Proposed longer days

[BeingATwatItsABingThing]

Can I preface this by requesting that this does not turn into a teacher bashing thread please!

www.tes.com/news/exclusive-8am-6pm-extended-school-day-table?fbclid=IwAR38Yzx74z2xuATlA8L9XmWFWzyiq1K47j3UaFCYHGyLb79rjeG9kWgXUeA

I’ve just seen this this morning. If this comes into fruition, I will be leaving teaching. I can only just cope with my workload with our school day as it is (8:35 - 3:15). I spend hours every night marking and prepping for the next day and I spend at least one weekend day catching up with planning and marking before I even think about catching up on housework and life admin. My children get a really raw deal from me being a teacher and I don’t have any more time I’m willing to take from them.

They’re suggesting making the days 30 minutes longer and optional 8am - 6pm days. We have an early finish on a Friday to recoup some costs from our ridiculous budget cuts and the article says they would want to get rid of those.

Even if I think about this from a parenting perspective, I don’t want my DDs in school any longer than they already are.

What are other teacher’s thoughts?

Well quite. If they genuinely wanted to learn from other countries we'd have a very different education system.

The proposed extension of the school day is both too much and not enough. Hard to see how more of the same is going to improve the lot of the disadvantaged, and not enough money to pay teachers more/fund more creative extensions to learning.

Still, it achieves the objective of slapping down the pesky teachers with their cushy jobs, which is the main thing.

It’s not even just the teachers who would have to be paid more. It’s any reception staff, support staff, site management, business managers... It’s going to cost a fortune for not very much gain.

@BeingATwatItsABingThing

It’s not even just the teachers who would have to be paid more. It’s any reception staff, support staff, site management, business managers... It’s going to cost a fortune for not very much gain.

I hadn't thought of that. It will be that aspect, and only that, that stops the proposal in its tracks.

Here in Melbourne, the lockdown recovery scheme is all conducted in-class by specially recruited staff. An unintended consequence, coupled with no International teachers coming in, is a massive shortage of cover teachers.

Have they shelved that now?

We're finding a shortage of supply staff too.

I'm unsure if it's because they have lots of work or have left the profession or both.

In the UK, I think there were fewer NQTs going for jobs last year because of their disrupted year. We had an NQT take a TA role in our school to gain more experience before going for a teaching job.

Maybe the lack of supply jobs last year means that supply teachers went for full time roles this year. We used our recovery money to pay for additional staff this year.

A lot of supply teachers are older and just didn't want to come into covid pits.

@Piggywaspushed

A lot of supply teachers are older and just didn't want to come into covid pits.

That too! I know a lot of our staff who were close to retirement have now taken the leap a bit earlier than planned because they hated schools in covid times.

@Piggywaspushed

A lot of supply teachers are older and just didn't want to come into covid pits.

Don't blame them.

We had an nqt as a supply TA and he said he felt really un prepared for teaching.

Gav was appalling on Today this morning.

Basically said it was a lot of money and to be v grateful for it.

We had an nqt as a supply TA and he said he felt really un prepared for teaching.

I did a 3 year BEd teacher training course that had no pandemic interruptions and I still felt unprepared for the real world of teaching. I can only imagine how this year’s NQTs must have felt.

I think this proposal is all sorts of messed up and it is totally apparent that no-one has consulted anyone in an actual real-life school about what would really make a difference. No surprises there!!

I don't know about you all but I'm primary and the children we've identified as needing 'catch-up' are the ones who would've benefitted from more support prior to COVID anyway. The majority of my KS2 class are pretty much back up to speed. The ones who are behind have been 'behind' (for want of a better phrase) since Reception. Mainly due to other factors such as lack of parental support or available tech, poverty, SEND...the usual factors.

This COVID 'catch-up' idea for learning lost is just utter bollocks really, isn't it? It's the Government doing the age-old smoke & mirrors and pretending to give a shit.

It’s completely smoke and mirrors-a distraction from years of underfunding.

Gav says it's a lot of money and we should be grateful? But it's only a tenth of what he wanted from the Treasury!

I don't know about you all but I'm primary and the children we've identified as needing 'catch-up' are the ones who would've benefitted from more support prior to COVID anyway. The majority of my KS2 class are pretty much back up to speed. The ones who are behind have been 'behind' (for want of a better phrase) since Reception. Mainly due to other factors such as lack of parental support or available tech, poverty, SEND...the usual factors.

It’s exactly the same in my school.

Definitely being, non scitt pgce and he'd had the first term on teaching practice which isn't really teaching practice. Everything else to the end of the course was theory.

Even a full normal year isn't much!

the children we've identified as needing 'catch-up' are the ones who would've benefitted from more support prior to COVID anyway.

we all probably could have said that without any data. There's many years oh 'catch up' for some pupils thanks to Tory under funding.

Definitely being, non scitt pgce and he'd had the first term on teaching practice which isn't really teaching practice. Everything else to the end of the course was theory.

Selfishly, I know I wouldn’t want an NQT with so little experience teaching my DC. It’s not their fault they have so little real training but it is a worry. I hope they get extra support from NQT mentors in school.

*practise

Yes, luckily he knew he wasn't fully up to scratch but I do worry that many will struggle to find the confidence and experience to apply for jobs for a couple of years, which is not what they signed up for.

I agree that I'd hope nqt mentors would give excellent support; I know that our own have been stretched and broken by the pandemic as it is.

Sir Kevan has resigned in protest at what was announced today.

@dapsnotplimsolls

Sir Kevan has resigned in protest at what was announced today.

I saw that headline. It’s utter carnage!

I suspect he knows full well it's not just the pandemic that's been holding children back.

A decade of Tory rule. Given his experience I imagine he's more than fucked off with them.

We had an nqt as a supply TA and he said he felt really un prepared for teaching
This doesn't surprise me. One of my friends feels the same. They retrained and haven't got a teaching job yet, their confidence is in pieces and they feel worried that they'd be letting the children down. I can't see them ever entering the classroom at the moment, which is such a loss to the profession.

@LolaSmiles

We had an nqt as a supply TA and he said he felt really un prepared for teaching This doesn't surprise me. One of my friends feels the same. They retrained and haven't got a teaching job yet, their confidence is in pieces and they feel worried that they'd be letting the children down. I can't see them ever entering the classroom at the moment, which is such a loss to the profession.

It’s such a shame and one of the hidden side effects of this bloody pandemic.