For teachers- do your pupils learn something new every day?

[jasper]

I am asking this due to the thread about taking kids out of school outwith holidays, where some of you explained it disrupted the teaching programme.

My question is do you really teach your pupils something different every day? This is a genuine question, not intended to provoke or criticise. I admire anyone who chooses teaching as a profession and the friends I have who teach are , to a woman, remarkable and inspiring individuals.
It's just that my memory of school (particularly primary school ) was of weeks and weeks of repetition of the same things.

That was my biggest compliant about school - it was boring and repetitive and I felt I hardly ever learned anything.

We were taken out of school for a week or two most years and there was never any notion of having to catch up or missing anything. Have things changed or am I suffering from false memory syndrome ? Might I have gone on to acheive greatness if it hadn't been for those fortnights in Harrogate?

So to repeat my question,which was not intended to rehash the holidays issue, do you teach a different thing every single day?

[hmb]

Well, no, not by one teacher, I don't have the skills to teach MFL, or history or englis , just science. But I do have a good handle on how child X will cope with practical tasks if they have Dyspraxia, or that Y needs a different work sheet because they are dyslexic etc.

Mind you there is evidence to show that part of the reason there is a drop off in attainment from Y6 to Year7 is that children have moved from having one teacher in Y6 to lots of different ones in Y7.

Maternity leave tends to be different as it is long term. Mattie cover for science will be done by a science specialst. Short term cover can be any teacher, regardless of their specialism. So tomorrow I might get pulled in to cover a teachers class (if they are ill )in, say, Russian. Not ideal!

And yes, I did choose to be a teacher. And you could also say that if parents are in jobs that don't give holidays in the school breaks (like my Dh) that is their choice too.

[singingmum]

Again I meant no offence but from what you typed it appeared to be implied.
Again another problem you have pointed out is that the parents do not understand that the work needs catching up on.To most parents minds that is the responsibility of the school as that is what people are led to believe be it by other parents or things read in the media.In society people are taught(and I was one of them) that school is the only option for education and that school are responsible for the whole of the education.I found out that He was an option and after trying my son in nursery and being extremly dissapointed at what was happening there I chose this option.Other parents do not know that it is their responsibility to make sure their child catches up and assumes that it will be dealt with in school.
Maybe if people were told exactly what was the schools responsibility and what was expected from the parent it would make life more peacefull for all.I had not seen your postings on other threads and had only what has been said here to judge from.
I would also like to point out that you have implied that I believed you to be against HE, nowhere did I say or come close to implying this.
I apologise if I have offended you.

[popsycal]

can't believe i am about to say this....but i am sooo glad that I haev been at work today

[popsycal]

and still can't type!!

[hmb]

Neither can I!

In a way our parents do make that agreement when they sign their home/school agreement. They all have to do this before they enter the school at the age of 11. It makes clear the rules on holidays, catch up etc. But it seems that only the school is help to the agreement. Heaven help us if we break it, but parents and kids do, all the time. The also state that they will make sure the kids wear school uniform as outlined! Yeh, Right!

[popsycal]

I think if parents read the prospectus for the school, they are accepting the rules/ethos/principles of the school outlined in it.....

[hmb]

I think that it would be a very good idea. I think that parents have the right to do what they want with their kids (within the law). And with that right comes the responsibility for the consequences of their action. They aren't my kids, they belong to their parents. The rights and the responsibilites stop with them. I might think that the parents are wrong, but there you go. What do I know about it, I only teach them.

To cut back to the title of this thread, the answer in my classes is , yes. (with the exception of directed revision in the run up to external exams like GCSE and A levels) All parents need to do is that that in mind when they plan their holidays.

[hmb]

Yes, that is strange isn't it. I'm in a school which is right next to another comprehensive (500 m apart or so). We have a strict dress code, they don't. So why is it that some parents will complain if we enforce the dress code that they have chosen to accept for their child? If they don't want a dress code, they should have gone to the other school? Go figure.

[tigermoth]

hmb, you are such a different teacher to some of the ones I know. In my son's last school, his year 2 teacher happened to be a friend of my dh and I. Still is. As you know, year 2 is a SATS year. Most weeks my son's teacher missed one day due to 'illness'. My son's class ( all 35 of them) were usually divided into groups and sent to the two other year 2 classes, so the teachers had a class of pushing 50 children. That's if they were there. It was not unknown for 2 out of the 3 year 2 teachers to be off sick.

Did I get angry? well not really. You see this lack of teacher attendance was not uncommon at my son's school. The school was so hard pressed to keep teachers, that I considered my son lucky to have a regualar teacher at all. Many children spent weeks being taught by a sucsession of supply teachers. Supply teachers were used extensively.

I think this particular teacher was extreme case and he has has since left the teaching profession. I know some of the teachers at this school had a much stronger sense of vocation and commitment.

But even at my son's present school - a very over subscribed church school with a stong work ethic - his form teacher last year (year 4) had at least 4 weeks off spread out during the whole school year due to illness. I don't know what was wrong with her - she certainly looked very ill from time to time - but I do know she was an excellent teacher - she made my son work hard and really progress, despite missing this time with him. So again, for hugely different reasons I did not feel anger towards her.

But if my son now had a teacher like his year 2 teacher, I would know more and complain loudly.

[popsycal]

As in all professions, there are the good, the bad and the ugly.......
Many of us work really hard and do care about education

[kmg1]

I take my hat off to all you teachers out there. I have friends who teach, and I know how hard you work. I help out at my boys' school once a week, and I am constantly stunned and impressed at the dedication and commitment of ALL the staff, and everything they do for all the children ... often 'above and beyond' their job descriptions.

I know there are some poor teachers out there too, and we are very fortunate.

[SueW]

hmb, just wanted to say I think it's pretty crap that you wouldn't be/weren't allowed at least a day off to see your DP when he returned from the Gulf. I wouldn't have a problem with DD's teacher doing that, if she found herself in those circumstances.

Call me patriotic but I actually think it's good too when the whole school is encouraged to sit down and watch a sporting final where their country is involved, even if it means their missing a couple of hours of lessons.

[hmb]

Schools can be very strict about time off. My best mate wasn't allowed to go to her long time dps granfathers funeral (the GP partly raised him when he was young). The holidays are very generous, but fairly infexible. But as others have said, I did choose to become a teacher. (and I do love the job)

[robinw]

message withdrawn

[hmb]

I'm very sorry that your dd has a crap teacher. Good extension work should not be more of the same. In one of my classes today the topic is mutations and the extension work is data to analyse on the Chernobyl disaster and thyroid cancers. I have just had a child return to that class from an extented 2 month holiday. This child has missed 3 modular GCSE examinations and half a topic. I have asked her to come to see me during Lunchtime today so that I can help her to catch up. I doubt that she will come. I dare say that her mother thinks I don't teach her anything worthwhile in my lessons. And she would be wrong.

[Stargazer]

This has been quite interesting. My ds is going to be out of school for a week prior to half term. He'll be going to Orlando with his father for a two-week holiday. DS is really looking forward to this very special holiday.

When DS started school I was absolutely determined that he wouldn't be taken out of school for holidays. However, that has not been the case. DS came with DH and I on our honeymoon - special family time, and this will be the second occasion for a holiday. I realise that he will miss some work and that it will be difficult to make up the time. However, as DS was "kicked out of school" because of his ADHD problems and then had no "proper schooling" for 4 months. The authorities didn't seem so concerned then, so I hardly think that week or two will hurt now.

DS is now back in mainstream school and he's doing fine. Fortunately he is quite bright. After all the difficulties I had trying to ensure that DS got somesort of education, despite his problems, I find it hard to get worked up about time out for holidays.

[robinw]

message withdrawn

[rainbow]

I agree Jasper. Although we very rarely went on holiday in school time when we did I don't remembr having to 'catch-up'. Yes I would take my son out of school to go on holiday. The travel agents nearly double their prices in the school holidays, so even if I was fined £100 my holiday would still be cheaper!.

HMB - My son has had a supply teacher for the past 6 weeks. His teacher was on jury service for two weeks, then on a course for 3 weeks and then in meetings for a further week. So if she took 2 weeks holiday would we really know?

[rainbow]

Another bug. Why do teachers have teacher training days tagged on to the end of the holidays? I have to give up my weekends and after work (sometimes 6pm-10pm+) for training and updates. I'm a nursery nurse with 3 young boys. It also makes childcare difficult as kids club don't usually operate on teacher training days.

[steppemum]

So much has been said since I was last on, but I'd like to make a couple of points, teacher training days are not in addition to school holidays. When the first training days were introduced, there were supposed to be 4 (I think) per year, and the school holidays were reduced by 4 days to compensate, so yes, we are doing those training days in our "own" time. (I'm not complaining about the length of school holidays though, I know they are generous)

Also several people have suggested that teachers take days off sick when they aren't sick. I'm sure there are teachers around who do, but they are a very, very small percentage, and if they were found out, they would risk loosing their job. (at least that was the policy in the borough I worked in)

But I'd like to come back to something I said earlier, while I fully agree that at time the holiday is more educational for the child than the school missed, when the child returns to class, the teacher has to make up the missed work in some way. In a primary classroom that is usually during lesson time. That means that during the first few days back, the teacher will be giving that child 10-15 mins extra time, several time.
If your child was in that class and was struggling with readin, you would expect the teacher to give them the support they need, so how would you feel if the teacher said to you one Friday "Oh, sorry, I haven't been able to give little Johnny the extra few minutes reading time each day that he need, because I've been helping little peter catch up after his trip to disny land" Your child's education suffers when another child in the class goes on holiday, and I think that is why I am against it in principle. Of course there are times when it can't be helped, or when the benefit far outweighs the downside, but most of the holidays that are referred to don't fall into that category.

By the way, I've had children who've missed lots of schooling because of sickness, and yes, you really can see at the end of the year that they have made far less progress than they could have done, because they were sick. If a child is away sick, I always tried very hard to help them when they came back.

[steppemum]

So much has been said since I was last on, but I'd like to make a couple of points, teacher training days are not in addition to school holidays. When the first training days were introduced, there were supposed to be 4 (I think) per year, and the school holidays were reduced by 4 days to compensate, so yes, we are doing those training days in our "own" time. (I'm not complaining about the length of school holidays though, I know they are generous)

Also several people have suggested that teachers take days off sick when they aren't sick. I'm sure there are teachers around who do, but they are a very, very small percentage, and if they were found out, they would risk loosing their job. (at least that was the policy in the borough I worked in)

But I'd like to come back to something I said earlier, while I fully agree that at time the holiday is more educational for the child than the school missed, when the child returns to class, the teacher has to make up the missed work in some way. In a primary classroom that is usually during lesson time. That means that during the first few days back, the teacher will be giving that child 10-15 mins extra time, several time.
If your child was in that class and was struggling with readin, you would expect the teacher to give them the support they need, so how would you feel if the teacher said to you one Friday "Oh, sorry, I haven't been able to give little Johnny the extra few minutes reading time each day that he need, because I've been helping little peter catch up after his trip to disny land" Your child's education suffers when another child in the class goes on holiday, and I think that is why I am against it in principle. Of course there are times when it can't be helped, or when the benefit far outweighs the downside, but most of the holidays that are referred to don't fall into that category.

By the way, I've had children who've missed lots of schooling because of sickness, and yes, you really can see at the end of the year that they have made far less progress than they could have done, because they were sick. If a child is away sick, I always tried very hard to help them when they came back.

[steppemum]

sorry for the double post, and the terrible typing (must preview...must preview... must preview )

[Hulababy]

Teacher training days are nmot extra days off for your children. They have always been there. THey used to be mainly taked onto the summer holidays which is why many school shad a 6.5 week summer holiday a few years back. They are now dotted around the school year to fit in better with school's planning. Most are done near holidays as it would appear to affect parents less. We have some mid term, mid week which I would have thought would be more inconvenient.