lower benefits for Northerners and longer school days

I think school hours should be longer anyway. It's a bit of a joke that even at 18 people finish at around 3pm.

School days should end at 6pm really and there can't be that much whingeing as most schools don't have Saturday school...
 
Nitefly said:
The percentage and thresholds are the same but the contribution is still less, as a whole.

Back on track, if there are two people with the same wage, one in the north and one in the south, who are both eligible for benefits, the person in the north will have the highest disposable income.
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Yep, house prices up north are considerably cheaper too.
 
MrMoonX said:
housing benefit already does this! food, petrol, gas/electric is no less expensive up north so why should they receive less in benefits?
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Food (and drink!) is less expensive and petrol is less expensive in most areas, although I take your point about bills. I live in london and whenever I stay up north the differing cost of living is extremely noticeable - a night out easily costs me £20-£30 less than it does around here. House prices and rents are also far cheaper.
 
geekman said:
Food (and drink!) is less expensive and petrol is less expensive in most areas, although I take your point about bills. I live in london and whenever I stay up north the differing cost of living is extremely noticeable - a night out easily costs me £20-£30 less than it does around here. House prices and rents are also far cheaper.
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of course housing is cheaper, but housing benefits are already proportionate to the cost. Going out maybe cheaper but that isnt a cost of living, tesco etc are about the same, petrol is also the same, I havent noticed it being cheaper in the north other than maybe a couple pence, heating bills are the same, as is water
 
$loth said:
I don't have an opinion on the benefits, but lengthening the school day to allow parents more time to work sounds like a good idea.
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I'm not sure it is really. I always thought the last hour of school was a bit of a waste anyway because the concentration of the pupils didn't last that long. I don't think adding a couple of extra hours of school will be of an advantage.
 
$loth said:
I don't have an opinion on the benefits, but lengthening the school day to allow parents more time to work sounds like a good idea.
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increasing the school day by three hours is not a good idea. It has been proved that the brain can only concentrate at it's fullest extent for a limited length of time - anything beyond that is an absolute waste of time.
 
$loth said:
I don't have an opinion on the benefits, but lengthening the school day to allow parents more time to work sounds like a good idea.
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mollymoo said:
I completely agree, I doubt the teachers would though.
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I do too but I can see the teachers point of view. Most teachers stay behind after the students go home to work anyway. If there is more/longer lessons that's more lesson prep which theoretically means staying behind after school longer too. Insert rant: "They get loads of holiday!!!" yeah because being a teacher isn't stressful at all. :rolleyes:
 
3 hours is an extremely long extention.

I was getting up (for school) at half 6 (due to travel) to be at school for half 8 finishing at 3:40 and getting home at 5. another 3 hours... christ...

When do you get to be a child?

You go to school so you can learn and develop. Not so your parents can work an extra few hours. I think that is pretty selfish.
 
I don't think being a teacher is that much more stressful than the average full time job really. Unfortunately most teachers have only ever taught so its hard to do a fair comparison.



I remember hearing recently that some councils are thinking of turning schools into 'split shift schools' where you would have kids in from 8-2 and then a different group in the building from 2-8 because there aren't enough new schools being built to cover the population boom.
Extending the school hours would make this impossible.
 
But the time could be spent doing extra curricular stuff, or playing, either way what would be nice is a free after school club to allow parents to work 9-5. As it is we have to pay £100 a week if I want to work full time.
 
MrMoonX said:
of course housing is cheaper, but housing benefits are already proportionate to the cost. Going out maybe cheaper but that isnt a cost of living, tesco etc are about the same, petrol is also the same, I havent noticed it being cheaper in the north other than maybe a couple pence, heating bills are the same, as is water
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I used housing and going out purely as examples of the north being cheaper, although I'm sure they both affect many benefits recipients. I've found supermarkets and petrol to be consistently cheaper in the north, although I accept I live in a particularly expensive area, even by southern standards.
 
jakspyder said:
3 hours is an extremely long extention.

I was getting up (for school) at half 6 (due to travel) to be at school for half 8 finishing at 3:40 and getting home at 5. another 3 hours... christ...

When do you get to be a child?

You go to school so you can learn and develop. Not so your parents can work an extra few hours. I think that is pretty selfish.
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That's what I was thinking. Think about those below High school who'll probably be in bed by 9ish. Even in the ideal situation of getting home at 6pm, an hour or so for food would leave very little free time on weekdays.
 
Locky said:
increasing the school day by three hours is not a good idea. It has been proved that the brain can only concentrate at it's fullest extent for a limited length of time - anything beyond that is an absolute waste of time.
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A student would need a break for the longer day but there is still homework to be completed for secondary school students so an extra 2 hours from 3-5 would not be a waste when it could be used in a flexible way by having the class do homework at school, or self study library time. Having the resources and a focused atmosphere would be more productive than at home where it's a choice of homework, or tv/playstation (depending on how they're raised).

mollymoo said:
But the time could be spent doing extra curricular stuff, or playing, either way what would be nice is a free after school club to allow parents to work 9-5. As it is we have to pay £100 a week if I want to work full time.
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I think you have summed up what I am thinking quite well.

There would need to be more money to pay for more teachers so the quality of teaching does not fall, I wonder where that would come from.
 
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Are you guys sure supermarkets are more expensive in the south? I would have thought they would charge the same. When people post up deals on HotUk deals they are the same price for everyone...
 
Mark A said:
Are you guys sure supermarkets are more expensive in the south? I would have thought they would charge the same. When people post up deals on HotUk deals they are the same price for everyone...
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Nationwide deals sure, but individual prices can vary massively store to store.
 
Getting really fed up with the entrepreneur risk taker bull. Do they not realise how many people, these over idolised ****s, screw over as they just fold their companies leaving behind debts they are not responsible for, doing it again and again in the hope they strike it lucky getting rich off the misery of others that they don't give a toss about. I don't want risk takers, I want skilled intelligent people who can spot a need and service it in a responsible manner which benefits both them and the people using the service.
 
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