Teachers and Snow Days

[Ric.ror]

Should they get paid?

I managed to get to work - my colleague would have but her little ones school was closed.

[squarebear]

Yes why? It's a quiet day here.

[gina32]

luckily it is my daughters day off but if it hadnt have been she would have lost a days pay. same as the teacher training day, why not do it in hte umpteen weeks a year holiday they get

[sara3]

you're getting paid for playing on AB? lol!

[squarebear]

Paid by who? No work = no pay. My job has nothing to do with it.

[Quinlad]

Some very bitter people around today.

[sara3]

who me? I'm fine thanks :o)

[squarebear]

Yes me too. Just having a friendly debate.

[sara3]

squarebear's going to buy me a drink later...

if I can just get my car out ;o)

[squarebear]

Sounds good to me. If I get snowed in anywhere, I would rather it be in the pub :-)

[teacher1]

I'm saying nothing ! lol ;o)

[sara3]

bulletproof vest time, teacher1 :o)

[Electrochem]

Yet again the teachers get it in the neck. It seems to me that they can't do anything right.

First of all let's get a few facts straight:

1 The decision to close a school is not taken by the teachers. It is taken by the governors or local authority.
2. In this day and age of compensation culture, can you imagine the claims that would be made by some of the parents if their little darling were injured at school?
3 If a teacher is off because of bad weather, they have to make the day up.
4. There are many jobs were people get paid if they can't get in because of the weather.
5. Wheb I was at school in the fifties and sixties, the majority of the teachers lived within 2 or 3 miles of the school. Now some travel 30 milles and more to work.

I am married to a teacher and I am sick and tired of the continual slating they get. They work demned hard to educate our children, and all the time they get moaned at. My wife gets spat on, kicked and verbally abused. That is in an infant school! She is at work at 08:00, has ten minutes for lunch and never leaves before 16:30. She has work to do at home and works on average 60 hours a week. She also goes into school during the holidays and decorates her classroom owing to the lack of funding in education. I very much doubt if some of the people who have posted comments on here would last 6 months doing a teacher's job.

In comparison to other jobs/professions, they are not highly paid. I know people who get more paid to them in comission than my wife earns in a year.

Judging by the attitude of some parents, I am not surprised at at the behaviour of some of the children.

For heavens sake, leave the teachers alone. If the job is so cushy, then what is stopping you going into it?

[teacher1]

Hi Electrochem. I agree with all you say. I took early retirement a few years ago because of some of the reasons you have stated, and ............ when we did have bad weather, the teachers still had to report to the nearest school each day, and stay there even though the school was shut to pupils.

[sophie_1003]

Three cheers for Electrochem!! I'm training to be a teacher at the moment and am already fed up of the way people treat them as if they haven't got proper jobs! As for the getting paid thing, as everyone else has said if the school closes then yes they should get paid, when I worked as a TA I walked to the school on a very snowy day to find it was closed, many of the teachers had got in or attempted to but as the school was closed we all went home. The teachers probably used the time to plan, do marking etc, I doubt any of them had a proper day off!

[brenmar]

A little known rule that teachers are meant to obey when they cannot get to work because of bad weather is that they are supposed to report to their nearest school and work there. They may not be able to teach the planed syllabus but they could ensure those pupils that can turn up spend their time constructively. They don't have to play outside they can be healthy and safe indoors.

[gina32]

so what would happen if a parent was going to collect their child from school and slipped and hurt themselves, would they be able to claim from the school as the child should have been there instead of being sent home, where does it stop????

[cc1]

What a chestnut this subject is, why are other people not pilloried when they cannot get to work? Oh yes, they're not the nation's babysitting service! Were I still at the chalk face, I would have to travel 11 miles to work, I cannot, after 3 days, get out of the road outside my house.
All the parents who complain, how many have taken children out for cheap holidays, to get shoes, to look after a younger child, to go to meet their Gran at the station, to get the new United shirt.................... the list of reasons is almost endless. Yes. I am aware that many parents do not do any of these things.
In the 50s and 60s we has a great time at school in the snow, throwing snowballs and making lethal ice-slides. People were injured, I'm sure bones were broken but it was considered to be an accident, not "a nice little earner".
Today, schools cannot win, if children were not allowed into the playground but kept inside all day I'm sure there would be an outcry but they cannot be expected to allow children out to play if there is the slightest risk of a bruise!

[Ric.ror]

Electrochem - if the jobs so cushy.....
I could turn it around and say if the jobs so hard - get another.
As a goodwill gesture perhaps all teachers may wish to offer the 'snow days' salary to an education charity in the third world???
Yes like thats going to happen

[Electrochem]

Ric.ror

You would do well to read the answer I gave.

I repeat, teachers have to make the time up, they do not get a day off and put their feet up. You have chosen to pick one point and totally ignored the others I made.

Many teachers are leaving the profession, hence the shortage of teachers today. There are others who are devoted to the job - they just put up with the continual tirade of whinging from parents and others.

You would do well to research some of the issues you have raised. Most employers pay staff if they can't get in because of bad weather, includinmg the company I work for.

I would suggest you try teaching for 6 months. You maight actually wake up and smell the coffee!

[LeMarchand]

In defense of teachers: I would hate to be a teacher, mainly because there is little to no sense of discipline instilled in kids at home, and there are so many rules and regulations to prevent their little egos (let alone their ears!) being bruised that it must be hell to try to control a group of kids. All sorts of ridiculous paperwork has to be filled out and every time there is a sea change "up high" new teaching practises have to be brought in. Any after school/weekend activities are "part of the job". You also have to put up with the kids spotting you outside of school, and be very careful about what you do/say in case your students use it against you.

Not so much in defense of teachers: they do always bleat about the low pay, which starts at £21k, and not all of them spend every evening/day of the year doing school work. In fact, my observation is that a lot of the younger ones try to get most of their work done 9-5 (if not 4) and use as much pre-made stuff as Google will provide as they can. I also find it very hard to believe that those on a snow day are all beavering away. (In fact, last year, one teacher from a school that was shut turned up at a school I was at wanting to take their child out "to play in the snow"!)