Dear Parents/Guardians,
On Wednesday morning I know there will be disruption to your normal routine. Your childs school may be closed. Or you may have one child in, whilst the others has the day off. Guaranteed to cause at least one very upset kid, and one very smug one.
I’m sure you will be muttering about how inconvenient it is. How teachers are just being a nuisance, whinging on again about their bloody pensions! I’ve seen the comments on my Facebook feed, us teachers are a selfish lot!
Before you jump on the teacher bashing bandwagon, please take a step back and try to look at it from our point of view. Striking is no longer just about pay and pensions, it is about the fact that Michael Gove and his new “initiatives” are bringing the education system to its knees.
The parents of the children I teach put trust in me to do the very best for their child and this government is making this harder by the day. Take a few minutes and think about what you want for your childs education.
Teaching is an active job, you are on your feet for most of the day. In all honesty do you want teachers in their 60’s in the classroom? I already have less energy than I did 10 years ago, I dread to think where my energy levels will be in another 30 years.
Look to the future when your child is sitting their GCSE and A-levels, do you want your child’s exam syllabus to be constantly changing? Where teachers cannot give the best advice and help possible because the course content has changed yet again for the umpteenth time in a row.
Do you want your child to feel that they matter at school? To feel that the teacher knows their name and cares how they are feeling, wants to get to know them as a person. Or do you want them to be a level on a spreadsheet? If they are on target they will probably go a full day without being spoken to once by a member of staff, they won’t be a priority. On the other side, if they are below target they will be “intervened” to within an inch of their life!
Do you want your children to be taught by enthusiastic staff who enjoy their job? Or by exhausted, demotivated, stressed, one step away from chucking it all in, individuals who are constantly being told they are simply not good enough.
Is it important to you that your child is taught my qualified staff who have trained in their subjects and pass on their love of learning, or would you be happy to have your child taught by someone with 4 GCSE’s, minimum grade C!
On Wednesday morning NUT members will be striking in order to try and make their voices heard. I ask just one thing, before you complain about what a pain they are being, please consider the reasons they are taking this action. They just want to be allowed to do the job they love to the very best of their ability, which means the best for your kids. They want to be allowed to get on and teach!
Thank you in advance for your support in this matter.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs Not A Frumpy Mum
Fully support you here lovely – you teachers do an AMAZNG job and don’t need any
….of this crap! (very eloquent ain’t i!)
Argh keeps randomly submitting my comment when i have not finished. Beautiful new blog!!
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Thank you for your support (very elegantly put!)
Thanks for the new blog comment, I have to admit I do love it! It even got an approving nod from my husband so it must be good!
Yay! Go Jo!! Could not agree more. Will be with you in spirit 😉 xx
I support you, teachers are truly amazing!!
Could be solved without striking though?
I work in the nhs…..we don’t strike as it would compromise patients safety. Hope you get the results you are striving for.
It’s so frustrating when you don’t feel valued in your job xx
Well said. As a supply teacher I’m getting a good view of what is happening ‘out there’. Bit scary. What are the other options to striking? Action short of strike isn’t being carried out in reality, people are too scared, too beaten by the system. The government have refused to even enter discusions until very recently. Good luuck to all my NUT colleagues x
Sending you lots of support. The way this government is treating education is ridiculous/disgusting.
It’s hard to form a view/opinion without being in the situation directly, which is why I tend to take a step back. All I do know is, that people must feel very passionately to call a strike and keep to it – for that I respect all involved. Its not an easy thing to do. I had one daughter out of 3 in school yesterday (you can guess which one was grumpy!) I made the most of spending time with eldest!
Jo, you put his so well. I’ve heard the same from teacher friends and it’s just so sad and wrong. Especially as he sets (ignorant) parents against teachers – who are usually parents themselves, making it even more sad. Best of luck to you, you’re doing an amazing job!x