Thought for today:
"Don't put things off that ever need doing, for as my dear old mum used to say, 'There is no time like the present, Billy!' As for youngsters today, the sooner they discover what job they would like to persue upon leaving school, the better!
Had I never become a Probation Officer in earlier life, I would have most certainly taken time out to be a teacher of children. I don't know about you, but I reckon that the profession earns good money, enjoys holidays as long as a politician's promise and rewards the retiree with a gold-plated pension package before they get past middle age and still have the physical wherewithall to enjoy it.
I would have thought that in today's economic times that such a salary package is a good enough incentive to work at the chalk face. My dear old dad also worked at the chalk face for ten years of his life at one third of the pay that teachers earn, but he was only extracting coal from the rocks and not sense from a little one's head.
I have just been looking up the recent pay scales for teachers in England and Wales (excluding London). By September 1st, 2013, they started at £21,804 for snotty-nosed graduates and unless sacked (which is as rare today as snow storms in Jamaica), they receive an annual pay scale rise up to £37,124 which is automatic. Then, (wait for it), they can apply for, and usually receive additional pay for 'Teaching and Learning Responsibilites.'
This additional 'top up' amounts to an annual minimum of £7,397 or £12,517 maximum. When I tried to ascertain what such 'additional responsibilties' were defined as, I was simply flabbergasted. They are in short, no more than a circuitous means of giving more money to stressed staff who the head of school doesn't want to lose for simply being seen to do their teaching job well. I was also surprised to discover that the head has extensive power to interpret such responsibilities and that even teaching toddlers to tell the time could possibly qualify for a minimum 'Teaching and Learning Responsibilty' pay grade being added as a little monthly bonus.
I don't know about you lot out there who are filling the shelves at McDonalds (Yes, you without CSE grades and those graduates who cannot find employment upon leaving university), but I reckon that most good teaching merely involves a bit of preparation, a smidgen of knowledge and the limited ability and skill to apply; along with having the proper tools for the job of course!
I taught all my children in less than five minutes each how to tell the time before they were two years old with the aid of my special kiddie's clock that I purchased at Woolworths for a few shillings in the 1960s. They all picked it up as easy as the teacher's collect their fat monthly pay packets." (Tongue in cheek 'Thought for today. Only joking, Miss Wigglesworth!'). William Forde: June 29th, 2014.
"Don't put things off that ever need doing, for as my dear old mum used to say, 'There is no time like the present, Billy!' As for youngsters today, the sooner they discover what job they would like to persue upon leaving school, the better!
Had I never become a Probation Officer in earlier life, I would have most certainly taken time out to be a teacher of children. I don't know about you, but I reckon that the profession earns good money, enjoys holidays as long as a politician's promise and rewards the retiree with a gold-plated pension package before they get past middle age and still have the physical wherewithall to enjoy it.
I would have thought that in today's economic times that such a salary package is a good enough incentive to work at the chalk face. My dear old dad also worked at the chalk face for ten years of his life at one third of the pay that teachers earn, but he was only extracting coal from the rocks and not sense from a little one's head.
I have just been looking up the recent pay scales for teachers in England and Wales (excluding London). By September 1st, 2013, they started at £21,804 for snotty-nosed graduates and unless sacked (which is as rare today as snow storms in Jamaica), they receive an annual pay scale rise up to £37,124 which is automatic. Then, (wait for it), they can apply for, and usually receive additional pay for 'Teaching and Learning Responsibilites.'
This additional 'top up' amounts to an annual minimum of £7,397 or £12,517 maximum. When I tried to ascertain what such 'additional responsibilties' were defined as, I was simply flabbergasted. They are in short, no more than a circuitous means of giving more money to stressed staff who the head of school doesn't want to lose for simply being seen to do their teaching job well. I was also surprised to discover that the head has extensive power to interpret such responsibilities and that even teaching toddlers to tell the time could possibly qualify for a minimum 'Teaching and Learning Responsibilty' pay grade being added as a little monthly bonus.
I don't know about you lot out there who are filling the shelves at McDonalds (Yes, you without CSE grades and those graduates who cannot find employment upon leaving university), but I reckon that most good teaching merely involves a bit of preparation, a smidgen of knowledge and the limited ability and skill to apply; along with having the proper tools for the job of course!
I taught all my children in less than five minutes each how to tell the time before they were two years old with the aid of my special kiddie's clock that I purchased at Woolworths for a few shillings in the 1960s. They all picked it up as easy as the teacher's collect their fat monthly pay packets." (Tongue in cheek 'Thought for today. Only joking, Miss Wigglesworth!'). William Forde: June 29th, 2014.