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

skt107

Hi everyone! I have just come across this post and, as a teacher myself, I wondered whether people had considered how many hours teachers already work?! Last night I personally was planning/marking/searching for ideas until 10pm! Granted I don't do this every night, but most evenings I am at work until 6pm and then go home and do an extra hour or two in the evenings. And then my Sunday afternoons are also always taken up with planning and marking.

I appreciate what people are saying, that people working in shops, garages etc have to go into work or make up the hours. But do these people have to put in this amount of extra hours in their own time like teachers do?! Many professions have a flexi-time approach so surely, this is just like that?

I guess I just wanted to assure those people who don't realise that the hours ARE being put in! Back to the planning...

Jomo

skt107 wrote: »

I appreciate what people are saying, that people working in shops, garages etc have to go into work or make up the hours. But do these people have to put in this amount of extra hours in their own time like teachers do?! Many professions have a flexi-time approach so surely, this is just like that?

See below...

FatAndy wrote: »

In my experience most workers do either a 37.5 or a 40 hour week and get four weeks holidays. So most people work 1,800 to 1,920 before overtime. Lots people will start early, finish late or work through lunch hours but not claim overtime.

Can we just therefore agree that teachers pretty much work the same number of hours as everyone else and leave it at that .

skt107

Unfortunately it's more like a 60-70 hour week for me, plus working half of the holidays!! Maybe I just work too hard...

I'm not saying that others don't work a lot of hours. I just know that a lot of people think that teachers start at 9 and finish at 3:30. But there is a lot more to the job than just being with the children.

So just because we are not in school with the children doesn't mean we're not making up the hours.

Jomo

skt107 wrote: »

Unfortunately it's more like a 60-70 hour week for me, plus working half of the holidays!! Maybe I just work too hard...

I'm not saying that others don't work a lot of hours. I just know that a lot of people think that teachers start at 9 and finish at 3:30. But there is a lot more to the job than just being with the children.

So just because we are not in school with the children doesn't mean we're not making up the hours.

And I'm not disputing what you are saying, or others but I think that post I quoted balanced both sides out quite well, you may work longer weeks but you do get more time off...swings and roundabouts...

Belysh

Pennylane wrote: »

There you go again! :rolleyes:
If people are working in shops, hotels, hospitals, garages etc etc and they are required to work whatever the weather and they have young children, then they are not allowed to leave them unattended. So yes, the care of their children is a headache. Some will have relatives who can step in and help but many will have nobody they can call on.

You surely can't accuse all the parents of High School kids of missing their babysitters.

Hmm, I'm sure if you read this post someone somehwere wrote that they couldn't go to work because their chid's school was CLOSED. Which means that the teacher can't go in even if they wanted to.

Is it not about safety of the pupils and teachers anyway. There were so many accidents with cars and slipping today that parents were too frightened to drive their children to school. At the end of the day, whether we get paid or not it is not worth risking. An injured teacher is no use to anyone and injured children will miss even more of school.

And Pennylane you mentioned before that you got your mail etc. Well maybe it depends on where you live becaue my bins didn't get emptied for over a week and Argos were 4 days late with my delievery because of the weather. There is nothing they can do about it, just like there is nothing schools can do, so what is the point complaining?

Pennylane

skt107 wrote: »

Hi everyone! I have just come across this post and, as a teacher myself, I wondered whether people had considered how many hours teachers already work?! Last night I personally was planning/marking/searching for ideas until 10pm! Granted I don't do this every night, but most evenings I am at work until 6pm and then go home and do an extra hour or two in the evenings. And then my Sunday afternoons are also always taken up with planning and marking.

I appreciate what people are saying, that people working in shops, garages etc have to go into work or make up the hours. But do these people have to put in this amount of extra hours in their own time like teachers do?! Many professions have a flexi-time approach so surely, this is just like that?

I guess I just wanted to assure those people who don't realise that the hours ARE being put in! Back to the planning...

SKT - Yes, yes, yes, teachers have been telling us this for years. We are all crystal clear on that one. We know you have preparation, marking etc. Imagine if you were self-employed though - NO paid holidays, no sick pay, work all day & then come home and do all your VAT, ordering, paperwork, phonecalls etc. You really are not alone in not working 9-3.

However, nobody forces anyone to become a teacher, everyone who enters the profession knows all the pluses and minuses of the career. If anyone goes into it and is then shocked, disappointed or surprised then they really are not very bright people and maybe another career is worth thinking about.;)

poet123

There really is nothing to debate here. In our area all the schools closed at the edict of the LEA, as they were not prepared to risk litigation if anyone was injured. No choices, no argument....closed for 4 days.

No Tesco deliveries, no post, no bins emptied for the same reasons.

skt107

Pennylane wrote: »

[/B]

SKT - Yes, yes, yes, teachers have been telling us this for years. We are all crystal clear on that one. We know you have preparation, marking etc. Imagine if you were self-employed though - NO paid holidays, no sick pay, work all day & then come home and do all your VAT, ordering, paperwork, phonecalls etc. You really are not alone in not working 9-3.

However, nobody forces anyone to become a teacher, everyone who enters the profession knows all the pluses and minuses of the career. If anyone goes into it and is then shocked, disappointed or surprised then they really are not very bright people and maybe another career is worth thinking about.;)

I would never choose another career because I love mine - along with the minuses! And I wasn't complaining about the hours...just that some people are suggesting that teachers should make up these hours.

donnajunkie

skt107 wrote: »

Hi everyone! I have just come across this post and, as a teacher myself, I wondered whether people had considered how many hours teachers already work?! Last night I personally was planning/marking/searching for ideas until 10pm! Granted I don't do this every night, but most evenings I am at work until 6pm and then go home and do an extra hour or two in the evenings. And then my Sunday afternoons are also always taken up with planning and marking.

I appreciate what people are saying, that people working in shops, garages etc have to go into work or make up the hours. But do these people have to put in this amount of extra hours in their own time like teachers do?! Many professions have a flexi-time approach so surely, this is just like that?

I guess I just wanted to assure those people who don't realise that the hours ARE being put in! Back to the planning...

how long does it really take to plan a lesson. for example say you are a history teacher. in the syllabus there maybe things listed that have to be taught like the american civil war or the roman empire. so you look at the syllabus and think ok i will teach them about the romans this week. so in a few seconds one lesson is planned. if it really takes so much longer, i am wondering if teachers make it more complicated than it needs to be. even the most intelligent people can be stupid in certain situations with certain things.

donnajunkie

poet123 wrote: »

There really is nothing to debate here. In our area all the schools closed at the edict of the LEA, as they were not prepared to risk litigation if anyone was injured. No choices, no argument....closed for 4 days.

No Tesco deliveries, no post, no bins emptied for the same reasons.

i am curious. could a parent sue a school for depriving their children of an education by closing.