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

Witchfinder_General

Not to worry ladies & gentlemen, boys & girls in a few weeks time the teachers will be off for another hard earned weeks holiday (it's half term). Wonder if the staff at our local school will be slapping an INSET (must not laugh) on the start (Friday) or end (the following Monday).

Belysh

Witchfinder_General wrote: »

Not to worry ladies & gentlemen, boys & girls in a few weeks time the teachers will be off for another hard earned weeks holiday (it's half term). Wonder if the staff at our local school will be slapping an INSET (must not laugh) on the start (Friday) or end (the following Monday).

Jealousy is a sin .

wallbash

few weeks time the teachers will be off for another hard earned weeks holiday

So true , very easy being a teacher , over paid , under worked ... long holidays
very few hours . Makes me wonder why those that still believe this don't all rush to join the gravy train .


Silly me :rolleyes: they need an education first.

So Witchfinder General when are you buying your ticket?

poet123

Witchfinder_General wrote: »

Not to worry ladies & gentlemen, boys & girls in a few weeks time the teachers will be off for another hard earned weeks holiday (it's half term). Wonder if the staff at our local school will be slapping an INSET (must not laugh) on the start (Friday) or end (the following Monday).

My inset day (which is complusory unless you can prove you have a holiday booked) is the wednesday of half term. I work in a college so do not have all the term holidays, but can usually choose to go in at half term or not. Not this time:D

mikey72

donnajunkie wrote: »

would you care to respond to my question in post number 186 then?

I freely admit I couldn't. I'm not a teacher, but I'm sure one could tell you the work involved.
I know it's not three seconds to plan, as I have said, most teachers I know put in a lot of hours, work at night at home, not just do the 6.5 hours or so teaching time then forget about it.
The average would be 40 to 50 hours a week, in term, and maybe a week or so accumulated over the holidays, so you can say the rest of the 7.5 to 17.5 hours a week they work, that you don't see would cover it.

superteach38

FatAndy wrote: »

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.

My school has not been closed at all through the bad weather so these are only my thoughts but if a school closes, then with no children there to teach, a Headteacher may tell staff to work from home to avoid the risk of driving on icy roads and possibly to save money on heating & lighting the school building.

My husband works in the pharmaceutical industry and they were told to work from home to avoid a risky drive in to the office.

Regarding your thoughts on working from home being less productive than going into school / office...Teachers are used to working from home so there is not an issue surrounding distraction - ignoring distractions is something you develop as you get used to working from home. In my old job, before teaching, i would work from home some days and was far more productive because I found there were fewer distractions here!! It does not suit everyone but for those it does suit, working from home is often a better use of time than going in.

In the holidays, many of my colleagues go into school to get work done - they prefer it because they are 'at work' but I like to ear-mark a block of time and knuckle down at home.

skt107

donnajunkie wrote: »

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.

Yeah you can plan a lesson in a few seconds...if you're a crap teacher!!!!! These days you have to meet the needs of the children, which means we don't just stand up and dictate...especially in a primary school! It means spending time thinking about the best way to teach it to the children, and making it so that they enjoy what they're learning!

Then there's the differentiation - which means 3 if not 4 different tasks for each lesson which suits the childs level. Then you have practical resources to prepare, whiteboard presentations to get ready. So a typical lesson can easily take an hour to plan and prepare if not longer. Not all of them of course, but a lot of them. Then you have 30 books to mark after that. For each lesson.

And that's just the planning and marking, that doesn't even consider all of the other paperwork/assessments/subject co-ordination/report writing/target setting/displays that needs to be done. If you would be happy sending your child to a school where a teacher spends 2 minutes planning a lesson then I would be worried. It's not stupid - it's about wanting to the best for those children.

Sorry to everyone else on this site - I just found that post quite insensitive.

FatAndy

donnajunkie wrote: »

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

If a school can fine parents for taking their kids on holiday during term time then why shouldn't it work the other way?

The problem as far as I can see is that schools are closed down far too quickly and without proper investigation. Last week my daughter's school was closed because there was about 1-2 cm (not inches) of snow. Presumably the decision was made by a pen pusher in some ivory tower somewhere who still got paid and whose gold plated pension pot still got filled at taxpayers expense. But imagine the choas this caused both the parents as well as their employers. It appeared that every shop, bank, office, cafe, etc opened, the trains and buses were running as normal, the only places closed were the schools. All because of a centimetre of snow!!!!

Perhaps if there was some penalty for closing schools then the pen pushers and whoever else might lift a finger and make an effort rather than just taking the easy option every time, regardless of the damage it might cause to the local economy.

skt107

FatAndy wrote: »

If a school can fine parents for taking their kids on holiday during term time then why shouldn't it work the other way?

The problem as far as I can see is that schools are closed down far too quickly and without proper investigation. Last week my daughter's school was closed because there was about 1-2 cm (not inches) of snow. Presumably the decision was made by a pen pusher in some ivory tower somewhere who still got paid and whose gold plated pension pot still got filled at taxpayers expense. But imagine the choas this caused both the parents as well as their employers. It appeared that every shop, bank, office, cafe, etc opened, the trains and buses were running as normal, the only places closed were the schools. All because of a centimetre of snow!!!!

Perhaps if there was some penalty for closing schools then the pen pushers and whoever else might lift a finger and make an effort rather than just taking the easy option every time, regardless of the damage it might cause to the local economy.

I agree Andy, some schools do close down what seems to be too quickly. But when there are case studies of parents suing the school because their child has fallen on the ice on the way into school, you can see why schools have to be careful unfortunately. It's rubbish but it's true!

bugbabe1970

My husband is a teacher and i am a child Care Officer in a school. We both had a day off last week and a day off today. We were both told not to attempt getting to school as it was too dangerous and the school was closed. I really cant see why I should get docked a days pay for this as i was available to go to work but was told to stay home. It is at the discretion of each headteacher as to whether they open the school or not.

Im trying not to be biased about this as I have 3 children of my own and it caused my family disruption as well. They were all off school. They go to 3 different schools that were all closed due to dangerous conditions so i apreciate the problem with child care etc.

I think the difference is if you are told not to attempt getting to school because it is closed or if you dont bother trying to get in if the school is open!

As far as the discussion goes on whether teaching is an easy/valid/worthwhile job, then surely it is the same in every proffession (sp?). You get good and bad in all, and those who want to do the best for the pupils really do put a lot of effort into their planning and teaching. Its not the hardest job, but its not the easiest.

My husband teaches in a special school for pupils with extreme emotional and behavioural difficulties, he loves it, its hard wotk, but compared with the 10 years he spent in the army its a walk in the park. And yes the school hols are a major perk, thats not deniable but as anyone who works with children knows its an exhausting, emotionally draining proffesion so the hols are justified imho.