How much holiday do you think teachers really get?

[Fairenuff]

I was reading a thread about inset days and inevitably it led onto the amount of holidays teachers get and I was wondering whether Joe Public thinks that the teachers get the same number of days off as the children?

Alright, they are not actually in the classroom, but the teachers I know all work during holidays (and also evenings and weekends). My estimate would be that they plan a fortnight summer holiday with the family and the rest of the time they are planning, assessing, marking, report writing, etc.

Perhaps they should be renamed 'child holidays' rather than 'school holidays' to help clear up the confusion?

I don't see it as teacher bashing for people to say that I enjoy my holidays . They are a reward for 9 months of long hours and hard work. Other employment sectors are allowed to enjoy the fruits if their labour without having to pretend they don't exist. I am not saying that they don't people are pretending to work those hours but I do not .

To be honest for a secondary teacher who has benefitted from gain time , I would struggle to find work to half fill my summer holiday. I don't know anyone who would actively look for work when they could be relaxing with their family.

I work in KS1 and teachers there don't get a moment to themselves once the children are in so I expect that makes quite a difference to what you can get done during school hours.

I would not teach primary for all the tea in china for that reason. I suspect primary teachers work far longer hours than many secondary teachers.

Well the May half term is not a holiday all, as it is spent report writing and marking QCA papers. I would say that when f/t I got 2 days in October, maybe a week at Christmas (forced to as seeing family), 2 days in Feb, maybe 4 days at Easter, and two weeks in the summer.

So 2+5+2+4+10= 23. 23 days and some of those are bank holidays!

I think the pastoral side of primary takes up a lot of our time. Also, as we are not specialist teachers, it can take a long time to plan and assess work that is not our preferred subject. I am not a born linguist (although my mother is a pedant so she has beaten grammar into me taught me quite a lot) so I find marking writing assessments hard work. I have to google what a subordinating clause is every time I come across one!

I don't know what secondary is like these days, as the last experience I had was when I was there myself, but I know primary is very resource heavy and this is time consuming. I know someone who made all 30 children in their class a HTU number fan! Laminated and cut out...

I once made my teaching practice class a loom out of bamboo cane. Took a lot of sawing and hot-glue gunning, but they loved it

As a primary teacher I spend a lot of my weekends and holidays making resources, marking, writing 'interactive comments' in books for pupil response (not just tick and cross nowadays), planning in detail with differentiation for each group, preparing assemblies, writing policies and action plans for the three subjects I coordinate, casting the class play, making costumes for those whose parents don't, trying out science experiments, googling to research new topics, writing evaluations of each lesson for the HT, writing up discussions with children about their views of 'my' subjects, writing reports, making notes on each child for handover in a couple of weeks ....

I don't care.

Teachers do a great job and after 30 children in a class for 5 days straight I'm suprised they don't need a week in and a week out.

I'm not a teacher btw. I just think their job is hard enough without worrying about their time off.

It is also our children's time off and not about the teachers at all.

Rant over and no, I didn't read the thread and yes, I'm in a bad mood.

I have young children of primary age, so I am pretty good at keeping a lot of the holidays free to be able to look after them. The days anyway.

In each half term I spend several evenings chasing up jobs I didn't get done before the hols and making sure I am planned and prepared for the half term ahead.

In a 2 week holiday I spend half a day in school tidying and getting jobs done and several other evenings planning an preparing.

In the big 6 weeks holiday it varies. In the year I changed classrooms, I spent 2 weeks in class every day with my children in tow. When things are ticking over nicely I spend a week rearranging things how I want them for September. I also go in during the last week to get ready and get things done for my class.

I can only spend this little time because I use a lot of my evening times doing work instead. And because a classroom assistant at school is so helpful and experienced and knows how to help get ready for the next term. And because my new head teacher values her staff and makes sure that some of every training day is allocated as classroom time.

Anyway. Back to report writing. I spent 3 hours at school earlier (before a parents evening that went on til 9) and got only 5% of what I need to do done. And we have concerts galore in the evenings in a few weeks too. Oh, and another parents evening.

Pissy I have read the whole thread and I'm not in a bad mood but I agree with you. I couldn't do it, and I am just happy there are still people out there that want to teach and enjoy it.

I worked out I have 24 days holiday a year plus bank holidays. I have to work to keep up through all the rest of the holidays

Amazed at primary school teacher who leaves at 4 and never works in holidays. How? Why can't I do that

I could work all dayevery day and still not get everything done.

I think they do a zillion things during the term and out of term that most parents have no idea have to be done.

I hope they get as much time off as they are able because they need it!

Don't forget the residential trips. DS is off to Germany next week. Coach load of 12/13 year olds for 14 hours.

Glad to hear it sparkling.

Teachers are great arn't they.

I'm in abad mood because I have to go back to work tomorrow (PA to equally grumpy no doubt MD)

Nicehamoione I completely agree and it baffles me. No one complains about average workers getting company cars, private healthcare, gym membership, all those perks. Teachers get none of that, yet the one 'perk' they potentially get, holiday, is flung in their face at every opportunity.

I'm an FE lecturer and on paper I get 47 days a year. But. This half term I spent most of the days and evenings getting portfolios ready for EV. I spend at least 2 hours of my own time each evening marking. Then more time planning lessons. Lunch times and breaks are spent doing admin/planning/pastoral care.

I am surprised to hear your dh will be getting more time off at an fe college, laurie! It's 37 days a year (and that's a real 37 days, so you have to go in to work 9-5 at least the rest of the time - no 'working from home'). Dh usually is too busy to take it all though. It's better than a lot of other jobs of course.

Fair and oranges, my SIL gets one afternoon a week where she is not teaching to do her planning/admin work. Perhaps this is not standard for all teachers?

Also in her school the caretaker locks up at 5pm so clearly the school as a culture of early finishes as no teachers work past this time.

Has. Autocorrect is the bain of my life....

Every full time primary teacher has one half day planning and preparation time, knackered mother. It does not even begin to scratch the surface of the amount that needs doing!

It is only possible to do no work in the evenings as a primary teacher ever if you have been in the same year group for donkeys, have a slack head and you are a really crappy teacher in a crap school. No offence.

With 27 years under my belt, I agree Feenie. My school locks up and I take work home then. Plus you have to do so much that is IT-related, that largely gets done at home.

Well, my DH is either a crap teacher or a great one as he takes lots of his holiday. Yes, he does stuff at home, but that is par for the course in most jobs - so do I.

My mum was a teacher for 30 years and even back in the day people would stay late etc. My mum reckoned the ones that stayed later weren't coping.

Teaching is a tough job, but you do get lots of holidays. DH becoming a teacher revolutionised our family life - we used to hardly see him. Perhaps because he worked for years in industry, he recognises good hours and holidays when he sees them.

Primary or secondary, ithaka and what subject?

My DH takes the same as laurie's

I am definitely not going to think about working out his hourly rate 27 hours a week

I expect they do various things during school holidays, but I would think them very inefficient if they had to spend, for example, ten hours a day, each day during the Summer holidays, marking and planning.