For refusing to talk to the school

Technically all parents have to ensure that their children are receiving a broad and balanced education.

Yes, and that law was written in the context of free, comprehensive education being available to every kid in the country. A lot of parents are actually incapable of providing an education without school. I doubt the government is going to start carting them off to jail.

Everyone complains - myself included - that work isn’t being marked, not enough live lessons etc. So when I hear that teachers are spending hours of their day calling parents who can’t be bothered to answer the phone, it makes me livid.

Don’t be so selfish and precious about it. Just answer the phone, explain you’re doing your best, and do the same when they call again the following week. It’ll take 2 minutes of your time, and will enable to teacher to get on with trying to teach.

I can’t believe how selfish some people are.

Plenty of us are working single parents, we don’t all feel a need to have the school running around after us, while we petulantly refuse to answer the phone.

The OP won't be fined.

@pinkpixie83 do you have any friends/relatives who could help with homeschooling remotely whilst you are working?

Apologies if this has already been mentioned as I have only skim read the thread. Would the school be able to help out with a laptop so they dont have to share the one? That would maybe incentivise them to do some work alongside each other.

To be fair to the OP, if they've got no constructive support to offer, why are they calling? It's just box ticking. If she's doing a job from home where she cant keep breaking off, then what's she supposed to do? The government cant have it both ways- if they want to be responsible for education, keep schools open and educate. If they don't/can't, back off and stop harassing already stretched parents.

The school is legally responsible for providing education, so are you.

This isn’t the case. The OP is perfectly willing to send her child to school, the service isn’t open. Please don’t spread this sort of rubbish.

@unmarkedbythat The OP has made her children vulnerable by not making them do their work. I expect that not answering their call has also contributed to that.

The Government are issuing more laptops, can you check with the school whether you fulfil the criteria for these new ones? Do your children receive FSM?

There are a number of charities sorting out laptops, resources etc for children, can you see if there are any operating in your area, or again ask school whether they can source you one via these charities.

I can see both sides.

Teachers and support staff/heads etc have been put in a situation entirely alien to them until last March. There has never been a modern educational era like this. It has taken time to adapt.
The DofE are asking so much of them, I know some of my DC's teachers are doing lives from home where they have children to look after too! It's a no win situation. Edu welfare are also expecting staff to make sure they regularly contact pupils whether there are concerns or not as it could be going on for months where they won't see the pupils. Even if they log in for lives, most won't have their camera on (mine don't). If they aren't logging in that's a long time to have no interaction.
Then we have parents. Single or otherwise. We have to work. Or do housework. And suddenly, we are teachers, we are support staff for our kids with SEN. We have to watch out for the latest round of Covid related BS of variants and restrictions and when will this end. Will we still have a job? Is our home secure rented or not. How will make our latest bills. Some of us will have older or vulnerable family we can't see and are worried about.
It's all such a mess isn't it?
So I get the teacher you quoted saying she gets frustrated when calls are ignored and she is having to schlep out in freezing conditions after hours (and after pay times) to check because a civil servant tells them to, even if they've never had welfare concerns before.
I also get why parents who are juggling jobs, worries and kids who are fed up and learning in ways we never did are just as frustrated.

Its the government we should be pissed off with. Not each other.

Can you call reception and leave a message to say all is well but you can't respond to calls in working hours ( they won't call out of hours).

*Does your son with adhd have a consultant? Could you talk to them about medication being possibility for ADHD?

@ChardonnaysPetDragon way to go with the most unhelpful guilt laden post that will obviously help the OP sort this out

All the phone calls we get from my dcs schools are in lesson time.

It's no wonder op is sick and tired of the calls if the attitude of her dc's teachers is anything like yours here- no concern expressed, just "you make me angry! I have to do more things!"

Of course they are ringing. I suppose your children aren't logging in and not doing their work.

The school is legally responsible for providing education, so are you.

They are doing their job and you are making it difficult for them, I wouldn't be surprised if they escalated this.

You can be fined quite heavily for this.

Does your son with adhd have a consultant? Could you talk to them about medication being possibility for ADHD?

I'm not saying the OP is right or wrong, but some of the comments on here are absolutely laughable and show zero understanding of what it is like to be a single working parent.
Eg just do it in your lunch time/after work/before work/weekend...err that is when a single parent is preparing breakfast/lunch/dinner/cleaning/doing the shopping/doing the washing/tidying...or god forbid having 10 minutes to herself!!
As for the 'you are making work for the school' brigade...you have all the empathy of a breeze block.

Look, some schools, as I know from bitter experience, can get bloody arsey if you don't comply and do what they want, in this case answering the phone. So be careful.
I would be adult, be polite, send a quick email with
"thank you for your calls, unfortunate you have called when I am contractually obligated to be working from home, please be advised the children are well and work is progressing where possible but isn't always handed in when expected due to my contracted hours and single parent status. If you would like to email or schedule a call for a more mutually convenient time that would be great, elsewise we will see you when school is able to commence in person learning.
Best wishes"

That way, they can see you've engaged, you've also made it clear it is not convenient for you to be being called frequently during working hours. It also shows you are aware the lack of constant learning engaged but this is being addressed.
They can't touch you then.

ah...cross post

OP, did it ever occur to you that the school might be trying to ring you to say they have a spare place at school or that they have located an extra iPad/laptop for your child or can help in another way?

That is a really good point. You really are cutting off your nose to spite your face here, @pinkpixie83. Answer the damn phone! It might be good news.

Parents like you drive me mad! We’ve had to spend so much time doing home visits, we don’t get time off timetable to do them so it has to be on an evening after we finish, just like all the phone calls can’t be done in lesson time either. You could just answer the phone and have a 2 minute conversation.