Wow just wow. AIBU to think MH is a complete tw*t

[Moonshine86]

Words fail me

The teaching of the year 11 whose exams had been cancelled in yet first lockdown?

Yes some teachers were fantastic and went beyond, some met expectations which was great but there were some who were absolutely appalling.

Like I said, it's all very well expecting great teachers, but education has been severely underfunded for over a decade and the system is crumbling.

Some kids currently don't have any teacher.

Similarly it’s generally the ones you'd expect that claim to be suffering from 'long Covid'. Its not generally your small business owner and such like.

id agree with this.

I agree there has been underfunding but there are teachers who really are dreadful, and the lockdown gave them an opportunity to do as little as possible. The problem is they have continued to do as little as possible and for the exam years the grading over the past two years has meant there has been limited accountability.

Past 2 years?

My GCSE and A level kids definitely took exams last summer 🙄

The problem is they have continued to do as little as possible and for the exam years the grading over the past two years has meant there has been limited accountability.
Nonsense. I have marked GCSEs as normal except for the single summer series in which they were cancelled.

Why is twelly refusing to make the connection between severe underfunding and unsuitable teachers, instead trying to blame it all on lockdown?

Because it suits her "lazy teacher " narrative better, I suspect

I don't believe all teachers are lazy - but I do believe that some are and that lockdown created the conditions that gave the opportunity to do as little as possible. I believe that there are incompetent teachers and academies and other institutions that are so profit motivated the money is used for unnecessary management levels which take funds away from the classroom. I think there is pressure on teaching staff and those hard working teachers are overworked but don't feel that is across the board as other seek every opportunity to let the pupils and students down.

And do you believe that perhaps schools would be better able to hire competent teachers if there were an adequate supply of competent teachers (instead of a shortage of any type of teacher), so that there were competent teachers actually applying for jobs? And if a teacher were incompetent and 'doing very little', the school could get rid of them knowing that there was someone they could actually replace them with?

Why do you think we have such a shortage of people even wanting to be teachers?

I thought it was well known across the UK that teachers/unions will do or say absolutely anything to get out of work? Whether it be covid, snow or a strong gust of wind they will try close schools as quickly as possible.

@noblegiraffe
yes of course funding helps but funds need to be directed to where it is needed. Thousands and thousands of pounds spent by academies on more layers of management which does not focus upon the needs of the students.

So you’re suggesting that there is enough money but it is being badly spent? You know funding levels are lower than in 2010 right?

And those academy jobs used to be done by LEAs?

They plotted many years ago to build schools that would collapse rather than just have to close. Now their nefarious plan is coming to fruition.

www.constructionenquirer.com/2023/02/16/unions-warn-many-school-buildings-at-risk-of-collapse/

Nonsense

Utter fucking pricks, the pair of them. 😡 Makes me unbelievably mad, as a teacher who worked really bloody hard throughout the pandemic, putting myself & my own family's health at risk on a daily basis.

Thousands and thousands of pounds spent by academies on more layers of management which does not focus upon the needs of the students.
We are not an academy. We have unfilled vacancies with exam classes taught by non specialist supply because we can't find decent staff.

No, they are unbelievably clumsy in what they say and cause harm and division even when they don't mean to. I blame the public for not having a memory or checking what the people they vote for have themselves voted for - damaging policies etc. It is all a matter of public record and since the internet, easier to check than ever.

The whole union paymaster thing is pathetic. Unions are only the working people that they are made up of.

But I suppose if you repeat a lie often enough then those with no critical thinking skills or natural cynicism will believe them.

I take my hat off to teachers. There is not enough money in the galaxy that would make me be a teacher. Partner is in AP and they were open most of the time. When they weren't, they delivered work to their students as they are in a tiny unit max ratio 3/1. This enabled them to visually check that their often vulnerable students were alright and I think they talked to them through the window/closed door. They opened as soon as they could but not many of their students turned up due to family concerns about spread of coronavirus.

That is but a drop in the ocean. If you removed academies - that work would just shift back to local authorities as you need oversight of schools above the head teacher….

That is the issue - people don’t understand that it’s rare to have £billions wasted on management layers as that management needs to happen! It’s a painful lesson that is slowly being learned as local authorities fail because of austerity which led to massive staff cuts.

School funding per pupil is lower than it was in 2010. Which doesn’t seem that far away but it is and it’s disgusting! A good comparison is the level of funding per pupil in the private sector. While you may expect that funding to be higher, it should at least follow the same trend and it does not. It flat lines.

People can dodge and twist it all they like, but ultimately more money is needed. You cannot run schools on a shoe string.

I agree more funding is needed but it isn't just a case of money - its how its used. I don't agree that academies are better than LEAs, LEAs had an overview of the whole county, they could direct funding, academies are not like this. Some of the larger academies have focused on growing rather than the children in their care.

The academisation programme is driven by government ideology, and tbh by this point is irreversible. It’s not under teachers’ control, and government should be held accountable for its failings - not teachers and individual schools denied the funding they so desperately need because of a government’s policy failings.

It would be perfectly possible to direct additional funding to schools and teachers while closely monitoring (and if necessary changing) the performance of a MAT, including its financial dealings and management pay structure. What can’t be done is to continue to flatline / decrease funding per pupil in school and expect education and care to remain of high quality .

That’s stating the obvious. But the priority is funding.