Cable Forum - View Single Post - Teachers' union says cutting school holidays a 'recipe for chaos'

tweetiepooh · 06-06-2016, 11:37

Summer holidays - that time of the year that parents realise how grossly underpaid teachers are.

Teaching is a job with a great deal of stress and hard work and the best teachers are the ones who put the time in out of hours to do the prep, learn the new stuff and work out how to communicate that. The easier the teacher seems to do their job is usually indicative of all that extra work. Now we live in a "nice" area and most pupils want to learn and most parents are supportive, that is also not always the case.

Teachers need that long summer to both have a holiday themselves (and their families) and also prepare for the next term/year. Not helped by someone central wanting to push more learning and earlier and marking/monitoring it. Pity both teachers and younger kids. Too little time for play and learning the basics in a fun way to accommodate some of the new targets.
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Our previous primary head would let kids go on holiday during term time (within reason) as she took the view that the holiday would be as beneficial to their learning as being in school. I guess the depended on the child, parents, time, age and destination. So 2 weeks in the Greek islands with an able child and parents that would expose child to local culture would score higher than 2 weeks in Disney resort with a struggling child and parents who just wanted to take advantage of cheap prices. This freedom has now gone. We are taking our 2 out of last couple of days of term this year because it was only way to fit the time into other events. Not going to be a lot of teaching in that period, shame youngest will miss her last days at primary.

06-06-2016, 11:37	#40
tweetiepooh Virgin Media Employee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Winchester Services: Staff MyRates BB: VM 1Gb TV: VM XL Phone : VM XL Posts: 3,283	Re: Teachers' union says cutting school holidays a 'recipe for chaos' Summer holidays - that time of the year that parents realise how grossly underpaid teachers are. Teaching is a job with a great deal of stress and hard work and the best teachers are the ones who put the time in out of hours to do the prep, learn the new stuff and work out how to communicate that. The easier the teacher seems to do their job is usually indicative of all that extra work. Now we live in a "nice" area and most pupils want to learn and most parents are supportive, that is also not always the case. Teachers need that long summer to both have a holiday themselves (and their families) and also prepare for the next term/year. Not helped by someone central wanting to push more learning and earlier and marking/monitoring it. Pity both teachers and younger kids. Too little time for play and learning the basics in a fun way to accommodate some of the new targets. === Our previous primary head would let kids go on holiday during term time (within reason) as she took the view that the holiday would be as beneficial to their learning as being in school. I guess the depended on the child, parents, time, age and destination. So 2 weeks in the Greek islands with an able child and parents that would expose child to local culture would score higher than 2 weeks in Disney resort with a struggling child and parents who just wanted to take advantage of cheap prices. This freedom has now gone. We are taking our 2 out of last couple of days of term this year because it was only way to fit the time into other events. Not going to be a lot of teaching in that period, shame youngest will miss her last days at primary. __________________ I work for VMO2 but reply here in my own right. Any help or advice is made on a best-effort basis. No comments construe any obligation on VMO2 or its employees.