable of looking after themselves.

Yes, I know. But wanging on about how schools are childcare is completely out of touch with those many parents of children who do not see schools like that at all.

@latebreakfast

I work in the public sector..just because I am physically not in the building doesn't mean i WON'T be doing any work. In fact I should think other than stopping to watch the service, I will work throughout the day!!

Perhaps decree may have been a tidge formal...but yes, King Charles III did in fact say our late Queen's funeral would indeed be a bank holiday when he made his proclamations earlier this morning.

:D

No, it isn't. That would only be the case if people were saying all pupils require school as childcare. Pointing out that they do function as childcare, and there won't be many who contain zero children requiring it, does no such thing.

You don't have to like the fact that we have a system where school functions as essential childcare provision and where it isn't possible for even basic services to run uninterrupted without it, but pretending it's not how things are is foolish.

The childcare argument was big during covid, and people keep trying to wheel it out now as if things are exactly the same. During covid, people couldn't use grandparents for childcare. They couldn't use friends or share the load with other school mums.

Suggesting that essential services might not be able to run because there's an extra bank holiday is a bit mad.

You're the one who's mentioned covid and whether things are the same now, not me. It isn't relevant to my point, which is that schools function, present tense, as essential childcare and that it's out of touch to pretend they don't.

Incidentally, there are already clinician parents who have talked about the difficulty their clinics and wards will face being able to run properly in the face of an impromptu bank holiday due to the childcare issue. They know more about that than you do.

They function as childcare for some parents. It's clearly not that essential otherwise they'd be open all year round.

I didn't spend years and my own money to train to be 'childcare'. I trained to be a teacher. I have never viewed my child's school as 'childcare'. It's insulting as to what we do. Yes, we care for children ( spent a lot of time last week on safe guarding training), but we are not there to provide 'childcare'. The job centre might also think that we are, but they are wrong.

School is the important thing that you arrange your childcare around.

Sudden closures (and this is less than a week away) can be a real headache as suddenly you have an extra day to cover and perhaps no easy options (as your annual leave is probably all committed round term dates already)

This doesn't make any sense either, because when we talk about school, we all know what that system is and means. It doesn't in the UK mean a sector that is open all year round. The argument you make here could only work if school was something different to what it actually is.

Also, nobody thinks schools function as childcare for all parents. They do not need to be childcare for everyone in order for them to still function as essential childcare, and in practice there are going to be very few schools that don't contain a single child whose parents need it for that purpose.

TLDR: schools function as childcare in our society and there are no sensible arguments to be made otherwise.

I don't have a problem with people being upset about the Queen's death and wanting to mark it/celebrate her life. Not at all. I just don't like that a lot of it is imposed on everyone regardless

how are you going to reconcile the two?

If we

It's reality. Schools function as childcare, as evidenced by the logistical problems for many working parents and those who rely on their work when access to them is withdrawn at short notice. Actually, the fact that the jobcentre think it is one of the reasons why this state of affairs exists. That is the system that we have.

They do not need to be childcare for everyone in order for them to still function as essential childcare

Childcare. Not essential childcare.

It sounds like you're trying to make the argument that schools should not close for the extra bank holiday because a minority of parents who have young children, who both work and both do not get bank holidays off will find it tricky.

No, it really doesn't. There's a reason why I haven't said that or anything remotely pertaining to it.

During covid, people couldn't use grandparents for childcare. They couldn't use friends or share the load with other school mums.

Who are all these friends working parents are supposed to have who can have children the working day? How can you share the load with other school mums when you are all working?!

Primary school absolutely does have a childcare element available to it - most parents would be unable to work without it.

Also, my point above works whether the 'essential' is included in there or not. Schools do not need to be childcare for everyone in order for them to function as childcare.

How can you share the load with other school mums when you are all working?!

It's going to be a bank holiday. Why would they all be working?