To miss my teacher holidays

[Backinthedayeh]

Sort of inspired by a thread I’ve just read (that rhymes 😂)
I taught in a school for many many years and had around 9/10 blissful weeks off in the summer…fully paid! It was pure heaven.
I now have a different job working year round, normal hours and it’s so hard to adapt and be working full days in sweltering heat (live abroad) when it’s almost ingrained in me that summer is for messing about and no responsibilities..
Anyway…sigh

@Mayhem3 Finished end of June, back in September-first or second week usually.

It was my whole life, I have a child now and don’t want my job to be my whole life now, I want to dedicate my time and thoughts to her. I was too absorbed in it all, as much as I loved lots of it, I’m not cut out to be a parent and teach full time personally

Handing in your notice in May means you leave at the end of July and get paid until the end of August. Not that you leave in May and get paid for doing nothing.until September.

Is that in a private school?

And yes that’s why I’ve chosen to leave as I find juggling my DD and teaching too much to deal with.

@Mayhem3 Yes.

Exactly, I haven’t even attempted it with my Dd, I dedicated so much time and so much of myself to it, maybe if I hadn’t had her, but not now, stresses me out thinking about it!

Oh I do love to see the “holidays aren’t paid” line. Technically, no.
But show me a teacher thread on here EVER where a teacher on £18K says they’re on £21K pro rata (easy numbers for illustration)
FWIW I think teachers are vastly undervalued and underpaid, and I don’t think the holidays do make up for that. But I’ve not time for the “holidays aren’t paid” technicality. You take a job with an annualised salary, and no-one ever expresses it pro rata and risk the underpaid narrative - even though they are definitely underpaid at most levels.

When I left teaching I moved to a job with TOIL and 32 days annual leave plus bank holidays.

I didn't miss the school holidays at all.

Ah fair play @saraclara. That's what happens when I don't read the OP properly!

Exactly what Testina say. I don’t know why teachers use this argument. All it says is their rate of pay is even higher than we think it is. It doesn’t help their cause!

Obviously.

I am sure you miss the long holidays but you have forgotten how tired you were at the beginning of each holiday and how much preparation you had to do during the school holidays. You also seem to have forgotten how much work you had to do in the evenings and at weekends. Teachers with their own children spend a lot of the school holidays fitting in dentists, hairdressers, buying school shoes etc. And as a teacher you can’t take a day off because your washing machine needs repairing or to go to a wedding.

Exactly! Show me a single job advert where it says they are paid pro-rata. Of course they are paid for holidays to all intents and purposes.

Without the holidays I'd be gone. Without a shadow of a doubt. And I love teaching.

"Teachers with their own children spend a lot of the school holidays fitting in dentists, hairdressers, buying school shoes etc."

Everyone else with children needs to do this stuff too? Either at the weekend (teachers have weekends too) or using a holiday day (which add up to far fewer days than school holidays).
I do actually think teachers are underpaid/overworked but bringing up this sort of thing does make me understand the other viewpoint!

My point about handing in your notice was in fact teachers surely do get paid for the holidays.

When you work your notice in most jobs you get whatever holiday you are owed in your final pay. So if teachers aren’t paid for the holidays and they’ve had three half terms, 2 weeks at Christmas and Easter why are they getting the 6 weeks holiday pay in their final pay? It must be considered paid leave for the year ( September to end August) otherwise why would they get it?

Career change recently...this is my first summer in about 15 years without school holidays.
I'm sad about it, but at least the weather is shit.
Will feel very much better when I can book cheap term-time hols though!

100% I wouldn't be a teacher if we only got 5 weeks like other professions.

Understandable that OP misses 9/10 weeks fully paid summer holiday, because that's far better than we get in this country/the public sector. We get 5/6 weeks pro rata, rather than paid.

Rose-tinted specs, did you not spend all your holidays working?! 😜

This is the bit that most folk don’t appreciate! I’m not a teacher but have friends who are or have been.

I think teaching has to have one of the worst work/life balances ever-yeah ok, 6 weeks in the summer as opposed to my 6 weeks for the whole year, but teachers are usually totally burn out by the time that comes around!

I toyed with going into teaching a couple of years ago but what put me off was the totally inability to have leave outwith school holiday times-for me that was the best part of my kids growing up-having that freedom again!

I think Teaching is undervalued massively. A long summer break is nice ,but months and weeks all year round of settling and marking work,dealing with parents,behaviour issues,and ever changing rules from different governments mean that is badly needed!

This! It makes me laugh everytime.

How is it different from any other job. Say £30k plus 25 days holiday. If I didn’t get 25 days holiday I’d get paid more. But no one expresses it like that because the holidays are compulsory to take.

Was going to say this too.

It may not be goady but I can see why it comes across this way.
I'm an ex teacher and DH is a HT (primary) His school has been closed for 6 working days and both of us have been in 3 full days helping sort out, fill skips, clean and set up new areas etc, and woll be in several mire days. On Thursday there were 8 teachers and some TAsin school sorting out other areas in school that were not their classroom, they will have more days in to do this. Often with their kids in tow
Yes they do get time off . The other days we've done 'house stuff' that gets left behind during term time although we have it easier now I'm home based. When I look back on us both teaching I realise our eldest DS was left to get on so much due to our jobs. Thankfully he was a laid back kid and was happy to muck in at school?
Also 'cost of holidays' I'd most definitely take term time holidays if we could!

@Mushroo but your holidays are paid, so if you didn’t have 25 days holiday but say 20 you would still get paid the same.

For those saying how many jobs get quoted pro rata, TAs are an example as they don’t get paid for school holidays just the standard holiday entitlement , so pay maybe quoted as £25k but they will get £21k after holidays taken off and also will be treated as part-time even if work Mon-Fri am and pm as the school day is not deemed to be a full day, so a full time TA can be deemed to be 0.75 full time equivalent.

I am not a teacher basher but am slightly concerned by some teachers’ reading skills here as the OP clearly states she is abroad so teacher’s T&Cs and length of holidays may differ to UK.

How is this thread goady? The holidays and the pension are two key perks of being a teacher. They don't necessarily outweigh the downsides, but that's another conversation.

But a teacher who applies for a job that pays £30k will get £30k plus teacher holidays.

The same as if I look at two jobs:
One pays £28k plus 25 days holiday. (I get £28k)
One pays £25k but gives 30 days holiday (I get £25k).

If a job offers those holidays as standard you have to take them - there’s no choice not too and get paid more.

You could argue the second job ‘isn’t paid’ for the extra holidays, but it’s just the package on holiday.

The fact teachers holidays are ‘unpaid’ makes no practical difference - they apply for a £30k job and get a £30k job. A teacher contract for normal holidays and more pay doesn’t exist!

Any not to derail the thread, and I wholly support teachers and think they are underpaid and overworked, but the holiday argument just doesn’t make sense.