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.

We are in Scotland so the difference in our tax is slightly larger than elsewhere in the UK - he pays none and I pay an intermediate rate of 21% which doesn’t apply elsewhere in the UK.

I’m in Scotland too and get hit by the 21% rate, in all honesty one of the things that stops me going full time is knowing I’d hit the 40% rate when I wouldn’t in the rest of the U.K. The tax burden here is significantly higher and I don’t see where it’s spent to benefit wider society.

It’s ridiculous you can be on practically double the salary with no discernible difference in take home pay but I can see how that happens particularly in Scotland.

It’s challenging though. I’m in Scotland and we are ahead on strike days so far. It will be 7 strike days by Easter apparently. That’s a quarter of my annual leave which I need for the holidays so am having to take unpaid parental leave.

Im in a similar position but with a bit more annual leave. I think the government are relying on parents getting pissed off and turning on teachers, which is where the “it’s all about pay” rhetoric comes from. If you have kids I’m school you know it’s about so much more than that though, the education system is fucked basically but teachers can’t strike on that basis so they’re left citing pay as the reason.

It’s 3 days and she can revise at home.

The "marking they probably do at home" is only part of a teacher's workload that is in addition to working with children in school. Each lesson has to be planned with their assessments of children at the centre. Each lesson's resources have to be created and adapted to meet the needs of all children in their class(es). Marking involves giving child-specific feedback to each child, of a kind that the child is required to respond to. This is the daily work of a classroom teacher - most have additional tasks relating to other responsibilities. Most primary teachers lead at least one curriculum subject, for example, which carries an ongoing, additional workload.

Cgp books for the core subjects. I’ve managed to buy some secondhand and bundle discounts. Great for parents to see what is on the curriculum as well as for revision and consolidation.

mine have had a set each since primary.

Sounds like lots to juggle. I know that when I write courses, it's not just the writing, which always involves lots of research and getting the content checked, it's the organisation of getting people to locations they can get to, recording their attendance/s and completion on various things, checking their work. Then there's the whole exam process, which is a lot of admin in itself! Then, if the courses are updated, it's all got to be archived and new content rechecked. And that's all just the background work before the course has actually been delivered!

You’re welcome. I’m appalled by the way many parents regard the people educating their children.

I'm a teacher. Even if we strike we will still make up the time and give masterclasses and revision classes to yr 11 and 13 because we care about their success.

Also, my school will pay the 5 per cent pay rise, but I will strike on solidarity with all the teachers whose schools are refusing to pay it. It should be the same for all. Due to the fact schools have to fund the pay rise, some can't afford it, ( often the toughest schools to work at). Some are offering 1 per cent. How is this fair?

I won't be making up the time.
I care. But I am withdrawing my labour. That's what a strike is.

This was my understanding too. Surely making up the time defeats the object?

Yep.
And every time I care more than my students (or the government!) I make it easier for them to abdicate responsibility for their actions.

I'll be putting in the extra time on other occasions because I will enable my exam years to flourish. In my view this is why teachers' strikes will always be fairly ineffective as to succeed we would have to strike just before GCSEs and A levels and there is no way most of us would do it.

In part, it's the "extra time" to help them to "flourish" that's got us to where we are with shit conditions.
My results are the best in my dept. I don't do extra time. My students know I won't, and that they have to work hard in the time they have with me. It works.

I couldn't leave exam pupils without intervention. Our pupils are exam ready by the time the exams come around. The school I work at is at the top of the League table and we get some of the best results in the country. Strikes and improving conditions shouldn't be at pupil detriment.

Another goady blame-teachers-for-everything post. Grow up.

@ManyBooksLittleTime er strikes are precisely about improving things for students, but a 'short term pain for long term gain' approach!

Yes , I agree. Sorry I was just responding to Mrs Hamlet.

Suggesting that I don't care about my students because I don't do intervention. That didn't escape me.

Spoke to my year 3 son’s teacher this morning. She is not part of the striking union nor are most teachers at the school. They may have to juggle things round a bit but as it stands they expect to open to all.

I’d be really surprised if the strikes don’t become more widespread. Teachers in Scotland have better pay and conditions than their English counterparts and pretty much everyone is participating in the strike.

@WineDup
perhaps in Scotland there are higher % members of a single union? It is quite mixed in England hence just one Union striking atm.
but yeah I would expect them to generally get larger, unions eventually joining together etc

My DD is also Y11. I’m far more worried about her not having a properly qualified teacher for her Computer Science GCSE since Y9… no English teacher for the first 3 months of Y11. Exhausted and frustrated teachers not being able to deliver quality teaching because they aren’t being given proper time to prep, due to having to cover the gaps. Teachers being blamed for everything from COVID 🙄 to not caring about the children by “complaining”. Teachers having to worry more about making OFSTED happy than the educational wellbeing of their students.

Yes I am frustrated that so many industries (teaching, support staff, nurses, junior drs, train drivers ect) are striking BUT I am not NOT frustrated at those striking! If your angry and worried take it up with the DofE/Government.

I'm frankly staggered that anyone would be rude and presumptuous enough to ask their child's teacher their intentions re: striking. Staff are under no obligation even to tell their Head Teacher until the last minute, so why on earth would they discuss it with a random parent?

I get what you're saying, but unfortunately in teaching the "short term pain" isn't like someone not getting a letter for a few weeks (aka postal strikes,) it could mean the "pain" is a student missing out or worst case scenario a GCSE student having their exams affected, particularly for students who don't do well outside of routine or rely on interventions.