Coping with Teacher Training days

[bacon]

I'm new to education, DS1 in reception DS2 19 months old. But this is really going to get right up my nose. Teacher training days tagged onto half terms. 1st one Friday just before the weeks break.

How do mums cope? Ive got something planned - booked months and months ago and have to leave really early and now just checked diary and DS1 is home and I'm paying for DS2 to be in nursery!

Why cant they do these training days in the evenings or even Saturday morning like the rest of us? Why has education have to be so disrupted? Surely with the number of weeks off they get it wouldnt be too much to expect a few days to be put towards training?

Struth, we are self employed here, hubby never hardly gets time off, when we were farming we worked well unto the night, expected to get up at the crack of dawn, 7 days a week, working when completely exhausted and so hanging and no paid holidays!

So many families are struggling with childcare, trying to hold onto their jobs, and then this is slapped in our faces.

Surely this doesnt happen on the continent??

And educational service is not disrupted. Your child is not educated for fewer days than they would have been before Baker. You would have had to provide childcare for just as many days. I wouldn't though...

I hate these kind of threads.

Parents moaning because they actually have to look after their own child. Pathetic!

That's a daft thing to say memoo. I love looking after my children. Fact is though, on an INSET day I can't, because I have to work. Have to. I have to find someone else to look after them.

"And I'm speaking as both."

Me too. And in answer to your earlier point: "I've been put in the difficult position of having my own kids in the back of my classroom when their school has INSET but mine doesn't. That's very far from ideal," I'd rather have my kids at the back of my classroom (and I'm fortunate in that my HT is fine about this) than in many of the playschemes I've seen.
You do have an option therefore.

I absolutely do not have the option of taking my children to work with me!

onimolap last year one of our INSET days was led by speakers from New Zealand who were only in the country for a few days ... We also attended training led by a speaker from Denmark (in England for one day) ... we could have closed half the school that day (as it was KS1 training) and the other half another day so inconveniencing parents with children in different Key Stages twice instead of once.

To clarify, I would only ever do that as a last resort. And my HT would prefer me turning up with a1 or 2 sensible offspring, than having to find cover for me. However, the rest of the time, DH and I grappled it between us, or begged and pleaded and called in favours from friends and family.

Fallen, I didn't mean you, I mean parents who think school is childcare when it isn't, and ones who think that teachers spend inset days drinking coffee and eating cake.

I worked as a TA and have seen first hand how hard teachers work. I have total respect for them.

Sorry if I offended

'it means just that - getting on with it - using kids club or my husband takes the day off work or I take DS2 with me to work.'

But you are lucky that you have those options.

As I keep saying, not everybody does, in which case they may find it very difficult to 'get on with it'.

There's a really horrible, 'I'm alright Jack' attitude here with the implication that anyone who hasn't got access to reliable childcare or partners who can take time off work or grandparents on tap are somehow failing when the failures are in the lack of adequate childcare in this country and the resistance of people to try and remedy this (which is depressingly evident on this thread).

I cannot stand the attitude that 'if I'm coping you should be able to' rather than 'Gosh that's incredibly difficult for you and actually for you and you and you as well. Maybe we should do something about that and maybe that's all of our responsibilities'

'As I have stated we have asked our parents if there is a need for these services and they have said no should we force them to use a service they don't want?'

Well, that's fine, lucky them.

I suppose this raises 2 quesions. In what way did you ask the parents and is this under constant review?

and I suppose you realize that any parent who would need these services is automatically excluded from this school. Maybe that's the intention.

Whatever the scenario it's important that you recognize this is unusual.

I agree we need more adequate childcare in this country fivecandles.

But it shouldn't come down to the school.

They work hard enough as it is and are there to educate your child, not to make it easier for you to go to work.

The fact is parents need to fit jobs in around their DC.

I suppose this raises 2 quesions. In what way did you ask the parents and is this under constant review?

They are consulted every summer term (allowing time to organise something if it is needed for the next school year) by questionnaire and actually it doesn't appear to exclude anyone as all the children who live in the local community apply for school places as well as a number of people who are willing to travel from outside the area to send their children to us.

But clam, if the playschemes aren't adequate then that needs to be put right.

It just reinforces the point that there should be good quality organised childcare for INSET days for those parents who need it.

Once again, I really don't understand the objections to this. Of course, there would be no compulsion to use this service if you have alternatives but there is lots of evidence to say that parents would welcome it.

Whatever the scenario it's important that you recognize this is unusual.

it may be unusual where you live but it is the norm in my LA.

since when has school been FREE childcare Feenie? Thought it was paid for via our Tax?

Only for 190 sessions frangipan

and to educate your child not as a babysitting service

'actually it doesn't appear to exclude anyone '

Well, how can you possibly know this? I find your smugness and lack of concern for working parents who rely on before and after school care and holiday clubs truly unbearable.

I would not be able to look at a school which did not offer before school care. If any school were as proud of the lack of services for working parents as you seem to be of yours I would avoid it like the plague and for all you know there may be many parents doing just that with yours.

Teachers are not childminders. INSET days are used for their training to help them educate your child. They are contracted for a certain number of hours per year, which they invariably go over, because they spend so many hours after school marking, preparing lessons, after school clubs, IEPs, resources, displays, Christmas plays, discos, special events, form filling, meeting parents like yourself etc etc. Moreover diary dates and INSET are set at the start of the year. Have you only just realised that this INSET was happening.

Or are you one of those people who think teaching is a cushy number because they only work 6 hours a week. I take it you will be quite happy to send your child to after school clubs, residential trips, discos and so on?

I'm not necessarily saying that it should be down to the school to provide the childcare (as in the teachers). Many schools employ other agencies or people specifically to offer these services or the LEA or groups of schools offer shared before/after school care and holiday clubs. Often councils offer playschemes sometimes in conjunction with leisure teams so there will be football or sports summer schools for example.

It makes sense to use the local schools to provide these services.

I am not a teacher but hire school facilities to run activites evenings, weekends and holidyas.

The teachers are always in school out of hours, often til quite late.

Aries, I AM a teacher. So is dp. I know exactly what INSET days are for thanks but I still need childcare for my kids wehn their school has INSET days so that I can continue with my job (educating other people's kids).

Nobody is saying that INSET should be banned or that teachers or childminders BUT

in the 21st century there should be better provision for working parents when it comes to INSET days.

'it may be unusual where you live but it is the norm in my LA.'

I'm dying to know where this LA is where no parents apparently work or, if they do, they have no need of before or after school or holiday clubs.

Please tell.

You pay directly for before and after school care and holiday club as well. The people who provide it at my kids' school are great. They work amazingly hard, know the kids really well and are grateful for all the hours they can get.

Why is it always up to somebody else to sort out the problem? Your DC your responsibilty