Ashamed of themselves? No – our teachers deserve more

I am the breakfast and afterschool club co-ordinator for a primary school in Seaford.

Yes it’s inconvenient when teachers strike but they do not do so to gain an extra day off and are certainly not greedy or selfish.

All the teaching staff in our school are there before me, and I arrive at 7.40am.

And all the teachers are there in the evening after I have closed the after-school provision at 5.30pm.

Where Angela Cork gets six hours a day from is beyond me – I know most of our teachers eat their lunch at their desks while working.

As for the 12 weeks’ holiday a year, I go into school in the school holidays and always find teachers there. In fact our school doesn’t ever close in the school holidays as teachers have an increasing amount of work to do.

Oh, and when the teachers do come in, they are usually laden with children’s text books that they have taken home for marking.

And what about parents’ evenings: does Angela think they get time off in lieu? No – many grab a biscuit in between parents and, if very lucky, a cup of tea.

Sorry to disappoint but most teachers work weekends marking our children’s work and preparing for the week ahead.

Ashamed of themselves? No, our teachers deserve more – and to be recognised for what they do.

Rita Goodey, Hawth Park Road, Seaford