Longer school day and shorter holidays, proposes Gove

[Morebiscuitsplease]

I cannot understand this man. Children need time out, teachers also need time to prepare and mark work, when do either get this with such proposals? We complain our children are obese yet suggest more time in school. I do not want any child of mine going to school for 7.30 and finishing at 5. They need time to play, pursue other activities and do homework. Your thoughts please!

Feenie - look at the best rated comments. You won't feel depressed any more. They are mainly pre-teacher

athinginyourlife my dp works with SS and in a childrens home, one of the children in his home now goes to a private school as it does exactly that, takes kids from a disadvantaged background! he is doing really well, still have issues but academically is looking to get a good bunch of gcse etc and doing far better than if he was still at home where he simply wouldnt have gone to school at all!

Michael Gove is a bit of a twat to be frank.

MNHQ perhaps you could get him on a Q&A. I promise to be civil and not tell him that in actual fact he is a twat.

Agreed alongtimeago. You have to be a twat to say "Well if you enjoy your job you won't mind working longer for the same pay, will you?" That is about the twattiest thing I've heard in a long time!

I know mumbles, but the red arrowed ones always wind me up more!

I can't promise that, alongtimeago.

The Labour party seem to be speaking in greater detail in support of the policy of longer days than Gove at present: example from Twigg here complete with references to Victorians and effect on children from disadvantaged homes.

The country is broke and Gove's idea would cost billions to implement. It will simply never happen.

(I do think Gove is a twat though)

Gove mentions it in passing in an interview about someone else - result: all round criticism.

Twigg proposes it in a speech in which he supports it in far greater detail in a prepared speech and no-one notices.

Is this a reflection of the total irrelevance of the Labour party now?

Or a reflection of a narrow-mindset that condemns only one side, even when the two sides are in agreement?

He's directly in charge of education policy though, Edith. What he says generally goes. And telling me on a popular with people whowatch Jeremy Kyle breakfast programme that if I love my job so much I won't mind doing it for even longer hours is not 'mentioning something in passing'. He's a major shite-- decision maker, fgs.

Twigg could say they intend to paint all schools green and pay zoo keepers to teach and it wouldn't make any difference really, although I take your point.

cornastasiaski
"Boneyback I wondered about that - they'll have to change teachers terms and conditions to extend the school year surely - but not necessarily to extend the school day I don't think."

as teachers are paid for a set amount of hours (1265) then any increase in hours should include a pay increase, it won't but it should.

does the 1265 hours also apply to academies boneyback?

I am not sure as academies have different terms and conditions of employment.

It would be interesting to find out seeing as Gove is pushing for schools to convert.

Feenie: if what he says goes was true, then this idea would have become a policy when he was pushing it so very hard in 2010 and 2011.

Shifts would work very well for teachers, I think.

Ds (7) does 7.30am to 5pm minimum every school day. He loves it. In fact he gets cross if I drop late or collect early. Some days he does 7.30am to 6.30pm. No complaints at all (and he is very vocal so would certainly let me know if he was doing something he didn't want to do).

I think if kids get a bit of rest time during the day, then 12 hours would be possible tbh, although obviously the younger they are, the more they need to see their parents.

I think that's called a boarding school, Boffin.

Boffin

What shifts would you recommend?
how would teachers with pupils cope with the added child care?
Would you recommend that those teachers without children do the crappy shifts?

TBH this proposal only suits parents who work 9-5 jobs. If this proposal came in it will mean people like my DH, who is a Chef, will only get to se our DCs one day a week. A lot of parents work evenings and week ends now.

I'd be up for teaching in shifts, & I quite like the idea of extending the school day to do OPTIONAL activities which teachers can volunteer to organise for PAID overtime.

Kids get more choices/enrichment, parents get flexible childcare, young, hungry, skint, childless teachers could earn a bit more, or ageing teachers could 'semi retire' - what's not to like?

BUT what Gove is really doing here is floating a message that 'teachers work short hours & have generous holidays as things stand, the workshy greedy bastards'.

& when we all react with outrage we'll be workshy, greedy, stroppy bastards who should have our T&C clobbered forthwith. More Academies!

Of course there's no money to implement it. There doesn't need to be.

It's just a useful propaganda move in Gove's hate campaign against teachers.

totally agree with ravenAK

The way of the future world is to have every member of society in a large, faceless institution all day, every day, all their lives - children in nursery, then school, then university/further education, adults at work and old people in homes.

I don't like it.