Will schools have a more coordinated approach after Easter?

[ColouringPencils]

I know they had to close very quickly without much chance to work things out, but do you think we can ask any more of schools after Easter? They seem to vary so wildly in how much work and contact they are offering.

My DC in year 5 is asked to do 30 min maths and 45 literacy a day across three websites the school has accounts for. There was a small amount of project work set initially, of which he has picked and done the bits he was interested in.
We have had no contact from school since 20 March. There is no suggestion that the work will be marked, which is understandable but also quite demotivating for a child.

In contrast, my colleagues' child of the same age has daily work set and marked, daily interaction with teacher and classmates. Another child I know, also in year 5, has weekly tasks set across the curriculum.

Sadly, it doesn't come as a surprise to me that both live in more affluent areas. Our school is great, normally. But I feel a bit let down by this.

No, there’s no leadership on this.

However the BBC will be doing daily lessons, plus worksheets and online quizzes from Monday so if your school isn’t providing much, then the BBC should have you covered.

Are all the schools state schools, or mix of academies/public? Could that have an impact? Not quite sure how the academies work as we only have local authority or public schools in Scotland.

No, all the ones I mentioned are state schools. I know some schools are looking after a lot of key worker children, but I believe there are only 10 children going into our school. I think they are putting on food for some children, but you just go and collect that at lunchtime, so I can't see it would have a big impact on teachers.

Apart from my own selfish reasons of not wanting my own child to get left behind, I also think this is only going to widen the gap between rich and poor. Its bad enough that middle-class families are paying for tutors while for poorer ones education is probably the least of their worries, but the school system should try to be a leveller, not make the situation worse.

Some people around here would not have access to a computer, at least not to use every day, but the school could send worksheets or at least write to us once in 4 weeks.

Thanks @noblegiraffe I will look out for the BBC stuff.

I thought maybe the local authorities could set out an expected plan for its schools. Schools could share resources, allowing teachers more time to have some even brief interactions with children or mark some work.

Local authorities aren’t in control of a lot of schools any more.

But someone must set a standard, don't they?

We received a large list of websites and apps to use which were enormously helpful plus lots of printouts they recommended too. The teachers sent a timetable for the week but it was a bit wishy washy imo, it seemed to focus on maths and English but nothing else.

I guess if you have the internet at your disposal it’s not too tricky to find help for yourself.

No. Honestly. Schools have been left to do their own thing.

I do have internet, so I can find stuff, but I am obviously not a teacher. But I don't understand why middle-class children on the posh side of town can expect actual teaching from their teachers, while on the poorer side of town parents and children are left to their own devices. Our taxes pay for all those children to have a good standard of education.

I don't mean academies or private schools, they are all state primaries.

At the school I work at (I’m support staff) it seems to vary a bit by the teacher. Some also have their own young children at home so are having to work around them as well, meaning they have less time. It’s the pastoral teams contacting parents, although not daily. Only leadership are in, on a rota, looking after key workers children as we don’t have many. All of the students are set work online (or revision books sent home for those with no internet access) and teachers are expected to mark weekly. Although it is a secondary school so a bit different, and most of the teachers are quite busy with having to think about the students GCSE/A level grades now as well.

So strange that's you've had no contact from school. Does your school not update their website at the very least? Our headteachers has uploaded videos of himself reading stories, teachers have been setting daily work via Google classroom, text messages and emails have been sent out to parents with updates etc.

Here’s the info about the BBC provision. Some of it will be on TV/radio so accessible to those without internet. www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zn9447h

Schools are flying solo here! There will be no consistency even in neighbouring schools. Also they seem to have different policies on using things like 'Zoom' or Google classrooms. Some schools are more wary of safeguarding with these things.
The issue with children who do not have a PC or decent WiFi is a worry. It will be the same children who are disadvantaged in other ways too

@Katjolo that is what my friends are saying about their schools. No, we have had none of that. As far as I can tell my son's teacher has not had to set or mark any work since 20 March and we have heard nothing from school. I get that not everyone could access Google Classroom for daily lessons, but for example, he would absolutely love it if she sent a letter home. It wouldn't be hard to write one letter and change the child's name each time.

@Chosennone yes exactly. Those children who are already disadvantaged are going to feel it the most, which is why I wonder if our school has decided not to do daily lessons online, as some would be left out. But it seems neglectful to just not do anything.

As far as I can tell my son's teacher has not had to set or mark any work since 20 March

You were set work on websites? Presumably self-marking? And some project work. The kids have only been off school for 2 weeks.

You can bet if they sent kids letters people would complain about the virus risk.

We are state primary and secondary.
Primary are using google classroom and setting work on there - different subjects literacy, RE, performing arts, history, science etc. They also use MyMaths. You upload and hand in your work on there. you can also message the teacher either privately or in a whole group chat. The kids are posting pictures of Lego models they have made, or things they are doing. They are also encouraged to do things like cook/bake and upload pictures. The teacher comments and also responds to work handed in eg DS2 was asked to more punctuation.

The older 2 (year 7 and 8) are using Microsoft teams and similarly each subject teacher is setting them work. They also have a maths website to use. I haven’t got as involved in thier work as have been sitting with the youngest. Again they have also been encouraged to upload cooking pics etc.

@noblegiraffe yes maybe people would complain. It was fine for the government to write to us though?

Yes, the websites are self-marking and the project work I am assuming will not be marked (but I could be wrong).

I am not saying I have the answers, but don't you think it is strange that there is such a difference in provision. Presumably you are very happy with what your own child has been offered and it's no more than mine has had?

I understand they've only had 2 weeks off school, which is why I was asking if that might change after Easter, now that schools have had more time to plan. The consensus seems to be 'no'.

My ds sons school have set work, but even when submitted there’s no feedback or markings, constant battle with my teenager who thinks it’s pointless if no grades are given

Presumably you are very happy with what your own child has been offered

Whatever the kids have been offered there have been complaints. The ones who are being given loads of stuff have had complaints that it’s too much.

You might get something more structured after Easter but no one can tell you except your kid’s school.

We’re in an area with a high percentage of fsm/pp and have been doing loads for our students both academically and pastorally.

So I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s because of the area. Some schools will be in a better position to support for many reasons than others.

@noblegiraffe I assume you are a teacher, in which case I can assist you I have no interest in slagging off teachers. I love my school and DS LOVES his teacher. I also understand that parents will complain no matter what. Surely for that reason, schools, local authorities or whoever is in charge, should be trying to coordinate their approach? I personally don't think it is fair that my child gets such minimal contact while those like @BrieAndChilli's get quite comprehensive support. We are all state educated, aren't we?

I expect they will be more organized after Easter. I noticed a difference between the first and the second week of lockdown before the holidays.
Which I put down to getting to grips with the technology, and also it's not easy they have been tossed into it as much as the rest of us.
Remember many primary schools classes have groups of children working at different levels. So it's not easy to revert to setting work across the class, without making the top kids think it's boring and the bottom kids struggle.