Extending school term at end of July

[NeverForgetYourDreams]

That's not going to work. Another ridiculous idea. What about all those people that moved their cancelled holidays for 2020 by a year. Summer holidays may go ahead if vaccine roll out happens and who is going to cancel and lose their money - I'm not. Will be lots of absent children.

@Carlislemumof4

That’s fine, just don’t expect me to give a shit. The two weeks in the summer they’ll have posters or supply as I’m likely to be ill, and I won’t be planning anything for the upcoming year.

Fully expect me not to give a shit going forward.

This is a terrible idea. Perhaps on a case by case basis some children might need some extra help but it won't be a one size fits all. Has there ever been any mention of amending the curriculum, taking some bits out, instead of trying to cram everything into a smaller time frame or extending term?

@KnobJockey

I think it's a good idea. People have been saying for years that the long summer holidays don't work- kids forget too much, they're off for too long, holidays are extortionate, parents can't find childcare, Christmas isn't long enough. Well now is the perfect time to make the change- everything is already up in the air. Let local governments set their own terms with what works for them.

All those teachers saying well I won't be working overtime (which I know you already do) - I'm not in teaching, but I've been in several jobs where my working hours/ days/ weeks have been changed at a lot less notice than this, as well as where I have had to work unpaid overtime to ensure a job was done. I and the rest of the workers didn't get a say in it- the business needed to change to fit their needs, if we didn't like it we could leave. I don't understand why you're careers would be different from anyone elses in that regard to be honest, other than apparently teachers can shout a bit louder than everyone else.

But you can’t blame teachers for fighting for something just because you didn’t. I am proud of my profession for ‘shouting’ loudly rather than being pathetic doormats. I don’t understand the martyrs who accept poor conditions and see it as a badge of honour.

And of course teachers can leave their job if they don’t like conditions which are imposed on them. However, it is becoming very clear that teachers are incredibly important to society and if too many teachers leave, society will not cope and children will suffer as they will be in larger classes. The pandemic has highlighted that there are some jobs where no one would really notice if they are done or not ( although I know every job is economically important) but the fuss about closing schools, longer holidays and longer days shows teaching and teachers should be more valued than they are.

Hopefully any scheme will be optional for children and the government find enough workers from supply agencies, students and young teachers (and pay them a decent rate). I doubt many older teachers will be on board.

Why will children have only had three months of the year if we go back fully in March? The school year runs from august to July so they will have had the entire of the autumn term in school plus the entire of the summer term in school plus whatever is left of the spring term.

They also won't need months to settle back in. My experience has shown that they literally hit the ground running when we started fully in September.

Yeah, we were prepared to take it slow/ catch up etc. But within weeks, it was all guns blazing. I do feel that yr 7 were lacking in maturity (even for vyr7), but there was more disruption to learning by having huge swathes of year groups off and a constant snow- day vibe, with kids just waiting to see who would be off next. And staffing. Best bit of ld is not having to think up and set work every morning before starting your own job. Bliss.

It’s not necessarily about ‘fighting for something’, it all depends on your contract of employment ultimately. Many contracts have loads of flexibility clauses in, Your employer can’t make you do whatever they like though, they do have to stick to what is allowable by your contract!

KnobJockey was comparing professions and stating that teachers ‘shout a bit louder’ than everyone else in a way that suggested she found ‘not shouting’ her preferred solution whilst simultaneously suggesting that if her conditions were poor, everyone else’s should be too. That is what I find weird.

Contracts are flexible (‘at the headteacher’s discretion’) but you don’t have to accept their changes. We have a right to voice our opinion and a right to vote with our feet if we don’t like the changes.

[quote DBML]@Carlislemumof4

That’s fine, just don’t expect me to give a shit. The two weeks in the summer they’ll have posters or supply as I’m likely to be ill, and I won’t be planning anything for the upcoming year.

Fully expect me not to give a shit going forward.[/quote]
Don't expect me to be impressed if one of my DCs teachers were to decamp to Florida as you plan to do for the summer hols, then bring a new strain of Covid back to the classroom for September. After my children have had two lengthy periods out of school in the last year to 'keep their school community safe'. There's taking small risks to get back to some semblance of normality then there's that level of risk.

@Carlislemumof4 would you feel that way about your friends who aren’t teachers doing the same, or is it only if it affects your child?

I wouldn’t be opposed to doing extra in the summer if it wasn’t much. My partner works summer anyway (or some of it) so I wouldn’t be that bothered.

@sherrystrull

Why will children have only had three months of the year if we go back fully in March? The school year runs from august to July so they will have had the entire of the autumn term in school plus the entire of the summer term in school plus whatever is left of the spring term.

They also won't need months to settle back in. My experience has shown that they literally hit the ground running when we started fully in September.

March to March, only in school September through to mid December. Three months in a year.

I don't believe any teaching professional really thinks that isn't going to raise huge issues with mental health, school refusal, social isolation, struggling to engage in a classroom environment.

Don't expect me to be impressed if one of my DCs teachers were to decamp to Florida as you plan to do for the summer hols, then bring a new strain of Covid back to the classroom for September.

What about if it was your child’s classmate that did this? Or a friend? Or a neighbour?

If holidays abroad are allowed by the summer, then anyone can go, right? Or just not teachers?

@Carlislemumof4

I’m not expecting you to be impressed and neither do I care that you’re not.

FWIW, if my plane is leaving for Miami, I’ll be on it. I’ll be sure to say hello from the Keys.

Now, summer clubs with games and fun things like arts and crafts, little performances - sign me right up for that, I would LOVE to do that for a few weeks with my class!

@Carlislemumof4, Don't worry, we won't expect you to be impressed.

But if it is not safe for people to travel abroad this summer, then the Government must put a stop to it. If it's allowed, then it is not unreasonable for teachers to take advantage of the option in the same way that everyone else can.

[quote year5teacher]@Carlislemumof4 would you feel that way about your friends who aren’t teachers doing the same, or is it only if it affects your child?

I wouldn’t be opposed to doing extra in the summer if it wasn’t much. My partner works summer anyway (or some of it) so I wouldn’t be that bothered.[/quote]
I think the same about my own extended family. I love my parents, I love my siblings, but the risks they have been taking in terms of domestic and international travel including Portugal regularly over the last year are highly questionable. Big reason why we haven't seen them for a year. They live half an hour away in a village, we're in the city. Different community.

I'm not taking that sort of chain of contacts in to my DCs school. We kept our close contacts outside of school to zero to help ensure their return in September. Happy to continue that if they can just get back in March. Also happy to ignore what other people do as I did last summer, as long as school doesn't close again and businesses locally can reopen. Staying in lockdown to enable people's holidays as actually happened last summer was a joke. Not to be repeated it seems thankfully.

Its a good idea.

But they will need to not make it compulsory in the event that holiday bookings can go ahead.

They are going to need lots of creative thinking to try to support children going forward.

I am sure lots of peoples heads are exploding though.

Carlislemumof4

But you'll turn a blind eye to all your mum friends who are doing the same and then coming back into school. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[quote DBML]@Carlislemumof4

I’m not expecting you to be impressed and neither do I care that you’re not.

FWIW, if my plane is leaving for Miami, I’ll be on it. I’ll be sure to say hello from the Keys.[/quote]
You couldn't pay me to get on a plane at the current timeRisking getting stuck in the US? No thanks. Very happy at home as long as we're in work and education! The Lakes far more appealing to me than the Keys

@GintyMcGinty

Here’s a creative idea. If the government put some money into schools, halved the class sizes for a few years and paid for extra TAs, we would make a hundred times more progress than we could ever hope to make from 2 weeks of half-full schools in the summer with disgruntled teachers and exhausted children.

March to March, only in school September through to mid December. Three months in a year.
But in a normal year, there are two weeks for Easter holidays, one for June, one for October and one for February, plus two for Christmas and 6 for the summer. So that's 13 weeks/3 months off out of the year as normal. What's actually "lost" was about a week before last Easter and then one term, if no teaching was being offered.

I have delivered a full timetable of online lessons over the pandemic. All work is uploaded with exemplars. 90% of students have submitted all work to a good standard and some have even done extra. We are zipping through the specification.

Extending the school year will only widen the gap further in a lot of cases.

What about those families including teachers like me who have already booked summer holiday cottages for July?

In my school, which opened up to all year groups in June, the children came back in and it was as if they had never been away. They slipped right back into things straightaway, as they did in September.
Don't underestimate them.

@Carlislemumof4

Risk of getting stuck in Florida?! One can only hope
My home is in Florida. I miss my home dearly.

It’s a good thing I’m terrified of planes anyway 😂 @Carlislemumof4

That was a very reasonable reply by the way and I do agree with you, sorry if my response to your original comment was a bit snappy! @Carlislemumof4