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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think 10/11 year olds should be given an actual book?

234 replies

DinDjarin · 26/01/2023 21:01

DD(10)'s homework this week is to read up to page 10 in the book they are reading in class. The teacher has scanned (badly, so there's an inch or two of black around the wonky page) every single page of the book and uploaded it as a pdf on google drive. DD says they don't have a copy of the book in class.

I think they should be reading from a book at this age.

YABU - this is fine
YANBU - they should be given a copy of the book

PS is it even legal to scan and distribute a book like that?

OP posts:
Mum1976Mum · 27/01/2023 07:10

The last teacher’s pay rise (as small as it was) had to come from school budgets. This is what teachers are striking for. If parents knew how bad state schools were at the moment they would be joining teachers in the picket line! I’m a long-time teacher and I would never send my child to a state school in the UK. I work all the hours god sends to afford private school. The government care not one joy for your child’s education!

MrWhippersnapper · 27/01/2023 07:11

And people question why we’re striking, ffs

Welpthereitis · 27/01/2023 07:12

When my dd was at primary school they would send out a list of books at the beginning of the school year they were reading so we could either buy or get from the library, I would look at carboots and charity shops if I found more than one copy 9time out of 10 I did I would send extra copy in in don’t think I ever paid more than 50p for a book, by the time my youngest left they had a really good library in the school. Not just from me but they also had dress up days to donate books to the library I remember one parent had came in with about 6 bags of books

Coffeecreme · 27/01/2023 07:13

arent you striking for more pay?
or are you striking for more money for books?

MrWhippersnapper · 27/01/2023 07:14

Coffeecreme · 27/01/2023 07:13

arent you striking for more pay?
or are you striking for more money for books?

Budgets have been slashed to the bone, we’re not just striking for purely selfish reasons. Our school joined a trust where the CEO pays himself £200k, I buy my own glue sticks. That’s why

PetitPorpoise · 27/01/2023 07:18

Coffeecreme · 27/01/2023 07:13

arent you striking for more pay?
or are you striking for more money for books?

The last pay rises for teachers were taken from school budgets. The govt crowed about pay rises but didn't actually give schools any more money for them, leaving the budget v stretched.

Teachers are asking for a fully funded pay rise.

toomuchlaundry · 27/01/2023 07:26

Teachers can only strike in respect of pay.

Many schools used to use a library service which could provide a class set of reading books and topic books. In a small one form entry school this could cost in the region of £4k per year. In some schools this also helped with space, because even if they had the budget they had no space for these books.

Budgets have now been slashed so no longer can afford this service.

Forever42 · 27/01/2023 07:26

Strikes are about funded pay rises as PP said. However, as legally pay is the only thing we are officially allowed to strike about, many teachers are also hoping that strikes will show general discontent over the state of education in general (which we are not allowed to strike about).

If we could strike purely about the fact that the government has slashed school budgets then we would have been striking years ago.

Nimbostratus100 · 27/01/2023 07:26

if the teacher was in a position to provide books, they would provide books. I know you keep arguing that they are, but clearly they are not, or they would do so. Do you think teachers want to spend all that time scanning?

Abraxan · 27/01/2023 07:32

Can you really not thing of any reasons why schools need to resort to photocopying books for children to read?

Funding and budgets are a huge issue in schools.

Previous books often don't come back or get damaged, so chances are they no longer have full sets left.

If you want it not on screen, you could print it out. Would this be better for your child?

We try to avoid printing everything at school. Some people are happy with electronic versions and those that aren't either print it themselves or ask school for a hard copy - so school print it. We don't automatically print 30 of everything as it gets expensive and often paper just gets left lying in classrooms going to waste too.

SkankingWombat · 27/01/2023 07:32

The responses here are weird. Why they are being rude to OP rather than joining her to express how outrageous and ridiculous this is, I don't know! Yes, we all know school budgets are threadbare. It isn't the schools' fault, but it isn't acceptable either (both the budget and the scanned pages). Where's the shared anger?

OP, no it isn't OK. Many people would struggle to read in that format and with such poor quality images, let alone DCs who are still learning to read. It strips all the pleasure out of it too. Unfortunately, all you can do about it is campaign to have budgets increased and cast your vote with that in mind. Write to your MP. Join the PTA to help fundraise for these 'luxury' (ha!) items in the interim. Point out how crap it is to other parents who, like many on this thread, seem to just have accepted 'that's the way it is now'. And ultimately, buy a copy of the book yourself, because none of the above will happen quickly enough to help your DC.
The only fault I would hang on the school here, is not telling you in advance which books were going to be used so you could provide your child with a copy if you preferred. I would email and request a list of the planned class books for the rest of the year, so you can buy copies in readiness.

toomuchlaundry · 27/01/2023 07:34

@DinDjarin is it possible they used the library service, a few of us have described, in previous years but can no longer afford it.

I remember a teacher telling me the despair they felt when their library service was stopped and the last set of books were collected and she was just left with empty book shelves never to be filled again 😔 Teachers on here have been telling people how dire it is in schools but so few people listen.

That teacher will not have scanned that book for shits and giggles (probably buying a copy themselves)

Abraxan · 27/01/2023 07:34

We pay to belong to a school library service and can request books. But we can't get full class sets of the same book.

turnipash · 27/01/2023 07:35

I remember at primary school buying the book myself
. Back in the 80s

timetorefresh · 27/01/2023 07:35

Coffeecreme · 27/01/2023 07:13

arent you striking for more pay?
or are you striking for more money for books?

There's only certain things people are allowed to strike over. Pay is one of them. That the government are incompetent and are underfunding the future of our children is not

turnipash · 27/01/2023 07:36

I wonder how long it takes ti scan a whole book and print out 30
Copies

Poor teacher (or TA)

LookingOldTheseDays · 27/01/2023 07:38

Ibouncetothebeat · 26/01/2023 21:05

Another reason why you should support the teacher strikes. There’s no money

Agreed.

toomuchlaundry · 27/01/2023 07:38

@turnipash they haven’t printed a copy (another thing schools can’t afford to do)

Showersugar · 27/01/2023 07:40

I have tears in my eyes reading this thread, I don't have children so hadn't realised how dire things had gotten in our schools. No books, no library subscription, wow. Just wow.

Thank you for starting this important conversation OP.

Striking teachers had my full support anyway but even more so now.

Coffeecreme · 27/01/2023 07:41

my dc have long left school but when they were at school the school started limiting paper, so no more physical letters to parents,
sent instead by email
good for some, but not all parents

WhatHappenedToYoyos · 27/01/2023 07:45

@DinDjarin we use Google Classroom and there are loads of add ons like Mote, Screencastify and Loom that all allow you to record you reading the chapter and add that to the homework. I agree something poorly scanned isn't great when zoomed in but if you have a proper PDF copy or scan it to enlarge A3 which is possible (I've done it a lot) then it's much more accessible for pupils with dyslexia or visual impairments for example.

TeenDivided · 27/01/2023 07:47

What is slightly depressing is people just taking it as fact that if a school did buy books they would be lost / damaged / defaced.
Why not buy books, put a sticker in them saying which child is responsible for them this year (with spaces for 10 future years), and charge parents if their child fails to return the book at the end?
There is something in the 'if it's free people don't value it' saying. A set of books surely should last 7 years, which in theory could mean only replacing books for the equivalent of one year group each year.

PJsAndCosySocks · 27/01/2023 07:48

We have no money for whole class texts. It's so important for me that my class have a physical copy that I usually scour cheap(er) 2nd hand online bookshops and buy them with my own money. This can sometimes come in at £50 of my own money for each set. We read 6 set texts in my class each year and we read other texts for guided reading which I have also funded. It's demoralising. Don't be angry at the teacher, who sounds like they're doing their best to get around the problem creatively, be mad at the system. Rage at a government who think your children are easy collateral damage. Support the strikes because the budgets are crap and it's your children who suffer through lack of resources.

Arniesleftleg · 27/01/2023 07:50

Whilst I agree with you that the kids should be reading from a book, I have to agree with others commenting that schools have very limited budgets, especially right now. They're not even covering the costs of lunches that are paid for, that's how bad a situation they're in. In the 80's we all had a copy of the book but they were very dog eared and had probably been used for a thousand other pupils before hand.

erehj · 27/01/2023 07:54

Are they reading the same book as last year? Or is it a different book?

I'd assume that the scanning would be because they don't have copies of the book, as it would take a lot of time to do the scanning. So you'd only do it if you had to. Have you asked the teacher why they are scanning it?

Presumably the school can't afford to buy the books. I would buy one for my DC if I could afford it.

There may be a reason why they can't read the same book as last year. There may be a theme which is sensitive for a child in the class, or it may not be suitable for the level they are working at, or for some other reason.

Complain to the government about lack of school funding.