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.

Actually my previous occupation had term time contracts to fit in with working parents.

But your head should have backed you up so you didn't have to worry about moaning parents. IME the single most important thing on a happy school/business/department is a good boss/head who gives clear leadership, honest and open communication and trusts and supports his/her staff to do their job. Keeps their finger on the pulse so he knows when things aren't quite right and never makes her staff feel worried or undermined or at the mercy of unfounded complaints. And takes the responsibility for the schools performance. That's what I would do.

Teachers then can be open and honest with parents knowing they have the heads backing without feeling under threat or unable to explain or defensive - which I find many are at my DSs school.

I just as I think swallowedafly does want to support the school to teach my child but on an equal adult 'we are all in this together' footing.

mrz "I acknowledge that working parents have a difficult job" ...

that just made me think that non-working parents have an even more difficult job, with little money coming in for their family.

Being a working parent needs to be seen much more as the norm, including by schools. It's time they stepped up to the childcare aspect of their role - with breakfast and after school provision for all (I welcome that new initiative, of at least guaranteed access to wrap around care by every school)
And they can stop expecting us all to make outfits and bake cakes too!
(Only a few of us will be SAHM at any given time, and it's not necessarily a permanent arrangement)

My head did back me up with every parent who went to see her about "why can't my child have a full time proper teacher?", but that doesn't stop the gossiping and moaning in the playground. I have been a head and no matter how open in communication and proactive you are parents moan. The school was very open and I was in the playground firing line everyday to be on the end of these subtle but barbed comments until half way through the year they realised their children hadn't been short-changed by having my job-share and me as their teachers. But at the time, coming back from maternity leave and feeling insecure it really stung.

But the role of schools isn't childcare JugglingFromHereToThere and as working parents we have to accept that and that it is our responsibility to organise appropriate provision for our children, with contingency plans that take in the unexpected, be it snow days or sick children ...

As I've said in several of my posts mrz IMO it can be one of the roles of schools.
I think as a society we need to make all these aspects of life work well together for everyone's benefit, much as they do in some of the Scandinavian countries where childcare and early years education is much better organised from the early years upwards - enabling mothers to remain in work and return to work much more easily
I think we're making a big mistake if we try to say the role of schools is only in the education of the children - though I'd agree (as both a parent and early years teacher) that that should remain it's primary focus.

I think I remember a recent suggestion by someone (may even have been he who must not be named) that schools provide sleepovers to aid working parents....
That's called boarding school Mr G!

the role of school definitely isn't only education but it remains the prime role regardless as parents we still need childcare contingency plans for the unexpected

As long as society and the government realise that until they help parents more in providing what you might describe as "joined up" childcare options then many parents, especially mothers, will continue to opt out of the world of work.
But maybe in the current economic climate they don't mind that so much ?

and it's so handy when the government blame teachers

I agree that schools role isn't childcare. However they ARE an important part of the child role and it is ludicrous to think that everyone can have a back up plan available at 8.50am when the children are supposed to be in class by 8.55am.

As everyone else who is working I need the schools to be reliable re opening times. I can't be working with the fear of the school not opening for most of the winter as it has been the case last year (we had weeks and weeks of snow here).
And I am NOT talking about people like you mrz who clearly go the extra mile to get to work.

schools do need to play their part in childcare.

you might not like it but it IS what is expected and and what will have to continue to develop re: school dinners, pre and after school care, onsite nurseries and pre schools, extra curricular activities, sport, pastoral care etc.

it so obviously 'is' isn't it?

if you don't like it that's one thing but you can't say it's not what schools are when it's quite clear that it very much is a part of what schools are and why the state is able to afford to run them

if schools - and please note i'm saying 'schools' not teachers - aren't prepared to take a role in childcare provision, supporting work and society and moving forwards to reflect modern life and work patterns then eventually we have to say to those schools who feel that way that we're going to withdraw their funding.

and i suppose the obvious point whether we like it or not is that academy groups are happily running pre and after school care at reasonable, affordable prices and providing places for every child who needs it academy schools will be what we get.

sorry there's an 'if' missing from that post.

i don't think teachers used to have this, 'we're not childcare' attitude.

for example it was common and expected that teachers would run after school clubs - so the music specialist taught recorder and the pe teacher did a football club etc.

there isn't a single club or activity like that at my school now - everything is a paid for activity provided by a private company outside coming into school.

expected by who? by you ?

academy schools providing affordable places until there is no alternative and they have the monopoly ... prices suddenly soar

I think you are right about the academy situation. I hope it all works out and that the quality of education doesn't suffer in an attempt to force through global academisation that provides extended wraparound care.

When I started teaching I ran several after school clubs a week. The reason I stopped was because the general paperwork and workload of just basic teaching increased and we had more late meetings. I still run one a week. I never get a thank you from the children or parents, they treat it as a right rather than something I give my unpaid time for. Plus certain parents are regularly half an hour late collecting the children, leaving me hanging round in the entrance hall supervising these children until 5pm with a gymnasium to clear before I even start marking and clearing up my classroom or preparing for the next day's teaching. When clubs impact o the quality of classroom education I felt I had to draw the line at just one a week.

I run a club a week, as do all the other staff in my school, together with parent volunteers, ex pupils who provide coaching and volunteers from the local Seniors Club. We charge for just one-a sports club provided by an external specialist coach. Perhaps you just chose the wrong school!

Every teacher (and most of the TAs) run a club in my school, exactly as all the staff (including the head) at my old one.

Equally, DS's secondary has two A4 sides at about 8 point font of clubs running before school, at lunches, and after school, none of which are paid for. Several lead to qualifications e.g. Mandarin & Italian GCSEs are taught as after schol clubs. Orchestras, choirs, all possible sports, cycling, archery, but aso Chess, latin, model-building, D of E - list is endless, all run by staff.

Equally, my DD's primary has wrap-arpound care for 100 children on site, available from 7.45 am to 5.45 pm and on Inset days. That's pretty normal round here - either to have such a facility on site or to walk children to a nearby site e.g. church hall where exactly the same service is provided. All link seamlessly to clubs run by teachers - DD migrates from a sports club to after school club on one evening, for example.

Run in the same way as most pre-schools are - charities run by committees of users, who then employ the staff and pay a nominal fee (if any) to the school or church hall to use the premises.

We also put out parent questionnaires each year asking for interest in pre and after school care provision. We have never had enough interest to make running such provision financially viable.

We have private childcare on sight to provide before and after school care although few of our parents use it

site even!

After school clubs shouldn't be cheap/free childcare - teachers/TAs run them because they want to. There's nothing worse than doing football/netball/recorders with kids who would rather not be there but who are forced to go because it's free childcare. Rare but it happens. Kids say, "I hate dancing, but mum says I have to come." Horrible for child, teacher and other children alike. Pay a childminder/after school club the going rate as we teachers do if your child isn't interested or sign up for a club they'll actually enjoy.

I know parents who've covered up chicken pox spots with concealer so they can go to work. I know life's hard, but that one actually puts other people at serious risk. As well as being horrid for the child.

God my first thought is it sounds really boring homework.... I'm dreading my ds starting school.!