One State in the US lets parentsd decide if they want their child educated at school or vrtually for the Autumn Term

[purplerain2020]

I was reading some posts in a Facebook group and one mother was saying that in her State, parents could formally choose whether they wanted their child to be educated virtually or in school. Electronic forms are sent out to parents for completion.

I know that UK schools don't have the funding for this but isn't that just an ideal solution? Those that need to can opt-in for face to face schooling and for vulnerable/at risk children, it could be compulsory.

For parents that are able to supervise, they can opt into virtual learning. This would automatically make classes smaller and vulnerable families could educate at home without having to deregister their children. This is all pie in the school as the underfunding of schools leaves us with few options.

We can only dream!

[purplerain2020]

Good grief- sorry for appalling typos in the header

[VanillaFrais]

In theory and with adequate funding and staffing then yes, it's a good idea. However, I would be concerned that a large number of children would fall through the net and not receive any education at all. As sad as it is, there are some parents who don't see any value in education and would not bother taking their kids into school if they could help it and would opt for online learning but not bother with that either. There are also many parents, like myself, who are SAHP who could educate our children at home but wouldn't choose to do so because we know how important the social side of school is. So I don't think that that many parents would actually opt for online schooling. On the other hand, for the many children who have health issues which mean that they can't safely return to school in September then I can see huge benefit.

[Keepdistance]

I think that's what they should do here exactly as you have said.
They could either be grouped by school to have a zoom meet together once a week or by a central education by year group/closest ability.
My dc has done fine at home. Still exceeding.
My other one is starting reception so im not sure but i can teach that anyway as i did teach dc1 and they could read at hp level by 5yo.
I dont really like oak academy though. It's just too slow. Really like Bitesize.
I struggle more with motivation and organisation.
As you say op maybe just for kids meeting expectations.
I already know someone not planning on sending them back.
2 more with ecv family members.
And there are 4.5k people on Boycott unsafe schools fb group so yes lots of people are not happy.
I think many of them do want in person teaching but dont like the class size or lack of masks etc.
I know a family in USA in a private school and their dses will do either class of 8! And the other do home learning. But yes they can choose.


I understand what the gov means about the vulnerable kids but they are literally being affected by their own parents and will no matter what. I really do not think the medically vulnerable should have to sacrifice their lives/health.
That needs to be dealt with separately as it is a different issue. (As i assume many of those kids would fall outside of meeting expectations with good prior attendance not with a SW etc). And may also have need to go in as they dont have the tech.
The concern over the vulnerable kids was why zoom lessons etc didnt go ahead so instead of having a few per class behind they are possibly all further behind.
Also there would be a need for answers to the work and feedback to make sure kids are keeping up.

They are expecting the exam years to sit them as normal so the expectations need to be that kids do the work when they do end up at home and a family need to prioritise internet access. (Kindles etc are 50-150. )

It is very wrong for the gov to allow /tell schools to suspend the curriculum as those who did will now be behind. If the exams and other year group expectations are carrying on the same the work needs to be set whether all kids can access it or not. (Unfortunately some will have to retake). Also we should have gone non uniform as that saving could have been put towards the tech. Not much use having a uniform if schools end up shut or you are isolating and cant do any work because the money was spent on the uniform.

[purplerain2020]

@Keepdistance
They could either be grouped by the school to have a zoom meet together once a week or by a central education by year group/closest ability.
This is what I think at all. It seems crazy that across the country there have probably been countless teachers preparing remote work on the same topics, it almost needs a combined/solution. Of course, not ideal but then neither is a pandemic.

I'm already thinking of deregistering as we have a high-risk person in the house, obviously homeschooling with no input from school is daunting.

My two have excelled with homeschooling, we all have a laptop each and now tablets as well. I work part-time from home so plenty of time to oversee them so virtual learning is ideal for us. Also, it frees up space for those parents who are both working full time and need their children physically at school. I can keep mine at home and let those that do need to go in have extra physical space to be in school safely.

[purplerain2020]

Also, I think they should scrap SATS and just let teachers get on with what they've been trained to do for this academic year.

[Qasd]

I get the impression (and it’s only that) that online school is much more advanced in the us. It’s notable that all the commentary here is on “parents home schooling” where as in relation to the us it’s “education will be provided online in the autumn term”. I don’t know but if that is accurate or not but it has always sounded like a more polished system and I guess they have sorted the it and associated safe guarding issue which have proved problematic here?

If they have it does sound good if they havent then it sounds like a terrible idea!

[MarshaBradyo]

It’s fine in theory but yes the problem is that group of children who would be let down with no learning.

I’d choose in class too, even though I’m home. But not everyone one so that’s no the problem, the above is.

[Qasd]

Oh and for context I don’t know if my primary school child would have excelled at home learning as non was provided! Some schools would have a very long way to go to develop anything that amounted to meaningful provision In the online space and this is the reason I am skeptical (but accept other schools did do better).

[VimFuego101]

This is happening in many states, including mine, although most of my local school districts have stated they will be virtual only for all students till at least October and not offering the option of in person learning. I work from home so it will work OK for us and we probably would have opted for the virtual learning even if school did open as planned.

Lots of parents here are hiring nannies/ tutors to oversee the online schooling while they work. I think there will be a huge disparity by the end of the year between kids whose parents could do this vs kids who just had to leave them unsupervised to get on with the online learning.

[herecomesthsun]

Many good points there. I think however there are disadvantages to being glued to zoom all day. I think asynchronous learning is fine if families can support it.

Schools could combine, even at this stage, if teaching the same syllabus, to pool resources for on line learning, that are catered for the level of learning desired.

There would be the possibility of better provision for all rising out of this in fact. We have not yet fully exploited the possibilities of tech to roll out better education for those who want it and are motivated and able to engage.

There are also a lot of logistical problems, for both private and state students, at secondary level in terms of transport. On line learning or blended learning will be one way of helping for this. Buying a device is not that expensive in terms of the outlay for a bus or train pass for just one term,which could be double or treble the cost.

I agree that outreach to kids who aren't well supported at home, in a pandemic, is problematic.

[labyrinthloafer]

Oh that sounds like bliss, just being able to choose! Here we've got bloody fines

[PrivateD00r]

In theory it would be fab, I had thought this was going to happen to be honest and I was pleased as it would mean less kids in school. However in reality, who would provide the home learning? The teachers will be flat out as usual with teaching the dc who do attend school. How would differentiation occur? Schools here said they couldn't provide any recorded lessons etc, just the twinkl worksheets. It would be letting dc down to let that continue for those who's parents chose to keep them off.

It is a shame, it really would benefit those who still wanted to attend in person to have fewer dc there. But I don't see how it could work. Schools are going to be absolutely flat out as it is.

[Nappyvalley15]

In two minds about this. However it could only work if the government funded at least one additional teacher per school to ensure children were actually learning and chased up children who were falling behind/not being heard from. There would need to be (socially distanced) home visits to check on pupil welfare. Also the zoom/teams socialising as suggested.

[RemyHadley]

I’d love to see a much larger more comprehensive site like the oak national academy, and give parents the option of just using that. It makes no sense to me that teachers in all the different schools are doing different planning.

The government should provide central resources, then teachers can focus on teaching the children who do go to school and checking in with the children at home, rather than spending all their time creating resources.

[minnieok]

In theory good but vulnerable children whose parents can't be bothered to take them to school could easily slip through the net