School Strikes 26th March - Invoicing the LEA

[Bexinder]

Just wanted to share what I'm doing, and I wonder if we can get some sort of campaign going. Lots of UK schools are closed due to teacher's industrial action next Wednesday 26th March. Given that we parents have absolutely no leeway when it comes to taking children out of school during term time and will be hit with heavy fines per child if we do without permission, I'm invoicing my local education authority for failing to provide education on this day. They haven't asked MY permission to allow the school to close.....Now I'm not expecting them to pay this at all, but I am wanting to cause a stink. They can close the school over the pay and pensions row, but I can't take my children out of school for a funeral.
Sorry - rant over... if anyone wants to copy the invoice, let me know and I'll post it. Thanks!

I am well aware teachers have the right to strike thank you. However, I dont' believe professionals do strike.

Near is prob best left to her own rants. Gove? Really?

The rain round here is awful. Hail stones and everything!

Christ, not the axis story again.

Why bother changing your username when you appear on the same threads, saying the same things? Kind of defeats the object.

"However, I dont' believe professionals do strike."

Then you would be wrong.

Erm...Barristers, doctors, probation officers, nurses - all professionals and all striking since 2010. Near you exist in your own bubble.

"I didn't remove my children lightly from the state system - I had to because of the state the system was and is in."

How do you know what the state of the system is in if you haven't been involved with it for 10 years?

And this from someone who cba to rtft - or spell 'their' correctly!

Well, well, it must touch a nerve to make teachers so angry.

Performance management is key. As far as I am concerned you can all have a 5% pay rise and your pension rights reinstated as per ten years ago providing your unions agree to robust performance management and speed in dispatching those of your number who require improvement. It is disgraceful that teachers who require improvement are allowed to inflict their incompetence on 30 children year after year after year after year.

I would love to see this invoice! . Please, please post it OP.

I don't generally read the Sun, so if you don't post it I'll miss out on the version with the unflattering sadface photo of you captioned 'plucky mum'.

Good post MrsHerculePoirot.

I'm sure this is going to fall on deaf ears, but I'll say it anyway. Teachers DO have Performance Management near, have done as long as I've been in the profession (since 2001).

I'm not a teacher - your ignorance should shame you, but I'm sure it doesn't. You appear to be someone who types marginally better than than think.

She has been told that time after time - doesn't sink in.

"Well, well, it must touch a nerve to make teachers so angry."
You must be very proud.

"Performance management is key. As far as I am concerned you can all have a 5% pay rise and your pension rights reinstated as per ten years ago providing your unions agree to robust performance management and speed in dispatching those of your number who require improvement."

How would you implement performance management?
What would be the criteria for success?
What areas would it take in to account?

"It is disgraceful that teachers who require improvement are allowed to inflict their incompetence on 30 children year after year after year after year."

How do you know that they are?
Can you provide evidence to supporting evidence?

near no teacher I know is against 'robust performance management', however I have yet to hear how this could be fairly implemented for teachers. If you have any excellent solutions please feel free to share with the unions....

So you think that the standard of teachers wasn't good enough 10 years ago? You then think that by Gove destroying the teachers' terms and conditions, a better calibre of graduate will suddenly be desperate to train to teach, despite teachers now leaving the profession in droves.

Personally, I want teachers to be well paid and happy and I want the job to attract brilliant graduates who will educate and inspire my children!

Has anything appeared in The Sun yet?

(Being slightly cynical, I wonder if the temperature of this thread is informing their editorial line, assuming of course they know about it),

Read the fucking thread eh feenie. Can't you express yourself without resorting to foul language? You've been extremely rude to me over the years, so it's a shame you can't argue without resorting to foul language.

Now if you want to be very very rude do try to remember you aren't in the playground and foul language doesn't wash. And if you like you can even send me a very very rude and offensive pm again when I have tried politely to explain where I come from. Now that was really nice if you want to start being personal.

BTW, there's a thread just started in AIBU in case anyone want a look (but not saying anything that's not been thoroughly covered here).

Last year one of my performance management targets stated that 85% of children had to achieve level 4 in English and Maths ( as this is national average. Which would be fine, except I had 12 children in my year 6 group, so each child was worth 8%, including one child with a statement of Special Needs and went onto a Special Needs Secondary school as the local secondaries couldn't deal with his difficulties and one child who was on holiday during SATS week and we were refused permission for him to sit his tests later as we were honest and asked for permission, rather than saying he was ill. So 2 children didn't achieve the required level and I "failed" my performance management, despite the fact that every other child exceeded expectations.

When someone comes up with a fair means of performance management then count me in, my results stand for themselves, otherwise think again!

NearTheWindyMill - are you stalking Feenie from thread to thread? One use of "Christ" is all that has appeared on this thread. And I think your personal attack on Feenie is wholly unwarranted on the issues in this thread.

If you were performance managed on that basis Spanieleyes you would have strong mitigating circumstances and nothing could possibly stick. It would be an idiot who tried to performance manage on that basis.

let's not forget that all these teachers who are outraged get about 13 weeks holiday each year...that's about a quarter of the year.
Of course there can be performance management...you lot just don't like the idea so make the excuse that it can't/won't be objective. Yes Gove for PM...he'd be brilliant.
And just for the record I was a senior manager in schools for years and am now a governor so I know quite a lot about teachers and how important their holidays are. Of course they are not striking about the quality of education....funny how they only go on strike when their conditions of service are affected. I've also worked for OFSTEAD so I have observed many teachers. You may try to pull the wool over parents' eyes but Ii don't blame anyone for going private.

I'm certainly not stalking her but she has sent me a vile pm in the past and has been bringing up my name change regularly lately. If any stalking started it wasn't started by me.