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Extending school term at end of July

618 replies

NeverForgetYourDreams · 07/02/2021 16:21

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.

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borntobequiet · 09/02/2021 10:04

You didn't mishear, it has been confirmed that the minister 'misspoke'

From any member of this Government, “He/she misspoke” translates as “He/she forgot they were supposed to tell a lie”.

TheMoth · 09/02/2021 10:05

Or did he let it slip and now they've all gone into panic mode? None of them actually have a clue, then wonder why we're all so mistrustful.

DBML · 09/02/2021 10:25

@tootyfruitypickle

Surely it makes so much more sense to extend the school day, this has been a subject of discussion for ages as it makes it difficult to work, especially for single parents. Extending by an hour , at least at secondary and upper primary, seems a no brainer .
People never consider that teachers themselves don’t finish school at 3.15am, even if the kids do. Teachers have to plan and mark.

Granted, I often bring work home rather than stay much later in school, but I’ll still be in school between 7.30am and 4pm, which is a fairly long day. I work through my breaks and lunch to get work done and then I bring home marking to do.

Then of course there’s meetings and parents evenings etc. At least one meeting a week that will go on until 5pm.

So realistically extending the day for your childcare convenience:

  1. Doesn’t help your child anyway - they’ll switch off. We see this daily anyway.
  2. Means the teacher has to work ever-later perhaps 7.30am until 5pm daily, with no real breaks and still with marking to bring home.

Teachers deserve a work life balance. We are not robots and should not be treated as such.

When you decide to have children, you have an awareness of the British school system; the holidays and the timings of the school day...after all, you enjoyed that system yourself.
It’s harsh but, if you can’t manage your own children around this or don’t want to pay for the additional wrap around care, then don’t have them...or at least don’t expect others to pick up the pieces for you.

tootyfruitypickle · 09/02/2021 10:31

Extending the school day would involve more money put into education to allow for the extra time.

I have an older child, makes no difference to me personally how long the school day is. But on a societal and economic rebuilding level, it makes a lot of sense to have longer school days . Yes it will involve change and more funding but it shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

TheHoneyBadger · 09/02/2021 10:34

@WombatChocolate

I agree that the responsibility for what happened in schools lis with government and what happens in the next few years will be on government too, not individual teachers.

The trouble is, the government knows really that isn’t planning to resource what is needed for children. It would need a vast amount more money and resources in terms of qualified staff than they have now or plan to have in the next 5 or 10 years.

But they don’t want to accept that or the blame. So they divert attention and encourage people to blame others so they don’t look at them. Suggest a scheme (they have no intention of finding and hiring the staff for) and then they can say they suggested it, but teachers or unions ruined it ...or they won’t even have to say it, because the public on MN or in other forms of media will say it for them, and the government can just sit quietly and let it happen. He teachers and unions can be remembered as being responsible. They can list in just 1 day 5 possible schemes, from running into the holidays, to longer days in school, to kids re-doing a school year, none of which could run without hiring significantly more staff. But they don’t have the intention to hire more staff nor to really run schemes on any scale ....but people can remember that they mentioned them and decide it wasn’t government who stopped it happening, but those lazy teachers who have already been sitting at home, relying on hardworking g parents to do their job for them, who weren’t willing to make the schemes happen. Government want o keep saying they have plans for everything Covid related..because it’s what people want to hear. When they are exhausted by having their kids at home 24/7 and find working and homeschooling so hard, anything government mentions to take children away for a bit, or to address the concerns they have when they feel their kids aren’t progressing as they might, is of course jumped on and welcomed. But there’s nothing really behind it all to make it happen. The only people parents can really imagine delivering all this stuff are their children’s teachers, because who else is there to imagine. Government knows the current teachers who do a full job won’t be the people delivering these schemes and cannot be. That’s partly why they know their vague and grandiose sounding g plans won’t ever be delivered on a major scale and because any funding and without sufficient staff who aren’t already flat-out and available it’s just not deliverable in a meaningful way. They know this, but rely on the public not spitting that and then deciding it was the teachers or unions who stymied it, not that it was down to government.

Any scheme of governments could be possible if they hire the staff to do the next jobs they are dreaming up. But teachers already have a job and have done their job. If they want actual qualified teachers to deliver stuff, they will have to find a vast supply of them who haven’t already gone above and beyond and have done their jobs. The onus isn’t on existing teachers to deliver extra schemes the government may have. It is on government to plan proper schemes and find the staff. But it won’t really happen.

And it works so well.

Parents raging at teachers who do actually try to educate their kids despite the government's massive underfunding and undermining state schools.

It's all teachers fault not grubby private school boys turned politicians deliberately slashing budgets and not giving a damn about your children.

DBML · 09/02/2021 10:36

@tootyfruitypickle

Extending the school day would involve more money put into education to allow for the extra time.

I have an older child, makes no difference to me personally how long the school day is. But on a societal and economic rebuilding level, it makes a lot of sense to have longer school days . Yes it will involve change and more funding but it shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.

I’m dismissing it. I would like a life too.

If the school day was extended to provide free childcare, then it would be an insult. Pay for your own childcare like I had to.

I think the ‘societal’ attitude towards teachers right now will leave society with either no teachers or shit teachers who will do the bare minimum.

tootyfruitypickle · 09/02/2021 10:40

That's why I'm saying more funding. More staff.

Change will have to happen, these are all things being discussed. So it's about working with the change that works best .

As I said, I don't need childcare. Makes no odds to me what happensbut I won't be sending dd in after 21 July regardless - but I don't think they'll extend the term anyway.

noblegiraffe · 09/02/2021 10:41

The evidence of impact this will have isn’t worth the cost.

Extending school term at end of July
tootyfruitypickle · 09/02/2021 10:44

No, they won't do any of it !

I would have thought tutors for small group catch ups would be a good investment ? but also can't see that happening!

DBML · 09/02/2021 10:45

@tootyfruitypickle

That's why I'm saying more funding. More staff.

Change will have to happen, these are all things being discussed. So it's about working with the change that works best .

As I said, I don't need childcare. Makes no odds to me what happensbut I won't be sending dd in after 21 July regardless - but I don't think they'll extend the term anyway.

I started typing a response and thought, why am I bothering. It was like a lightbulb moment.
WombatChocolate · 09/02/2021 11:18

Government can say schools should provide a longer day or a longer term. It could be more academic teaching which requires teachers or it could be essentially childcare. That’s up to government to decide. It will also then be up to government to find the extra staff needed to offer the extra services they wish to offer....so more teachers or more assistants to supervise. They will have to find or train those staff and pay them, because it is an extra job on top of what the government already offers.

When people think about that as the reality....it’s an extra job and will need extra staff, they start to realise why it probably won’t happen or can only happen on a small scale. Funding will be limited and people available and willing will be limited. It isn’t a case of the existing teachers doing it....they already do their job (and often far more) and so won’t generally be willing to offer more hours even if they are offered more pay to do so.

If the government wants to deliver more, it needs to create more jobs and fund them. Simples.....

Oversize · 09/02/2021 11:24

I find myself running anything any of them say through the Big Bollocky Bullshit and Lie translator as a matter of course these days. It's completely automatic now. I believe nothing they say.

TheLuckiest · 09/02/2021 11:49

Sorry, haven't read the entire thread but have just gathered some numbers for us to ponder...

According to the BBC report (yeah, I know but bear with me) :

To extend the summer term by just 2 weeks will cost approx £260 per primary pupil and £360 per secondary pupil.

There are currently 4.7million nursery and primary children on roll and 3.41million secondary on roll.

I tried to work it out the numbers but then my calculator exploded, metaphorically speaking.

For 2 weeks. 2 paltry weeks. No sane person would think this is a good idea. And that's before we get to the very valid points about hot classrooms, burned out teachers and exhausted kids....

Put that money into better resources, staffing and buildings and you might be getting somewhere.

MrsHamlet · 09/02/2021 11:51

No sane person would think this is a good idea.

And yet....

noblegiraffe · 09/02/2021 11:54

Step forward this government

TheHoneyBadger · 09/02/2021 13:30

It's crazy money that could be spent to better effect by schools to do things like hire back the tas they've had to slash because of never ending budget cuts.

RuleWithAWoodenFoot · 09/02/2021 13:58

@Oversize - the Big Bollocky Bullshit and Lie translator

Ha, that's great.

FrippEnos · 09/02/2021 14:11

All those thinking that its a good idea have probably taken in to account that its also another 195 directed hours and will be able to suggest where these are taken from.

(and that is only one extra hour per day).

But then from what some have said on here 'contracts, fuck em, they can't be legal' (paraphrased)

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