THE 'GHOST' PUPILS AGED FOUR WHO SPEND 10 HOURS AT SCHOOL !!

[Daanyeer]

The 'ghost' pupils aged four who spend 10 hours a day at school because parents 'are prioritising work over their children'
Teachers claim children aren't getting enough time with their families
Many spend majority of the time at school or with child minders
These children regularly fall asleep in class and fail to progress
By LAURA CLARK
PUBLISHED: 00:35 GMT, 15 April 2014 | UPDATED: 08:35 GMT, 15 April 2014

Pupils as young as four spend ten hours a day at school ‘walking around like ghosts’ while their parents work, teachers claim.
They warn families are spending less time together than 20 years ago due to the pressures of work and relationship breakdowns.
Long days at school and childcare are said to be producing ‘ghost’ children who rarely speak to others, regularly fall asleep and fail to progress as quickly as they should.
Teachers are expected to demand a rethink of policies aimed at encouraging schools to stay open longer and children to start school earlier.
A motion being debated today at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers annual conference in Manchester calls on the Government to recognise that families ‘are the bedrock of a strong and stable society’.
A survey of members found most believe children are spending significantly less time with their parents than 20 years ago.
The decline was blamed on work pressures, the increasing use of technology and family breakdown.
Parents were increasingly prioritising work over their children, it was claimed, and using before and after-school clubs as childcare.
One teacher of nursery children at a state school in North Yorkshire said: ‘Some children are placed in before and after-school care from 8am to 6pm. These children walk around like ghosts, do not talk to anyone, fall asleep frequently, do not progress as quickly as their peers.’
And a primary teacher, from Bexley in Kent, said: ‘I feel that, through no fault of the parents, there is an expectation to work before looking after your own family.
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‘Living costs mean it is unaffordable for only one parent to work and there is less importance attached to bringing up children, with a detrimental effect on children and family life, with more use of technology and less time spent together.’


The debate follows calls from the chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, for school nurseries to open for two-year-olds, particularly in poorer areas. Ministers also want schools to extend opening hours to help working parents.
But 71 per cent of 1,330 school staff surveyed said the school starting age should be put back. Half said pupils should spend no more than five hours a day at primary school, with a quarter saying young pupils should stay in school for even less time.
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of ATL, said: ‘It’s really important for children to have time to be children, to play with friends and spend time with their families.’


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