Parents becoming teachers? Is it me or has Gove totally lost it?

[sogrownup]

How do you feel about going into school to cover for a teacher who is on strike? Is there anyone out there who believes that this is a sound idea.... I think it's madness!!

Glad my school is not on strike. Only just told us today

Well, tbh, I'm confused about everything and find the way the world is going somewhat depressing. Makes me want to make my children's childhood as happy as possible, because they are going to grow up to inherit a rather nasty mess.

I have a CRB check but there is no way I would go into a school and teach a class on my own for the day. Being a parent-helper is one thing, being an unpaid teacher is another thing altogether.

Another of his ideas was that retired teachers might want to volunteer for the day, can't see many of them wanting to go in and do it.

Didn't they do this a couple of months ago with the police? Make em al redundant and then write ever so politely and ask if they'd mind awfully coming in and doing some volunteering as their services are so highly valued?
And they've got rid of PCTs which has pissed off PCT staff and GPs.
This government aren't that keen on the public sector, are they?

I agree rabbit
we are going to have to help our children through all stages of life- if we can. The Right are succeeding in entirely privatising responsibility for care and vulnerability. I am terrified of being a burden to mine given that there will no longer be state support for the old by the time we are old.

Gove is seriously grasping at straws in this matter.....the only last harebrained idea he hasn't tried (but it won't be long before he does, probably) is to ask pupils to teach themselves using the tv...............

Or he could suggest that we don't give children enough responsibility these days and that they would all be quite happy left home alone?

Rabbit, all of mine have some level of SEN / Sn and whilst I feel certain 2 will work, I am trrified what the future holds for the others with the lack of publ;ic secxtor they will inherit. They are the voiceless and they will have been hugely failed. I know I will care for them un til i die, after that- well they will be left to fend and then maybe die themselves, who knows.

I have zero faith left in other people, just my own and dh's; sadly not in our immortality.

Their childhood really is all they will ahve, there won;t be jobs or famillies for them, just- crap and the occasional accusation of being a faker to break the boredom.

:( Peachy so sorry to hear this about your family.

I think there will remain 'pockets' of largely charitable care through foundations etc and the very lucky will be cared for through those- the very lucky minority. The rest will be warehoused to die.

I think we've had a brief period of humanity after the 1950s which is now coming to an end. There is a huge amount of social unrest coming.

anyone see the non-striking headmistress on the news a bit earlier talking about how her school isn't going to strike because the children trust their teachers and they don't want to let them down?

I thought that was a bit precious. I'm sure my 6yo would be perfectly understanding about teachers striking; the idea that they are worried about not having enough money to live on when they get old/worried about having to work when they're too old to do it well, would seem perfectly reasonable to her and she will love having a day off school.

Thought this might be of interest:

?On pensions ? I think that?.critically, for everyone whose been in teaching, you entered with a particular contract, as it were, in broad terms?.I?m not talking about a written document, I?m talking about a broader expectation. You would work quite punishing hours. You would put up with a variety of different frustrations but the guarantee would be that at the end of your time that your pension would be relatively secure. You might not earn as much as your contemporaries who were as well qualified as you. You accepted that. You had good degrees, they had good degrees ? they went on to earn more but you had a fulfilling career which brought you endless joy and at the end of it a decent pension pot.

I think in the future there will be changes for new entrants into the profession. But I also think that for people who?ve been in the profession we shouldn?t alter the terms on which they entered. I think that?s part of the sort of broad contract that you expect. You came in on a certain basis. You should proceed on that basis. For new entrants it may well be that we change the basis on which they enter but that has to be something that is achieved as a result of national consensus given the different circumstances in which we find ourselves.?

Who said that? Michael Gove, at ATL conference in April 2010. When you're in opposition you can say what you like and when you're the party in power you can do what you like.

I saw that interview Sybil and have worked under a head very much like her, I would not be surprised to hear that her staff have been bullied into not striking.

Where did you get that from piella?

twinkly, I was at the conference and it's also been quoted by Mary Bousted e.g. in her article in TES.

ATL Member (at the moment), voted against strike & will be working on Thur (and will move to NUSAWT unless they get strike-y, then God Forbid I'll join PAT).

I do think my pension is full-fat, fat-cat & gold-plated: I'd love to have it as it currently stands, but not at DC's expense. Believe my union could get me a better deal if they put my interests as a member before their own crony deals with the Labour Party.

(Spoken as a Labour voter up till the Hunting Act)

lifeisa4letterword, I don't believe for a minute that NASUWT will exempt themselves from balloting for strike action. If you are determined not to strike then Voice (formerly PAT) is your only option.

ATL cannot get you a better deal (neither can any other union) as they cannot negotiate with a government who will not provide any information about the value of the pension scheme.

I'm sorry, Peachy.

God no Rabbit / Alle, I do admit to aviding the news now but apart from occasional forays into worry, my boys are a joy and I am blessed to have them.
I am months away now from an MA in Autism: if anyone can make changes it will be rough those proper channels. And my boys ahve NT (ish) sibs who can ensure their safety. They will be OK. They are the lucky ones.

Taxpayers pay for teachers - that is a good thing, and always will be - society needs teachers and society should pay for them.

I am probably a bit naive here but why should society pay for teachers' retirement - teachers should be using their pay to fund their retirement - so should a lot of other people - I'm of the "old fashioned" school where you get paid and make your own provision for the future...

Of the 20.5% contribution, the taxpayer funds 14.1%.

One of the pension issues is that the government is asking teachers to fund more of it. 9.8% instead of 6.4%.

Another is the working for longer thing - the same thing the rest of us will have to do anyhow.... building labourers, sewer men , miners - luckily not firemen!

And the other main issue is career averaged pensions instead of final salary. So those who do work for longer (but, as we are told , most teachers quit after 5 years) can actually reduce their hours so that their later years in teaching can be part time with less responsibility without a major loss in pension. Currently you can only have the best 3 years out of the last 10 averaged out.....

This way a great teacher can progress higher when younger and then still get a fairly decent pension ( by the rest of the world standards) if they feel they need to take on less when they are older.

oh and by-the-way , Gove does not want parents to go in and teach....

He wants them to support other working mums and dads who cannot get a day off at the drop of a hat, by just watching over kids at school.

So, teachers should be striking for more pay while they are working, then, in order to help fund their retirement... As for helping other working parents, the problem with that is that it coincidentally also helps the government get its way whether or not you agree with what it is doing, so if you agree with the teachers' point of view, it's a funny way of showing it.

Peachy so sorry, I did not mean to imply your boys are going to suffer specifically :( I am just talking my usual general pessimism !!

I'm not quite sure what you mean by "make your own provision for the future," ByTheWay. I would count defending your pension rights as part of making your own provision. Don't you actually mean that you think the employee should take the risk on any investments their pension provider makes on their behalf, rather than the employer (or pension provider where this is the same entity...)?

'just watching over kids at school'.....
well then if that is what he wants then he has no idea about teaching. That is a recipe for a riot in the classroom.