Nanny State Schools

Less · 13-06-2005, 11:44

So the latest bright idea from our government is to have schools open from 8 in the morning until 6.30 in the evening so that parents have even less and schools have even more resbonsibility for bringing up the latest batch of little darlings!

Children go to school to learn not to remove the burden of responsibility of where can they go while I'm at work from the parents. I can see responsible parents still organising their lives around their children by more traditional means i.e. If you have children of school age then you ensure that there is some-one to drop off the kids and pick them up at the normal times be it that they arrange their working hours to suit or get a responsible friend/relative to ensure that the young ones are looked after.

But (and it's a big but), I can see the parents with no responsibility using this latest idea as a free babysitting service so that instead of leaving the pub and picking them up at 3.15 they will be able to continue drinking for several more hours before they have to take over from the teaching staff and undoing the work the teachers have put into their little sweeties! (Of course the 8 o'clock start will be ignored that would mean having to get up an hour earlier to get them to school!)

Now it may be that the government are planning to charge for this service but that won't work because these parents whose only ambition is to produce more of these benefit gaining offspring will no doubt get the service free as yet another perk from the Social.

Teachers are there to teach parents are there to bring up their children in as loving and caring an environment as possible, if teachers fail in their jobs the school league tables name and shame the schools responsible, perhaps this idea can be adopted for bad parents rather than make it even easier for them to shirk their responsibilities.

Before all you irate parents out there start attacking me and lynching me with my own karma, I know that the majority of you parents are responsible and do care for your children but as with all other aspects of society there is always a small minority that will let the rest of us down.

MUMMIBOO · 13-06-2005, 12:20

OOOOOOoooooooohhhhh, less!!

I think its a good idea it would mean that instead of me having to work in the evening i would be able to get a better job when i can get on the bus and be in town to start my job and finish at 5 or 6 pm and still be home to pick the children up from school.

They say the teachers wont have a bigger work load because they will get different people in to watch them (i cant remember what they were called).

So you see for the people out there who want to work but cant get a decent job because i have to fit around the children will be able to get out there and earn a decent wage to be able to pay the ever rising council tax bill so they will in turn empty my bin twice a month.

So there you see mr Less is the reason why its not such a bad idea after all.

Also it means more time for me to spend time with my ever loving family. In other words i wont have to go to work in the evenings i would be there to cook the tea so my daddiboo wont have to come home from a hard days graft laying the hot asphalt and get the bratz erm i mean little lovelys their tea and bath them and get them ready for bed.

Debbie J · 13-06-2005, 12:22

My childs school already has a before & after school club. The breakfast club is free though it costs 10p per slice of toast & 10p per drink. Which for working families is a damn site cheaper than it would cost for a child minder. The after school club is £3.60 per session & all who use it must pay. Be it out of there own pocket or from the allowance from working tax credit. Help with Child care fees is only given to those who use registered child minders or after school clubs which have been 'passed' by government bodies. Registered child minders are in short supply so I think it's common sense to have these clubs so that those who want to work can without the worry of what to do about the children. Not all single or married women for that matter want to be scroungers.

On a personal note, when I was working I had a registered childminder for who I was able to claim 70% of the cost. One day she decided to pack it in. I could not find a replacement & had to pay a friend who was not registered out of my own pocket. As my job wasn't well paid I ended up having to give my job up as I was paying out more than I was earning! Had these clubs been in place then I would not have had to. I loved my job & was able to afford to take my son on holiday & day trips when I could spend quality time with him I couldn't do that on benefits.

Less · 13-06-2005, 12:53

What neither of you seem to realise is that by supporting such a scheme as this, instead of your children being forced to spend seven hours in the disruptive presence of these peoples children you are condeming them to an extra 2 to 3 and a half hours in the company of kids that if they turned up at your house you would say do not bring them round here again!

By all means go to work arrange for some-one responsible to look after your children, even if it means forcing the government to train more childminders. But to leave you child in the presence of these little dears is not fair, if your child was at a childminders with such disruptive influences you would either ask for the terrorist to be removed or move on to some-one that will give your child a better proxy parenting (yes I know child minders are as rare as rocking horse sh*t).

As for single mothers I did not refer in my original post by generalising that they were to blame for lousy parenting, lousy parents cut across all social and financial levels not just the single parents.
But the bad parents should be forced to opt IN not given more chances to opt OUT!

Margaret Pilkington · 13-06-2005, 13:36

Some of the Schools that are already running these schemes charge up to £6 per day for the breakfast club and after school club........and some of these clubs are supervised by parent volunteers.......some by paid teaching assistants.

While I applaud the folk who want to go out to work, I do worry that parents will get less time with their children........and how do you know that the people who are looking after the children in these circumstances uphold your own values.

I know that I was a working mother and I paid for child care and my husband and I did shifts that meant for most of the time one of us was there.

MUMMIBOO · 13-06-2005, 13:45

If this actually happened i would actually get to spend more time with my children than i do now because like i said they are at school all day and i go out to work in the evening.

And less having all the children round at my house wouldnt make the slightest bit of difference in my case we have half the street round in our garden since we bought a 14ft trampoline and an 8ft one.

So the moral of the story is that for some people it would be a god send and for others well its not the end of the world there are more pressing matters in the world that need addressing than the government actually trying to help out for a change dont you think?

At least while the children are still at school they are not sat at home playing playstation are they they are actually out there gaining some social skills which COULD help them out in later life.

Margaret Pilkington · 13-06-2005, 13:52

I know what you mean Mummiboo.......and it would be good for you to get time with your children, I still think that more money could be invested in the training of child minders......and making sure that there are good child minders in local areas.....the other thing that i think would help out a lot would be that the Government recognise the input of family members........Grandparents who provide after school care could be paid and parents could get the 70% of these costs back as they do with child minders. I'm sure that most mothers would prefer to have a family member take care of their children, but are penalised because they can't claim back the costs.

Acrylic-bob · 13-06-2005, 14:49

Ah yes, but did you read the rest of the proposals mentioned in the papers yesterday? Apparently nursery and primary school techers are to be trained to spot disruptive pupils as early as three years of age. These kids will be monitored, issued with acceptable behaviour contracts and, in cases where the family background tends toward the criminal, they will be taken into intensive fostering.

Sara · 14-06-2005, 09:06

The majority of the schools in Hyndburn are already opened from 8am to 6pm, running breakfast and after school clubs. Which is great for working parents, but what happens when school holidays come round. There are not many jobs with 13 weeks holiday a year. I know when my children were younger that was my main problem, what happens at school holiday times. Eventually got a job in a school, but not many people are as lucky. Even then i had days were i had to work whilst they were off, but it was much easier finding a minder for a day or two rather then whole weeks.

pendy · 14-06-2005, 16:41

When my children were growing up, I had to work full time. I was fortunate that my son's school had an after-school club, until 6 p.m. and also there were holiday clubs in certain schools, on a rotation basis, but they often involved a long trip to get there. I paid a childminder to have Miles after school (because I often didn't get home until about 7 p.m.) Not an ideal situation, but it was necessary. To be fair, it also meant that I did not have a break in my career.

I think so long as parents are prepared to spend quality time with their children, then after-school care is a good thing. I would talk to the children when doing the evening meal, and we ate together. Also we would go out at weekends to the park, or to the stables for my daughter. Too many non-working mothers pick up their children from school, park them in front of the box, and that's it until bedtime. It's the effort one makes that counts. So there!

garinda · 14-06-2005, 18:28

Good child minders are scarcer than hens teeth. True in an ideal world Mummy would stay at home and Daddy would go out to work. ln reality most parents find they have to work nowadays. You'd have to earn an awful lot from one salary to afford a mortgage and provide for your family, and with wages in this area below the national average, and house prices so high l can understand why both parents find it necessary to work.

My brother paid so much for child care when his two were small he found it no cheaper now they are both at Westholme, which is quite surreal.

I'm all in favour of state run after school clubs for parents that need them, after all it isn't compulsary.