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!!

Flagging you are talking as if unions are exclusive to the public sector. If your dh was part of a union which called a strike, he would be expected to "withdraw his labour", and his employers would not withdraw his job.

Russell Hobby, General Secretary of the NAHT: ?It is probably not unlawful but we would strongly advise our members not to accept voluntary help to cover for absent staff this Thursday.

?When qualified staff are present, the voluntary help of parents is a very welcome contribution to schools and something to be very much encouraged. However, where qualified staff are unable to supervise them, the presence of voluntary, temporary helpers can have very serious implications for the safety and well-being of pupils.

?For instance, even where such volunteers possess current CRB certification, there are issues of confidentiality, first aid training, knowledge of evacuation procedures in case of emergencies, safe use of equipment, behaviour management, knowledge of restraint procedures, guidance on physical contact with pupils and insurance liability to be considered.

?Head teachers are accountable for the welfare of their pupils and to accept volunteers in place of trained staff ? no matter how willing and able ? would place them under an almost intolerable burden of responsibility should something go wrong.

?Pupils are not in schools merely to keep them off the streets. They are there to be educated and protected. If Michael Gove values the quality of education provision in schools he will listen to the concerns of teaching unions who predict that the status of the profession will be undermined by the erosion of fair terms and conditions. If he values children, Mr Gove will understand that it isn?t enough to invite anyone who fancies it, whether they are appropriate or not, to act as their guardians for the day. Our pupils are worth more than that.?

Mrz I don't think teachers have accepted to pay 50% more. If they had why would the NUT say (in defence of the strike):

There has been no movement from the Government on the central propositions that teachers will have to pay 50% more for their pensions which risks many teachers being forced to leave the pension scheme altogether.

So many people have complained about the standard of teaching, but I don't think it's relevant at all.

I've been judged outstanding now on a number of occasions. I've got an MA from a Russell Group university. I get great results.

If the pay is shit, I'll leave. I love my job but I also love weekends and I'm pretty sure I'll love retiring before 68.

If you want an exodus of well-qualified people from the profession then by all means lower our pensions, freeze our pay, fuck up our schools, devalue our jobs... what the hell, just make us wear fucking baseball caps and serve education in polystyrene boxes.

Then you'll have two options - send your kid to private school, or send them to the local comprehensive full of teachers who couldn't get a job elsewhere.

Thank god Scottish schools are safe for the time being - as soon as my sprogs are school age I'm getting the fuck out of the English education system and going home.

"Scottish schools are safe" - you may find they'll catch up pretty quickly, a lot of very bad stuff going on up here too!

There is a slash and burn approach going on with education in Edinburgh and things aren't looking great here. Also there are lots and lots of unemployed teachers so you might want to retrain if you move back to Scotland.

Yeah, we moved to England because of the lack of jobs in Scotland. I did my probation year just outside Glasgow a few years ago and my mum still teaches in Scotland, as do many of my friends. I know what's going on and it's not great but the shit's really hitting the fan down here. I'm shocked at some of the measures they're putting in place, especially in terms of academy status etc. Have you taught in England at all?

/hijack :)

btw didn't want to sound like a smug git in my previous post but I know a lot of good teachers who have left the profession in the last few years. I think attracting well-qualified people to teaching is an issue that is being largely overlooked in this debate.

I don't know.There are lots of parents very experienced in dealing with groups of children eg Guide and scout leaders, sports coaches who I'm sure could help supervise a class of children.

Supervise them doing what?

If the Government didn't have them all so busy overseas, it could always send in the Army to do the babysitting. They want members of the armed forces to become teachers, anyway, so it would be excellent work experience.

Would love to see an army major and a couple of squaddies in a reception classroom.

Gove, what a horrid little tit

rabbit

One of dd's friends has a TA dad (as in Territorial Army, not Teaching Assistant) who organizes all the games at her birthday party. He's very good at it, but even he blanches at the thought of managing a classfull.....

I know people who would rather die then go into my reception class!! They're lovely children ...... honest!!!

I was once told that somebody could not cope with my job for all the money in England - they are in the police and specialise in solving the really difficult murder cases.

(As an aside to freerange, have you heard the one about the Curriculum for Excellence and its current messy and vague implementation in secondary schools? And what about one of CoSLA's most recent comments where they argued that 'the primary role of a teacher is not to teach'. You gotta laugh.)

I just listened to Michael Gove speaking in Parliament about how important it was to keep the schools open, so that children's education is not damaged. I find it very interesting that this terrible damage that a day off school will do was not an issue when they were given a day off for the royal wedding.

The dses school is closed on Thursday, which should have been the last day of term (we live in Scotland) but is now going to be open on Friday, so no education will be missed out on at all. Presumeably English and Welsh schools could tack an extra day onto the term too.

I have just reread your last post, pointydog. Teachers' primary role is not teaching? What numpty thought that made sense?

i just posted this in the AIBU thread but seeing as this seems to be the place for it I thought I would repeat it (sorry)
I am striking on Thursday, (secondary teacher), for the following reasons

• you can't change a contract with someone and expect them not to mind

• the system was redone in 2006 and latest evidence suggests it pays for itself therefore this is just a way to raise extra money for the treasury, i.e. a tax on being a teacher

• an attack on public sector pensions is not an attempt to make it fair for the private sector it is just a revenue raising exercise using people who had absolutely nothing to do with the problems the country faces

• the country was in a much worse financial state at the end of WWII and then went on to set up the best welfare system in the world. cuts are not the solution (see the New Deal in america in the 30's for another example)

• the one I care most about (and the one I'm a bit embarrassed about). I love my job, I love the kids. I want to do it better all the time. I am angry that so many kids still don't get a good deal in education. I teach with some wonderful, talented and intelligent people who do wonderful things with kids all the time and make them happier and safer, give them more choices because they come to school. BUT I do still teach with some people who frankly I am embarrassed by, who kids verbally abuse and in my heart of hearts I think 'fair enough'. This is not OK. The only way we make education and schools better is to employ better people. I went to uni with these people but a tiny, tiny fraction of them teach and to be fair the rest now earn 2-3 times as much as I do (and I do pretty well - leadership in a big school)- and will probably go onto earn more like 5-6 times as much in final salary. As much as I am an idealist you can't really expect everyone to sacrifice serious salary gains for the public good. BUT you want good schools you need to get good people teaching in them. To get good people, pay them good money. you do that you can make the penalties for failing teachers as harsh as you like because there will be a queue of people wanting their jobs. messing with the pensions is just another way of damaging that.

the only thing that would make me go in (won't happen thank goodness my head has closed our school) is if parents were supposed to be supervising. not to be mean but i cannot possibly justify leaving some of our kids with some of our parents (not all by any means).

Mr Hobby (NAHT) said: ?This report on pensions from the Public Accounts Committee serves to strengthen the already strong case that public sector pensions are not the drain on the country's finances that the government claims. The committee recognises that the pension scheme changes of 2007-2008 have served to stabilise costs and will affect significant savings.

"The government is being disingenuous when it claims that pension costs are unaffordable - the committee quite rightly points out that the government has failed to find out what is affordable. To move to make changes to the pension scheme for teachers when the case for change is unproven is reckless in the extreme. The government runs the risk of needlessly demoralising a whole profession without any evidence of a need for change."

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmpubacc/833/83302.htm

enjoiraslove, don't be sorry - I never read AIBU (no time!) and am glad I read your post. Its a very sensible one, IMO.

Well said on all counts, Flagging. I couldn't agree more.