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.

From what I read on BBC News this evening, it looks like there'll be 4 strike days in total: 3 national strike days (1st Feb, 15th and 16th March), and then a regional strike day.

I fully support the teachers, and I hope they get the pay/conditions they ask for. I'm a single parent of 2DC (on in Yr 5 and one in Yr 11), and I think that their teachers are bloody amazing. I wouldn't want to do their job (and FWIW, I'm a nurse!). If/when the strikes happen, I'll make sure my kids get on with revision for the days they would have been in the classroom.

I can only see three days @Jellycatspyjamas

I do understand it’s difficult, I’m not trying to be dismissive about that. I suppose what I mean is that most of the responses here - along the lines of ‘oh don’t be so ridiculous, it’s only a couple of days’ perhaps mean the strike won’t be particularly effective.

I’m a working parent myself and I do sympathise.

We have a minimum wage which is good but maybe there should be a maximum wage for menial jobs so that shelf stacking etc does not ever compete with a job like being a teacher or a nurse. It should pay to be a teacher, it is a proper profession.

Well the NEU never are. Never were to be fair.

Loathsome excuse for a "union"

I really wish people would stop peddling the "vocation" myth. It's a handy shorthand for "person who should give up everything for their work" (see also nurse, paramedic etc)

Teaching is not a vocation. I wasn't called to it by some higher power.
It's job. I love it. I'm good at it. But it's not a vocation.
I go to work because I need to pay my bills. If I was a nun, I'd be fed and clothed and housed. That's a vocation.

Email your MP and tell them your concerns.

*So lower grade social workers have been on strike then.

Why haven't your union balloted jelly? I understand social work is in a pretty poor state.*

In my union it’s been social care assistants, not social workers. Social work is in a complete mess, pay is just the start of it but there’s no one union that represents social workers as a profession so very difficult to get a head of steam towards industrial action. I’d be reluctant to strike because of the very high levels of risk when services are disrupted but for the first time in a long career I’d consider it.

You’re mad if you think the vast majority of families aren’t doing exactly this. Yes they get a letter saying “unauthorised absence” but I can guarantee the school don’t actually care, especially at primary level (I say this as a teacher who had 13 out of 27 children on the last 2 days of term before Christmas..)

I would be more worried that teachers are leaving the professional constantly due to poor pay and even worse conditions. If your daughter still has her current set of teachers by the end of year 11 you will be very lucky.

From what I read on BBC News this evening, it looks like there'll be 4 strike days in total: 3 national strike days (1st Feb, 15th and 16th March), and then a regional strike day.

The BBC said 7 in total, 3 national and the rest regional. I think, unfortunately, strike action does need to be disruptive to get people to rethink voting in this bloody government (on both sides of the border). I hate the disruption but can’t blame teachers, like my own profession education is a bit of a mess and somethings got to give.

Not all teachers are in the NEU-NASWT and NAHT are not striking. NEU say there will be several days of strikes but each school will only get affected for a max of 4 days. Not all NEU teachers will strive-they only had just over 50% returns (I think it was 53%) and 9/10 of them voted to strike so potentially 25-30% of NEI teachers. I agree with PP-suggest they revise.

I'm more concerned that staff retention in schools is low so children face inconsistency.

It's going to be a right ball ache on strike days but I still support the staff who are striking.

I can understand why you're worried. I think parents have seen their kids go thru so much with covid, often missing out on so much, and now this is on the horizon. I think it's natural to feel a bit worried.
I don't think missing a day or two will make much difference to their gcses but neither will a day or two of striking make much difference in terms of negotiating a better settlement so a lot of people assume it will end up being more than a couple of days.
And it might add to kids' stress. They see the numerous rail strikes for example and start thinking 'oh blimey'.

I think the regional days are on different days though @Jellycatspyjamas unless I’ve misunderstood.

Fgs. presumably your 16 year olds have established what exam board they are with, and downloaded the curriculum two years ago? Along with all the past papers? And have been working through it under their own steam? 16 year old people shouldn't be relying on what they get from school. It's their responsibility to get as good exam grades as possible, not their teachers surely.

A couple of strike days tie whole class is on pause, it’s much less than a couple of days off sick when they miss content. But a GCSE course is about 380 days of teaching. 3 or ; days is nothing. Did you complain about the extra bank holidays last year or this?

Unfortunately and I’m just being honest here while theoretically if your union strikes you should also strike I’m not sure it will actually translate to many teachers at all.

I’m not worried, more annoyed that I’m left with the headache of finding childcare for strike days.

I think the regional days are on different days though @Jellycatspyjamas unless I’ve misunderstood.

Nope, I think it’s me 😁

I doubt the schools will close @Hintofreality

Too right, not even school leaders....New attendance guidance is being put in place by the DfE - we have to follow it @Forever42 www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance

Same here.
I left teaching when I had my first child six years ago.
I just couldn’t imagine being able to balance being a parent with the expectations of teaching staff.
All the planning, marking, data, answering emails at 10pm, never being able to book a day off…
I was lucky that my husband was able to employ me in the business we own.
I think work/ parenting responsibilities balance is a mess in this country.

Closed shop was abolished in the Thatcher years.

Have those children even crossed your mind since the last time their cause was bandied about during the Covid Lockdowns?