To be really worried about proposed teacher strikes.

[katedan]

In England not Scotland for context. My twin daughters are year 11 and I am terrified about the impact of teacher strikes on their GCSEs. They have not yet covered the curriculum and every day counts to get them exam ready so strike days will be disastrous for year 11 and 13 pupils ( and lots of other children especially those who are vulnerable) these kids have had their education impacted by covid and now strikes. This will make the divide between state and private schools even bigger. Do you think they will go ahead or if a safety net will be put around exam years if it does.

Strikes are unlikely to be more than a few days; they can revise at home.

But they won't be being taught the content they need for their exams, it is not just revision at this point.

If a couple of strike days will ruin your children's GCSE's the issue isn't the teachers. If they got tonsillitis and had a week off would their GCSE's be ruined?!

It will only be for a day or two, if it even happens. And not all teachers are in the same union so not all teachers will be striking.

Yes you are being unreasonable.

You know what you should be concerned about? Good teachers quitting because they can get a similar take home pay working in Asda.

Bright, inspiring people not applying for teaching positions because they know it’s not worth their time or money to train, to do a job that they aren’t suitably compensated for.

It isn’t the strikes you should worry about, it’s a long term work to rule that would have far more impact on learning.

But schools will quite often close as they do not not, indeed cannot know who is in which union me who will/won’t be striking.

I appreciate that but as the previous poster said strike days are unlikely to be just for a couple of days. I would be interested if any support or provision would be in place for exam years ( although accept this might be on a school by school basis)

Strikes haven’t been announced yet.

If the cohort of Y11s and 13s perform a little bit worse in their exams due to missing a couple of days of school, then the grade boundaries will be lowered. The proportion of kids gaining each grade will be exactly the same as it would have been without any strikes.

Have to say I know some Y13s to whom a day of strikes will make very little difference as they do not have a subject teacher for their A-level due to a shortage of teachers and have been self-teaching for months.

If you are terrified of the impact, please let your MP know and ask that this be copied to Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education. If the NEU ballot passes threshold, she’s the one who can stop strikes happening by negotiating a deal.

This.

I have 23 years teaching experience but left the classroom in July 2021 and will not be returning. It's not the pay for me (I earn less now) but the ridiculous amount of work, the bad behaviour, the rude, entitled parents, the demands from government, the contempt from media and parts of the general public.

I actually hope that teachers work to rule rather than strike, then everyone will see the hours and hours of unpaid work that (most) do every week.

@katedan the profession is haemorrhaging teachers - mine are in Y7 & 9 and are increasingly being taught by endless supply teachers. God knows how they’ll be doing by the time they get to Y11. Thank your lucky stars your kids are nearly out the other side of this shit show.

I'd also be more concerned at the state of education in general than a few days of strikes. The majority of teaching staff are doing their best for your children, underfunded and understaffed schools are the real issues here.

I think that poster meant school will close on strike days even if only some teachers are off due to ratios, not "often" as in many days.
OP, a couple of days should not spell disaster if your kids are motivated enough to.follow their own timetable at home that day with revision and note taking. As pp have said, we cannot keep operating under current conditions.

@PyjamaFan ditto - also left in July 21 and also have no intention of returning.

I’m a teacher in Scotland so we have been on strike.

Since November, my school has been closed to all pupils for two days.

A third day only had senior pupils in the building (those sitting exams this year)

There is one more day of strike current planned for February, and I believe a few more days going forward to March.

So if you are reading the news headlines stating “16 days of strikes” then you should read the actual article, as it’s all explained in there.

Waves to @GoingtotheWinchester

Love the username btw!

One teachers union (Nasuwt) are not calling a strike as they did not get enough teachers to vote (they blamed the postal strike for this, in part, which is somewhat ironic)

This with bells on!!

My Y9 daughter was meant to have the same form tutor for Y7-9. She is on her ninth form tutor and we aren't even halfway through the year yet.

I would be more concerned with the retention of good quality teaching staff.

I cant let that worry me as I have bigger school issues with my yr 11 and yr10 as they often refuse to go in at all or I am running them in late when I am supposed to be at work, and the yr 11 will not do any work at home. Younger one will do some at home.

There have been strikes in the past where the school my dc's are at ensures yr11 go in but all other years have the day off.

There have already been pupils affected by strike action in Scottish schools.

I completely understand the concern, have both GCSE and A levels being taken this summer. I'm sure the teachers will do all they can to minimise disruption for these years.

You're being ridiculous, training your kids to fail and be helpless victims.

Missing a few scattered days of school is common for other reasons (illness, weather) . On strike days your fit healthy teenagers can usefully catch up with homework, reading, consolidating topics they have already been taught, from their text books and notes. . Using the internet to explore material in history, geography, biology, literature, languages. science in more depth.

This.

Honestly, what a palava.

A couple of days striking isn't going to affect your child's GCSE results. They have text books. The teacher's can set work to read, study, questions etc.

A few days off isn't going to make much difference. There's always the risk they could get ill and miss similar.

Just make sure they're not loafing around on the strike days and read a book or something.

Yabu. The strikes need to happen. Teaching is losing experienced staff left right and centre.