[Closed] Teachers/childcare content - opinions sought

Is teachers maternity provision that bad that they have to leave a 4 month old baby with someone else?

Christ thats terrible

Either you are dropping your child off before the bell, which is fine, but you have to accept that the supervision is not the responsibility of the Teacher until the bell has actually rung and their working day has started, or the child-minding parent is arriving after the bell, their child is late, they are liable for prosecution and the teacher is indeed out of order.

There'll be an official start to the school day. If dropping your child off before that, you're enjoying free childcare, so shouldn't really be complaining. Find out when the official start to the day is and if you're still unhappy raise it with the Head teacher. As a secondary school teacher I don't HAVE to start dealing with kids until 8.35am, but regularly do. It's hard juggling childcare when mum works, as I'm sure you're aware. Give and take.

I imagine it's much the same as most places - they only get paid for the first 6 months (though probably a bit more than statutory for those 6 months).

At our primary school the pupil start time is 8.55, but teacher start time is 8.30 at the latest to allow for short meetings and management time. Your situation sounds decidedly odd and probably unsustainable, as there is usually some stuff for teachers to do before start. Everyone probably knows it's not ideal so I wouldn't go in with guns blazing about it. Not long left this term now.

If your school has a breakfast club, a solution could be for the childminder to take her child there, allowing her to pick up the teacher's baby.

FFS do you not have to juggle the work life balance then?
A few minutes for your child to talk to their friends at the start of the day...Sure you are nit early trying to get to work on time or never been late for work because of your kids?

If her kid stayed in the class fair enough but this seems that,as a parent, you should be a bit more sympathetic to a working mother trying to balance work and life.

(Parent of 3 and 5 year olds, family full of teachers.)

-give and take here too.

Despite being in the business of nurturing children, most local educational authorities are really quite bad at helping their employees look after their own children. For example, despite having very strict rules about keeping 'infectious' children out of classes, schools will not/cannot give their own teachers carer's leave when their own children are sick and cannot attend their own school.

And yes maternity pay is pretty average in education. Not forgetting that newly qualified teachers earn well under the the national median wage with no option for flexi-time. Hardly at an advantage to sort their childcare out affordably.

What junkyard said.

It wouldn't bother me, but I have sympathy with anyone who has to juggle childcare and work. It's the biggest headache in our house with two kids and both of us doing shiftwork.

you all seem to have empathy for the teacher, what about from my point of view?

I do not get to the school early - the gates are opened at 8.40am, and we all walk in at the same time.

i am entrusting the teacher with my child, yet she is busy looking after her own baby, in 'work' time. I don't think she is giving the class her full attention if she is walking round with a 4 month old baby in her arms.

I think i'll have to take it up with the head teacher.

the gates may be open but when do classes begin? That is when the teacher becomes responsible.

Wonders what you do if you have to call forward and explain you may be late picking your child up in the future once you have done with your moaning/complaining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is said teacher a good one?

Think you need to relax and stop fussing or your child will become stressed/turn out like you.......................

Given the shortage of good childminders etc give the woman a bit of slack and just think about the fact you may need her assistance some day.

Similar situation to what happened at our kids previous school, school simply opened gates at 8.30 as usual but did not open classrooms until 08.55, the official start time, and requested that parents did not leave their children unattended until this time.

As others have said, lighten up, it's hardly the crime of the century.

If, for example, you're car breaks down one evening and you're an hour late picking your kid up will you expect them to be sat on the pavement outside, in the dark and alone cos 'official responsibility was over'.

Why not allow these few minutes each morning to be used as a lesson for social interaction, kindness and understanding for your child. Surely that's more important to learn than selfish narrow mindedness?

Chill.
Why are you taking your child into school anyway?
At 5 I was walking half a mile to school by myself....you're just being a paranoid parent.

And what good would taking it up with the head do? You're just stirring.

you are about to become as popular as syphilis. Stop being so uptight, pious and maybe help the situation if you are that bothered by offering to mind the baby for 5 minutes. Oh no thats not possible because it requires A) Effort and care on your part, B)not wingeing on the internet

MTFU

Check your facts first. Every primary school I have taught in opens the gates before official time to give the parenst a drop of window. Some will allow them into class. The law is often different. Check your facts to avoid looking thouroughly stupid. Then if you want to moan and piss of a very hassled teacher who then has one more thing to deal with.

Frankly, I'm amazed that the school lets all the parents into the classrooms. What's that about?

wow - parent sees own child as more important than anything else - gasp, suggest scientific grant for research.

Given that all parents are 'good' enough and 'skilled' enough to simultaneously drive a car in rush hour traffic, with one hand, whilst looking backards at the children, pointing and remonstrating I'd have thought holding a baby and dealing with some kids in an static and enclosed space would be pretty easy......

I tend to agree with most others on here. You are absolutely out of order.

What are you doing going in to the classroom? why is your child so precious? what is the actual risk to your child? When does the teachers responsibilities start?

Get some perspective here. You kid is going to grow up with no ability to risk assess or care for itself if you mollycoddle like that. At 6 I walked to school on my own

Really, she's not doing anything more than she would be if she was comforting a child who'd fallen over in the playground and hurt themselves, or giving a child a 1-1 reading session during lesson or whatever is she? In fact, she's probably still giving the pupils already there a lot more attention than in either of those situations seeing that a 4 month old baby is probably asleep then. And I bet all the class love seeing the baby.

Is she a good Teacher do the children like her, or do you have other issues apart from this one, it must be terribly difficult for your childs teacher to have to leave her baby because she has to work.

druidh,

you're probably right that parents shouldn't be allowed into the classroom - it's another example of where schools put themselves at potential risk of litigation to make things easier/more comfortable for parents who want to drop their kids off a little early.
As a teacher and governor at schools I regularly come across parents who under etsimate the commitment of most teachers and the extent to which school put themselves at risk to accomodate parents. It's often parents who work in environments where risk assessment and H&S regulations are 'overlord' that find fault.
If teaching is such a great job there would be decent teachers queueing up to take that ladies job. I wouldn't be surprised if she has returned to work earlier than she would have chosen, because she feels a duty towards her class, which has presumably been taught by a stand-in teacher.
That or she knows she has to show up before the massive holiday begins if she wants to return to full pay.
😆 😳

What's all this coming into the classroom bollox? You damn well play outside in the playground until the morning bell goes. Anyone found in the school before then would usually be shot.

Now as for the OP, are you sure that 1 more child in a class of 30 odd children is going to make a massive difference for a few moments?

At my daughter's school only reception parents are allowed in the classroom - everyone else waits outside until the 8:55 bell and the kids go in on their own.
Sometimes in reception there would be no teacher in until nearly 9 - the official start time - and handover of responsibility.
The older reception kids now also have to wait outside and go in on their own to practice for yr1.

so, for 5 mins a day the teacher is having to supervise 31 kids rather than 30. Big deal!.

On occasion both my wife and I have taken our young son to our schools when child care broke down. It had no negative effect on the kids.

Maybe said teacher should just give up her job and stay at home to look after her child like a good little women and not not bother about mens stuff like providing for the family.

We have a smallish village junior school (55 children), parents take children into school and into class if circumstances require.

The teachers are usually rushing around preparing for the day and dealing with issues caused by the children who have been waiting outside - "he said, she said...".

When you say "the teacher is actually paying more attention to her own child than the children that are under her supervision" have you seen examples of an incident that supports this? In the morning mayhem having a teacher who is in place and ready to receive children before they may be required to, puts you in a fortunate position. Unless you have firm evidence you may be about to make an enemy of a lot of parents who may appreciate what is being done for them. I don't suppose you have mentioned this to the teacher? Offered any help? Before you complain to the head.

At our school, allowing parents into the school has encouraged more parents to engage with the school, get to know the teachers (which helps if a difficult situation arises. as they already have a relationship with the parents, often these incident are caused by the children of those who do not engage with the school)

The teachers at the school are friendly and welcoming, the relationship between them and parents is, on the whole, very good and the children do very well.

Our children are the most precious things we have, but you need to get some perspective because when they get older and start to test themselves in all sorts of ways you are going to need some very heavy medication if this fires you up!!

In my experience, a baby in a classroom has a massively calming influence on even the rowdy kids. I think it's great when a member of staff or a former (hopefully) pupil brings in a baby and all the kids hush up and lighten up. There's something innate about the response. It's great.

Anyone got a baby I could borrow for 190 days?

Dawson, i never get involved in this sort of thing but you really are a pen*s. FFS!

Where is the baby's father? almost certain to be another teacher at the same school

He should do his bit of childcare too

Where is the baby's father? almost certain to be another teacher at the same school

? why is it almost certain to be another teacher at the same school, are teachers only allowed to get together with other teachers?

Perhaps the dad picks the child up after work?

are teachers only allowed to get together with other teachers?

did you not get the memo? 😯

[i]you all seem to have empathy for the teacher, what about from my point of view?[/i]

Let's look at your point of view:

[i]Well, yesterday I took the day off work to be a parent helper accompanying(sp?) my daughter on a school trip with a bunch of five year olds to a farm type place - White Post Farm

Does the STW massiv think this is enough brownie points to get a bike ride AND a trip to the pub?[/i]

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/brownie-points

Maybe your kid's teacher is trying to gain "brownie points"

although strangely enough one of my teacher friends is actually married to a teacher in the same school as hers! They didn't meet there though, meet at uni. they've not been working at the same shcool long.

diabolical bleedin liberty. she should have her brat forcibly taken from her arms and dismembered in front of her as a lesson. in front of the children as well in case any of them was thinking that they could grow up become teechers and take the taxpayer for a ride like that. yeah that'll learn them. if you want free childcare work for it properly like being a merchant banker or politician not some freeloading overpaid layabout that contributes nothing to society like a kiddy skool teecher

Get a grip! She is not there to 'look after' your kid. She is a teacher FFS.

wonders where OP has gone.......................... 👿

Dear god, this must be a troll, surely? a) how much "looking after" does a 4 month old in your arms take? Sod all, they just lie there and make noises and b) What's up with your kid looking after itself? I think I was walked to school by my mother until the age of 5 or maybe 6, but by that time I had been taught to cross roads and get to places on my own. Sometimes my mother still walked with me but mainly to talk to the other parents and because she worked at the school part time.

Don't 6 year olds have to have more than 1 teacher per class (assuming a class of 30)?

"wonders where OP has gone.......................... "

Yeah, dont think that post went to plan!

Complain only if you were never a child yourself and hatched from an egg in the adult form.

Define working hours for teachers.

Taking my wife as an example, it's roughly 24x7, and she's part time. I wouldn't do it, and I'd laugh you down the road if you suggested I did it for the pay without additional responsibility points.

If it's that much of a worry, how about staying with your daughter baby is collected? Oh sorry, that might make YOU late for work..

I think the bigger question is why the hell she has to work during the most formative months her childs development. Very few mothers have to work inside the first year on tthe continent, there is sufficient maternity provision from the state to make it not necessary. These days you're lucky if SMP is enough to even get by on with joint incomes.

ianv - Member

"wonders where OP has gone.......................... " - i am at work

Yeah, dont think that post went to plan!

yup - i wasn't quite expecting this flaming!

Hey, ho. i'll put it down to experience and move on.

cheers folks.