Striking out

I love where I work. It is a simply incredible school with brilliant children, amazing colleagues and a wonderfully supportive management. In under three weeks time, I am moving to pastures new, which is very exciting but, after seven and a half happy years, will be tinged with sadness. I am keen to make the most of my time left, and the days that remain will soon be in single figures.

Despite this, I am not going in to school tomorrow. I am going to stand with my colleagues and stand up against what I believe is a deeply flawed way of governing education in this country.

The headlines say “Pay and Conditions”. We aren’t allowed to strike on any other terms.

For me, it has very little to do with pay. It has a lot to do with conditions.

The condition of some teachers, left at their wits end by a baffling series of over-complicated hoops to jump through, needless work to complete, that takes them away from their class for long periods, robbing their class of a qualified, enthusiastic and passionate practitioner.

The condition of our curriculum, stuffed full of antiquated, 1950s grammar school objectives, full of ‘knowledge’ and ‘facts’, but limited in skills and free thinking. An over-crammed Maths and English syllabus leaving less room for Art, Music and Drama. A pub quiz history curriculum full of dates, but lacking in evaluative critique of sources and deep discussion of reasons.

The condition of the English language, where grammar has to have ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ answers, when in fact there are several ways to express things. It is a beautiful and diverse language, full of creativity. It can’t be summarised by a tick or a cross. Where ‘good reading’ is how fast you read, not how much you understand or infer from a text. Where ‘good writing’ need not be imaginative, interesting or thought-provoking, so long as it is punctuated correctly, spelt perfectly and every letter is joined to the next one in the ‘right’ way.

The condition of schools who may be struggling for all kinds of reasons, forced into privatisation, where men in suits dictate their every move, with very little evidence this improves things. Where qualified teacher status is a preference, not a requirement and pay is no longer secure.

And most importantly, the condition of our children. Those amazingly creative, imaginative and hard-working young lives that we have the privilege of working with every day. Children as young as seven (7!) having sleepless nights about how many ‘fronted adverbials’ they used the previous day. As they grow older, the stakes increase, as does the stress and worry for them and all who care for them. Children being labelled as ‘failing’ all to make a political point.

A ‘minister’ is meant to serve. To listen carefully to those who they lead or are above. I see very little evidence of that. No doubt tomorrow will be arrogantly shrugged off as ‘whinging’ or worse criticised for ‘damaging children’s education’. They consistently refuse to listen to reason. Not standing up now is the same as saying ‘I am happy with how things are.’

For me, it isn’t really about pay. I am paid well, although I worry what the future holds in that regard. But yes, it is definitely all about conditions.