Teachers given lie-ins and extra days off

[LaughingPig]

The Guardian is reporting today that state schools are offering perks in an attempt to attract and retain teachers. These include lie-ins, whereby teachers will start later one day a week, a day off each fortnight and even the chance to work from home.

Clearly there is an issue with getting enough high-quality teachers into the profession and keeping them there. However, I’m not sure how these initiatives will go down with taxpayers on the back of successive teachers’ strikes, schools closing for months during lockdown and now inflation-busting pay rises.

Would you be happy with your DC’s teacher arriving to school late after a relaxing lie-in or logging on from home?

YABU- teachers deserve lie-ins
YANBU- teachers should be in class teaching DC

Link

How about let's stop attacking people for their jobs.

@Hoysin

There is resistance from much of the political left and others to exclusions. However, in my view, the interests of the majority of DC and teachers have to be put first and DC who won’t behave need to be shown the door.

The teachers wouldn't be "arriving late". They would be arriving at the agreed time.

It's just flexible working isn't it really. Lots of people compress their hours or are able to start at different times so I don't see the issue from the taxpayer perspective.
However, I'm not sure how they will get it to work on a practical basis.

Where are you going to get the staff for the PRUs?

Sound perfectly reasonable to me. We don’t need to make work miserable and have presenteeism when the work can be done flexibly and there is an element of teachers roles that can be done that way. We expect them to run clubs/do trips/parents evenings. Why shouldn’t their school flex back for them as well.

However, what we don’t want is for teachers to lose the public respect they have by coming across as shirkers.

Teachers have zero public respect, because unfortunately there are too many people with ignorant views like yours. So, frankly, we may as well take any perks thrown our way.

What you seem to be ignoring is the huge teacher recruitment and retention crisis. It doesn't matter if you think teachers have a cushy life and good pay. Teachers don't think that, and so they will continue to leave (and trainees will fail to materialise, or to stay the course) until conditions and/or pay are radically improved. Are you ok with kids not having teachers?

“I am concerned that hard working people may not take kindly to seeing staff in bed on weekday mornings.”

Going off the results of your AIBU, most of us don’t have a problem with it.

(Edit: typo)

@LaughingPig It's all in the language.

Would I be happy for a teacher to have a late start one day a week?
Yes, I would. Particular considering that teachers can very rarely, if ever, attend their own children's assemblies or drop them off at school.

Would I be happy for a teacher to do their non contact hours from home?
Yes I would. Why wouldn't I?

And sent where? Everyone is entitled to an education.

The system at the moment simply doesn’t have the capacity to properly support the most needing children. Budgets are so tight schools are struggling to do the basics and needs of students are increasing. Local authorities aren’t properly supporting schools. Specialist provisions are bursting at the seams and can’t take children who desperately need it.

it’s nowhere near as simple as just “showing them the door”

Dont be so ridiculous, i expect many teachers would use the late start to take their kids to school themselves once a week. Or do the shopping, clean the house, shag their husband - who cares? ,

Are you for real...

Vast majority of people have a peep round Facebook profiles at the most, not actually genuinely stalk teachers and check whether their bedroom curtains are open.

Indeed, most parent's don't know exactly where the teachers of their kid/s live thank God.

I'm just wondering why @ATenShun and @LaughingPig don't retrain to become teachers?

After all, apparently, you'd get 13 weeks paid holiday a year, starting work at 8.45am and leaving at 3.30pm every day and an hour's lunch. Plus all these potential lie ins and extra time off.

If I knew there was a profession that is crying out for workers, getting all that with just a few extra qualifications under my belt I'd be biting their hand off.

All of that is an HR person's dream - people would be queuing around the block surely just to get an application in.

So if it's so good, so easy, such wonderful amounts of time off etc., why aren't people applying to join the profession. Are they martyrs, tied to the 9 - 5 job with just six weeks holiday if they're lucky whilst moaning about teachers having all the perks for very little 'value'?

Because I can't think of any other reason why intelligent, well educated adults would turn down the opportunity to apply for well paid, huge holiday entitlement, 'easy' money teaching jobs that they can just swan around in.

Can you...?

Oh yes op, the main tone of your posts is definitely concern for teachers. 🙄

LAUGHINGPIG
please could you confirm what you and your husband do for a living?

Maybe all teachers need to leave their blinds closed tomorrow just to piss off the OP.

Or maybe stop the nosey OP glaring in the teachers' windows. Sounds like she follows these teachers around and is pressing her nose against their glass to see what they are doing. I don't blame teachers near the OPs house for keeping blinds shut with a nosey so and so watching their every move outside of school.

I don't know where any of our teachers live. I could find out easily as we live in a large village, so people will know, but why would I? I don't care about bedroom curtains being open or shut. I sometimes leave ours closed on busy mornings, or very sunny days. We all know teachers work for their wage. Why do you dislike teachers?

Ppa time should be offered at home. But ultimately more money needs putting into schools to make things easier on staff. Not adding high needs children into mainstream schools for a start would help.

OP you seem strangely obsessed with these fictional teachers having a lie in with the curtains closed? You’ve mentioned it in several posts. Are you ok?
We usually try to live far enough away that parents can’t walk past to be honest. Safer.

It's not a popular thing to say, but unfortunately one of the reasons the teaching profession is in such a state is because of the attitude and behaviour of pupils. It is the exception almost nowadays for a child to sit attentively, listen at appropriate times and to just do as they are told. Parents don't seem to value or teach their children these values and sadly the consequences of this just seem to be a breakdown of the education system.

I mean, it was a joke which is why it was funny (I laughed anyway). But I’ve had a similar debate before on Mumsnet and all the teachers (who found time out of their vigorous marking schedules to @ me for a few hours) went crackers. There weren’t many non teachers who disagreed with my opinion of “if you don’t want crap hours, don’t become a teacher”.

I'm a teacher and took a 20% pay cut to make my job more manageable.

Teaching in a secondary school is exhausting, and unless you've ever worked as a teacher, you will find it very hard to understand.

Most schools are struggling to recruit and have huge staff shortages. People don't want to teach, so it's not a surprise that schools are trying to offer other "perks".

But I don't want a lie in. What would make my job better is:

• pupils who know how to behave, value their education, and are respectful of teachers, other people, and property.
• parents who take responsibility for the behaviour of their children and support the school.

It is this small percentage of children that make schools into such a tough place to work. This small percentage take up so much of our time and resources.

Last year a 14 year old put a 15 year old in a headlock and beat him until blood came out of his ear. I was in reception when the 14 year old's dad arrived to take him home. The first thing the dad asked was "who got the first punch in?" to which the boy said he did. "Good on you son!" was the dad's response.

Today I confiscated a 14 year old's phone as he was using it in the lesson (that's the school rules). I refused to hand it back and said he could collect it at the end of the day as per the school policy. He called me a fcking cnt.

The government would be better off having some sort of borstal-style boarding schools for these pupils. Teach them discipline, self respect, and give them something to aspire to. Something they clearly don't get from their parents!

I genuinely do not give a shit about other people having a lie in once a week. I haven't had a lie in past 6am in 5 years and I only work 4 days a week. Children will do that to you.