What are your children’s school doing to help children catch up after covid closures?

[Soubriquet]

My dc’s school are offering a free half an hour tutor session for children they believe are a bit behind because of school closures.

Ds was one of those children, and I signed him up straight away.

Already, he’s had an improvement.

Nothing.

Oh that’s a shame.

I should add that my dc are in primary school. Years 2 and 4

Nothing. They don’t need to do anything IMO. Schools closed but learning and teaching continued, albeit in a different environment and way.

Your children are very young, why aren’t you spending half an hour with them?

@MyDcAreMarvel

Your children are very young, why aren’t you spending half an hour with them?

I’m not a teacher.

Who provides the tuition? The class teacher or someone else? I’m a teacher and I’d struggle to miss out on half an hour of planning each day. I already get in at 7:30, I’d need to be in at 7:00 to make up the time (& it’s an hour commute). It’s a lot to ask IMO.
I’ve found that lockdown impacted behaviour more than progress. I have lots of children who struggle with self-regulation and independence. I manage that via a whole-class approach rather than targeting those children specifically though and we’re making progress across the year.

Soubriquet - you may not be a teacher but I’m sure you can help them with y2 and 4 maths and English. There are loads of excellent books available. Many people do this with their kids even if they don’t think they’re behind, they tend not to talk about it though! At my kids school loads of people used these books to keep their children’s work ticking over during holidays.

@goaskmum

Nothing. They don’t need to do anything IMO. Schools closed but learning and teaching continued, albeit in a different environment and way.

Oh seriously, come on.

I am a teacher myself, and home learning is not a substitute or a replacement.

Our school have received covid funding and my child has two 45 minute sessions a week, before and after school with the usual teacher. It’s a six week course and it’s going really well.

I’m not a teacher

Would be a reasonable response if they were secondary age. Y2 & Y4 however should and could be supported in learning by the majority of parents at home.

Schools don't operate in a vacuum. They aren't the only place learning occurs.

Talk to your children, read with them, throw in a bit of functional maths (telling the time, adding up the shop, weights and measures following recipes) and they will catch up just fine.

OP, I'm not sure why other posters are giving you a hard time over this! All you've done is to take up an offer!
Lots of schools are using their catch-up funding to hire additional teachers/tutors to provide small group and 1:1 sessions.
If your child has been selected, please don't let anyone make you feel bad about accepting the support.
It has no reflection on how much you 'teach' or help your child in the role of a parent. Some children found Home Learning much harder than others. Your children have missed critical phases of school. Your Y2 child, for example, will have had a disrupted Reception and Year 1 - that's been so difficult for little ones, socially and academically.

I think parents teaching their own children often ends badly, tbh.

I’m not talking about home schooling but about well meaning parents trying to ‘teach ‘

I'm not criticising OP for taking the provision. Most parents would and if school offers it then its there for the taking.

But the narrative that it is only the schools responsibility for learning is wrong.

Nothing, but the children seem to be doing well anyway.

I'm glad it's working at primary

Very poor take up at secondary - to the point sine parents are withdrawing their children from the programme

I cannot teach the way schools do.

If I teach my way, then when the school teaches them their way, it will confuse the child and they are more likely to get it wrong

some

Naff all. Provision was pretty poor during lockdown as well so it's not surprising. Ds2 is pretty bright and doing great. Ds1 did badly in his gcses last year and would benefit from extra help (he's also dyslexic) but is getting nothing.

DS1 (yr11) school hasn't offered anything - nothing from the school about even applying. 360 per year group would be a lot of tutors. Fingers crossed for GCSEs - they aren't running additional classes as they have in past years to help those struggling with the grades they need for 6th form college

DS2 (yr6) school hasn't offered anything (year groups around 12-15), and hasn't even offered the additional before and after school lessons aimed at SATS.

We're going backwards.

Ds' school (primary) are taking small groups from across all the years and focusing on literacy and maths if they're behind

DD's school (secondary) have replaced 3/4 of their enrichment (compulsory after school sessions if you like) with extra English and maths.

Sobriquet - you can listen to them read, work through simple maths with them. It’s not teaching, it’s supporting their learning.

@Sittinginthesand

Sobriquet - you can listen to them read, work through simple maths with them. It’s not teaching, it’s supporting their learning.

I already do that with their weekly homework

Absolute rubbish that parental input makes things worse - it’s one of the biggest predictors of outcome.

Well, good. If you are worried that they are behind just do a bit more.

Since schools reopened after lockdown 3 after Easter last year DC's primary school has been providing targeted children with an extra half hour of tuition in English and Maths 4 times a week. Those kids start school at 8.20.

I think it's run by the staff rather than external tutors, though I'm not 100% on that as my kids didn't need it.