The FastDay Forum

I'm a TA in a primary school in Norfolk and our dress code is really strict. No denim, no leggings, no trainers except for pe. All staff have to change for pe and then change back again afterwards no staying in your kit all day! No short skirts or low tops (sensible). No visible tattoos (sp) or piercings. I think brightly coloured hair would be frowned upon. Yet my husband works at the next school along and they don't seem to have any rules about dress/tattoos etc.

New term has begun well, though I didn't sleep well for a week or two before we went back but now I'm back it is ok.

I can also report that my daughter had her first week, this week, she actually started last Thursday with a 4 day orientation where she stayed in the hostel with all the other newbies. She is really happy and her biggest class is 14 and the smallest 1 she is the only kid taking German, haha nowhere to hide in that class.

And it seems that all these decisions are not made by anyone with any expertise in education. It's politicians wanting to make their mark who come up with these stupid ideas. Well, what would I know, I'm only a teacher.

You said it, @Sallyo!
My two cents on the dress code debate - are we talking about teacher dress codes, which is what @Carieoates seems to be saying? Ridiculous. Another way of treating teachers without respect - as if they need rules and regulations and aren't real professionals.
But for students, it seems like most of the world has uniforms for school children. I think it makes sense. At least in America, it would cut down on the time and money that kids spend dressing to try to impress their classmates. My own kids, none of them very fashionable, used to say they wished that their schools had uniforms.

[carieoates]

Didn't get any if those tags. Wasn't ignoring you guys.

I'm happy to have a dress code, as I believe that a smart appearance is better. I don't wear mini skirts, low cut tops or high heels anyway.
Jeans I have worn occasionally, but tend to wear coloured jeggings, type trousers. Flashy trainers like designer ones, I do however like to wear. But they don't flash . Lol
Humping trollies of heavy science equipment and more importantly chemicals, bacteria, and bio solutions. I always wear my labcoat, so know one knows what's going on under there anyway. The students however, are allowed to wear trainers, not shoes. Jeans not trousers. It's ludicrous. Looks awful.,

I agree @carieoates. We have a dress code, it's not mega strict but similar to yours. No leggings, no above knee skirts (I'm guilty of flaunting this already- I pretty much live in just above knee dresses), no facial piercings, no visible tattoos, and above all looking "clean, polished and professional at all times". I don't think this is a bad thing at all, at the end of the day, it's showing we are the professionals at the end of the day.

[carieoates]

This is what I did at school today.

Skittles diffusion

That's cool @carieoates, how did you do it?

[carieoates]

Just pop the skittles into some water (about half way up) and watch. Can do it at home even, it's a great demo to show diffusion.

Extremely cool. Not sure what 'skittles' are: I thought they were those pins you knock over with a ball. But maybe they are lollies?

@Sallyo - Skittles are sweets - fruit flavoured, crunchy shell, chewy inside.

Oh - just realised I have revealed myself poking around this tent!

I'm a school governor - does that get me legit entry? I do spend quite a lot of time at school on a voluntary basis.......

I was a teacher (5-6yr olds) for 10 years before having kids. Then when we went on to have a family I retired from that. However, where I live 50% of all families home school and this is what I'm doing with our 3. I LOVE being able to teach to such a small 'class' of 3! And my kids are testing out much higher than the public school kids. I am also in charge of all the children's ministry at our church which in some ways is much harder than when I was a teacher.

Welcome @Madcatlady and @canoegal. Anyone who has anything to do with schools, now or in the past, is welcome to camp in this tent. 50% home schooling! Wow! Why is that, Canoegal? Is there something wrong with the public schools? What kind of people home school? And what kind of people choose to send their kids to the schools?

Why is that, Canoegal? Is there something wrong with the public schools?
Home schooling can be mainly for religious reasons. Here schools can not mention anything about God at all. They removed all religion from every part of school. However they still teach morals but a lot of those morals people do not agree with. Then they started running out of money so the class room size began to climb to where it was 30-35 kids for one teacher. Then the curriculum changed and now it is mostly testing testing testing. In fact with common core now implemented they are testing even more.

What kind of people home school?
Well with all these changes over time people like myself who really felt our faith is very important; felt we had to home school. We want our child's world view to be one with God included in it. Then as the class size got higher and the tests became more numerous, other families began to home school to make sure their child had the best education. Down in the cities (we live in the country) they have something called charter schools. These schools have really taken off for a lot of families in the 2nd group who can not home school, don't want to send there kids to a private christian school, yet want a better education. Charter schools are free, paid for by the state, are exempt from the tests, have smaller class sizes and can go year round. They can also be online school. Finally there is the set of people who are fearful of school violence and they home school just because it is safer at home. There are probably more reasons why people home school, but those are the top 3 that I can think of right now.

And what kind of people choose to send their kids to the schools?
People who still believe the schools are doing well, who think there is hope of change. People who work and don't have time to find something else and people who's kids are doing really well in school. Then there are the sub set of kids who have no where else to go because of bad family life and so on.

Well, I am amazed by this! 50% is a really high number! People here do home schooling but it isn't common. Religious people can send their kids to religious schools. I think the people who home school are mostly wanting an alternative curriculum, less rigid, perhaps and don't want their kids to be pressured by peer pressure to conform to social norms. Our governments are always looking to US and UK education systems as being the model for us to follow, and as a result they have brought in norm testing for grades 3, 5, 7 and 9. A lot of teachers don't like it and now we see where it has led in the US. As for the issue of violence! The world looks on amazed by US gun laws - or lack of them. And now we find that parents are too afraid to send their kids to school! Do you think you live in a particularly dangerous part of the US? Or is it like this in other places too? I can see that it would be really hard for a lot of parents to home school their kids- if they both work, or if they themselves lack education. I wonder what the story is in the UK. They also have a lot of testing I understand, but I don't know how it compares with the US or with Australia. Do many UK parents choose to home school?

Hi Everyone, I am walking in. I am a Special Needs assistant working with teenagers with mental and physical disabilities at High School level. In 2015 we have the first intake of Year 7's which are aged 11 years old. I love my work. It can be wonderful, sad , hurtful BUT most importantly very rewarding for me.

And they say, ..."don't work with animals and children" YEP that's what I do, don't say don't to me.!
tenshi