can't be 'polite' and good any longer....

[swallowedAfly]

ds goes to a village primary with all the subsequent over-reliance on parents wealth, education, time, etc. re: assuming sahms are the norm, money is plentiful for fanciful trips and activities, we all know how to sew up costumes at the drop of a hat etc.

that's fine. i chose to live here. however....

homework is way over the top in terms of quantity and right from day one of school. one part of homework (there is loads) is the 'learning log' which is pretended to be something children could do indepndently and consolidates learning. except in reality it is not, by a long shot.

i've put up with it and put up with and felt enslaven to doing it until today when i've had enough. this week for ds (6yo and one of the most able in his year) it says, "show me what you've learned about number bonds up to 20 and what patterns you can see". then there's a blank page.

i don't know why (because this is far from the worst that's come home) but today i've had enough and found myself writing on the page that i have no idea what the learning objective is, what outcomes they're hoping for or how the hell they see this as differentiated. i've also asked how they think a parent with numeracy or literacy problems would tackle this task and whether they would actually set this as a task in class to 6yos and expect a meaningful outcome.

there is no context, no structure, no literacy support, no prompts nothing. same as ever. sometimes the tasks don't even relate to anything they've been learning.

am i totally unreasonable or would you after a year or so be fed up too? i am (if it's not obvious) an ex teacher and i know what education is supposed to be about and this is not it. homework should be meaningful. how could a 6yo read that question and face a blank page and do something a teacher could look at and assess to see what they've learnt? they couldn't.

on top of this learning log (given on a friday and expected in by tuesday) daily reading and signing of reading book is expected plus other bits and bobs. he's 6! he's been getting this since 5 at a point where some kids couldn't even write let alone face a blank page and an open ended task and produce something yet they'd get in trouble if they didn't. this is just a test of parents surely? and an unfair one given it assumes knowledge and literacy that some parents won't have?

sorry for long random rant but help! i'm not playing this game anymore and i'm ready to speak up. it's a joke.

I am afraid that although I am pro teacher as a rule, I think if people know it's going to snow, part of the job is to arrange accommodation near the school so you can walk in, and sort out your own children so they are taken care of in snow conditions while you attend work. Call me old fashioned.

Sorry but that should have said 'but they should NOT be'!

I don't think teachers should spend all weekend and evening marking etc

And I should stop doing this and get back to the thesis I am marking ....

Probably obvious which is more fun!

give him the time & space to sit and attempt it, if he can do it, fine. If not that's what you hand in.
You are correct, its his homework

So I vote Boffinmum as our campaign leader! Yes agree - I think this is all part of the creeping recent belief that schools are the keepers of all wisdom regarding raising children and controlling parents!

I was chair of governors for many years at my elder (now adult ) children's primary school - that was a fab school with a brilliant and reasonable and experienced head who filed most dictats from on high in the bin, happily took in traveller kids who ruined his perfect SATS results, kept all his staff happy and absorbed all the ofsted pressure - the buck stopped with him. It was a beacon school and hugely over subscribed. Oh and no homework until year 6 - just to get them ready for senior school. But boy did he care about adding personalised value to each and every child!

It was amazing how quickly that went up in a puff of smoke when he retired. School now a shadow of its former self. All down to one professional fabulous individual - nothing to do with the bloody government or ofsted or targets.

Glad it's not just me who crouches (and overhangs!) on those little chairs at parents evening (is that a deliberate ploy do you think?) and feels like a recalcitrant child!

I rarely pluck up the courage to take the teacher on and come away fuming that my (normally) articulate and assertive personae has deserted me!

For the snow thing: I really wish we could do as we did in the 70's and say: all qualified teachers go to their nearest school. It worked.

Mytho... That head sounds a total legend. I wish there were more like him.

Ah, but if you tried that now people would whinge on about CRB/VBS checks and rubbish like that.

Ultimately if we did see teachers as a crack educational/child development squad and treated them accordingly, whilst expecting them to behave as such, we might see some of the changes we all want in terms of bring in a greater degree of high reliability in UK schooling.

Teachers still go to their nearest school (or LEA office) if they can't get to their own school sheridand (of course you need your CRB or equivalent with you ) I turned up at my local school, along with 2 dozen other teachers and 3 kids, who happened to be children of one of the teachers. other parents sensibly didn't risk the dangerous roads.

it's like the strike last week. the point of a strike really is that it should cost your employers something re: the school has to pay out for emergency staff to cover keep business going or the business loses profits etc.

schools - nope they just announce they're closing for the day.

so how does the strike influence anything when it costs them nothing and actually saves them money that day? in reality parents, namely mothers, pay and have to scrabble around like crazy finding ways to still go to work despite last minute notice of nowhere for children to go.

if any other business or institution ran like a primary school tends to run the nation would be bankrupt and ground to a halt within weeks.

Yes sheridand he was and I am very grateful my kids went to his school.

I think it just takes someone so convinced of the rightness of what they do that they have the courage to stick to their principles in the face of Lea/government stupidity.

I suppose this is why i gave the example that academics I know have the confidence to ignore government dictats about education because they know what is ultimately important for their kids to get into uni.

Oh and that head, when it snowed he stayed there until the last child left and NEVER made you feel bad despite the school being on top if the Pennines. He'd just be there playing with the kids.

"it's like the strike last week. the point of a strike really is that it should cost your employers something re: the school has to pay out for emergency staff to cover keep business going or the business loses profits etc."

the whole point of a strike is that emergency staff shouldn't be taking over ... it's meant to have an impact! and the strike days have been known to the government and public for months in advance.

it's meant to have an effect on the employer - it cost the employer nothing - the price was thrown onto parents and their employers.

a strike costs a company money - ergo the company has incentive not to get to strike action. if it costs the company nothing but costs innocent parents all it achieves is alienating the very people whose support you need.

also schools get between 4-6k funding per child in this country at primary level - they're not charities and they should at the very least be able to open their doors on time.

and the snow thing is ridiculous - every business in the area can be open, every parent expected to get to work yet the teachers apparently can't be expected to get to work and do their jobs that they're getting paid for despite the fact school's sloppy standards in this instance will screw over everyone in the local area.

Swallowed All very different when you are talking about the Public Sector.

Ultimately the Public is the employer. Although the LA gets in the way here. Weird chain of command. Definitely not the 'customer is always right'.

anyway that's all way off track obviously.

no, not the customer is always right but the school is happily taking money to do a job - it shouldn't be then thinking parents should be cap in hand humble for them deigning to do them a favour. education is no longer an act of charity bestowed upon us peasants by the generosity of the church.

actually this is getting daft and i'm going off on one.

swallowed Was not a criticism..

But chain of command is just not as simple.

So when train drivers go on strike who is inconvenienced swallowedAfly? passengers perhaps? when air traffic controllers go on strike who is inconvenienced? passengers ? when lorry drivers go on strike who is inconvenienced? customers?

and yes the "company" (government) should have an incentive not to provoke strike action ...

(and just for the record my union isn't involved in the strike action.)

Snow ... sorry but 15 foot snow drifts meant nothing was moving not even on foot! perhaps you've never had food dropped in by helicopter
not all schools are in the middle of towns or cities

Have worked in the service sector before...Teaches you some things.

errr no 15foot snow drifts here mrz - hence my saying '2cm of snow'.

and train strike - loss of ticket sales and pockets of employers hit, likewise planes, lorry drivers strike the company loses money as goods aren't delivered on time etc.

school - employer loses nothing, parents have to find money for childcare or take time off work and lose money that way.

you can perhaps see the difference or have you been in the world of school so long you've maybe gotten out of touch with how the rest of the world make their business and money?

i'm not saying teachers shouldn't strike by the way but that schools, leas, the government should have a duty to keep schools open so THEY pay for it and feel the weight of it rather than just happily being able to pass it onto parents knowing they'll be annoyed and mistakenly blame teachers.

No swallowedAfly I worked in industry for many years before becoming a teacher and the employees would have taken action much sooner than teachers have in similar circumstances simply because they care about pupils.

and for the record schools aren't there for the convenience of parents

and for the record schools aren't there for the convenience of parents

But they are not there for convenience either. Schools should be part of the community and be prepared to 'do their bit' too...

The way the parents are actually on side...instead of the we aren't here for you near ner na ner ner ner....