School closed. You have to make the time up in holidays!

donnajunkie

FatAndy wrote: »

Why .

why make them go to school if there is nothing for them to do due to it being closed?

FatAndy

pinkstellacat wrote: »

It doesn't make their job 'easy' or make them 'lazy'. Please stop the teacher-bashing as I don't understand it. The teachers posting on here haven't been trying to gain 'sympathy' or make out their jobs are harder than the rest of you, they've been trying to defend themselves! The question has to be: why?!

To return to the original question, our secondary school is running extra revision classes at weekends and after school for those students that missed teaching due to the school closure and have exams coming up. A effective school, filled with effective staff will find a solution to missed time, after all, it's the education of the students that should be the real issue here.

Hi Pinkstellacat,

I suspect I'm one of the 'teacher bashers' you referred to. Believe me I'm not. I've got an eight year old daughter in primary school who has had some fantastic teachers. Unfortunately, and in my opinion, her current teacher is in the wrong job but that doesn't mean most teachers aren't doing a good job.

What does annoy me is when some members of a profession believe that they have a right to preferential treatment. Why should teachers believe that they have the right to stay at home when it snows. You've got a contract of employment which no doubt specifies your place of work so if it's it at all possible you should make the effort to get there. It's that simple. Tens of millions of other workers don't believe they can award themselves the right to work from home when it suits them. I certainly don't. I pull my socks up, show a bit of pride and do what I'm paid to do, just like tens of millions of others do. Fair enough if it's physically impossible to get to our designated place of work but you can at least try.

I want nothing more than for teachers to be treated equally to other workers in other professions. However to be treated equally you need to take the rough with the smooth, you can't pick and choose the bits of equality that suit you. So if you can get to your school, and you've got marking etc to do then you need to go to your school and do it there. Your contract of employment requires you to be there so unfortunately, like it or not, that's where you need to be. But if it's any consolation I also have a contract of employment that stipulates where I have to work so you're not alone in this.

FatAndy

donnajunkie wrote: »

why make them go to school if there is nothing for them to do due to it being closed?

Because their contract of employment would specify their place of work so they'd be in breach of contract if they didn't go there, assuming it was possible to do so. And it's obvious from many other posts on this thread that teachers always have work to do.

donnajunkie

FatAndy wrote: »

Because their contract of employment would specify their place of work so they'd be in breach of contract if they didn't go there, assuming it was possible to do so. And it's obvious from many other posts on this thread that teachers always have work to do.

i agree but their boss has some discretion. if their boss says you dont have to come in then they arent doing anything wrong. it is logical to say because the school is closed theres no need for you to come in, unless there is work that needs to be done at the school.

Jomo

donnajunkie wrote: »

i agree but their boss has some discretion. if their boss says you dont have to come in then they arent doing anything wrong. it is logical to say because the school is closed theres no need for you to come in, unless there is work that needs to be done at the school.

Why aren't they being forced to take it as a holiday like others then?

I'm quite aware of the long hours and 'homework' teachers do actually do so I'm not bashing anyone, just being devils advocate.

FatAndy

donnajunkie wrote: »

i agree but their boss has some discretion. if their boss says you dont have to come in then they arent doing anything wrong. it is logical to say because the school is closed theres no need for you to come in, unless there is work that needs to be done at the school.

Fair enough, but I question why any boss would tell someone not to come inif it was possible for them to do so. I know that I'd find it difficult to work at home simply because there are too many distractions there. I've never tried it but if I think back to undertaking any 'work like' activities, e.g. completing job application forms, I've always found it very difficult to concentrate on the job in hand if I'm at home. On the other hand if I was 'isolated' in a quiet room, with no distractions at hand, I'd be far more effective. To be honest if I was a teacher with lots of marking to catch up on then I think I'd much prefer to be doing it an empty and quiet classroom as I'd get it finished much quicker.

missphiphi

WOW! THIS SOUND AWESOME!

I am a teacher and had 1.5 snow days last week. So, if I have to pay them back in the hols hmmm.... well I already spend 2 of the 6 weeks in school changing my classroom and cleaning things up...so should I be getting paid extra for these additional 8.5 days I spend in my classroom in my hols? LOADS more of the holiday is spent planning. It's not like I have 5 weeks annual holiday ever when I can just forget about work completely. I never stop thinking about it.

Some people have NO IDEA what happens with teachers during the school holidays. There is NOT A CHANCE I could just sit there on my !!! for the duration and not go in to school, plan my work, assess etc etc. Seriously, the list is endless. I work for the majority of the day EVERY Sunday, get into school 7:30am and leave at 6:00pm. Home for 6:30/7:00pm. I then open the laptop and begin work at home.

I don't think some people would be happy until...nah, some people will NEVER be happy!

Jomo

missphiphi wrote: »

WOW! THIS SOUND AWESOME!

I am a teacher and had 1.5 snow days last week. So, if I have to pay them back in the hols hmmm.... well I already spend 2 of the 6 weeks in school changing my classroom and cleaning things up...so should I be getting paid extra for these additional 8.5 days I spend in my classroom in my hols? LOADS more of the holiday is spent planning. It's not like I have 5 weeks annual holiday ever when I can just forget about work completely. I never stop thinking about it.

Some people have NO IDEA what happens with teachers during the school holidays. There is NOT A CHANCE I could just sit there on my !!! for the duration and not go in to school, plan my work, assess etc etc. Seriously, the list is endless. I work for the majority of the day EVERY Sunday, get into school 7:30am and leave at 6:00pm. Home for 6:30/7:00pm. I then open the laptop and begin work at home.

I don't think some people would be happy until...nah, some people will NEVER be happy!

Calm down keep your knickers on!! LOL

Sounds like you should change your career !

SueC_2

penguin87 wrote: »

I am a trainee teacher, and know full well that all those teachers will be catching up on planning and marking so perhaps just one day when they are back to school, they'll manage to finish early. (Leave at 5 I mean, having arrived at 8 and probably working through their lunch either chasing pupils or conducting a detention to ensure your kids get an education either though most the time they can't be bothered.)

I am currently back a uiniversity, and noticed a lack of cars on the road. Could this be just because the teachers we not on the roads? I doubt it, uni doesn't start until 9. Teachers were not the only ones who took snow days, which was clearly evident by the lack of traffic. I am also sure that had you worked from home, you would not allow your employer to dock your wages a days pay. Why is it everyone else can be trusted to work at home, yet teachers who do work at home most evenings, part of the weekend and during school holidays cannot be trusted to work at home when school should be on?

I know I'm only a trainee, but from my experience in schools, the 5 hours of teaching each day appear to be the easy part, and the fun part, the reason we all teach. We still have to do the other side of things, all the admin and paperwork even if school is cancelled.

People will always believe teacher's work 9-3 with 13 weeks holiday each year for 25-30K. I wish! If that were really the case, why would there be a shortage of teachers?

Basically, why should teachers have to go in extra days and make up the hours when everyone else is allowed to work from home?

If I were you I would seriously consider quitting the training. If you're this bitter about being a teacher before you've even started, it's no way going to prove worth it.

I think very few people would dispute that, in many ways, teaching (like many other careers) is a pretty rubbish job. However, in many other ways (again, like many other careers) it can be pretty rewarding.

If, for you, the positives don't outweigh the negatives, then don't do it. And the same applies to everyone else.

There is absolutely no benefit in becoming another teacher bleating on about how tough life is. Martyrdom is neither a career or vocation.

pinkstellacat

FatAndy wrote: »

So if you can get to your school, and you've got marking etc to do then you need to go to your school and do it there. QUOTE]

Hi,

I agree. However, I don't know about other people but in our case a phone call was made in the morning, or on the days following that, the day before to us telling us NOT to go in as the site was unsafe.

I agree that anyone should make an effort to get into work no matter what their profession, as personal thoughts aside, our economy would collapse if we didn't. In this case, I actually asked my line manager if I would be able to go in and collect more marking (as I live within a perfectly reasonable distance to walk to school if necessary) and was told staff were not allowed on site either.

As to some of the other posters on here following mine... stop posting how 'hard' your job is... that's what makes people think badly of us in the first place; it's a job and like any job there are good points and bad. Personally I love my job but certainly in our case, the choice of going into school was a decision that was entirely out of our hands.