Is you council/ local educati9n authority providing live online lessons?

[Blankiefan]

I'm not looking for a debate on the rights or wrongs but trying to crowdsource some info on this. I'm attending a council meeting where this will come up soon and want to know if there's currently any provision of live online lessons in the UK from an LEA or council? If so, what platform is being used (Teams, Zoom, Google Classroom, etc)?

Many thanks

Live no but plenty of work provided via Teams with good online contact and all work submitted is marked and feedback given.

Surely it's up to the schools rather than the council?

Nope, no online lessons. We get sent a timetable every week and you don’t have to send them photos of their work but I have done every week. Teachers usually just say something like ‘great job’ and that’s about it.

No councils don't teach children. Schools do.

Our school says it's the council's decision.

Yes primary zoom lessons.

I think councils have the power to advise schools that are under LEA control how they offer any type of provision.

However, an increasing amount of schools are in fact academies, and they can do what they like...

I am thankful to work in an LEA school, who have been advised not to. For me, it’s nice to know that a large majority of schools in my LEA are ensuring equality of provision in that respect. It would be very unfair if say St. Whatshername’s school with good amounts of well funded parents who can afford devices for all their students was compared to St. Theotherone where this is not the case resulting in staff at the second school being accused of not doing enough... though, they are likely working just as hard.

We (secondary) are providing lessons through google classrooms and/or student email. We are giving feedback on the work done by students submitted from these. Students who don’t have access are being posted work and have had workbooks paid for by school posted too. Feedback on this work is harder, but teachers are contacting home at least once a week in this respect and offering help where they can.

No. Both our daughter's schools have emailed to explain why they are not adopting this approach.

It largely centres on advantage i.e. access to adequate equipment, internet and availability of both pupils and teachers.

Both schools surveyed parents before making this decision whilst they were simultaneously setting work that can be done via Google classroom.

I think it's the right decision. I can't imagine how my husband can work, I can work, DD1 can live classroom and DD2 can live classroom all at potentially the same time...but then I don't have the top broadband package or a nice big house where we would all have a room and device to do those things.

@ToothFairyNemesis can I ask which LEA it is please?

@Blankie so, you aren’t interested in any LEAs that aren’t? Or why?

Please, if you are going to push for Zoom/teams or whatever have a plan how your LEA will fund all the extra ICT equipment & dongles etc. that will be needed by staff & students AND have a robust answer to the safeguarding concerns that many LEAs have raised. Otherwise, you are just wasting everyone’s time, including your own!

It's banned where I am.

@Blankiefan have pm’d you.

So OP do you just want info about doing this, rather than whether it's a good idea or not?

Yes. I'm pushing for it or at least an explanation of why it's impossible. The current response from the school is that the Council says no.

I thought it'd be useful to have an example of a council who have made it work. I'm aware there are many who have not made it work - I don't believe we will lack that context as part of the discussion.

I should have said - I'm looking for an explanation from the council on our specific situation.

Our LEA says no (st the moment); in Wales so I don't y xxfzxknow what is going to happen re education. See what they announce tomorrow.

Our council says no zoom meetings allowed as there are safeguarding problems with zoom.

It’s not council led. Academies here choose their own methods.

@Blankiefan I forgot to say the dc primary school is an academy and it’s a voluntary aided church school.

Have you had a chance to read the many threads here on mumsnet about the reasons why Zoom etc. aren’t being used in many schools?

Are you at all bothered about the children who won't be able to take part in live lessons?

Or the teachers who have family situations that mean the use of live video teaching is either difficult (very young children, limited WiFi bandwidth, no laptop etc.) or raises considerable safeguarding concerns (such as a teacher who has fled domestic violence, or their own adopted children who cannot have their faces shown online?) or heck, the fact that there have been instances of teachers having their images taken, cropped and ended up in memes or, worse, superimposed on to pornography?

The school are saying “council says no” because it’s easier than getting in to long winded discussions with parents who do not fully understand the issues with using live teaching when they have a million and one other things to do such as continually changing their plans for next half term in order to meet ever changing goals