School closures are snow joke

FatAndy

wallbash wrote: »

Goody :j



Will be waiting:D

Just don't wait for me to start it. Just like my daughter I've had four nights in a caravan in Aberystwyth in the last ten years so Thomas Cook can charge what they like as far as I'm concerned.

FatAndy

mikey72 wrote: »

Should have driven there like these did.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2202623

Apparently this is way to get around these days - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8458480.stm?ls (the chap at the end is the teacher I was referring to earlier).

mikey72

http://news.bbc.co.uk./1/hi/england/8458844.stm?ls

That's more like it.

caut_1

FatAndy wrote: »

Apparently this is way to get around these days - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8458480.stm?ls (the chap at the end is the teacher I was referring to earlier).

Ok I can understand the original posters problem with the lack of communication, it wasn't a great situation to be in. However that is not the fault of the teachers.

Have you looked outside ? We are in the middle of the worst winter to hit the UK for a number of years, its only natural that this may cause some disruption, a school near here has been shut for over a week as frozen pipes became burst pipes... school closed!

The problem is (and I am not targetting the OP) that too many parents view the school as some free government childcare scheme.

For the record I am a teacher North of the border and I am really fed up with hearing the highly paid, under worked nonsense.

Yes I am paid a reasonable salary, and on the face of it appear to have good holidays.

However when I started uni, a good friend started at the same place but on another course. He works 9-5 monday to friday and his salary is at least three times mine. So yes we might get more than those in a manual job etc, but at the end of the day I went to uni for 4 years, supported myself through it... why shouldn't I get a bit more than someone who is stacks shelves etc.

In terms of working hours, according to my contract I am paid for 35 hours per week, 22.5 of them are class contact. the remaing 12.5 is meeting and preparation time. In the average week I see over 250 children, I cannot possibly mark 250 jotters (let alone have meetings and prepare for classes) in those extra 12.5 hours, hence I have to do work at home.

Just out of interest (as the wife keeps moaning about me working too hard) I have kept a diary of the hours I have worked this year so far -

Here is the last week or so

Wednesday arrive 8.30 leave 17.00
Thursday arrive 8.15 leave 17.35
Friday arrive 7.50 leave 16.00
Friday evening (at home) start 19.00 finish 23.30
Saturday (at home) start 11.30 finish 19.00
Sunday (at home) start 12.00 finish 20.30
Monday arrive 8.40 leave 17.50
Tues arrive 8.30 leave 17.10
Wed arrive 8.30 leave 16.00

The weekend work was the development of a new 28 lesson unit, obviously I wouldn't spend that much every weekend, normally nothing on friday night or saturday night, but a few hours on sat afternoon if no football and 5/6 hours on a Sunday

However my total for the last week (first week back new term) was around 72 hours.

During the Christmas holidays I spent 2 full days on school work and will probably do the same at Easter. Last year I spent the first 2 weeks of the summer holidays actually in school doing work, and about another week and a half working at home.

So please spare me the under worked and over paid nonsense.

In how many other industries do they work well over their contracted hours, work in their own time at weekends and how many go into work or do work at home during their holidays ?

Lastly the story about the head teacher crawling over ice to get in, thats dedication, Im not too sure how many people in other industries would go that far to get into work

Belysh

Oblivion wrote: »

Well, it's a relief to see this thread getting back to some good humour.

My attitude to the days of snow is pretty much summed up in this jokey blog ...

JAN 6th.
It's starting to snow. We took our hot toddies and sat on the porch watching the fluffy snow flakes drift gently down clinging to the trees and covering the ground. It's so beautiful and peaceful.

JAN 7th.
We awoke to a lovely blanket of crystal white glistening snowcovering as far as the eye could see. What a fantastic sight, every tree and bush covered with a beautiful white mantle. I shovelled snow for the first time ever and loved it. I did both our driveway and pavement.
Later that day a snowplough came along and accidentally covered up our driveway with compacted snow from the street. The driver smiled and waved. I waved back and shovelled it away again. The children next door built a snowman with coal for eyes and a carrot for a nose, and had a snowball fight, a couple just missed me and hit the car so I threw a couple back and joined in their fun.

JAN 8th.
It snowed an additional 5 inches last night and the temperature dropped to around minus 8 degrees. Several branches on our trees and bushes snapped due to the weight of snow. I shovelled our driveway again.
Shortly afterwards the snowplough came by and did his trick again. Much of the snow is now a brownish-grey.

JAN 9th.
Warmed up enough during the day to create some slush which soon became ice when the temperature dropped again. Bought snow tyres for both our cars £500. Fell on my a*se in the driveway. £100 to see a physio but nothing was broken.

JAN 10th.
Still cold. Sold the wife's car and bought her a 4x4 to get her to work. She slid into a wall and did considerable damage to the right wing -£200. Had another 8 inches of white sh*te last night. Both vehicles are re-covered in salt and iced up slush. That b*stard snowplough came by twice today. Where's that bl*ody shovel.

JAN 11th.
More F*****G snow. Not a tree or bush in our property that hasn't been damaged. Power was off most of the night. Tried to keep from freezing to death with candles and a paraffin heater which tipped over and nearly torched the house. I managed to put the flames out but suffered 2nd degree burns on my hands. Lost all my eye brows and eyelashes. Car hit a F*****G deer on the way to casualty and was written off.

JAN 12th.
F*****G B*****D white sh*te just keeps on coming down. Have to put on every article of clothing just to go to the post box. The little sod next door ambushed me with snowballs on the way back - I'll shove that carrot so far up the little pr*cks a*se it'll take a good surgeon 6 hours to find it. If I ever catch the a*sehole that drives the snowplough I'll chew open his chest and rip out his heart with my teeth. I think the B*****D hides round the corner and waits for me to finish shovelling and then he accelerates down the street like Michael F*****G Schumacher and buries the F*****G driveway again.

JAN 13th.
16 more sodding inches of F*****G snow and F*****G ice and F*****G sleet and god knows what other white sh*te fell last night. I am in court in 3 months time for assaulting the snowplough driver with an ice pick.
Can't move my F*****g toes. Haven't seen the sun for 5 weeks. Minus 20 and more F*****G snow forecast.

F**K THIS, I'M MOVING TO SOUTH AFRICA OR AUSTRALIA.



Dave.

HAHAHA love it!

dawyldthing

I do find this post interesting, but not particularly fair to teachers. I am training to be a teacher, and walked in the snow to get to placement on my first day back only to fall over and break my fibula, and because of the pot now cannot go on placement until the next accedamic year due to health and safety. Theres well over a hundred of us on my 4 year course, and most have trudged in in all weather unless the school has called it off, which looks like it has been a few times due to the snow. I do understand why you was fustrated by the school closing, but like it has been mentioned before it can be called by the head teacher or local authority, and in the case of Kirklees near Leeds most of their schools have closed. I think one of the things that needs to happen is to look at the stocks of the grit, and, as we all get told, 'prepare for the unexpected'. The roads are barely gritted, the pavements are like an ice rink, and were told that they are gritting less and not more. I think, with the looks of the weather forcast, that theres even more to come. We could all sit here all day and put the blame on anything or anyone, in regards to teachers not teaching during the weather, but i think i would prefer people to be safe and not sorry, especially in the 'me, me' world that we are in where 'where theres a blame, theres a claim', which takes money away from vital teaching.

In regards to teachers pay, it does sound like a lot, but when teaching in a primary school you have the long term planning, medium term planning, short term planning, planning for all areas of the curriculum as well as planning for trips and visits, which all gets done in time at home. Teaching certainly is not a 9 to 3 job. When on placement i left home at 6.30 and didn't get home until 6ish, then had planning to do until i finally made it to bed at around 11 if I was luck. But teaching is a rewarding job. Theres not many jobs where you can change lives every day for the better and help others the way that teaching does, and i'm sure that many teachers and teaching assistants would say the same.

The weather is being a big problem for us all, but if anything it can help us see what needs to be done next time should it happen again, and to learn from this. One last thing is that in my opinion, its bringing communities together, just like a whole row of houses clearing access to a street, which can only be a good thing!

gregg1

Just for the record, the school where my OH works is opening during half term so that work missed during snow days can be caught up on. All the teachers have agreed to go in, apart from a few who had holidays booked and paid for (which is fair enough). Be interesting to see how many kids turn up though!

SandC

I don't get why some people keep making references that parents see school as a government childcare scheme or teachers as babysitters. Everyone knows well in advance the school term times so why shouldn't parents have made plans like, oooh I dunno, work while their children are in school? If they are supposed to be there anyway I see nothing wrong in the teachers who can get in overseeing the kids who can also get in - when they were supposed to be there anyway. But for the fact that normal lessons have had to be sideswiped because of availability of both kids and pupils why is that considered childminding? It's just people in employment who are currently unable to do their normal jobs diversifying for a bit.

I'm not a parent by the way, or a teacher, just an ordinary worker whose area hasn't had it as bad as most and has, along with everyone else at work attended as normal.

Such an interesting thread though!

GrumpyGit_3

dawyldthing wrote: »

I do find this post interesting, but not particularly fair to teachers. I am training to be a teacher, and walked in the snow to get to placement on my first day back only to fall over and break my fibula, and because of the pot now cannot go on placement until the next accedamic year due to health and safety. Theres well over a hundred of us on my 4 year course, and most have trudged in in all weather unless the school has called it off, which looks like it has been a few times due to the snow. I do understand why you was fustrated by the school closing, but like it has been mentioned before it can be called by the head teacher or local authority, and in the case of Kirklees near Leeds most of their schools have closed. I think one of the things that needs to happen is to look at the stocks of the grit, and, as we all get told, 'prepare for the unexpected'. The roads are barely gritted, the pavements are like an ice rink, and were told that they are gritting less and not more. I think, with the looks of the weather forcast, that theres even more to come. We could all sit here all day and put the blame on anything or anyone, in regards to teachers not teaching during the weather, but i think i would prefer people to be safe and not sorry, especially in the 'me, me' world that we are in where 'where theres a blame, theres a claim', which takes money away from vital teaching.

In regards to teachers pay, it does sound like a lot, but when teaching in a primary school you have the long term planning, medium term planning, short term planning, planning for all areas of the curriculum as well as planning for trips and visits, which all gets done in time at home. Teaching certainly is not a 9 to 3 job. When on placement i left home at 6.30 and didn't get home until 6ish, then had planning to do until i finally made it to bed at around 11 if I was luck. But teaching is a rewarding job. Theres not many jobs where you can change lives every day for the better and help others the way that teaching does, and i'm sure that many teachers and teaching assistants would say the same.

The weather is being a big problem for us all, but if anything it can help us see what needs to be done next time should it happen again, and to learn from this. One last thing is that in my opinion, its bringing communities together, just like a whole row of houses clearing access to a street, which can only be a good thing!

No offence, but maybe before you start working as a teacher you could spend a little time brushing up on your spelling and grammar. I'm not sure that too many parents would have much confidence that their child will get a decent education from a teacher who can't spell 'academic' :eek:.

Storck

GrumpyGit wrote: »

No offence, but maybe before you start working as a teacher you could spend a little time brushing up on your spelling and grammar. I'm not sure that too many parents would have much confidence that their child will get a decent education from a teacher who can't spell 'academic' :eek:.

I'm sure when they are sending out official things from work they would spend more time checking spelling and grammar than what they do answering comments on a web site. :A :A :A

I'm sure you type everything perfectly all the time and are a truly shining example for your occupation. :eek: