No school today

tkachev

One sons schoolhas been cancelled due to the snow.Roads are clear here but few inches of snow on the pavements.
The other sons school is open and he is not amused.Waiting to hear about daughters school,
Elizabeth

joyful164

It all comes down to Health and Safety. Should anyone slip in the playground. Helps the teacher clear up earlier for Christmas I suppose. Then they will have at least 2 training days before next term to add on.
Sorry if anyone is a teacher here. For mothers who have to be at work and have to arrange extra expensive childcare, it is not good.

I can remember getting to school in 3ft high snow drifts. We use to slide round the playground. HAD snowball fights. sat in damp clothes. we son dried off. We are growing into a nation of wimps

joy

tkachev

Hi all

Sons school cancelled as he has to travel about 8 miles by mini bus.It is a special needs school and they need a higher ratio of staff per pupil and it isthe staff who cant get in.A lot of them live in High Wycombe area, one towards Oxford and also Slough.
Other son only has a half day too.
I planned to wrap their presents today while they were out!And decorate that tree whic h I havent had energy to do yet.
Jan are you glad you havent got to drag out today or are you working later?
Best wishes
Elizabeth[/b]

miss_l

I (and my friends) were counting on a snow day today - but we havent seen any snow
We all went to the sixth form christmas party at school and feel a little rough this morning!!!!

Hope the kids are quiet today and help us poor teachers out!!

tkachev

Hi
Have you got to work today?Last day of school is the day you get all the presents.My son has 4 teachers so 4 boxes of chocs wont get delivered after all cos school was cancelled.
Take care all you teachers!
Elizabeth

joanlawson

Hi

It always amazes me these days how schools close as soon as there is snow. It is certainly a modern phenomenon.

I remember struggling in to school in all weathers in the past. It once took me nearly two hours to do a normally 20 minute journey, and when I finally arrived, only 5 children arrived in my class. But I didn't mind, because those 5 were much better off in school than they ever were at home.

Regarding teacher training days, teachers have a huge workload these days, mainly meeting the demands for more and more paperwork dictated by Ofsted etc. If anyone thinks that teachers have an easy life, let them try it for a week. I know many teachers who often don't have the time to stop for a lunch break.

Joan

ninakang

My girls are all at school, the snow fall's not that bad in Derby. I feel sorry for those who've had to arrange childcare at the last minute, it must be very expensive and inconvenient. I remember being at school in all weathers too. I also remember one memorable year in primary school when the heating broke down and we all had to wear our coats in the classrooms to keep warm!

I'm Chair of Governors at the girls' school and I agree, they do work hard and a lot of it is paperwork and meeting targets - not why most of them got into teaching in the first place. I think it's unfair, it's taking away time spent with the children.

Nx

joanlawson

Hi Delboy

You have first hand understanding of a teacher's lot these days.

The government initiatives and target based performance indicators are killing the job.

( quote from Delboy)

The trouble is that the government have constantly moved the goal posts since the National Curriculum was introduced.

There have been so many changes and new initiatives since then, and the last people they ever consult are the teachers who have the task of delivering them all.

Why does anyone want to be a teacher :?: It is because we feel a genuine vocation to work with children, and to have the joy of educating them. Anyone without that vocation wouldn't last two minutes.

But the government has taken away so much valuable time when we could be working with the children, and made us waste it on stupid paperwork etc.

My daughter is in charge of early years at her school, and she has to practically write a book on each child when they start school. She would rather spend the time with the children.

Joan

miss_l

Despite starting work at 7.30 am planning and marking and not getting away until 6pm i can honestly say i love my job and becoming a teacher in a secondary school is the best choice i ever made

skezier

Hi Elizabeth,

Hope you can sneak the tree and the present wrap in somehow. Its unpredictable as to them closing or not isn't it?

We don't often get snow but we got some in the spring, some real stuff not the gone by mid day stuff and the schools got caught out. The Dutchy is very rural and a lot of kids and teachers had to spend the night in the class rooms so I think ours now will close if one flake is seen.

Stay warm and I really hope you can do some sneaky wrapping an tree decorating. Cris x

Hi Miss I,

Hope your soon recovered

tkachev

I did it, I wrapped 2 kids pressies.Only the shared presents and Daniels and the family to do now!That is an absolute first for years.It gets in the feet and back and I am having a break at the moment.
Jan I used to feel I was not making an effort, letting them all down when my R.A was horrendous.It is really upsetting isnt it?I had to rely on the OH to buy the presents and he isnt very good at that.Always came home saying he couldnt find this or that.Once wrapped all the gifts I was planning to return to the shops after Chistmas!
I will tackle the tree after the presents Skezier!Hope you are well.
Best wishes
Elizabeth

gickygawky

If it wasn't for my friend Arthur and the amount of paperwork we now have to do I think I may still be teaching.

One of the many reasons I made the decision to resign as Head of my little school was because I was doing over 100 hour weeks! :shock: I admit that some of that was my doing because I was a perfectionist (only at school) and I felt I had to put in that much work because the children deserved it but I was also under an enormous amount of pressure to perform for Ofsted. The quantity of 'evidence' we had to collate to prove our worth was mind boggling. In February Ofsted graded us as 'Outstanding' and after that I decided I had made my mark and made the move to resign.

Had it not been for walking into a class of children each day I think I would have crumbled along time ago. Bless there cotton socks! I miss them everyday!

A x
.

joanlawson wrote:

Hi Delboy

You have first hand understanding of a teacher's lot these days.

The government initiatives and target based performance indicators are killing the job.

( quote from Delboy)

The trouble is that the government have constantly moved the goal posts since the National Curriculum was introduced.

There have been so many changes and new initiatives since then, and the last people they ever consult are the teachers who have the task of delivering them all.

Why does anyone want to be a teacher :?: It is because we feel a genuine vocation to work with children, and to have the joy of educating them. Anyone without that vocation wouldn't last two minutes.

But the government has taken away so much valuable time when we could be working with the children, and made us waste it on stupid paperwork etc.

My daughter is in charge of early years at her school, and she has to practically write a book on each child when they start school. She would rather spend the time with the children.

Joan