Is being a Teacher worth it?


Is being a Teacher worth it?

If there was one phrase I absolutely hated as a teacher it was when people said to me "You get so many holidays, 6 weeks in the Summer? Wow!" Yes officially teachers are supposed to be off work for 6 weeks in the summer holiday but I do not know one teacher that doesn't spend days if not weeks in the holidays in school, setting up their new classroom so when the little kiddies come back in August, they arrive into a bright, friendly, organised room. Even when away on holidays a teachers' job never stops - they are always looking for things that would be great resources for lessons.

It did not surprise me to recently read an article by Hannah Richardson in the BBC News that said "Many teachers 'working 60-hour week". This is 12 hours above the European working time directive yet these devoted teachers still do it. With a fully registered teacher supposed to be having much less than 50% of this time on class contact it just shows how much time they are having to spend on all the things such as paperwork that they certainly didn't sign up for.

So with the end of term fast approaching and the talk in the playground about end-of-term gifts for the teacher, you might not realise how much extra they do for your child but trust me, from first hand experience, they do! 

You should never feel that you have to give a present. A recent survey in the Daily Mail stated that 43% of parents felt pressurised into buying a gift for their child's teacher. I think Teachers would be mortified if they heard this. Only give it, if you feel that they deserve it. It also doesn't mean that you have to spend a fortune on it, a small gesture to show them how much you appreciate them goes a very long way. 

However, I have to share with you some of the funniest presents that I heard teachers being given - a nose ring for a teacher that didn't have her nose pierced, a pen with someone else's name on it, a used hairbrush, a bottle of wine that had water in it instead of wine and my personal favourite - a pair of pants, a size 18 for a teacher who was a size 8. At least they were new!

No matter where you live - teachers, on the whole, are doing an amazing job so give them a little something to say "Thank You". There's no better way than a personalised gift that they will be able to keep to remember this year with your child. (Then they will go away on summer holidays for 6 weeks!)