Teachers of P&B

[FK1Bairn]

I'm aware there's a Falkirk based teacher posts on here but this question is obviously open to all to contribute but what are the teachers views on Falkirk Council's proposal to cut the time spent in school? 

I was at a meeting at my son's primary school yesterday about it led by the Headteacher. When asked for her own views she wouldn't commit for obvious reasons but there was a tone suggesting teachers are very much against it but just can't say so. 

[RH33]

20 minutes ago, FK1Bairn said:

I'm aware there's a Falkirk based teacher posts on here but this question is obviously open to all to contribute but what are the teachers views on Falkirk Council's proposal to cut the time spent in school? 

I was at a meeting at my son's primary school yesterday about it led by the Headteacher. When asked for her own views she wouldn't commit for obvious reasons but there was a tone suggesting teachers are very much against it but just can't say so. 

I'm guessing it's to cut costs by giving teachers their non contact time without needing floating members staff to cover classes.

Glasgow City Council is looking to cut numbers by 450 by 2027 (can't remember).

 

[Central Belt Caley]

12 minutes ago, FK1Bairn said:

I'm aware there's a Falkirk based teacher posts on here but this question is obviously open to all to contribute but what are the teachers views on Falkirk Council's proposal to cut the time spent in school? 

I was at a meeting at my son's primary school yesterday about it led by the Headteacher. When asked for her own views she wouldn't commit for obvious reasons but there was a tone suggesting teachers are very much against it but just can't say so. 

Not a teacher but do live in Falkirk Coincil and it’s a total joke, think they say a child starting P1 will lose something like a full years worth of learning over the full course of their education if this goes ahead? 
 

I can sympathise with the councils as they’re having to make cuts across the board but cuts to education is never going to be popular. I’d imagine a lot of kids will have already fallen behind during Covid and this would just make it worse 

[jimbaxters]

33 minutes ago, FK1Bairn said:

I'm aware there's a Falkirk based teacher posts on here but this question is obviously open to all to contribute but what are the teachers views on Falkirk Council's proposal to cut the time spent in school? 

I was at a meeting at my son's primary school yesterday about it led by the Headteacher. When asked for her own views she wouldn't commit for obvious reasons but there was a tone suggesting teachers are very much against it but just can't say so. 

Can I ask about the specifics of this please? How is the school day to be cut?

[FK1Bairn]

10 minutes ago, jimbaxters said:

Can I ask about the specifics of this please? How is the school day to be cut?

In primary schools it will be a normal school day Monday to Thursday (9-3) with a 12.30 finish on a Friday. 

I get there's an argument of what do the kids really do on a Friday afternoon anyway and 2 hours isn't a great deal but 2 hours each weeks x however many weeks in the full term is still a lot. 

In defence of the council, they've at least been honest and haven't tried to dress it up as anything other than a way to save millions of pounds though there was a 'bending of the truth' in the information given out that 8 of the 32 Council areas already do this when it's actually 8 of the 32 have 12.30 finishes on a Friday but have longer days Monday to Thursday to compensate for the early Friday finish, Falkirk Council proposal is a straight cut to the school week. 

Was just interested to see what the teachers views are both professionally and from the point of being parents themselves.

[scottsdad]

Essentially going from 25 hours per week to 22.5 hours per week (a 10% cut). The reduction taking place on Friday afternoons. This is to save money. 

They've pointed to other councils closing early on a Friday but I believe they have longer days elsewhere to allow this. 

A 10% cut - so from primary 1 to S3 the pupil will have lost a year's worth of teaching. 

I'm luck that my youngest is 14, so an early finish is OK but if this was 10 years ago this would have shafted me in terms of childcare. 

The thing is - it'll go ahead. Like al; Falkirk council "consultations". They randomly made the October break 2 weeks long last year following a "consultation". 

[ICTChris]

My son is in P1 in Edinburgh and his day is 0845-1445 with a 1200 finish on a Friday.  The older classes are from 0830-1500.

 

[HibeeJibee]

In a way it's odd there isn't a legal minimum of hours anyway. I think there is a legal minimum of days (190) which was reduced from 200 when they brought in standardised in service days; and that originated from 400 openings (mornings + afternoons), which dates right back to over a century ago and the Scotch Education Department .

I've sympathy with the notion primary kids don't do much constructive on Friday afternoon so cutting 2.5hrs by finishing at lunch may not have much direct impact on attainment. It could even boost participation in community sport/clubs/etc. (if available + resourced...).

Secondary kids losing 2hrs feels like losing 2-3 periods though. However in reality they're actually increasing the total periods from 32 to 33... it's the periods duration reducing - from 50mins to 45mins:


School life - Changes to the learning week | Falkirk Council

Is Falkirk Council the first authority to change to an asymmetric week?

No, other local authorities have moved to different pupil week configurations. Across Scotland 8 out of 32 local authorities have asymmetric week configurations across all their schools and a further 19 local authorities have asymmetric arrangements in at least one of their schools.

This spreadsheet from The Scottish Government shows provision across all 32 Scottish local authorities.

How will teaching hours be affected in secondary schools?

In mainstream secondary schools (and associated ASC provisions), Falkirk Council will implement a 33-period week (32-periods currently) with the reintroduction of a 'form class'. Pupils will have 7 periods each day on a Monday to Thursday and 4 periods on a Friday. Each period will be 45 minutes long instead of 50 minutes. The new model allows us to maintain the current curriculum structure, the overall number of learning episodes/periods and the breadth of curriculum offer (the range of subjects and different courses available) to our pupils.

How will teaching hours be affected in primary schools?

Presently in primary schools the teaching week is made up of 22.5 hours allocated to a core class teacher(s), and a further 2.5 hours with a range of teachers including PE, music and others. In the new model, the allocation to the core class teacher(s) will remain unaffected. The additional 2.5 hours will no longer be required. This will lead to a change of a few minutes to the start and end of the school day Monday to Thursday and school closure from Friday lunchtime to ensure that the pupil week can be reduced to 22.5 hours with minimal impact on the core teaching.