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.

It is not faux concern and I haven't hidden anything.

I am not part of the problem unless thinking young people deserve decent teachers is a bad thing.

I am immensely grateful for the wonderful teachers that my DC have had.

The reality is that some people will suffer dire medical consequences and even death as a result of delays caused, yes we had all that with covid….and every extra day of it counts. If you’re one of those people you are allowed to be bitter.

"The reality is that some people will suffer dire medical consequences and even death as a result of delays caused"

Ridiculous hysteria/ fear/doommongering!

@freckles20

You are part of the problem. Lots of jibes about teachers letting down students being 'poor' teachers etc.

The government are letting down students, not teachers. Teachers battle everyday, putting on a brave face and ploughing on.

I honestly don't see any posts that show any teachers being unhappy or jaded.

I'm not denying it's a historic moment.

There is lots about it all that is silly. The idea that the HoS is there not because of competence or democracy but by accident of birth is silly. The pedestal these people are put upon is silly when really they have done little to actually warrant it. The enforced, assumed and often sycophant grief and "respect" is silly.

The fact is, the Queen lived a long, incredibly privileged life and all the pomp and pagentry is well past it's sell by date.

I think it would be better if shops and restaurants etc closed in these circumstances. In recent years it seems to have become standard that they will all be open on Bank Holidays, whereas in the last almost everything was closed. It would give those staff the chance to watch the funeral if they want to and they wouldn't have childcare issues.

However, the majority of workers do get given bank holidays so it will only be a minority that have issues with childcare, especially as most of the population don't have children of an age that would need childcare. Opinion on MN will be skewed in this respect.

I feel sadness that so many people's work life is tough and offers no happiness.

What the actual fuck are you talking about?

Most teachers enjoy being in the classroom and like the kids. Polls of teachers asking them what the best bit of the job is invariably return 'teaching' as the top answer.

Teachers already get a lot more holiday than the average worker, thats the problem I think

Teachers already get a lot more holiday than the average worker, thats the problem I think

Teachers get a similar amount of paid holiday as most people.
Their pay, whilst spread over 12 months, takes into account their directed time, their contact time and the school holidays.

Everyone is free to retrain and become a teacher if they want the holiday time.

Teaching Assistants, who also work in schools and will be entitled to the bank holiday are not paid for holidays, beyond the minimum allowance, nor are they paid for lunch and break times usually. Do people think they shouldn't have the bank holidays too?

But as has been discussed ad nauseum this week on MN, they don't get paid for all the holidays. So go ahead and cut the holidays teachers get to 5.6 weeks (the amount of holiday they get paid for) and up their salary to cover the extra 7 weeks that was previously unpaid holiday.

They don't get an August pay cheque...?

@mum2bee2022
Everyone’s constantly so bitter about teacher’s holidays and how lazy and entitled teachers are. I wonder why is there a teaching crisis, everyone who’s bitter should become one and report back to us about how they enjoy being one. I don’t know what are you guys waiting for?

Have you really not had the reason for this explained before? It’s not difficult. The total about they are due to be paid us split equally across twelve months. Teachers aren’t paid less in months with holidays.

We live in a country with a monarchy. Regardless of people's views its a fact that she was our head of state for over 70 years.

It would be very weird if we didn't mark it with a bank holiday to allow people to watch the funeral.

@mum2bee2022 teachers only get paid for 195 days (school days and inset days) plus the legal statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks paid holidays. The remainder of their holiday days are unpaid. Their pay for these days is split into 12 equal pro-rata monthly payments. Therefore they receive a paycheck In August but not For working August.

Basically the total number of days teachers is totted up over the years and then divided into 12 equal monthly payments. Otherwise you would have some months where teachers would receive £4000 and other months where they would receive between £200 and £0. This would be a total nightmare for everything from pension thresholds to tax thresholds to mortgages to student loan repayments to credit entitlement so it’s split into 12 equal payments instead.

Also can we not make this another thread about teachers. 🙄

In that case, teachers salaries must be well above average.

Of course it should be a bank holiday

There are people on this thread who have argued that schools should stay open on a national Bank Holiday because they want to watch the funeral in peace without having to deal with their own children. But apparently Teachers are the "lazy" ones.

@mum2bee2022

What?

So glad it's going to be a Bank Holiday. Not that there was really any doubt, of course it was always going to be.

I will have appointments I will need to cancel, and it will be stressful trying to get people booked in again, but I am still glad for the day off. I want to watch the funeral with my children.

Ooh thank you for speaking up for TAs!
We are also badly paid, not much above minimum wage. However I wouldn’t swap my job to be a teacher ( I have a degree so I could) because I see how difficult the job can be, far harder than people realise. Although if lots of people think teaching is an easy job with loads of holidays, why don’t more people enter the profession??

Some people on this thread also seem to think school staff should never voice one negative word about their job, while everyone else is allowed a good moan from time to time. Oh I forgot- teachers and NHS staff are saints or at least should be 😂

70 Years. We can give her a day.

I’m not a Royalist by any stretch of the imagination but this is a historic event, one we won’t ever see again. Perhaps our children should have the chance to experience and watch this?

Hey OP, you're completely justified in not wanting school to shut if it's going to impact you negatively some how. Not everyone has to feel the same about it so don't take it personally if others on here don't agree.

People in this country work long hours and kids have long hours in school so my main feeling is how good it is just to let all these people have a day off.