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Original poster

How many secondary schools are offering a full timetable of lessons?

106 replies

bendmeoverbackwards · 11/01/2021 17:10

I want to get an idea of what other schools are doing.

Dd's school offered no teaching during the summer.

Now they seem to be doing a mix of live lessons and 'non contact' lessons. These non contact lessons consist of work being set for students to complete.

They say they need to strike a balance between live lessons and non contact lessons but I'm not sure why. Can any teachers explain please?

OP posts:
2021hastobebetter · 11/01/2021 17:12

I’m in a private school - everything is live with teachers on for constant email from 8am to 5 pm day in and day out. DC 1 is state and has 75% of lessons on teams although the music teacher did 20 minutes today and then kicked them all
Off as said he had a headache(!)😂they are well behaved but he was trying to get them to sing on teams 😱so I don’t blame him. Youngest child is primary and nothing - videos and worksheets every day

Fembot123 · 11/01/2021 17:13

My DC’s secondary give a full day of online lessons.

Boonlark · 11/01/2021 17:14

Some children can't cope with all day online live lessons. There's a known psychological issue with all day meetings etc online where the brain can see and hear people but also realise they aren't in the same room, bodily, and it causes additional stress. Having a mixture is actually a good thing and less tiring for everyone

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General education
KimNotEllen · 11/01/2021 17:15

DS's school didn't do live lessons during the first 'closure' but this time it's a full timetable

formerbabe · 11/01/2021 17:15

State secondary...full day of online live lessons following the normal timetable they'd have if in school.

KimNotEllen · 11/01/2021 17:16

Although some lessons are work from other online resources with videos but the teachers are there to help with any questions.

EmmanuelleMakro · 11/01/2021 17:16

I sk a secondary teacher snd we teach 50% live and the rest as follow up tasks.

piefacedClique · 11/01/2021 17:17

We have a mix of live and assignments set on teams. All Live lessons have been difficult as we have a high percentage of digitally excluded pupils. This way pupils can access the lesson when they are able too using the equipment they have available. I live rurally and my internet has been glitchy through live lessons which isn’t ideal either.

m0therofdragons · 11/01/2021 17:17

Dd 1 has a mix. Df dc have 5 hours of live lessons. Anyone who has constant teams meetings would agree that 5 hours of video calls is not a good idea.

piefacedClique · 11/01/2021 17:17

Our pupils follow their usual timetable.

Fembot123 · 11/01/2021 17:18

Mine seem fine with it but I agree it feels like a lot! It’s frazzling for anyone to spend all day online imo

CMOTDibbler · 11/01/2021 17:19

DS is yr10, and although not all of his lessons are full length, he is getting a live lesson for everything but PE, Ethics and Citizenship. One of his teachers is off sick, so they have lesson by lesson info to do. Also tutor time every morning.
Ds is so much more motivated and happy this way than lockdown 1 where they had virtually no teaching

swashbucklecheer · 11/01/2021 17:20

Some kids share a device so can't be on at a set time. In some places broadband is crap so live streaming won't work. You're dammed if you do and dammed if you don't. Teachers can't win no matter what they do.

Cactusowl · 11/01/2021 17:22

Secondary school, lessons set on teams except one humanities subject where the teacher has set work.
Doesn’t work for DS (yr 8 SEN) as he is just illegibly copying down notes without understanding the point of the lessons.

frustrationcentral · 11/01/2021 17:23

Ours is, including tutor time and twice a week assemblies. I'm very impressed!

3 double lessons a day, with most virtual online, just the odd one if the teacher is supervising the key worker children.

Luckily for us we managed to borrow an extra laptop before the schools closed, must be a nightmare for parents if children are having to share a device!

BarryGlendenning · 11/01/2021 17:25

State comp, full timetable of lessons.

Whattodo121 · 11/01/2021 17:25

Secondary teacher here. We are teaching all live lessons. But we don’t always stay online for the entire lesson, for some lessons it’s live input for the first half and then a task, and other times it’s a full online lesson all the way through.

Bunnybigears · 11/01/2021 17:26

Our are following the normal timetable but the live element is the teacher is on teams chat during the lesson time incase anyone has questions etc. They found live face time style lessons just got out of hand with the loud students taking over and wasting time and the quieter students not joining in.

iklboo · 11/01/2021 17:27

DS has around 75% live / set work / homework. 15% they're allowed self-learning time, but have to show or submit what they've done. The rest is free time.

AnneElliott · 11/01/2021 17:28

DS' school is everything live every day. The only lesson that's not is PE where they get told to go for a walk or do a workout you tube video (hmm not sure how many do).

But everything else is a live lesson and then do get homework as well as they usually do.

Much better than lockdown 1 when there was just random bits of work uploaded.

PhantomErik · 11/01/2021 17:30

Full timetable of lessons set online as 'Homework' resources & videos available to click on but no live lessons. Suits us perfectly. DD can pick & choose which order to do the subjects as long as they're all done on that day. She can take breaks when necessary etc

Live lessons are overrated in my opinion.

PotteringAlong · 11/01/2021 17:31

They say they need to strike a balance between live lessons and non contact lessons but I'm not sure why. Can any teachers explain please?

Because some kids hate live lessons
Because not everyone has got instant access to a device and can’t watch live lessons
Because teachers are homeschooling their own children simultaneously and need a bit of flexibility.

nailsathome · 11/01/2021 17:32

I'm a teacher at a secondary comp. We are all live but that doesn't mean teacher talking for the whole hour. They have time to do tasks, as they would in lessons. I am already frazzled after 1 week of this. Planning and delivering online lessons is so much more time and energy consuming than being in the classroom. And, whilst we have a desk, we do not have the setup to be comfortably online all day (this applies to most of our pupils too).

We also have our own things to deal with whilst at home which we wouldn't if we were physically in school; our own children, doorbell, dogs, any number of other things.

A full day of screen time is not good for anyone.

bonbonours · 11/01/2021 17:32

State grammar school, more or less a full timetable of live lessons though sometimes they go live at the beginning to explain a task /introduce a topic and then set work for them to get on with. But teachers are available for queries then.
Last lockdown was majority just set work not many live lessons.

2020out · 11/01/2021 17:32

They may be a school where a higher number of pupils lack access to devices. This is likely to explain why they don't want a full online timetable.

They may also have more staff in school with keyworkers and vulnerable children who would therefore be unavailable for live lessons.

They may have students who need chasing up with phone calls or 1.1 sessions as they aren't engaging with the lessons from home. They may be giving time for teachers to do this.

They may also believe it's beneficial for students to direct some of their own learning.

My school is doing a mixture (primary, but year 6). 2 online live lessons and 2 recorded lessons each day. No idea if it's the right balance but some certainly couldn't do more than this live as they're sharing devices.