Continuation of extra-curricular activities in secondary schools

Toto Wolfcastle

I'm just wondering if secondary schools are continuing with extra-curricular activities, in particular sports, in light of the reduction of funds for supervision? Many extra-curricular activities involve trips during school hours, again, in particular sports. Are schools doing what they can to supervise the classes of the missing teacher or has the hard decision to scrap all activities been made?

It's an issue that has been raised in my school and although an initial decision has been made to do what we can, I thought it might be interesting to find out what other schools are doing.

ytareh

I think at the moment it is very much up to the individual schools,management and staff.Ours are trying to keep things going as much as possible for now but realise its not practical in the long term .Others perhaps correctly realise that if we plug the gap the Dept will expect us to do so for the long haul using the argument that we are managing fine -maybe they will even try and take away even more hours ...

Toto Wolfcastle

I think that is the main worry - that the Department will see that we are 'managing'. (Although of course no one knows.) On the other hand, some people fear that we will not be able to keep it up and that sport may go the way it did in Scotland.

I think it very much depends on the school. Some schools do a lot more than others and therefore more cover is needed. It's also about priorities. Do you prioritise U18 Soccer over the Golf team?


It's an extremely emotive issue.

rainbowtrout

there are no extra-curricular activities taking place in our school at present - basketball, football, soccer, quizzes, debating, unless they fall outside of school hours or the teacher that has to accompany the group is free at the time (which is unlikely if it involves being away from the school for a couple of hours). This is the case with every school in Roscommon. Naturally some idiot rang Joe Duffy the other day and said the teachers of Roscommon were refusing to do extra-curricular activities, which of course we're not. we just can't, there's no cover being provided for our classes at present.

As it stands football wise, there is little or no gaa fixtures taking place in Connaught at the moment, this is what the PE teachers have been saying so I assume it's not just Roscommon.

Parents of all students in every school in the county got a letter at Christmas to inform them of the changes and the knock on effects of the budget.

Toto Wolfcastle

rainbowtrout wrote: »

there are no extra-curricular activities taking place in our school at present - basketball, football, soccer, quizzes, debating, unless they fall outside of school hours or the teacher that has to accompany the group is free at the time (which is unlikely if it involves being away from the school for a couple of hours). This is the case with every school in Roscommon. Naturally some idiot rang Joe Duffy the other day and said the teachers of Roscommon were refusing to do extra-curricular activities, which of course we're not. we just can't, there's no cover being provided for our classes at present.

This is the fear: That parents will think "Oh the teachers have stopped extra-curricular activities".

I think it's terrible that there are no extra-curricular activities taking place, but as I said to my colleagues, there is very little we can do about it.

byhookorbycrook

does not the term "extra curricular" mean these should be out of school?Primary schools manage to play their matches outside of school hours, why can't secondary?

rainbowtrout

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

does not the term "extra curricular" mean these should be out of school?Primary schools manage to play their matches outside of school hours, why can't secondary?

Well to be honest there are so many extra curricular activites going on in schools that if they were all to take place out of school parents would be kicking up that their children are home late every night/no time to do homework and also in the longterm teachers are not going to give up their evenings on an ongoing basis..

For example some football matches our school plays in involve trips to galway or west mayo - a journey of about 90 mins - 2 hours each way. Plus the match and time to eat etc. Travelling to a game at 4 to play at 6, give the team time to change and eat, back on a bus at 7 and home at 9 would be asking a bit much... i realise that not every match is like that but as most competitions develop fixtures are further and further away. And to be honest I give up a fair bit of time as it is to extra curricular stuff, some in school, some outside, but if i was the person running the football team and was asked to teach all day and then have that sort of an evening on a regular basis i would not be happy. And I'm single with not too many commitments. Ask a teacher with a couple of kids to try this and see how long it would last.

Primary schools competitions are smaller and more localised. Secondary schools could have 2 or 3 GAA teams and 2 or 3 soccer or rugby teams on the go and during match season that's a lot of late evenings for teachers and students.

Do remember 'extra curricular' activities are voluntary and teachers are entitled to some time away from the students in the evening, to spend time with their families or whatever else they have on.

byhookorbycrook

primary games can be up to an hour away in places, eg Co Laois. Often it's the same one teacher who does the camogie, hurling and boys/girls football, most secondary schools around here seem to have two/three teachers for every single team. I'd be more concerned about secondary field trips and that than sports to be honest.

Toto Wolfcastle

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

primary games can be up to an hour away in places, eg Co Laois. Often it's the same one teacher who does the camogie, hurling and boys/girls football, most secondary schools around here seem to have two/three teachers for every single team. I'd be more concerned about secondary field trips and that than sports to be honest.

Our secondary school has 1 teacher per team, and some who coach more than one sport/age group.

Also, it's worth mentioning that no secondary school would ever put sport before field trips, such as the LC Geography and LCVP field trips. Those trips, by the way, don't seem to come under official school business (correct me please if I'm wrong) so teachers may have to conduct them outside of school hours.

implausible

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

does not the term "extra curricular" mean these should be out of school?Primary schools manage to play their matches outside of school hours, why can't secondary?

Extra-curricular means outside the curriculum, not outside school.

Comparing primary with secondary is not comparing like with like.

rainbowtrout

janeybabe wrote: »

Our secondary school has 1 teacher per team, and some who coach more than one sport/age group.

Also, it's worth mentioning that no secondary school would ever put sport before field trips, such as the LC Geography and LCVP field trips. Those trips, by the way, don't seem to come under official school business (correct me please if I'm wrong) so teachers may have to conduct them outside of school hours.

yes it would be the same in our school. Perhaps sport wasn't the best example to use but it is probably the most common extra curricular activity.

I'd agree with janeybabe, field trips come first. our transition year has taken a hit this year as many of their activities involve travelling somewhere. I'm not sure yet whether I'll be able to bring my ag science class on a field trip to an agricultural college as part of their LC project, invaluable experience to the non-farmers in the class.

The other problem with conducting field trips outside school is that it may not be possible to. I don't think the nearest ag science college to us conducts guided tours and lectures in the evening.

Toto Wolfcastle

rainbowtrout wrote: »

yes it would be the same in our school. Perhaps sport wasn't the best example to use but it is probably the most common extra curricular activity.

I'd agree with janeybabe, field trips come first. our transition year has taken a hit this year as many of their activities involve travelling somewhere. I'm not sure yet whether I'll be able to bring my ag science class on a field trip to an agricultural college as part of their LC project, invaluable experience to the non-farmers in the class.

The other problem with conducting field trips outside school is that it may not be possible to. I don't think the nearest ag science college to us conducts guided tours and lectures in the evening.

Yeah TY has been hit in our school too (in all school I suppose) and a planned trip is going ahead because of the goodwill of the staff.

Of course field trips are far more important than extra curriculars, but at the same time the importance of extra-curriculars should not be underestimated, and they should be saved where possible once field trips etc are sorted out.

Oh what a mess we find ourselves in.

rainbowtrout

janeybabe wrote: »

Yeah TY has been hit in our school too (in all school I suppose) and a planned trip is going ahead because of the goodwill of the staff.

And of course meant with the best intentions. This just leads back to the supervision and substitution mess.. maybe the government are just hoping that we'll start covering classes again for free..

it is a right mess.


there have been a number of teachers out sick this week in my school. all are certified. we have been told that the first morning we ring in sick we have to say if it is certified or uncertified so cover can be assigned or not as they case may be. I have a feeling that in the long term that teachers are going to be under pressure to get their sickness certified so cover can be provided... i hope it doesn't lead to a culture of 'well i've paid my doctor €50, i might as well take 3 or 4 days now.'

Toto Wolfcastle

Goodwill is a dangerous thing at times because it puts pressure on people to do what they may not want to do, such as volunteer outside their 22 hours. And if we do that for free, then we are treading dangerous waters.

We were told today that there has never been so little uncertified sick leave. People are either coming to school with mild illnesses, or getting a cert. For the first time in months, I was free during my supervision/substitution class on the rota because we were able to get a sub in.

As regards people taking an extra few days off because they have pressure to get a cert, well, I can see it happening unfortunately.

It's great to find out where other schools stand. At times one can feel sort of isolated.

rainbowtrout

janeybabe wrote: »

We were told today that there has never been so little uncertified sick leave. People are either coming to school with mild illnesses, or getting a cert. For the first time in months, I was free during my supervision/substitution class on the rota because we were able to get a sub in.

As regards people taking an extra few days off because they have pressure to get a cert, well, I can see it happening unfortunately.

It's great to find out where other schools stand. At times one can feel sort of isolated.

We're not the only ones so! All this certified sick leave could backfire really badly on the government and cost them more than regular supervision and substitution was costing.

Toto Wolfcastle

rainbowtrout wrote: »

We're not the only ones so! All this certified sick leave could backfire really badly on the government and cost them more than regular supervision and substitution was costing.

Further proof of an ill thought out plan.

freyners

our school is keepin it up until the end of this school year.......

after that?

rainbowtrout

freyners wrote: »

our school is keepin it up until the end of this school year.......

after that?

We don't know in our school, however seeing as the budget is for a calendar year rather than an academic year I can't see there being funding for uncertified sick leave, extra curricular activities etc in September unless there is a dramatic turnaround

Coolio

In our school, alot of games have been scheduled for later in the day so that less of the school day is missed by teachers. As with all schools some teachers are more pro-sport than others and when it comes to volunteering to cover classes we have found that the same teachers are being asked. The goodwill of these teachers is not infinite and it will be interesting to see how things progress.