Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Scotsnet

Welcome to Scotsnet - discuss all aspects of life in Scotland, including relocating, schools and local areas.

Original poster

Scottish teachers strikes

591 replies

museumum · 28/01/2023 10:57

How have other Scots found the teachers strikes?
I’m seeing a lot of stress from English parents I know on Fb as well as on mn but it seems to me in my bit of Scotland parents have said “fair dos” to the teachers and just got in with things/arrangements quietly.

I’m not sure this is necessarily good for the teachers cause….

interested to hear from other Scots around the country….?

OP posts:
pasta4me · 09/03/2023 17:51

The EIS ballot closes at 10 tomorrow, meeting begins at 10.05. Fingers crossed.

SirChenjins · 09/03/2023 17:52

x posts - glad it’s out to ballot (as it should have been previously)

SirChenjins · 10/03/2023 10:58

Thank goodness for that - 90% backed the end to strikes. They should have put the previous offer to the vote rather than dragging this out without being certain they had the backing of their members www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64906111

BlueThursday · 10/03/2023 11:00

Sorry meant its members as a whole

MountedbyHarryWindsor · 10/03/2023 16:42

other unions are still to decide though, if just one of these unions votes reject, does that mean the offer doesn't go through?
And education was still disrupted and the SQA should take that into account for ALL pupils when marking.

Paesano · 10/03/2023 16:48

MountedbyHarryWindsor · 10/03/2023 16:42

other unions are still to decide though, if just one of these unions votes reject, does that mean the offer doesn't go through?
And education was still disrupted and the SQA should take that into account for ALL pupils when marking.

Not all pupils. Only those in the state system. But it should be recognised that some kids have had more disruption if your going to make adjustments at all.

SirChenjins · 10/03/2023 16:50

It will be interesting to see - the RCN is still making up its mind while other NHS unions accepted the deal, called off strikes and we got our pay increase. There's no reason why the same thing shouldn't happen here.

Shelefttheweb · 10/03/2023 17:31

Paesano · 10/03/2023 16:48

Not all pupils. Only those in the state system. But it should be recognised that some kids have had more disruption if your going to make adjustments at all.

Show quote history

Some children will have had a couple of weeks off sick, during which time they wouldn’t even have been able to do home studying. Other children miss half a day of school every week to attend hospital appointments. Some children develop school related anxiety and miss months of schooling. Some have been bullied. Some have suffered a bereavement. Some of these will be at private schools.

Shelefttheweb · 10/03/2023 17:41

SQAs decision comes down to ‘is a Nat 5/Higher a record of having achieved a certain standard or not?’

Paesano · 10/03/2023 17:57

@Shelefttheweb Of course. TBH I'm not sure that adjustments are really going to work. And I say that as the parent of a child in a targeted school. I was pointing out that if adjustments are made, they shouldn't be made for ALL pupils as suggested. Every year kids will be disrupted across the board, for countless reasons. Back in my day that's why teachers could appeal your grade if they felt there were extenuating circumstances. But if there's a move to make allowance for large scale disruption this year it stands to reason some kids have much more disruption than others. If you think that the extra days the targeted kids lost made no difference you would lose your argument that any days lost made a difference?

SirChenjins · 10/03/2023 17:57

Shelefttheweb · 10/03/2023 17:31

Some children will have had a couple of weeks off sick, during which time they wouldn’t even have been able to do home studying. Other children miss half a day of school every week to attend hospital appointments. Some children develop school related anxiety and miss months of schooling. Some have been bullied. Some have suffered a bereavement. Some of these will be at private schools.

Show quote history

But the majority won’t. The SQA needs to do something to take account of the lack of education during the strikes.

Shelefttheweb · 10/03/2023 18:13

If you think that the extra days the targeted kids lost made no difference you would lose your argument that any days lost made a difference?

Or the argument the other way - if adjustments should be made for lessons lost during the strikes, what more adjustments should be made for those who have lost days/weeks/months for other reasons? And at what point due those adjustments start to undermine the validity of the qualification? I would argue that the adjustments made in Covid hugely undermined the validity of the qualifications.

Shelefttheweb · 10/03/2023 18:20

I think it is unfair but I a don’t know how it can be solved.

SirChenjins · 10/03/2023 18:41

The lessons were withdrawn by the teachers - that’s the key difference.

Paesano · 10/03/2023 18:42

Shelefttheweb · 10/03/2023 18:13

If you think that the extra days the targeted kids lost made no difference you would lose your argument that any days lost made a difference?

Or the argument the other way - if adjustments should be made for lessons lost during the strikes, what more adjustments should be made for those who have lost days/weeks/months for other reasons? And at what point due those adjustments start to undermine the validity of the qualification? I would argue that the adjustments made in Covid hugely undermined the validity of the qualifications.

Which is why I said I don't think adjustments are really going to work. Some kids will have been able to use the strike days valuably and other kids (mine) will really struggle with that and have properly lost those days. What this situation and the covid years reinforces to me is that our exam system needs rethought and a greater element of continuous assessment.

Vettrianofan · 19/09/2023 22:12

Well it's likely happening again next week! Just got the email from my LA...

LoopyGremlin · 19/09/2023 22:20

Vettrianofan · 19/09/2023 22:12

Well it's likely happening again next week! Just got the email from my LA...

Not teachers though....

WhereAreMyAirpods · 19/09/2023 22:21

No it’s not the teachers, it’s the jannies and support staff. End result is the same though.

JamMakingWannaBe · 19/09/2023 22:30

It seems really short notice this time.
I really hope the October holiday club is going to be able to run because we need to take time off work to cover these days instead of during the school holidays.

Vettrianofan · 20/09/2023 06:44

LoopyGremlin · 19/09/2023 22:20

Not teachers though....

Show quote history

True. I was so keen to find a current thread about strikes I didn't check that part properly. Sorry 😐

LoopyGremlin · 20/09/2023 06:50

No worries @Vettrianofan
The result is the same though as @WhereAreMyAirpods says ☹️

The non- teaching staff are paid an absolute pittance. Nearly all PSAs in my school have to take on second jobs. How is anyone supposed to live in Edinburgh when the rent on a one bed flat is more than their monthly take home pay? We are struggling to recruit and it'll only get worse unless they get a decent rise.

Vettrianofan · 20/09/2023 06:59

I just hope they get better terms and conditions out of this. It's a bit of inconvenience but worth it so support staff in schools can get paid fairly. I am sure this will be a talking point in many playgrounds this morning in the parts of Scotland affected.

tigger1001 · 20/09/2023 08:14

Vettrianofan · 19/09/2023 22:12

Well it's likely happening again next week! Just got the email from my LA...

We've still not been told if our school is effected. Got a letter from the la saying schools "may" be affected and the school would be in touch - but nothing.

Apart from the rumour mill at the school where teachers are hinting it may be closed next week to the kids.

WhereAreMyAirpods · 20/09/2023 08:19

We are in East Dunbartonshire and they sent out a letter last week saying all schools closed. All primary, secondary, the one special school. A couple of early years centres are staying open.

I think the union are meeting again today, they have to make the call one way or another by 5pm. This is our September weekend, the kids are off Friday/Monday anyway, so with this three day strike proposed Tuesday-Thursday, it's a week off school.

Vettrianofan · 20/09/2023 09:08

So everyone who may be affected will know by 5pm.