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.

Teachers have it soooooo goooood, right? So why is there a national shortage?

In a capitalist economy, when you have a shortage of qualified workers, you usually offer more pay. BTW, the only alternative here is to accept that some young people will get a genuinely poor education- certainly in some subjects.

You can think teachers have it cushy and get paid loads all you want, but the reality is market forces say otherwise.

I wouldn't want to work term time. I did that before when my kids were small and hated it, well more the 6 weeks than anything. I'm not tempted though because I like the job I'm trained to do, not because teaching pays more than what I earn now.

My pay is four weekly not monthly which does have an impact. And I lost a days pay due to striking.

The main difference is really the eligibility for universal credit though.

I do really love my job and I want to be able to keep doing it, but it’s certainly not family friendly like it is pitched to be. Which is why I’ve had to drop to part time - my working hours are completely inflexible so we need wrap around childcare for my eldest and extended nursery hours (8-6) for my youngest. I also can’t take any time off at my own discretion - so no school plays, no open days at her school.

Im also not allowed to take holidays or leave when my daughters school is on strike either, so actually, the childcare situation applies to teachers too.

My son is having to do two consecutive sleepovers at grandparents so I can work. He’s 10 months old. At least in Asda there is flexibility with shifts worked/holidays and such.

Not to mention with my degree I could go into other “skilled” professions and make more money, with better conditions.

As I say, I do really love teaching, in terms of sitting in a classroom sharing knowledge with the kids. I thought the pay was fantastic when I applied, however now I see that all is not as it seems.

I love term time working! It feels so wrong to not have 6 weeks off in the summer. I’m not a teacher though. I considered it post degree but soon realised they didn’t work term time and basically worked all year round. Put me off hugely.

YES! Closed but plenty of us ate in preparing for the new school year. What is your point Rose? Either fess up or go away.

Roseberry desperately trying to come up with reasons why if she wouldn't want to switch to teaching for the holidays, and no one else wants to switch to teaching for the holidays, that doesn't mean that we should consider offering more money to get people to switch.

Perhaps Roseberry is happy with there just not being enough teachers?

Which is weird if she has kids.

Yes, in secondary. This is very far from unusual.

Good for you.

I think she is genuinely happy to accept a poorer standard of education for students in the UK, which is really sad.

And it doesn't just impact those with kids. It impacts those who want idk, doctors, dentists, engineers etc in 10-20 years time, just as an example.

There's a national shortage of workers in loads of sectors, not just teaching. People are genuinely struggling to recruit across the board.

As for education, it's varied so much in the past, as in decades. There was no golden era of teaching, it's been a mixed bag of good teachers and absolutely appalling ones. Depending on who you ask, some kids really were failed at school. It's really nothing new.

Please don’t take this as an attack @WineDup but I am honestly wondering why your ds has to do sleepovers so you can work?

So what IS your job Roseberry? So we can rip it apart in reply.

I think she is genuinely happy to accept a poorer standard of education for students in the UK, which is really sad.

People generally don't seem to understand that that includes their own children. Perhaps they go to private school and Roseberry doesn't understand that the catastrophic teacher trainee figures for this year will impact private schools too.

Because this is how my DD's school works. Always extra work, she did work each day during the Christmas holiday and also during the Summer holidays. They proposed sitting mocks during October half term.
It's all pre-reading, they expect them to have worked through topics themselves before a new term starts.

When was this golden era of yesteryear in education you speak of?

In 28 years I've never, ever come across an appalling teacher. I've never come across one with my 3 DC either. Some average ones, but never appalling. Can you give an example of an appalling teacher?

There's a national shortage of workers in loads of sectors, not just teaching. People are genuinely struggling to recruit across the board.

And you're happy for your kids to not have a teacher because other sectors are struggling to recruit?

Well last time there was a strike my union wasn’t striking. I went in but there wasn’t enough staff to open the school. There wasn’t a picket like.

I'd love to say but it's outing so would rather not.

Big thanks to the teachers on this thread, you do a brilliant job and work long hours for low pay and high stress. Yes its a pain in the arse for us parents, yes kids will miss some school, but what else can teachers do? Without pressure, the government isn't suddenly going to do the right thing, after years of running down the public sector. Moany parents should write to their MPs to put pressure on for a fair pay deal, and could get some books from the library to help their kids study on strike days.

Mine don't go to private school

60 hours per week during term time then no hours during the holidays works out the same as doing 40 hour per week year round. So a full time Asda worker would earn roughly the same as my teaching salary per year.

😂

Taxidermy!

Are they in state schools? Do you actually have skin in the game?

My partner works 12h shifts. I’d need to drop him off at his grandparents at 7am in order to get my eldest to school and myself to work in time to start. I have an after school meeting one day and parents night the next, so I won’t be home until after his bedtime, and my partner will still be at work then too.

Its not every week, but it’s not horribly unusual either.