Year 10

[Frlrlrubert]

What are your year 10s doing?

Mine are being set work in 2 week chunks (new stuff but pared down to suit home learning, links, tasks, etc).

They then have a 20 minute (ish) assessed task on SMHW to be submitted and marked. Usually a few past paper questions or the like. We then give feedback individually.

Engagement is awful. 2/3rds looked at the task, 1/3rd actually accessed the questions, 1/4 submitted.

Years 7 to 9 are much better.

I've flagged it and SLT have basically shrugged. We can't email kids directly.

Are yours more engaged? What are you doing?
Live lessons or video lessons is a no-go because so few have access to decent tech.

Just looking for suggestions I could very gently pass to SLT. I'm really worried they are going to be behind the national curve at this rate.

They're our 'problem' year group anyway (as in they were difficult in y7 and have stayed that way).

[Trebolla]

I wish I had suggestions. Mine don't seem to be engaging in any meaningful way - tasks half done or my PP emailed back to me. SLT have said no chasing so I sent a welfare check email instead. Some have replied and said they're working but provided no evidence whatsoever. There seems to be a real sense of CBA from both students and SLT. God knows how bad it will be trying to get them back in and next year.

[whatonearthmother]

I have just spent the morning sending encouraging messages on SMHW and emailing well done messages to those who have completed the work and done some Seneca assignments.

Its going to be interesting when they return!

[mayaginger]

Firstly - hello - I just found you.
Less than 20% are engaging fully in Maths, English and Science.
5% are engaging fully in all their GCSE subjects.

[Frlrlrubert]

Thank you all. HoY is going to poke any that are also on his pastoral list of phone calls. Hopefully that will help a little.

[SansaSnark]

My Y10s are engaging pretty well, I have Set 1 and 2, though! I'm getting very little from Y9 bottom and second from bottom sets. My Y8 middle set are doing ok, and I've heard almost nothing from my Y8 bottom set.

We're setting work via SMHW, and they submit via SMHW or email. We can offer help via email or teams.

I'm getting 50-75% engagement from set 1, and about 50% engagement from set 2. In some ways, I think this is worse, because the 25% in set 1 who've done nothing at all will end up being massively behind the others- if no-one had done anything, they'd all at least be in the same boat. It's not necessarily the ones I'd expect doing nothing, either.

Tutors are doing phonecalls home and we can let them know if we have a concern. I'm trying to praise every single bit of work being submitted.

I've got no ideas on how to engage the ones who aren't engaging, though, and I would say this week engagement has been tailing off not picking up. The school have been able to lend out laptops to some students, which has helped.

[mayaginger]

Yes, it's mostly our set 1 & 2s that are fully engaging but there are some interesting ones - ones I thought would engage who CBA and others who have pleasantly surprised me. I don't know how we'll manage the ones in set 1 who haven't engaged when we get back as the ones who have engaged are going to be seriously frustrated with those who didn't do anything during the enforced closure. It's going to be unfair really on the ones who did engage across the board if they have to be held back by the ones who didn't do anything for whatever reason. Rock and a hard place?

[Frlrlrubert]

Our sets are a bit odd because they could choose Triple (science) regardless of ability. I teach combined set 1 and 2 (of 3).

To be fair, having had a quick nosy - all our classes seem to be similarly disengaged across year 10 (except set 3, zero submissions there)

[daisydaisydoodle]

I've had literally one piece of work back from one student in my y10 class. They are a low set but still it's awful

[TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross]

We are delivering live lessons. Attendance excellent - engagement in lessons very variable. Some are really focused in lessons and complete the work set with no need for prompting or chasing; others don't. But I've told them that - since all of them are able to access the lessons - I'm not repeating the teaching I'm doing now, so...

[MsAwesomeDragon]

In my year 10 set 2 I've got about 85% engagement, in maths. In set 5 (the nurture group) there's less engagement but it's still about 70%.

But that's maths. Which they almost all day they think is important. I suspect a similar proportion will be engaging with English (possibly different kids, but a similar number of them), but they don't see science as quite as important and I think they'll be picking and choosing which other subjects they do any work for.

We haven't been told what proportion of the kids are engaging with every subject, but I hope the head of year is keeping track of that info. We are letting her know which kids aren't submitting any work so she'll be able to see which ones are on a lot of lists.

[astuz]

All except 2 in my top set are completing work (science). I'm just carrying on with my lessons at my normal rate, so all new learning - I just tweak the lessons so that it's suitable for on-line eg replace my teacher talk with a youtube video (there's always a good one that covers what I need). I feel this is the safest option, because there is no guarantee that we will be given any extra time to teach the rest of the syllabus.
2nd set: about 50% maybe are engaging
Bottom set: about 25% engagement. The bottom set are very, very weak though and I have to make everything so simple and I only set one short task each lesson, so the amount of learning they're doing is minimal, but TBH it's the same in face-to-face lessons anyway.

And the pupils that haven't engaged in any lessons at all, never engage in lessons anyway, so at our school at least, I don't think we will see a huge increase in the difference between the advantaged and disadvantaged, as in the gap is already wide anyway.

Our Head of Pastoral lady has been phoning home to those not doing any work at all, but most are claiming that they'd doing their work in their exercise books. Funny how they've never even logged on to SAM learning or Seneca learning though - can't see why they would do that in their books.

[HairyMaclary]

This really worries me, I’ve got a top set Y10 DS whose completely disengaged over the last 10 days or so. I cannot get him to reengage. Not helped by the fact that I’ve had to be in school daily. I’m so worried about it as I know the others in his school are engaging. Mine has additional needs that makes all this harder for him anyway but it kept me awake most of last night trying to figure out what to do!

I’m sort of hoping he can drop down to combined science from triple and not do further maths. Maybe drop an option too but who knows. His chances of 7s and 8s are falling away by the day.

[HairyMaclary]

Aargh - sorry for the stream of consciousness post. It’s been a difficult day.

[mayaginger]

or for you Hairy - or both.

[LittleMissnotLittleMrs]

Forgive my stupidity - it’s been a tough day - full timetable of online teaching! What is SMHW?

[Frlrlrubert]

Sorry, SMHW = Show my homework (or Satchel One as I think it is now) is what we use for homework normally, and what we're using now for tasks that will be marked.

[Frlrlrubert]

This is my worry, my year 10s are getting five hours of 'distance learning' a fortnight and one marked task, in place of 8 lessons (and mostly not doing it).

Other year 10s will be having a full live timetable.

How are mine not going to be massively behind my July?

[LittleMissnotLittleMrs]

They might be having full, live teaching but it’s not teaching as you think it is. We get ¾ of the time then you have internet issues with WiFi dropping etc. Watching them is impossible so while their online them is there, Thur real them might not be! Then you’ve got ones that don’t have text books or need new exercise books! We have to pull right back on homework and expectations so if they complete anything in one lesson, it’s a miracle. Put it this way, 4th lesson on substitution tomorrow with bottom set y10. Should have taken 1.

[MadameMinimes]

I’ve actually been pretty impressed. I’m doing live lessons and attendance is a bit patchy (normally about 75%) but it isn’t the same kids missing every lesson and the majority are completing tasks, albeit with a fair few late hand-ins. I’m doing gentle nudges and am reiterating that we won’t have time to go back over things when we go back. I think, all things considered, they are doing pretty well.

[daisydaisydoodle]

I would have refused to do the live lessons tbh if I'd have been asked. It's a safeguarding issue and there's been no training

[TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross]

Our safeguarding team have been very active in terms of delivering training on giving live lessons, daisy, and our ICT support for using Teams has been excellent as well.

[daisydaisydoodle]

Our ict team never even answer my emails nor have the school provided me with a laptop or any kind of equipment. I wouldn't put myself in the position.

[TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross]

Well, no, obviously if it's not what your school are doing then you don't unilaterally put yourself in that position of delivering live lessons without their backing and support!

I was just observing that when you do have the school support and training, etc, in place, it's not that stressful.

[MadameMinimes]

Live lessons are not, in themselves, a safeguarding issue. Obviously providing the school are on board and have systems in place. Our DSL is encouraging live teaching as much as possible, whether that’s via the chat function, audio conferencing or videoconferencing. The more live interaction we have with students, the better our chances of spotting changes in behaviour, those not engaging, wellbeing issues etc. No individual student at our school is going to have more than a week or two at school for the rest of the academic year and the majority will not be in school at all until September. They are desperate for contact with us and, with proper IT support and systems in place, I have no problem with doing lessons live. The kids I teach have been so grateful for the lessons I have been done that it’s actually made me a bit tearful at times.

[SeasonFinale]

What is the rationale behind not being able to email them direct OP?