unclebuck

Why is it that when it snows all the schools close? “As a precaution” seems to be the given explaination.

Everybody else still has to struggle into work, so why not teachers? Why are they such a bunch of slackers generally? Don’t they have enough time off already?

UB

ajm

There were more schools closed than open if you believe the huge list of closed schools read out on our local radio this morning.... I'm not complaining though, it means less pushy school-run mums ferrying their single offspring around in their MPV's!

Freak

Buses cant run properly
Heating in schools often packs up
Some tecahers cant get in
Can you imagine the amount of soccer mom accidents outside the school gates in 4x4s?lol

ProperCharlie

did you not read the teachers thread that was on here recently? the reason that you're confused is that you have no clue what you are talking about.

it's more often the kids and their parents with their bumper car antics who can't get to school, rather than the teachers.

hth

unclebuck

Pah! - the usual excuses. Surely that applys to everybody, I don't see why teachers are a special case. They could set a good example to the kids if they made an effort.

Agree about the stupid women in their 4x4s though - carnage.

dosenöffner

The fat bloated pale skinned little brats should be made to walk to school along with their bleached blonde white shoe wearing mothers. Fat little *******s school kids these days. I remember walking to school in the snow in bare feet with nothing for lunch. Then it was off home to my cardboard box without heating after school.

ProperCharlie

@ dosenoffner

milo

i remember having to do that too, only they moved my school and i had to walk even further!

ajm

well we had ice on the inside of the windows, and outside toilets with newspaper for toilet paper!

milo

you had newspaper?!? lucky ****. we had to use sandpaper... AND it was the coarse kind

ajm

lol! Kids today they don't know they were born!

OllyK

Lucky buggers - we had to go and dig a hole and use any leaves we could find, stinging nettles were a real sod!

916Duke

This was just being talked about at work and two of the guys opposite me has a girlfriend / wife that are teachers - the main reason is that the playgrounds are icy - and if the little darlings were to fall over and they were deemed improperly supervised, the school could be sued... It's the same reason that teachers are being told not supervise school trips - if anything happens to the kids they could be held liable....

GaryK

Hmmm sounds the same as when I went to school 20 years ago. Hmmm whats different? O yeah its the fvcked up ***** PC waste of fvcking space society we now live in. Knew there had to be an easy answer!!!

Gary

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

Bingo.

Dream Weaver

Bit narrow minded ub , its not for the teachers sake - if a school is closed, teachers are supposed to offer assistance to schools nearer their home that aren't closed.

Its for the kids sake, make sure they dont get stuck away from home (some kids will live in the hills etc). Its also down to a responsiblity thing - who do you think gets it in the neck when a kid falls at school on ice, or the heating packs up and they freeze?

It also saves parents having to leave work early if the snow does get bad to pick kids up.

unclebuck

No **** sherlock. Not much gets past them there teachers, eh?

Have they never heard of a shovel? Or they could put down some grit to melt it... But, hold on, that would involve them getting their hands cold *an* doing some work, and we couldn't allow that. The Union would be in an uproar.

UB

suprabeast

As opposed to the parents not going to work at all cos their darlings are at home all day?

What happens in countries like canada where they have lots of snow?? Do their kids have no education??

I think you'll find they just get on with it which is exactly the same as what this country should do.

Dream Weaver

ub, you need to read that teaching thread again.

Not sure what you do, but I can guarantee my missus works twice as hard as you and probably earns half as much, and most blokes would be too crap to do such a difficult job - I know I couldn't.

Looking back, I dont ever remember getting to leave school early due to snow.

Dream Weaver

Fair point Supra, but my point is its the govn't that sets these things up, not just teachers fancynig an afternoon off.

OllyK

Good grief. I grew up living on the Yorkshire moors. We used to get plenty of snow every year (damn sight more than the piffling dusting we get these days).

Sometimes I couldn't make it to the main road to catch the bus as the snow was too deep to wade through, so I stayed at home and spent the day digging a path down the drive to the road. Within a couple of days the ploughs would come out and I could get the bus to school. The school stayed open however, so that those that could make it in continued to get an education.

I fell over times many in the school playground, ice and no ice, that's what kids do.

And what do you think they will be doing because it is not safe enough to be in school because of the ice? Think they will be tucked up in side?? Nope, they will be out sledging or making slides on the ice and generally falling about all over the place.

This PC stuff is just going too far, people have stopped taking responsibility for their own actions and always want somebody to blame. That's what the bloody speed cameras are about, government have to be seen to be doing something before people start suing them because they have an accident on the road.

OllyK

That's a damn bold claim when as you admit, you don't know what UB does. Yes teachers have to work hard, but then so do plenty of other people.

andrewdelvard

Slackers??? Enough Time off???

Listen tit, why don't you go and get some education regarding the mamoth hours, dedication, sheer will, and effort it takes to be a teacher.
Slackers?? **** me, My Rachel would kick you in the nuts if you said that to her.
Time off? Well if she gets much I'd like to know who she spends it with cause it isn't me.
You remind me of that other moron PSLewis. Thing is he does it to wind people up. You do it because you actually believe what you write.
I'm so pissed you started such a ****ing insulting thread I won't go on anymore.
Moses and Katana? Haven't they got you sussed.

unclebuck

deary me... touched a nerve have we? That's another thing about teachers - always on the defensive. All they ever seem to do is moan. I put down to a guilty concience.

UB

OllyK

Define Mammoth, the rest I agree, but is no more than applies to most working people.
AFAIK you don't know what UB does, how many hours he works or how hard he works, the hours that teachers work is often banded about on TV and the like. 60-70 hours is not un-common for teachers, the same is true of many other industries.

I left an old job when I was averaging over 85 hours a week, it was getting ridiculous. My last job I used to average 65 hours a week plus 4-5 hours travelling a day, I didn't take lunch breaks at either job and I used to get 20-25 days holiday a year. Yes I appreciate that teachers do work in the holidays but I doubt all of them are maintaining the 60-70 hour routine.

I work for a software house now, who develope educational software, we employ a number of teachers for useability testing and to help with requirements. Many of them are working as long if not longer hours than they did as teachers.

I am not having a go at teachers here, just making the point that they work for a living, like most of the rest of us and like the rest of us they have to work hard, but it is nothing out of the ordinary.

andrewdelvard

Mamoth (sic on that) hours are defined not only by the number put in but also by the concetration of work within each of those hours and stress involved ie I'm sure many teachers would just love to be on scoobynet posting topics about the numerous tv programs they watched the night before or amazingly enough as they are actually watching them. And even...post a running commentry! Whilst they work!
Jeez! I'm just realised that sounds like UB (insert smilie)
So maybe that gives some evidence as to how many actual WORK hours he puts in.
You work for a software house that employs teachers, however that offers you no insight into their working method/hours none. You make no point.

Dream Weaver

Yes but how much did you get paid for that? Most people that work long hours get paid a lot - doctors, lawyers etc.

The thing is non teachers (including me) all go on about teachers getting good holidays etc (and before my better half was a teacher I was the same as you guys), but the holidays are crap. They get peak time off - summer, half term etc so when you want to go away all the greedy tour operators bung the prices up - even B&B's in the lakes double their prices .

We can never have long weekends, or take advantage of Sleasyjet offers like most do as she simply cant get a day off like other people can. She spends most of these "fantastic" holidays preparing work for school, or going on training courses.

Whilst we all get to sit down and work at a PC, surf Scoobynet, go off for breaks, or take time off for stuff, the teachers are stood up all day dealing with arsey kids, and even arsier parents.

Most teachers enjoy their work (i.e. for those that say why dont they leave then), but when narrow minded people diss the job as easy and that teachers are "slackers" thats what gets annoying. Knowing the job as i do now I have nothing but repsect for teachers - much harder job than all us IT loafers.

Jerome

Quite right. Recently it was -45C here with wind chill and the schools weren't closed. Plenty of snow as well.

Some schools here do close when the weather gets bad, but "bad" in Canada means the kind of weather that would utterly paralyse the UK completely.

unclebuck

As it happens I do have to train people, mostly in The States (read long hours, jet lag, separated from loved ones etc) and I have to generate all my own material for this. In fact I am currently writing a training video script. I have around six tutorials to complete shoot and animate in about 4 weeks. Occasionally I have to work long hours and travelling away from home can be arduous, but I don’t bitch and moan about it. I don’t get weeks and weeks of holidays and I don’t start work at 9:30 and finish at 4:15. If I could work at home, as teachers do planning lessons, marking etc, I would consider this a privilege not a stick to beat non-teachers with. Methinks they doth protest too much. I mean, most of them have had the last 2 days off on full pay while the rest of us are working our butts off. I’d love a nice long weekend to land in my lap out of the blue. But I’m not a teacher so it ain’t gonna happen. If the hours and holidays don't fit your lifestyle, the alteranative is simple. Get another job.

Now, I really *must* get on with some *work*

UB

OllyK

Your making the assumption that he works 9-5 and is posting in work time, that may not be the case.

WTF? I didn't say it was my observation, it was their comments from having chatted to these people. They have done both teaching and working in another industry, and their feeling is that another industry is not a soft option nor do they end up working less hours than they used to. My point is perfectly valid.

The whopping sum of £11,500 pa. See why I left now?

Fine, that's good. I am not dissing teachers at all, I have not branded them as slackers, but in the same vein I am trying to point out that what they do is what they choose to do. They know the score, if they don't like it move on, don't bitch about it. Some teachers work bloody hard, others less so, same as anywhere else, but as I said, they are people who work longer hours, there are people with more stress, there are people who get paid less, maybe not all 3 however.