Longer school days to make up for lost learning

[StitchInLime]

Source: Various newspapers, give it a Google (admittedly with a right wing lean)

Apparently one of the options being considered, nothing set in stone of course but for the purposes of discussion...

AIBU to feel both joy and sadness at the prospect of this (joy for me so I can claw back work hours, joy for children so they can claw back some school time but sadness for my teacher friends and all teachers who will need to add more hours to already heavy workload).

[quote Nicknamegoeshere]@yomommasmomma £115k?!!!!!!!!!! Do you know how long it would take the average teacher to earn that?!! [/quote]
Answer is never!

@ChloeDecker

*get paid £115k per annum

Fucking hell! Thank you for being honest about your wage but it is outrageous that you think someone on £26k odd should be doing the same if not more hours that you are on £115k.

I am actually genuinely shocked by that!

Salary calculations are not all about hours worked though to go off on a tangent.

@ChloeDecker

*get paid £115k per annum

Fucking hell! Thank you for being honest about your wage but it is outrageous that you think someone on £26k odd should be doing the same if not more hours that you are on £115k.

I am actually genuinely shocked by that!

I realise there is a big wage discrepancy, which I think should be corrected. But I just don't see why teachers can't do a bit more on top of all the amazing things they currently do, as long as they are paid for it. I also so think there is something in the fact that teaching is a vocational job. Surely teachers went in to it to help children and because they love doing so, so I would think there would be more appetite to push themselves a bit more to support the children further. I do my job because it is very challenging and because they pay me well for it, it's not a vocation.

Seldom - you say that but it did happen here! And I suspect will if they go back (we decided we would refuse this time)

yomommasmomma your working hours are similar to a teacher. But I think you get 4x the salary. Clearly I went into the wrong career!

Do you want your children doing lots of extra school work in the summer hols? Surely it's better for them to relax and enjoy being children. They shouldn't bear the burden of lockdown by having to give up school hols.

@ChloeDecker

*get paid £115k per annum

Fucking hell! Thank you for being honest about your wage but it is outrageous that you think someone on £26k odd should be doing the same if not more hours that you are on £115k.

I am actually genuinely shocked by that!

I am shocked too.

I nearly posted the salary of a classroom teacher on a previous page - from £25k-£35k - but felt that,as this is a perfectly decent wage for many, it was wrong to make this about pay.

However, to be lectured on doing even further over and above 'as a vocation' by someone who earns 3-4x a teacher's salary is SO outrageous that I am genuinely appalled.

OK, let's have a deal - you arrange for me to be paid your salary, and i will do the hours you ask?. As I already DO the hours you are suggesting, as a completely normal part of my day to day work, and have done since I became a teacher, you owe me a LOT of back pay.

I would return to school teaching if I was paid 115k instead of 30k.....

Very very different life funded on those salaries. I'm amazed that on 115k you aren't aware of that! If you are thinking the gov could pay teachers 115k yes then I'm sure lots will for a while. However as so many leave the profession burnt out it wouldn't be sustainable.

@Watchingbehindmyhands

whoever you are in a bubble with if you are single parent) to take the kids stuff off your plate and work more hours to get it done. Why can't you do this on a temporary basis to help the children to get back on track. Teaching is a vocation surely?

Erm....I am a single parent and my bubble partner is a single friend without children. My children are not her problem. We bubble for each other's company, not because she wants to look after my children whilst I work. What you are suggesting is that my children end up in childcare for even more hours that I have to pay for whilst I work and catch up your children which I won't be paid for.

Why don't you get your child back on track? Why is it the teacher's job? I've been working full time since March with a full online timetable, marking, preparation and work in school as well. I have also had to adjust everything I do with my exam classes to make sure they complete everything they need for the exams they're not going to sit. If your child isn't 'on track' then there really isn't much more I can do, is there? Or should I spend hour after hour with your little cherub whilst mine sit at home alone.

As for vocation. No. It's a job. A job I do to the best of my ability, often to the detriment of my own children, to be paid at the end of every month. Much like everyone else. The holidays are a bonus.

My children are on track but they need more time at school, they have missed so much. Other children where they have a difficult family life and little or no input form parents in to homeschooling desperately need more time in school. Teachers are the only ones who can provide that.

Aside from the teachers not wanting to or being able to work longer hours than they already are, for younger children this just wouldn't work. Secondary maybe I guess. But small children are already exhausted by a whole day in school, particularly YR and KS1. There is no way they could be expected to do more, even if they had someone there to do it.

Impractical idea all round.

I do my job because it is very challenging and because they pay me well for it, it's not a vocation.

I do my job because I am extremely good at it, it is very challenging and also worthwhile. I don't see why that should mean I have to not only be paid 4x less than someone who does a less worthwhile job, but ALSO be lectured on why I should do more?

@converseandjeans

yomommasmomma your working hours are similar to a teacher. But I think you get 4x the salary. Clearly I went into the wrong career!

Do you want your children doing lots of extra school work in the summer hols? Surely it's better for them to relax and enjoy being children. They shouldn't bear the burden of lockdown by having to give up school hols.

My children are desperate to be back in school, with their friends and teachers, they love their school. So they would be very happy to spend a portion of their summer holidays doing that, yes.

I'd do it for 115k!

Teachers are the only ones who can provide that.

And you do know that teachers already provide that? I know your children are still very young but you will soon realise that teachers already do exactly what you are stating here. Already unpaid. At lunch breaks, after school and in the holidays.
Already.
To ask more of them is unreasonable without the government sorting out the chronic underfunding and meddling that is driving education into the ground

I get paid £115k per annum, which I know is a lot more than teachers and that's why I think they should be paid more. I do think that teachers are capable of working longer hours to cover a temporary national crisis

I’m a teacher, I get paid less than 30K a year.

I’m really sorry but I’m at my limit. Even if I was paid more for overtime. I just don’t have it in my right now.
I’m running on empty, I’ve spent most of today planning for Monday and my own kids need me.

I had a much better paid career before I was a teacher. Earned more than double what I do now (and I'm at the top of the teaching payscale). I enjoy this one more, but it's still just a job. I already work between 55 and 60 hours a week, I'm not putting in any more to provide childcare for exhausted children at the end of the day. No one who works in a school would consider this a sensible suggestion because they know who tired children are even after lunch.

Okay. I can push little Jonny more after school if it's my civic duty.
One version of little Jonny is behind because he's a desktop truant in school so he won't turn up. If he does, he'll either do nothing or disrupt everyone else.
One version of little Jonny is behind in the sense that's he's going to get a grade 3. That's actually a good achievement for him and more lessons won't help him get the magic 5. He'll come because he's a good lad.
Little Bobby is not behind and doesn't get invited so now he's really stressed and anxious.

None of these kids actually need mandatory after school/weekend/holiday catch up. But it suits the narrative.

We actually scrapped weekend/holiday revision a number of years ago. Did the results suffer? No.

@storminabuttercup

Not being goady here but every time the subject of teachers working extra hours comes up it's met with 'already working full time'. I totally get teachers don't work 9-3 there's marking etc, but we are not in normal times, when something needs doing in my job I work extra as do most I assume, doctors, nurses etc are all working crazy shifts. Why are some school staff so reluctant to do that bit extra? I'm not saying do it for free but I know a few who would happily work more to catch kids up.

Not being goady here but ... here's the most goady suggestion I could come up with.

Do try harder storm - you haven't goaded me at all - you've actually given me a bloody good laugh!

But I just don't see why teachers can't do a bit more on top of all the amazing things they currently do, as long as they are paid for it

Are you missing the point that for some teachers there are no more hours?

I'd consider doing it for the hourly rate that equates to £115k...but i dont believe it is in the best interests of the children that i teach, either for me to work more hours or for them to be in the classroom for more hours.

So I will pass on that, and would want the money to go to the army of talented out-of-school providers - sport, dance, art, etc - to pay them a good wage to run free, high quality extra-curricular provision in a Covid -secure way, as an extension to the school day but as a wholly separate organisation.

My children are on track but they need more time at school, they have missed so much. Other children where they have a difficult family life and little or no input form parents in to homeschooling desperately need more time in school. Teachers are the only ones who can provide that.

I'll do it for a part of the summer holidays if I'm paid my normal salary for the extra weeks worked. But I'll show my arse in the co op if that's actually what they're recommending. Teachers without kids already tutor during this time and have been doing so for years. If your child is behind maybe look into paying for this.

@yomommasmomma On your salary have you considered a private tutor?

But I just don't see why teachers can't do a bit more on top of all the amazing things they currently do, as long as they are paid for it.

Right, because of course the Government are going to fund the extra wages needed to cover not just teachers but all the staff who will have to stay behind to keep the premises open. The Government who gave teachers a pay rise but then told schools it had to come out of existing budgets, meaning heads have either had to cut staff or cut resources to cover the increase.

@yomommasmomma

I realise there is a big wage discrepancy, which I think should be corrected.
Well, that is easily remedied. Just donate 50% to your local school. Will you? No. Of course not.

But I just don't see why teachers can't do a bit more on top of all the amazing things they currently do, platitude as long as they are paid for it. and the punch in the face.

I also so think there is something in the fact that teaching is a vocational job. another platitude. Surely teachers went in to it to help children and because they love doing so, the build up to a guilt trip so I would think there would be more appetite to push themselves a bit more to support the children further. and there it is. Another punch in the face.

I do my job because it is very challenging and because they pay me well for it, it's not a vocation. followed by an attempt at distracting from what has just been said with false humility.

@yomommasmomma - Why not explain to the rest of us why you feel so entitled and expect other people to parent your children for you? Educating your children is YOUR responsibility. You knew this when they were born. You don't get to shirk your responsibilities as a parent by earning more than others and trying to justify your entitled behaviour with platitudes.

[quote Nicknamegoeshere]@yomommasmomma On your salary have you considered a private tutor?[/quote]
Why when they gen get people to do it for free?

Do I love my job? Of course!
Do I work hard at my job? Yes!
Do I see it as a vocation? Fuck no!