Any teachers in the house?

I love it when people are converted from thinking we do eff all and get 13 weeks off to realising it's actually hard work. I only count the 6 weeks as a holiday, the others are just stress breaks.

I know people are going to now say "well you knew what you were getting into etc" but trust me you have to do a lot of job in a short space of time all the time! Tis hard.

If this is now going to go into some kind of strike rant form people my two pence on the whole thing is that my union isn't striking yet as some negotiations are still going on. We may be going out in september though, so this could be just the beginning. Best find some other babysitters for the kids

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

"well you knew what you were getting into etc"

The common misconception is that it's one big holiday, so actually I'd think most teachers had no idea what they were getting into. My wife certainly didn't. She wanted a career change and thought it would be nice to start and finish work at the same time as my son starts and finishes school (wrong!), and to be with him during the school holidays (OK, that bit is good).

I question how many teachers, if they knew what they were getting into, would have done it?

I don't mind revealing my wife's salary, she is paid out of the public purse, so as soon as you tell anyone she's just completed her NQT, a quick google will tell you the answer. I won't reveal how many times you need to multiply her salary to get to mine though, I'll leave that to your imagination, but she works just as hard as me.

It's definitely a vocation.

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

strike rant

My wife's school has moved the teacher training day to tomorrow, she is in the NUT, but if she strikes she misses her training.

I don't know whether we are derailing this or not, the OP hasn't told us what the threads about yet

The OP probably just wanted a nice pitched battle between teachers and the general public ending in forum bloodshed

I'm very suprised the school have moved the training day mind. That's a little bit underhand, is it an academy by any chance?

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

Is it an academy by any chance?

Yes.

You are not surprised that it's an Academy then? Tell me why because being new to it all she doesn't particularly understand why that would make a difference. I assume it's something to do with profit making commercial organisation mentality?

Ralph, 16hrs a day for 22k, that's less than minimum wage, no wonder there going on strike.

Academies are free to do a lot more, they can sidestep strike action by doing dodgy things like moving training days. They also don't recognise unions generally and have no reps in the schools as a general rule. They also have their own terms and conditions which effectively remove a lot of our rights.

Basically IMO they are very bad news and should be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately my school are moving towards becoming an academy and i'm not looking forward to it as my job is hard enough already. My other half works in an academy which was a failing school and she can't stand it now and is often at work 7 - 6 every day. Rubbish.

Originally Posted by bluefishman

Ralph, 16hrs a day for 22k, that's less than minimum wage, no wonder there going on strike.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

as a wife, a mother and a teacher, she works, no joking, 16 hours a day

Well probably 12-13 hours a day on school work. It's 11pm and she's on her interactive whiteboard software now. Why do you think I post so much on the forum? TV is rubbish and there's nobody to talk to!

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

My other half works in an academy which was a failing school and she can't stand it now and is often at work 7 - 6 every day. Rubbish.

Wifey is exactly the same situation, 8 til 6 is pretty normal. Being her first teaching job, we both assumed that was normal. How many hours a week do you think you work (be truthful)?

At my peak time oct - april i am normally doing between 10 - 16 hours a day. I try not to work weekends though. I have peak times as i work in a secondary school and the kids projects are done in year 11 between oct and april. Its not unknown for me to stay at work till 7pm working with groups of kids on their year 11 tech projects 2 or 3 days a week until they are completed. After easter things ease up a touch and in the last 5 weeks year 11 leave so i get a little more free time and can plan for next year and have a mass clearout in preperation for seeing another 300 different kids a week for a year.

What i should mention though as a closing statement is that the job is never finished and there is ALWAYS something you could be doing! But you need to draw the line and have a work life balance. The first year is the worst as you need to prep resources from scratch. Once you have them you can tweak them year in year out. Mind you the teaching load is reduced in the first year so you take a hit when that goes up.

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Wife says you'll be getting a slap if she ever meets you

I know you're only joking so this reply isn't aimed at you, but it is a common misconception, so I'm going to type it anyway.

She's at the back of a very long queue.....

To right I was joking. I'm not normally a fan of industrial action but in this instance the teachers have a serious point to make. As for misconceptions.....I'm married to a GP, where shall I start?