Teachers' Strikes

[Mister M]

1 hour ago, hackey lad said:

Teach  smelling 

At my school, some of the kids were expert at smelling 🤢

[echo beach]

On 20/01/2023 at 12:04, Chekhov said:

I never said that, esp teaching in secondary schools.

But that is not the same thing as agreeing with their strikes.

I never said you did!

 

echo.

[Chekhov]

Well, it has been confirmed, our lad will have to stay at home next Wednesday due to the teachers strike.

If I kept my lad off school for a day I would be fined.

Will the striking teachers be fined ?

And if not why not ?

[El Cid]

3 hours ago, Chekhov said:

Well, it has been confirmed, our lad will have to stay at home next Wednesday due to the teachers strike.

If I kept my lad off school for a day I would be fined.

Will the striking teachers be fined ?

And if not why not ?

My lot are all at school/college. In my experience they don't fine parents for their kids taking time off.

Has that changed?

Edited January 25, 2023 by El Cid

[Chekhov]

On 20/01/2023 at 10:09, HeHasRisen said:

>>Chekhov said : Last point, parents are fined if they keep there kids out of school even for as little as a week a year, so are the teachers going to be fined ? And if not why not ?<<

 

Obligatory but needless mention of Covid, along with a nonsensical question to finish, I'm oot.

>>Chekhov said :

1 - The fact kids missed 7 months education is of no relevance to them missing even more ?

2 - The fact parents get fined for their kids missing even one weeks school over a year IS relevant. How come the teachers aren't getting fined ?

I have to say you do not sound like you have any kids at school.<<

 

I have just had to book some days off work because of the planned teachers strikes. That will directly cost me significant amounts of money.

So, if a parent keeps their kids off work for holidays or whatever, even for only a few days they have to pay a fine. Yet when the teachers go on strike and the kids stay off school it is still the parents who have to pay up !

Thus is is NOT a "nonsensical question".

Edited January 27, 2023 by Chekhov

[Chekhov]

On 25/01/2023 at 18:00, El Cid said:

My lot are all at school/college. In my experience they don't fine parents for their kids taking time off.

Has that changed?

We were told we would be fined, but since then it has become  a grey area. You may possibly be allowed up to 5 days a year (though there's nothing in writing about it = rather stressful....) which I think is a reasonable compromise as ideally kids should not miss any school, But I cannot see 5 days over a whole year making that much difference, particularly if the child is otherwise up to standard.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Chekhov

[Annie Bynnol]

2 minutes ago, Chekhov said:

We were told we would be fined, but since then it has become  a grey area. You may possibly be allowed up to 5 days a year (though there's nothing in writing about it = rather stressful....) which I think is a reasonable compromise as ideally kids should not miss any school, But I cannot see 5 days over a whole year making that much difference, particularly if the child is otherwise up to standard.

   As holidays are taken in blocks of days, it is far more likely that the parent would remove their child for five successive days.

   A class missing 5 days a year would be the equivalent of a week off school for all the children.  Why not compromise and extend the school year by a week thus allowing your child to catch up with private tutors you pay for(free for those whose children have a genuine reason for absence). The other children would be provided with the opportunity to partake in social, cultural, sporting. work experience and educational activities/trips in groups, individually or with parents. This would reward good practice, avoid schools falling into special measures and reinforce the importance of attendance in HE, FE and work.  

   A holiday is always classed as an 'unauthorised absence' and reflects badly on the school's attendance figures. Parents with support can ask for an 'authorised absence' which included participation in a recognised out of school event.

 

 

    

 

[HeHasRisen]

51 minutes ago, Chekhov said:

>>Chekhov said :

1 - The fact kids missed 7 months education is of no relevance to them missing even more ?

2 - The fact parents get fined for their kids missing even one weeks school over a year IS relevant. How come the teachers aren't getting fined ?

I have to say you do not sound like you have any kids at school.<<

 

I have just had to book some days off work because of the planned teachers strikes. That will directly cost me significant amounts of money.

So, if a parent keeps their kids off work for holidays or whatever, even for only a few days they have to pay a fine. Yet when the teachers go on strike and the kids stay off school it is still the parents who have to pay up !

Thus is is NOT a "nonsensical question".

Well, it is, but crack on.

[Chekhov]

1 hour ago, Annie Bynnol said:

   As holidays are taken in blocks of days, it is far more likely that the parent would remove their child for five successive days.

  A class missing 5 days a year would be the equivalent of a week off school for all the children.  Why not compromise and extend the school year by a week thus allowing your child to catch up with private tutors you pay for(free for those whose children have a genuine reason for absence). The other children would be provided with the opportunity to partake in social, cultural, sporting. work experience and educational activities/trips in groups, individually or with parents. This would reward good practice, avoid schools falling into special measures and reinforce the importance of attendance in HE, FE and work.  

   A holiday is always classed as an 'unauthorised absence' and reflects badly on the school's attendance figures. Parents with support can ask for an 'authorised absence' which included participation in a recognised out of school event

We do loads of extra work with our lad, equivalent to way more than an extra week of school anyway.

 

>>reflects badly on the school's attendance figures<<

 

You are right about the inference, most of the parents I talk to think the schools are most bothered about this.

Don't get me wrong, I think kids should be at school for the maximum time, but, particularly if the child has an excellent attendance record anyway, I think penalising the parents for trying to save many hundreds of pounds on a holiday is disproportionate. Many parents would not be able to afford to take their kids away if paying full price, plus there are holidays (e.g. to the southern hemisphere) which it would be irrational to take in our summer (= their winter) so you would have to take them out of school because you would not go all the way to AUS or NZ for one week.

 

51 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

>>Chekhov said :

1 - The fact kids missed 7 months education is of no relevance to them missing even more ?

2 - The fact parents get fined for their kids missing even one weeks school over a year IS relevant. How come the teachers aren't getting fined ?

I have to say you do not sound like you have any kids at school.<<

 

I have just had to book some days off work because of the planned teachers strikes. That will directly cost me significant amounts of money.

So, if a parent keeps their kids off work for holidays or whatever, even for only a few days they have to pay a fine. Yet when the teachers go on strike and the kids stay off school it is still the parents who have to pay up !

Thus is is NOT a "nonsensical question".

 

Well, it is [a nonsensical question], but crack on.

Why is it ?

Either kids have to be in school or people are fined (unless it's for them to miss 7 months of education for a virus which is of no danger to them.....), or not., Why just pick on the parents ?

Edited January 27, 2023 by Chekhov

[HeHasRisen]

Maybe because the schools closing for months resulted in AUTHORISED absenses. Are you struggling to tell the difference between authorised and unauthorised or do you need a responsible adult to explain it for you?