Complained one parent: 'They are always on strike - the month of August, Christmas, Half Term...they are never in. From 7 at night to 7 in the morning, you never see them in school. The teachers I had as a kid, some of them are dead now - but that's just striking by another name.'
A teaching union explained: 'We thought about a national strike but in the end we decided we could have the same impact by a dressing up day. It causes hassle for the parents, it bankrupts the economy and no actual teaching takes place.
'Anyway, with all the paperwork, exams and inspections we have, the last real day of teaching was in 1968.'