Parent Teacher Association

‘CAN there be anything more terrible than attending a school where one or more of your parents teach?

We have long believed not. To have biology teacher mum talk about the human reproductive system in front of you and your teenage classmates must be mortifying.

So spare a thought for the pupils at Wedmore First School in Somerset. As the Express reports (“School is so poor the parents have to teach”), the school’s budget is such that no additional teachers can be paid for.

And more teaching staff are needed. As the Express explains, Government policy means teachers have to spend more time planning lessons and marking papers.

And while miss and sir are doing the paperwork, they’re not teaching the children. But the school has no spare cash for more staff.

As headteacher Jackie Hipwell says: “Our budget isn’t enough so we have not been fully funded by the Government to pay for the teachers’ time.”

So on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, local people come in to help out.

And that, apparently, means parents. The Express says these helpers are parents but produces no evidence to support its claim.

We don’t hear of the accountant dad who teachers maths. No mention is made of the hairdresser mum who takes a chemistry class. And the paper fails to find the economics study group run by a mum subsisting on state benefits.

Which makes us wonder how the Express is run – by professional journalists, or anyone who can think up a good headline..?’

Posted: 8th, December 2005 | In: Tabloids Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink