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You bastard firestarter, you're clearly just trying to get cheap holidays and one at a pool not sight seeing across Europe learning the different cultures. How very dare you want to spend some free time with your family against a teachers better judgement.
I know I'm a real barsteward. If they had added all the teacher training days together and let me take them out with them then I'd be grand for a two week break 🙂
Apparently my five year old spent a good portion of today watching Wall-E in the assembly hall with the rest of the school.
I like to think that had I taken her out of school then we could have covered that key learning outcome at home 😀
There's 1500 kids at my daughter's school.
If all the kids take 5 extra days each year the school would lose 7500 teaching days. This feels like a massive amount of 'education' lost.
Tbh, most teachers probably welcome having fewer kids to teach, the problem is that the schools are judged so much on pupil progress and also attendance.
I like to think that had I taken her out of school then we could have covered that key learning outcome at home
No, the other kids would have to stare out of the window while she caught up.
If all the kids take 5 extra days each year the school would lose 7500 teaching days. This feels like a massive amount of 'education' lost.
No it's not, they can still teach with one kid missing.
Whilst I have a good deal of sympathy with the views on here are people directing their anger with the problem on the wrong people. 1. Its not the teachers fault its a political issue and 2. Why cant your work be more flexible?
Why cant your work be more flexible?
Because we can't close an ambulance station for 6 weeks.
I have no problems with the term time rules but there should be a system in place for workers with fixed leave periods.
You could skive off, like you're asking your kids to do? If it's not a problem for them, why's it a problem for you?
How very dare you want to spend some free time with your family against a teachers better judgement.
Been here before, but it's nowt to do with teachers.
No it's not, they can still teach with one kid missing.
That's not the issue though, is it? That time still has to be made up, what was taught while they were away will still have to be learned. When is that done?
Because we can't close an ambulance station for 6 weeks.
Schools shut in England for something like thirteen weeks a year - how much more flexible do you need them to be?
And I know you don't want to look at the other side of it, but teaching today is not by any stretch what you imagine it to be - [url= https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/%E2%80%98i-hear-teachers-crying-their-kitchen-floor-because-stress%E2%80%99 ]Linky[/url]
You could skive off, like you're asking your kids to do? If it's not a problem for them, why's it a problem for you?
It wouldn't be a problem for me. It may be a problem to the people trapped in a house fire or a car crash though.
Schools shut in England for something like thirteen weeks a year - how much more flexible do you need them to be?
My leave is fixed. I have no say in when it is. The school could be shut 26 weeks a year if my leave doesn't fall right it's still useless. I guess my kids don't deserve a holiday yet a teachers kid could have 13 weeks worth. I must be a gluten for punishment as my army leave was fixed too.
It wouldn't be a problem for me. It may be a problem to the people trapped in a house fire or a car crash though.
Well, the very last thing we need is to be affected by the implications of our actions. Like taking children out of education because we want a nicer holiday.
My leave is fixed. I have no say in when it is.
Same for the school and every single teacher that works there.
I guess my kids don't deserve a holiday yet a teachers kid could have 13 weeks worth.
What is this 'deserve' business? They MUST be flown abroad for sun, sea and sand, otherwise their academic endeavors are wasted or something? All kids have 13 weeks a year off - difference is that teachers work during their holidays and (like your kids) can't go on holiday during term time.
Not your kid's school's problem.I must be a gluten for punishment as my army leave was fixed too.
Same for the school and every single teacher that works there.
Yes but the point you seem to be missing clearly on purpose I might add is the fact that the teachers kids are on holiday the same time as them. Where as mine and many others aren't
And who mentioned abroad? A week in Scarborough would do.
because we want a nicer holiday
Not a nicer one. Just one.
Because we can't close an ambulance station for 6 weeks.
Surely you can work some system where people take holiday in a rota or is that beyond the ambulance service?
My leave is fixed. I have no say in when it is. The school could be shut 26 weeks a year if my leave doesn't fall right it's still useless. I guess my kids don't deserve a holiday yet a teachers kid could have 13 weeks worth.
You could always become a teacher, loads of vacancies
[i]My leave is fixed. I have no say in when it is.[/i]
Use the human rights act against your employer then - you have a right to a family life which is being denied to you.
Someone in your organisation decides who gets leave when in your workplace - it's not fixed in law.
Surely you can work some system where people take holiday in a rota or is that beyond the ambulance service?
My god why didn't we think of that. Oh wait that's exactly what we have but guess what, not everyone can have the school holidays off as we'd have to shut down the ambulance service.
Of course, but does everyone have kids and is it beyond you to rotate it through different years so everyone gets a chance of a summer holiday with their kids every few years?
Ours rotates by one shift a year. The next time I get time off In the summer holidays us around 12 years away.
Leave is fixed. When you join you are given a leave group and you keep that until you move stations. When you move you take the person who has lefts leave group. I have incidentally just moved station as due to budget cuts they have shut my old one. This has moved me two years backwards in terms of leave. So I'm again not only further from summer hols but further from Christmas 🙁
As for human rights act good luck with that. If the fire brigade aren't exempt they sure act like it. We now have some stations working four days/nights straight thru. Recall to duty where they can legally call you in from leave if they need more manpower and punish you if you don't arrive. All thanks to our lovely govt. And as the budget gets cut further and as people are leaving in droves it's only gonna get worse as we are shutting stations rather than replacing leavers.we have had more fire deaths in our brigade this year (figures from April to June) than we had in the previous five years put together. But that's another thread all together
Of course, but does everyone have kids
Errrr! No but you can't not give someone holidays in July and August because they don't have kids.
everyone gets a chance of a summer holiday with their kids every few years?
Roughly that's how it works but you can go a few years before you get a chance again. Think it's my turn next year but that's only because I took a new job.
As for human rights act good luck with that.
Maybe we could take the human rights against the schools for not allowing kids to go on holiday with their family. Or maybe we should stop being so melodramatic.
I think the thing that annoys most about all this is the scatters that are never at school where nothing happens and even if they do get fined they pay it out of benefits.as shown on the benefits Britain thing the other day. They went on hols in term time told school they were in and she said she didn't mind a fine as the tax payer would pay it
When i asked the head for time off she admitted it was horrible to give me grief when my kids had 97% attendance yet some they struggled to get in school for a full week ever
Maybe we could take the human rights against the schools for not allowing kids to go on holiday with their family.
You have a quarter of the year to aim at, how much more do you want?
I think the thing that annoys most about all this is the scatters that are never at school where nothing happens and even if they do get fined they pay it out of benefits.as shown on the benefits Britain thing the other day
Aa, if that's where your're getting your facts from... 🙂 Bit of a race to the bottom though, isn't it - "there are scutters who cheat the system, we might as well do the same" - or be better than them. 🙂
You have a quarter of the year to aim at, how much more do you want?
No, no I don't. I'm not sure if I mentioned this but my holidays don't always fall when the schools are off. Sorry if that wasn't clear enough.
I can see where pondo is coming from - kids are off school 12 or 13 weeks per year, roughly a quarter. On average that should mean everyone had a quarter of their leave matching school holidays. If anyone doesn't get that then someone else must be getting more than a quarter of the year matching up.No, no I don't. I'm not sure if I mentioned this but my holidays don't always fall when the schools are off. Sorry if that wasn't clear enough.
I give up. Read what pondo has written it's just a load of Bolton. As they say in dragons den. For that reason I'm out
You've explained your system firestarter and I sympathise with the position. But it makes your system unreasonable rather than the only way it can be done. We have to manage the holidays for quite a lot of staff where 7 day cover is needed and there's no way we'd impose on them what you and Drac have to cope with.I give up
Actually I'll quickly add. One of our local high schools has 2 weeks off every 6 I think it is. That would suit me but the parents at that school are trying to get it changed.
On average that should mean everyone had a quarter of their leave matching school holidays. If anyone doesn't get that then someone else must be getting more than a quarter of the year matching up.
Average of what? Go on the tell me how my holiday rota works then as you seem to know better than me.
We know it's unreasonable oldbloke but there is nothing we can do other than as the senior management have suggested, leave and get a job as a teacher
10 blokes on my shift 2 gaffer's 4 drivers we always need 1 gaffer and 2 drivers on. 5 of shift is trained in a fancy bit of kit and we need 2 of those in at all times and they can't be drivers.and we all have kids in school. Work me a rota out that's fair. Oh and we can only have 1 person off at any one time
P.s. My wife is in the NHS can you sort hers to coincidence with mine too 😉
We have to manage the holidays for quite a lot of staff where 7 day cover is needed and there's no way we'd impose on them what you and Drac have to cope with.
It isn't actually that bad. It's just that at times you can miss the school holiday set, even if I do hit it my wife might not as she works for the NHS too. So unless we both can get our holidays to match during the school hols we can't alway be together long enough for a holiday. If we had the option without a penalty to do this another time it would be a lot better, that's the problem.
It seems then that the inflexibilty of the ambulance and fire service necessitate a change in education.
The problem here appears to be 50% with your employers and 50% with schools. All 3 are controlled by government. Its them who you need to complain to, not teachers who have no power to change anything.
Problem is 100% with the government but they care not. And for reference I've not complained to the teachers 😉
We know it's unreasonable oldbloke but there is nothing we can do other than as the senior management have suggested, leave and get a job as a teacher
Wow, way to motivate your workforce... 🙁
That's the problem pondo they don't want to motivate us they are trying to reduce the workforce to meet govt budget. But they know they can't really make us redundant when fire deaths are rising rapidly
And for reference I've not complained to the teachers
No can't say I have either.