School now banning all "out of term" holiday leave

[2Tiggies]

My finger is aching, been hovering over the close thread button for almost 4 days.
Great to have a civil discussion on this subject.

That's what I have been watching for too. As per one of my previous posts, I think it is great that we can have a civil discussion over a controversial topic.

 

[Pegasus928]

Did you home educate from the beginning or did your son start off in school? I think if it's the latter the are more likely to check up on you for some reason.

He was at secondary school and waiting to find a place at a different one in our area. Like I said though zero help throughout

Mrs Pegasus

 

[scojos]

My finger is aching, been hovering over the close thread button for almost 4 days.
Great to have a civil discussion on this subject.

it has been an interesting debate, but i agree, massively off subject.
i have taken residentials but never organised them, day trips are bad enough,

teachers are fair game, come on, how many of you out there that arent teachers take the mick out of us? 13 weeks paid holidays, finish at 3...that sort of thing?
i ll swap jobs with anyone who can just shut there laptop and start again then next morning.....
we worry about what we say, how we do things, if kids understood and how we are going to deliver lessons the next day, have we finished our marking etc...
it isnt a 8-3 mon to fri job at all, but i love it, and i love the kids, that s why i do it
one of my best memories ever is turning up to the prom of a "horrid" year group and one of the mean girls knocking me off my feet as she ran at me..."thankyou for taking the time to come to my prom" kids know when staff give 110%,
it makes listening to horrid things (data, child protection, ofsted etc) worth while, because I altered that girls lifeand we all affect our kids...
tracy

 

[Gonz Of Lancashire]

Of course we do - would you pay for a business trip out of your own pocket?

We are at work the whole time we are there: it just so happens that our job is caring for and teaching your children who you have entrusted entirely to us! We also take school trips over weekends too - when we are not even paid to be there. We sacrifice evenings with our own family to care for yours.

If your business said to you: would you like to pay £250 out of your own pocket to spend three nights working 16 hours a day and on-call should anything go wrong in the night (holding someone else's child's hair back as they throw up all night?), would you go?!

Alternatively, would you want to take 10 unrelated 14-year olds for whom you are responsible on a 5-day trip to Spain and pay £400 for the privilege?

Well, to quote a teacher on this thread "you don't think we get subsidised travel, do you?". I took that as you had to pay your own way, of course you don't pay for work related expenses.

Interesting that as teachers you seem all to keen to point out how much unpaid work is put in whilst on these trips unyet the 50+ more days paid holidays teachers get a year more than the average person is overlooked.

 

[luke]

Uhoh Wayne, best hover over that close thread button...

 

[fairytale]

Uhoh Wayne, best hover over that close thread button...

I would nt mind I'm the original poster and I still dont think I've got my answer

 

[Kath2003]

Interesting that as teachers you seem all to keen to point out how much unpaid work is put in whilst on these trips unyet the 50+ more days paid holidays teachers get a year more than the average person is overlooked.

We are paid to work 39 weeks of the year. We are not contracted to work holidays. It's not like your average contract when you're "given" a certain amount of holiday, it's simply that we aren't contracted to work 13 weeks of the year (the same way as you are probably contracted to only work Monday-Friday).

The holidays are truly great as a teacher, but we DO work hard (and much of it unpaid - we are not contractually obliged to carry out ANY activities before school, after school, at lunch etc. - so all those extra-curricular clubs, concerts, sporting events etc. are off our own back). I would hate to see what some people's opinion of teachers would degrade further to if it wasn't the norm for teachers to go above and beyond.

Regardless of this, I have maintained from the beginning that, as a teacher, I only see the educational viewpoint of taking your children out of school, and that both schools and parents must make the decision each feels is best with respect to allowing term-time holiday.

 

[mickeyforpresident]

It has been a good fight on both sides

What is great about this thread; even though we are massively off-topic, is that each side has made their points without the need for fighting.

If DIsers made up the total parent and teacher population we would be able to sort out Local Authorities, Unions and Government perfectly

I recon we could make this the longest should I take my child out of school thread in DIS history

This is a terrific comment!

Maybe the UK DISers should form a new polictical party!

 

[mickeyforpresident]

Please don't shout me down, but teachers are only - technically - paid for 39 weeks a year which is salaried and spread over 12 months! The rest of the holidays - which many of us work through at least some of those days - are again technically - unpaid.

 

[the ringmaster]

Well, to quote a teacher on this thread "you don't think we get subsidised travel, do you?". I took that as you had to pay your own way, of course you don't pay for work related expenses.

Interesting that as teachers you seem all to keen to point out how much unpaid work is put in whilst on these trips unyet the 50+ more days paid holidays teachers get a year more than the average person is overlooked.

Teachers are paid a salary, not an hourly wage, they no more get paid holidays than i get paid weekends.

Their day starts before any kids arrive at school, they leave well after the final kid has gone home, where they go home and continue to work marking school work and preparing lessons.

The idea that on the last day of the school year teachers stop work and don't start again until the first day of the new term is as stupid and childlike as beleiving that teachers live in the school.

 

[scojos]

Please don't shout me down, but teachers are only - technically - paid for 39 weeks a year which is salaried and spread over 12 months! The rest of the holidays - which many of us work through at least some of those days - are again technically - unpaid.

hear hear

i also agree that many parenst use us as unpaid baby sitting service, we offer many extra cirr activities which are now the rule rather than the exception.
unfortunately when you need to them to do extra hours in year 11 they dont want to

 

[Kath2003]

The idea that on the last day of the school year teachers stop work and don't start again until the first day of the new term is as stupid and childlike as beleiving that teachers live in the school.

Some days it feels that way

 

[scojos]

Teachers are paid a salary, not an hourly wage, they no more get paid holidays than i get paid weekends.

Their day starts before any kids arrive at school, they leave well after the final kid has gone home, where they go home and continue to work marking school work and preparing lessons.

The idea that on the last day of the school year teachers stop work and don't start again until the first day of the new term is as stupid and childlike as beleiving that teachers live in the school.

can i also add that a teachers salary starts low, and unless you are willing/able to take on extra responsibility then it creeps up as you go up the pay scale.
anyone that intersted can go on the tes website and check out the rates for their area- its not top secret like in industry...
people like me, who worked in industry before teaching, can/could earn double what they get teaching, if they choose to go back into industry.
thanks

 

[Daysleeper40]

Ok - I've read most of this thread and for the record I believe:

Holiday in term time should be on consideration of the specific circumstances and the childs previous attendence record - it should not be the norm or expected.

Holidays to Florida really aren't that educational imo - it is a poor argument. You can talk about learning through fun all you want - going to the zoo is educational... going swimming teaches an important skill... playing brain training on your DS might help with maths - but you wouldn't dream of taking your kid out of school for two weeks to do any of those things.

Parents often seem to want it all their own way - you wouldn't be happy if the teacher just didn't turn up for school but some of you are quite happy to take your kids out for 2 weeks at a time? What is the difference? - the fact that the holiday is on your terms and in your interests as far as I can see. If there are no other extenuating circumstance (like not being able to take time off work in the holidays / some kind of once in a lifetime trip when your child has an otherwise excellent attendence record) then it's all about the money in a lot of cases. I don't think parents should try to dress it up as anything else.

Suggesting that teachers are getting some kind of paid holiday when on school trips is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

 

[tttessa]

I'm a dinner lady - oops sorry that was non-p.c. - a "Mid-day Supervisor" - or , as one parent said her son described me - "the lady who lives in the hall and does skipping" , so I can't imagine the things they think about teachers...

Tessa

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Great to see eveyone being respectful towards each other. Sorry to hear about your finger Wayne!!

 

[scojos]

Great to see eveyone being respectful towards each other. Sorry to hear about your finger Wayne!!

kathy-wayne will be surrounded by teachers at the pool party and i have already threatened to throw him in the pool, so he is being on his best behaviour

 

[UKDEB]

Parents often seem to want it all their own way - you wouldn't be happy if the teacher just didn't turn up for school but some of you are quite happy to take your kids out for 2 weeks at a time? What is the difference? - the fact that the holiday is on your terms and in your interests as far as I can see.

That happened all too often when my girls were in sixth form. I lost count of the number of times they'd come home and say they'd been left to their own devices.

 

[UKDEB]

we DO work hard (and much of it unpaid - we are not contractually obliged to carry out ANY activities before school, after school, at lunch etc. - so all those extra-curricular clubs, concerts, sporting events etc. are off our own back).

I don't have any beef with what you say, BUT, this is no different to working in the commercial world. As a banker, I was contracted and paid for a 35 hour week, but was forced to work more like 60 just to meet my targets.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

kathy-wayne will be surrounded by teachers at the pool party and i have already threatened to throw him in the pool, so he is being on his best behaviour

Now that would be good entertainment during our endlessly and needlessly long summer holidays.