The teacher strike is on the same day as DS's transistion day to year 7

[cottonwoolbrain]

He's already unhappy about the school he's been allocated but we've been selling it to him that he'll be much happier and everything will feel more real once he's been and spent the day there... he's the only one from his primary going so it was so it is more important to him than some others.

We've just about got him looking forward to it.. and now this. Wondering if there will be a transition day at all now.. I'm hoping it will be moved rather than cancelled. He's not even been inside the school only ever seen it from outside. He does not know a single person there.

We will wait to see what the school say before I tell him anything. Apparantly that week is transition day for loads of schools across the country... I'd like to think there was nothing deliberate about upsetting so many year 6s... but I feel as if there may be

Well, secondary school induction definitely is a coordinated activity in our LA (a unitary authority with a dozen mainstream secondary schools and at least twice as many schools with a year 6 within its boundary, before you add in the pupils from 'over the border' schools attending). The dates for 2022 and 2023 were agreed on and published back in 2021. And this is an area where all secondary schools ate either academies or faith schools.

No, the pp you were replying to was saying the same thing as me originally. Yes I know whoever doesn't want to strike is exempt thanks, I'm a teacher in the NEU. As the pp was trying to explain, there is no expectation for NEU teachers on residential to strike. The NEU would hope all other teachers would strike. Obviously not everyone does.

Very good point!

How could anyone seriously think it's the teachers themselves that chose the date? Logistically, how would that ever work? Honestly, the mind boggles. It's the same as when people think individual class teachers make up policy and aren't subject to doing what their line manager tells them, just like in any other industry. Of course it's the unions that decided the dates.

I teach Y6, I had discussions last week with our 2 biggest secondary schools about alternative dates for induction as we were all aware there would probably be strikes that week. It turns out the only clash with one of them, so they will now choose one of the alternative dates.

Alright make me feel stupid. Well done.

I assumed that each date was put to a vote. So shall we strike on 7th July? Yes or No.

And to add I don't have a union and never have so how would I know how they work?

So if your planned surgery fell on a day during the junior doctors strike and got cancelled, you would then just expect not to have the surgery at all?

Your surgery would be cancelled, you'd go back on the waiting list and be reprioritised which could take weeks probably months for you to be seen again (and then you could get cancelled again). You could be left in pain, being unable to work and be quite distressed depending on what you needed doing etc for much longer. Hardly the same impact as rebooking the school trip to the zoo for Monday after the strike instead. That was my point really. If you just reschedule every nice activity planned at school to a different day, there's not much impact and I thought the point of strikes was to be disruptive and draw attention to the impact.

I'm sorry that poster was so mean. I really don't think this is a daft thing to think, it makes complete sense that if we're voting for a strike, I know what day I'll be striking, otherwise how do I know if I can strike?

Yh exactly and a trip is hardly comparable to a surgery. It's interesting most parents are up in arms about transition days when on most threads about Y7, the majority of comments say the transition day was useless and complain about it.

Well said @Foxesandsquirrels

I wish more parents would understand this. Then express their concerns to their MPs.

Trouble is - a bit like waiting times in A&E - people think it is an exceptional situation and it doesn't bother them until they actually need to go to A&E, or until it is their dc's class that doesn't have a qualified teacher in front of them.

Yes exactly what I thought.

High schools don't coordinate their transition days. My Y6 class are going to eight different secondary schools between them and their transition days are all different.

They do in many, many LAs though.
Makes a huge amount of sense. Has been the way in my LA for years and years. Decades certainly.
It means ALL the Yr 6 children are out of school on one single day (so don't have to choose to miss the transition or miss something else nice that is going on).
It means all the classes can go for a moving up day into their new classroom and meet their new teacher (so Yr 5s go into the Yr6 rooms and meet whoever will be teaching Yr 6 next year), right down to Nursery children coming into the Reception classes (for a shorter day).
It means teachers who are moving schools are usually released to go to the new school they are moving to.
It's just such a common sense approach.
Absolutely daft for different children from your class to all have to miss different days, if you are trying to rehearse an end of year play, or have arranged a residential or some trips out somewhere.

You should start a campaign in your LA

Hopefully transition days can be rescheduled. But in reality there's alot of other things going on in high schools over the last few weeks so this might not be possible. I'm sure they will do a transition day on the first day back in September

Just because teachers are striking does not mean transition days will be cancelled in any particular school, or that a school will be closed that day.
You just need to wait patiently to see what the school says.

I wish my local authority did this. It would make my life much easier!

When is a good time to have a strike?

Keeping in mind the whole point is to have regular ones.

So far they've mixed up the days with the strikes so it's been all different days and no two days together. Precisely so people don't just see it as an opportunity to have an extra holiday.

Well, we fo have a reasonable amount of 'cross border traffic' (all three of ours had 'outside' schools in various positons on their CAF) and the induction days for surrounding areas tend to be different, but mainly it's local DC moving up to local schools. To be fair, iirc, it's been a common day for most of the schools for years, with only the odd ones doing something different. But in this instance, if the worst comes to the worst, it could mean that practically all year 6s are affected.

If all Yr6s are affected though, all it means is that the secondary schools can do their "Introductory Days" in September slightly differently, with that in mind.

In the same way they did in the covid years when pupils weren't able to come in, in July.

My dd 11 missed
y3-4 transition as lockdown
4-5 as whole year group out as contacts of case (most year groups as insisted on all 60 mixing rather than just 30)
5-6 for reason specific to her, but were supoosed to be 2 days and day 2 was cancelled for all kids.
She is awaiting diagnoses. So yes really crap overall.
Luckily her y7 transition is not one of the strike days -it is that week though. But sports day is..,........ Which moves to alternative but parents will have arranged and booked off with maybe 3 weeks to go. In all 7 years - incl covid this will be first year used alternate, (obv missed 2020 one)

I dont agree with teacher strikes as y 13-2 have had so much missed already. Its taking the piss. My youngest has missed 0 strike days, eldest missed 2. (Which i used to do about 4 sats maths papers a day so actually helped dc. )

But dc1 hates school so really not helping with-you have to go attitude.

Education is sh*.

Here there are no places at ok school for secondary, so dc is forced to go it 'require improvement ' however i actually dont care about ofsted rating. It's that there is no min standard of offering. Or uniform. Or standard day. Acroos all schools
So school she is going to has:
Uniform that possibly going to be refused
Only learn 1 lang
Cant do gcse or a level computing
Has lunch break crazy late
Doesnt set for science
No swimming at all

Both schools enforce girls doing football and rugby.

Wtaf is going on.

And yet they 'wonder' why they are less popular.

They have an asd unit but even so parents with ehcp are choosing the other school.

Other local schools you cant get to by public transport. Or still dont offer other lang or select on particular postcode or have only 29 in whole year doing a lang so unlikely to make up a a level group etc.

Gov building loads of housing so predicting which schools you can get in..??

I could tell school are not happy that their sen numbers have increased so dramatically. But that is across the board in state. And with 2 yr waits for diagnosis.

There's a kid in dc year who didnt sit SATs so y2 or below standard. Yet neither secondary streams so that kid will go into main classes. (It's not due to covid missed school, however he is still also awaiting various diagnoses. ). Surely he cannot pass gcse from this point as he is 4 years behind with 5 years till the test.

Setting for english would be easier for teachers and enable him and others to catch up. Even a loose setting with passed sats/exceeding/not sat them.
There is in fact another dc who didnt sit them but they have eng as foreign lang effectively as just appeared in y6. So good chance of catch up.
Somewhat bizzarely schools are setting for pe. Which while great is maybe not as crucial.

Overa!l the rates of sen or diagnosis has shot up.

Ive recently seen some awful behaviour from NT kids at an activity and its a miracle they get volunteers. (Too many kids for all to have SN). And local school punishes for physically fighting but nothing for verbal mean words. So one dc goes to the other as child 2 first day in their group 'oh its x, the most hated boy in the school'. The leader has to have heard and said nothing. Apparently the boy is unpopular so making it worse. And this not banter or a joke. Boy 1 continued with similar behaviour.

Honestly teaching would be a hard career choice. But issues are more the above behaviour/sen/ parents/ not able to exclude/ long waitlists/
Its not the pay putting people off. And pay is even better considering holidays.

Now it will also be -
not able to work from home...
Not flexible for drop off and pick up
Behaviour
Sen
Couldnt retrain with a 2-2 --think thats changed
Cant do cheap or free degree or alevels at colleges
Where women used to work to age 60 (my mum retired from teaching at 50) when planning a career do i think i could be a class teacher at 68++++ depending on gov changes to retirement.
Cant take cheap term time holidays when your kids are 1-5.
Also kids with behaviour issues/ or some sen kids can set each other off. So say where dc1 went on camp child A with adhd and child B (cheeky) knicked kids sweets.

Escalated till several other kids had done this too. 1 slightly impulsive kid who is youngest in year. All the kids were told off, warned about being sent home.

But if we think of kids experience of school. .
Primary
Come in do starter work.
Sit where teacher says
no talking
do pe - no training on how to catch etc
No supervion by teachers at breaks. No punishment for verbal stuff
No playground games (no ropes etc, rota for using play equipment
Still no choice where to sit.
Sit particular place on carpet (uncomfortable)
Cant see the book to read along
Classes altered almost yearly so if shy often lose friends or never got to be in class with some
No stretch above curriculum so for homework for mathletics would still get set that year work
no incentive to get kids from meeting to exceeding
there is incentive to manipulate reading levels to make it look like progrees.
Secret extra booster lessons and clubs for good/ bad students
Sexism against girls re maths ability.
Lack of expectation that kid can improve from met to exceeding.
swimmers tested and then good ones get no primary lessons
Some of this is due to gov data
There was no social skills taught in reception or after - precovid. And imo this is why y6 is so bad! Just 'no fighting' is nowhere near enough.

Secondary?
Pe including no swimming but for girls compulsory football and rugby
Sets for sports so kids know you are rubbish
Uncomfortable uniform
Some schools making kids wear blazers in class!
Two week timetables
Lots of noise
Huge schools
Classes of 32 for some subjects
Little flexibility to drop subjects you cant do
School specific - lunch really late, probably csnt get food and eat in time
Loads of 'tutor time' -- boring
One school not enouvh lockers so kids travelling by bus nowhere to put stuff (presumably incl pe kit or coats)
Girls uniform wearing tie - but no option for tracksuit bottoms just leggings
Decisions about kids doing subjects based on ks2 results -- which some parents didnt realise were important
Not enough toilets-- sharing unisex.

My dad was talking about secondary modern school - london hes 80
Pe was only gym. Other sports after school lunch etc and choices. He didnt then do rugby
It was a boys school with girls next door.
Girls did girls sports
Results in primary read out so knew class position

I think girls only education needs to be looked at.
The lower generally rates in girls is masking how bad the situation is

The uncomfortable truth being we know/suspect asd is linked to older parents (we were only 33 and then both 35 for dc2.
And if we dont reverse this trend of later babies there will have to be significant increases in school funding and reopening of sen schools.
And - faster acknowledgments of issues in toddlers (some parents might not choose to have a dc2). My own dc1 was tricky from birth and hyper, never slept etc.
Hopefully genetic testing will help and having more parents diagnosed will help when making decisions about having kids. For eg relative with adhd going out with someone whose child has adhd. Might consider the impact of having another likely (??) Adhd child. And age gap etc.
Now say i know dp has adhd on his side and maybe asd too, would we have had kids as there are strong asd traits on my side.

In a literal sense the strikes are slightly worsening kids behaviour locally, as several parents are allowing kids to stay unsupervised at park all day. In a way that doesnt happen at weekends as kids do activities.

Dc2 is very likely also ND but is clinging on at school.

I think there has been a change to work where many choose to do minimum (in lots of jobs not specific to education). And parents doing minimum
But in education obviously you can see impacts. You cant just let nursery age roam. Nor reception. Just too many kids for that. Same with general breaks for older kids.
We had a coulle of near misses at nursery and an op at primary due to lack of supervision. (Note not having that happen in our care with obviously taking kids out by roads/having much more stuff at home to get injured on.)

At reception age almost an arrogance that even trips will be fine as not asking parents of tricky kids do we have concerns (so one ran off- pretty predictable really). Just no interest in being told about concerns from parents.

And back to topic re transition to secondary despite diagnosis referral i dont think dc will get extra transition (also req by ed psych) as
1 we actually didnt get letter about even summer sessions (suspiciously)
2 one transition event was on day of appeal hearing and it was only sport which dc hates
3 ive not been asked yet (similar to reception) about concerns.

Similar in oitside school activity never been asked about sn. And when i mentioned anxiety dc was excluded within 3 weeks. But also a comment that dc doesnt have SN! Im sure lots of parents dont disclose everything to activities as its often just - on waitlist.

Having your own dc that might run off for eg is stressful, understanding which dc out of 60 might do that much more so. Takes certain personality to cope with that taking seriously. As i note with guiding and scouts there have been some dangerous situations and similar to school it takes certain adults to cope.

@Summer1912
Everything you have listed is the reason for the strikes. School funding is inadequate and has been for a long time. It's not really about pay. The government need to listen and fund schools properly.

@Summer1912 and so much of what you have listed is exactly why the teachers are striking, as @Hercisback says.
Teachers know they can't do the job they signed up to do, and so very much want to do, because of the serious underfunding there has been since 2010, when the whole country went into austerity because of bankers gambling.
They are striking to try to get the Government to recognise everything that you have said, and take a serious look at the funding they have, and all the supporting services that should be there to support families, that have been trashed no longer have - CAMHS, Youth Service, Children's Centres, Health Visitors, Probation Services, Mental Health services that support parents, Parenting courses, Housing, refugee services, translation services, Psychiatric service, Social Care, Child Protection, Pastoral Support, Behaviour Support, School Transport, and so forth.

Teacher tapp data shows what was scheduled for the NEU strike days (9701 responses)

To be honest, that's a measly response number in ratio to amount of schools in England.