How can state school parents try & bridge the educational gap that's rapidly forming?

[Kenthighst]

Following on from the excellent thread regarding the shambles of state education. What can us parents do to bridge the gap? Our state school children are being failed & we are being kept in the dark.
What can be done outside school to bridge the gap that has formed between state & private?

@NotAPsycho ,

Well, most schools start GCSE Science in Year 9.

In any event, what would you, as a parent, use this for in KS3? If you are helping with homework, you just help with the specific task set.

Is it for exam revision help?

As I also said in a previous post, virtually all schools follow some scheme of work which has a textbook and online resources attached. Your child should be able to tell you which bits she has covered and, if you show her something extra, that is a bonus.

Ultimately, at least in the Sciences, KS3 is far more about thinking scientifically and scientific methodology than learning specific facts, as it is all covered again at more depth in KS4.

Random question - why arent there textbooks in British primary schools? Is it because they are seen as outdated or something else? Having a textbook makes it really easy for a parent to follow what is being taught and help their kids

Some schools have just put it all online. So homework and pretty much everything is online. My DCs still get textbooks in Science, for example. Obviously in English they still have an actual book. In fact, the English teachers do not seem to even like the reading kindle much. Which I disagree with because my children read loads because they can always download something on the Ekindle. I do not care if they are reading the latest teen trash novel or Dune etc, as long as it is reading and not posturing on social media.

Incidentally, we recently visited Windsor Castle and walked around Eton and all the boys were carrying iPads so I assume they are also fully digital. Despite the well stocked library there and the original Shakespeare works. A lot of unis are digital too - so much easier to get sources to read than having to find one copy in the library which has invariably already been taken.

@twistyizzy ,

‘Of course you didn't need to spend time printing, you could have just emailed it out to the parents who requested it! ‘

Nope, they asked for hard copy, and it wasn’t school policy

‘This is the dilemma: be an involved and engaged parent but get hated on by the teacher OR be disengaged, leave it all up to the school and get slated for not caring plus run the risk of not being able to fill any gaps left by supply teachers etc.’

It is how you ask questions that matter. When it was a proper dialogue where a parent asked and was grateful for good advice, it was great and very much part of the job. Where it is a parent presuming they know my job better than ai did…..well, no thanks.

‘You realise many professionals get micro managed in their jobs? ‘

Yip, and I choose not to do those jobs. Micromanagement should be for beginners, not experienced professionals who get great results and are popular (I did, and I was).

‘I support teachers massively but your attitude really grates on me. You quit because of marking and parents asking questions? Marking/feedback is all just part of the job in the same way as doing reports is just part of my job.’

Marking is very much part of the job. I was one of the first to mark every assessments and I marked virtually every piece of A level work to a very high level. But marking a GCSE prep which has been done in a rushed way, and mostly copied (pupils are all on Snapchat groups) is a complete waste of time. Far better to go through it in class.

‘Parental input I get can be annoying but at the end of the day should parents be invested in their DC's education or not? ‘

Parental input isn’t annoying and it is really important. But, unless I was medical, I wouldn’t tell my doctor what blood tests to order and, unless I was legal, I wouldn’t suggest to my lawyers what clauses needed to be included.

When parents have the same type of dialogue with teachers as they would with other professionals, it is really appreciated. When we are told how to teach and what to do, that is disrespectful and counterproductive.

“Parental input isn’t annoying and it is really important. But, unless I was medical, I wouldn’t tell my doctor what blood tests to order and, unless I was legal, I wouldn’t suggest to my lawyers what clauses needed to be included.”

Hehe - this is exactly what doctors and lawyers are also facing, because of the internet and information being available all over and people thinking they can easily understand and question information.

@fkjekjfn9 - good question it's why I feel you do have to buy the study guides which can get to serious amounts of money.

One subject DS had needed 3 books to cover all topic areas £65 - there limited resale value once youngest finishes as only a year before they completely revamp syllabuses in this bit of UK. It all seemed to be teacher produced booklets - which aren't great for revision IMO - or on-line sites that often need very specific wording in answers.

I do feel communication about my children been poor at all the schools they've gone to so been very reliant on our kids talking to us. I get one report for secondary no words two lots of numbers and one parent evening - though since covid that better with on-line when eldest started we got to talk to the form tutor only and not the actual teachers.

Random question - why arent there textbooks in British primary schools? Is it because they are seen as outdated or something else? Having a textbook makes it really easy for a parent to follow what is being taught and help their kids
Textbooks went out around about the same time there was a huge shift to terrible fads in education where too much writing was "bad", textbooks were "bad", learning styles were "in", teachers talking to their students to explain concepts was "bad", setting up stations around the room for students to discover content was "good".
I'm not sure exactly where they disappeared but Maths and MFL were the last ones to have them at schools I worked in.

Then knowledge became fashionable, not that experienced teachers ever stopped teaching knowledge, but instead of getting back to basics the fad became schools making knowledge organisers, of varying quality. Most of the ones I've seen haven't been very good, haven't been used as the original schools designed, and have ended up being another piece of paper and list of topics.

My DD's comprehensive school has details of what they are studying each term over the year. I looked at this for Maths as she was in the 'Nurturing group' for Maths in year 7, this was a surprise as she was fine at SATs, she was ill when she sat her CATs and so this was probably why she was placed in this group. Some of the children in her class had challenging behaviour and DD was frustrated at how easy the work was so I asked the Maths teacher how she could move up, tests at various times of year would determine this so I bought Maths books and asked her brother to tutor her as he has finished year 11 and was in top group for Maths. She is now in top group a year later so I think the information available is helpful as I would be a bit stuck and DD would be languishing in the wrong level group, probably until GCSE.

For GCSEs I bought pretty much all revision guides for DS and the revision cards. I think they are helpful but the revision cards are not enough if you want to be attaining level 7, 8, 9 in some subjects like English Literature.

I think that buying all the text books is a no brainer if you can afford it.

If you are struggling for money, even getting old ones, which cost next to nothing, is immensely helpful.

This is why I want my DD to select French GCSE level as I still have my old Letts GCSE French book and study guides for certain Shakespeare texts/poetry as I have a load of relevant books that will save some money because as you point out it is a hefty bill!

I honestly think the Letts guide helped me obtain an 'A' in GCSE French as I had left revision until the last few days, I was looking at it on the bus on the way to my exam even! I needed the organisation that the book provided in terms of themes and grammar, my writing is terrible and with notes everywhere, I couldn't really approach revision systematically with my notebook.

I appreciate that one can buy GCSE study guides - but primary school? We get general and very vague topics at the start of the year. I have no idea what they are doing in primary from one week to the next and my child cant tell me.

What are knowledge organisers?

What are knowledge organisers?
They're just a word document with a list of topics and terms for each scheme of work. It came out of a secondary school in London.

When used well, which is the minority of schools, they form part of homeworks, the students are taught how to use them, they're embedded across the school as a way of rote learning key concepts. They should be short and the contents of them should be well planned with consideration to layout as well.

In reality they're often someone putting together words and facts for their topic, not part of a consistent approach to teaching and learning, not embedded in assessment, but are another piece of paper that adds to workload. They were in fashion a few years ago and as with many educational fads what's implemented is usually several steps away from the original intention and design.

It ends up falling into the trap of being another thing parents say "but the school down the road has... So why don't you?"

@fkjekjfn9 same, I would love a generic check list rolled out to all schools giving a guideline of what y1, y2, y3 etc should have covered over the course of the year rolled out from the department of education.
Personally I feel the curriculum at state school at least is being dumbed down.

@Kenthighst ,

That is pretty much the National Curriculum , although academies and free schools don’t have to follow it.

But why is this important to you? How can you, as a parent use it, to help your child become better educated?

@Newbutoldfather at the current time - 80% of secondary schools are academies and 44% of primary schools. That means the vast majority of schools dont have to follow the national curriculum. So that means lots of parents cant just look up the national curriculum to check what their kids should be doing.

Also I dont mean in general but week by week. We have nothing like that in primary. I have no idea how am meant to be supporting my child when I have no idea what they are doing in Maths or English. They follow a set phonics scheme - we were able to support my child through that and they're in the top group i.e. have completed it mid yr1 though the scheme is meant to be going until end of yr2. So when I have guidance and a scheme - it is easy to support at home. No idea how am meant to be supporting a child when all i get is random scribbled bits of paper

Is it that high - wow, so my DCs state comprehensive and 6th form college pretty rare in England.

I can ensure everything is ticked off. I can print out relevant resources online, get textbooks, get books for them in the library.
Basically I can see in say history vikings are in y4 history but my dc haven't touched vikings I can then cover with them myself at home, if school covers it great it reinforces my dc's knowledge, if school doesn't cover at least I have made an effort to plug an uncovered hole in the curriculum.

Most academies also choose to follow the National curriculum, they just aren’t compelled.

@fkjekjfn9 You can get https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/ for subjects areas in primary years - we used them a bit.

Mostly though just plodded through programs at home not that bothered by what they were doing in school. So they were behind when they started mathsfactor (covers primary school maths) and dancing bears (reading support) and then caught up and then we kept doing till finished - with maths ended up ahead and very confident. Spelling and handwriting were harder- but plodded though apple and pear then few other spelling programs till done and added in handwriting when we could. They ended up in a good position to start secondary.

Text books were not a thing in my UK primary years - though we did have maths work book to work though in school. They were there for secondary school but for my kids haven't been.

Seneca learning has few course for primary years and BBC bitesized cover https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary or https://www.thenational.academy/#pupils.

Topic wise never got much notice of them - but TV shows and on-line stuff do make research easier these days - we usually had book in our house anyway.

Something to consider is that supporting a child's education doesn't equal doing more of what they're doing in school.

If my DC are interested in a topic then we explore that topic further. I don't pay any attention to what year group that topic is in, or whether a certain concept is "for" a certain age, or a maths game matches the topic they're studying or whether a book that's caught their eye matches what's being covered in school. The point it to support their overall learning, not do school at home.

I think within the context of the thread - i.e. that schools are increasingly unable to even fully cover what is expected of them, dont have teachers etc - quite a lot of the support is probably actually about covering what the school is meant to be doing but cant.

I have never told you how to teach, I have said how schools and teachers can enable parents to help support for those years where their content doesn't match a study guide for that subject because the school has chosen their own content.

When I said it would create a huge workload you disagreed. I’m not sure why you would feel qualified to say this.

And the thing is, sure it would be nice for parents to have it. But we are not at the stage of ‘nice to haves’ being an option. We are at the stage where the bare minimum (a teacher for every class) isn’t being met.

If you want a nice to have, what are you prepared to give up to get it?

If my DC are interested in a topic then we explore that topic further. I don't pay any attention to what year group that topic is in, or whether a certain concept is "for" a certain age, or a maths game matches the topic they're studying or whether a book that's caught their eye matches what's being covered in school. The point it to support their overall learning, not do school at home.

I'd agree - we'd focus on where our DC needed support but otherwise let them follow their interests.

I'd also worry less about topics in Primary and more on requires skills ie the basics - reading writing and maths.

If you missing Viking topic in primary - I don't think it has any longer term impact - if you haven't grasped math concepts you are then trying to build up knowledge on shaky ground - and if your reading isn't great accessing curriculum gets ever harder - and I think lack of focus on spelling and handwriting in secondary as other learning takes precedence can easily see deterioration which impacts on exams.