I am a teacher (secondary) AMA

[Piggywaspushed]

The atmosphere has become toxic on MN in the last few days with insults and generalisations being flung and teachers becoming increasingly defensive , aggressive probably and anxious certainly.

I am using this board to reach out and answer in a calm non AIBU way any questions you might have about what I and my colleagues are doing, how I am feeling, what my concerns and fears are, what my hopes are, perhaps to share a fuller understanding.

I work in a very large state secondary and DH in a large private secondary so can also answer questions about the two sectors.

Just as a rider, any aggressive posts or questions I will just sail on by : I don't want an argument. I had no sleep last night as it is!

Ask away...

Thanks for this post and the calm reassuring responses you are giving.

My son is in year 8 and like most parents , I am worried about the work he is doing at home. The school provides some work but feedback isn't compulsory. For my son who is already work shy, this is a great way for him to do the bare minimum. I'm a single mum also juggling a full time job working from home but I'm worried that I am not doing my best to support him. He has the option to call the teachers if he is struggling but again won't do that and I can't make him.
He was behind before the lock down and I am worried that this will make it even worse. Do you think schools are considering situations like mine and planning on how to plug those gaps? This is an issue not just for disadvantaged children.

@WhyNotMe40 @WrongBus

Thank you for your comments. After mat leave i'd be going back into a client facing role that requires weekend and evening working. Could I ask what a typical working week looks like for you?

Also thank you for the podcast recommendation! I will give it a listen and see if i can have a read up of the two approaches you mentioned.

Do you very secretly feel a bit cheesed off at the needlework (is it called Textiles now?!) teachers/PE teachers who won't be burdened with setting and marking work at the moment but are getting paid the same as you?

I didn't realise it was effectively policy not to ask for work to be sent back. My DD is yr7, unfortunately she's struggling with motivation as in her eyes the teachers don't care whether she's working or not because they're not asking to see her work. The odd lesson is, her English teacher sent some lovely feedback on Friday and she was beaming.

Is there any guidance for tutor groups? I was surprised not to get any regular contact from her form tutor, especially as the school were so keen to explain the importance of tutor groups and having the same tutor throughout their school time, during the induction.

I'll answer all these Questions later! Just making tea :)

Do you very secretly feel a bit cheesed off at the needlework (is it called Textiles now?!) teachers/PE teachers who won't be burdened with setting and marking work at the moment but are getting paid the same as you?

Unfortunately for dd her PE teacher is taking setting work very seriously and we are receiving all manner of projects and written work about netball/athletics/dance etc. It is pissing me off tbh because at school she would have two sessions of PE a week where she would do a sport and that would be it, no written work, no projects, no homework. That is not to say that it is not important - I am an exercise fanatic myself - but I am finding getting dd to work at home stressful as it is without having to come up with lengthy projects and materials for an extra subject. That said PE teacher is certainly putting the work and effort in, we just don't want to do it!

Ha ha - yes, it would have been my worst nightmare if the PE teacher had been an enthusiastic lockdown teacher!

All I can really say to that one drop is that I have had no tutor group contact. I know to me other schools have. The role of the form tutor as a central part of children's lives does erode over time in a lot of schools.

Your DD should be getting some feedback . What platform is the school using? Mine is Google and it's easy because we can directly comment on the work and the children see that. We can also send messages and comments.

Ermmm. That's awkward irma. Those subjects always have less marking but option subject teachers are enormously stressed by the prospect of return with all their specialised material and equipment. There us also no doubt at all that where live lessons are pushed, theses are very very hard for the more practical subjects!

Yes we are takin, absolutely. It actually describes a lot if teachers! We are really really conscious that many children would be better off in school, academically. But , public health comes first , I guess.

I hope you can survive. WFH with DCs and no partner support is tough!

Thanks so much for your response.
All the best x

We can al only do our best x

all,even!

That process has been really stressful...

I'll bet. I work in a secondary school, and from the letters going home to parents about 'do not contact your teacher, do not question their grades' etc I totally get why as...we've got many parents who will kick off the grades they will give. Even if they're good (ie got given 8 but they deserve a 9).

My friend has one year 11 and one year 13, both missed exams and one was very diligent and predicted 9's all through, other one very lazy, messed up mocks but would no doubt have pulled it out the bag come exam time.

I do not envy your job one bit. I feel sorry for the teachers that have this workload PLUS homeschooling their own, PLUS no doubt extra housework. Females are still bearing the brunt despite (possibly) both parents working at home.

Well, I am just not doing any housework . I do do all the cooking and washing and shopping.... although the one benefit is, if I juggle things I can actually go during the day during week which is quiet a novelty for me

but your point stands and is definitely true of some of my friends. The triple shift ahs become the quadruple shift!

@Piggywaspushed
What platform is the school using?

Email for most subjects! So work is completed offline and the odd piece of work is either photographed to email back, or attach a word doc if the child has done it in O365. Some Maths is done on Hegarty, some Science on Doddle, and they've got an Educake account but as far as I can tell, it hasn't been used.

Ah, OK. With mine you can mark and feedback online which is better for most subjects : but none of this is free to schools. Be nice if it was !

Could I ask a question about your general working week please?

Do you have to keep general records on each pupil following lessons, such as how they performed/behaved and does information on how each child learns best get passed on when they change years or do you know very little about them when you get a fresh September class?

Hi Piggy

As secondary teachers, how much influence does primary teaching have on how well a child performs at Secondary?

There's a real worry among most right now that whatever term or two kids are missing out on a Primary level will have a massively detrimental effect on their education ling term.

Personally, and absoloutley nothing against those this disagree, I am not concerned about my Recept and Y3 children during this. I honestly believe this is such a small window that the loss will be insignificant in the long run.

I would love to hear a teacher (esp Secondary) view on this.

Is the occasional term time holiday, really that much of a problem?

Really good to hear that you were asked to take into account the usual uplift between mocks and real exams for year 11 grades.

Thanks for your answers

Thank you for all your answers, it is all very interesting.

mingy not for every student, no, although some school have IT packages where you can award effort grades, merits , demerits for every lesson. This is visible on a child's IT records , although may get wiped each new year. I certainly don't sit and make notes on every child after every lesson, no. If iy have 5 different classes a day , that would be enormously time consuming!

If we pass on a class to someone new at any point in the year academic information is easy to find. Any other info would involve meetings/emails between staff. If we are talking about when all children change classes (eg moving to option groups) that kind of information sharing on every student wouldn't really happen,although a good HOY would remind HoDs and HoFs of children to especially consider.

In terms of school transfer, there are lots of discussions, mainly pastoral, about the children.

Does that answer your question? Sorry, wasn't sure exactly what you wanted to know?

Less of a question, more of a comment.

I have a year 6 dd with autism, adhd and learning difficulties, so as well as the worries everyone has around the schooling that they're missing, on top of that we're concerned about transition to secondary for a child who would in normal times take longer to settle.

There has been all of this talk about moving forward to less face to face time with the teacher, more remote learning in general, but that isn't going to work with children who find learning difficult. When this conversations take place, is there any discussion around treating these children differently. Ie, they will always need more direct contact with their teacher and the guidance of a teaching professional to help them focus. Home schooling just doesn't work for these children.

benardette, I tend to agree, mainly because all children are in the same boat.

Despite what the government is saying ,there are no reliable studies on leaning loss for missing school where

a) work was still being provided (however good or bad it is!)
b) children weren't being also effected by things like war and natural disaster
c)all children were almost equally affected

I think it will become more of a problem after June 1st when some children are still at home (mainly for medical reasons) and I'd be concerned about them because online learning for them may not replace what goes on in classrooms : however, their health and lives are more precious.
Children in many countries don't start school until 7. as a country we are obsessed with schooling!

This kind of links to Ygritte's question.

As a secondary teacher and once HoY- sorry, I don't like term time holidays (but my school has never pursued fines; I am always surprised by how many people on MN live in fear of fines since I have never known one to be handed out for a term time holiday or mild absence). This is mainly because I have seen how behind a child gets, socially and academically when they miss time off school and no one else has (that last bit is the key bit). Some are quite demanding of catch up work and I think that is unfair on teachers. I would make exceptions obviously for religious observance (we have had students go to Mecca) but, generally, I don't like term time holidays. We have had students in year 10 take them and miss important learning, such as coursework deadlines. Even year 12s and 13s! I had a year 11 miss 4 weeks of school this year for school residentials combined with a holiday and the her constant mantra was 'I wasn't here when we did that'. But that example isn't in the sprit of your questions as you said 'occasional'.!

My answer would no doubt be a little different if I taught much younger children and, as a teacher, I do understand how extortionate holidays are! My concern now is that some parents will take kids out for term time holidays and expect a package of online learning to be available! I also think lots of families might book holidays now as soon as they can because they will 'need a holiday' and be worried about grabbing the opportunity to go somewhere while there is a window. That could become disruptive. Some parents have argued that holidays are better learning experiences than school : but I genuinely don't believe most ordinary people's holidays with children involve cultural enrichment (I know mine don't!) .

really, I'd like the holiday companies to be forced to look at profiteering and price hikes : it's not really fair that private school families can take advantage of cheaper holiday prices!