year 6 class not getting any remote teacher support - what are the teachers doing all day

[anyname147]

My ds is in year 6 and has been at home, like most of his peers, these last few weeks. The (state) school has not offered much in the way of remote learning assistance to the kids or parents who are helping them, other than a few links on a page on their website which has remained static for several weeks. In spite of having to work full time, I am not a teacher, but have managed to cobble together some learning stuff for ds to do at home, but this is with zero help from the school. I understand some teachers are still working at school because of the key worker children etc, but surely the vast majority of staff are at home? What are they doing all day if they are still on the payroll? Surely a 10 or 11 year old can be sent homework tasks - that's actually marked - or weekly links to relevant year group content? I understand the kids don't all have laptops, but virtually all households have email and at least one computer or smart phone or tablet. I just find it hard to believe that his school staff haven't risen to the challenge of continuing their pupils' learning and instead have literally abandoned them because they cant go into school. I have, on the other, risen very much to the challenge and look forward to helping my ds learn new things, but this has come (time-wise) at the expense of my job.

@ooopsupsideyourhead when should this slow handclap take place? 8pm tonight, right?

1forsorrow

Some children will have "deschooled" for 4 weeks at the end on my school's Easter break.

Some I doubt will do any work, no matter what is set until they go back to school.

Not all of these are from disadvantaged backgrounds.

You’ve proven your point though that schools can’t afford it. They’ve appealed for donations.

They pay to hire the second minibus - presumably they do not have that expense at the moment.

Engage your brain for the two minutes

I have - just looked at the school's twitter account - the teachers have commented on all the wonderful work their pupils have been doing - dozens of photos and comments by teachers. I have edited pupils' names;

"Mr M is enjoying receiving the results from the Year 3 Times tables test....don’t forget to share your results with him too."

"Mr M has been delighted to hear from his Year 3 Maths Group."

"H has produced an informative PowerPoint about how he has been spending his time at home! Well done, H!"

"A fantastic story from G who showed amazing perseverance to keep editing until she was completely happy with her work!"

"I’m absolutely overwhelmed with your contributions this week showing the many and varied ways in which you have interacted with the ideas suggested by teachers."

"A poem using both our words of the week from A! Great work!"

"Lovely Easter writing!"

"E’s warning tale, based on our model text ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. Well done!"

"Fantastic science, F! I know that you’re working so hard at home! RWI online session this morning, plus maths and designing a unicorn! Super! Mrs W"

"Gosh! I feel like I have actually ridden the rollercoaster!! Great sentence openers and some lovely time connectives. Well done."

"Our teachers are keeping in touch with you! Check out their newsletters on your class page" ...

"Star of the Week is H for his fantastic work this week!"

etc. etc.

That gap is definitely getting wider...

@Clavinova I think the engage your brain point was about school funding, not whether the teachers are responding to pupil’s work?!

Not all schools are short of funds. A school in Bexley was featured on BBC News last week - the school had lent pupils laptops - one each to the two boys (brothers) featured in the news clip.

We really have moved to random copying and pasting things irrelevant to whatever point you're attempting to make.

What does some praise on a random school's Twitter feed and the fact this school needs minibuses to access their own playing fields have to do with funding in other schools and their IT provision?

Scissorsnglue I'll be there. 👏👏👏

This was presumably use of PP funds.

In South Korea the government is providing technical equipment to very singe household who needs one.

PTAs should not be funding crucial school equipment. The government does claim it is going to help schools at some point down the road to fund extra expenses incurred by the shutdown. If they are good to their word, it does rather confirm they also don't think it should come from PTAs scrabbling down their sofas for funds.

Plus don't get me started on the social class inequalities exacerbated by schools receiving funds from PTAs.

This was presumably use of PP funds.

I'm not sure - from what I can remember the house they lived in was quite nice. Perhaps she was a single mum though.

My DH's private! school still hasn't managed to locate a laptop for him!

the house they lived in was quite nice

piggy
Some schools near me have released some school tablets and laptops for those who need it, which is great for the school's who:
A) have the equipment in school to lend
B) have a low number of pupils requiring it

It doesn't work as well for a school that's 50+% FSM.

Alas, sadly some on this thread can't (don't want to) consider some of the very real challenges facing many schools, or that schools are dynamic and complex organisations which work in very specific contexts so "but School A does..." is a fairly silly complaint.

But, also, to flip this, if a school is giving laptops to wealthy families who can easily afford them themselves, then I would argue that's a gross misuse of PP funding, or any funding really.

But , then , I wouldn't assume someone wasn't PP because their house looks quite nice...

Well done for saying I'm not sure though , Clav. That must have stuck in your craw.

Clavinova

All of the laptops that my school has lent out are ones from the SEND department or old knackered reconditioned ones that are used for assemblies.

Those children that are PP and require the use of a laptop have already had those bought for them.

the house they lived in was quite nice
From what I can remember the family home didn't look as though they would qualify for fsm - modern kitchen/lounge - not rocket science.

What does some praise on a random school's Twitter feed and the fact this school needs minibuses to access their own playing fields have to do with funding in other schools and their IT provision?

Some praise?? There was a lot of interaction from teachers who had clearly read and marked pupils' work. Many schools will be saving money in some areas which they may be able to reallocate. Also, everything to do with the op's post and my previous post;

"That's great - but surely the op is only complaining because her dc's school appears to be doing very little and she had no communication from the school before the Easter holidays. Clearly some schools and teachers are doing much more than others - that is what she is worried about."

. A school in Bexley was featured on BBC News last week - the school had lent pupils laptops - one each to the two boys (brothers) featured in the news clip.

That was Bexleyheath School and firstly, have had a lot of bad local press for years and with a new Head and hardworking staff, have done wonders to turn this school around since only last September and they deserved praise in that BBC News report.

Secondly, they gave what they could to local families in terms of tech and also staff (including some training prior to ‘shutdown Friday’) but not as many as you would think given the size of the school obviously.

Thirdly, there have still been some parents from that school moaning in local Facebook groups that not enough has been done for their children. See? Schools can’t win!

From what I can remember the family home didn't look as though they would qualify for fsm - modern kitchen/lounge - not rocket science
Being patronising over something you know little about is only showing your own lack of knowledge about this area.

Eligibility for PP:

1. Ever 6 FSM - Students who have been on free school meals any time in 6 years (can't be established based on their current house)
2. Adopted or care leavers (can't be established by judging how modern their kitchen is)
3. Ever 6 forces - Any child who has had a parent in the forces in the last 6 years (also not something you can judge on how their lounge looks)

Not rocket science you say? Or clueless and too busy decideding Pupil Premium and educational disadvantage can be established based on how someone decorates their kitchen.

Also children in care also get funding too. I forgot about that as well.

Don't tell me you're also deciding that you can judge if a child is in care by the house they live in too?

LolaSmiles
In that case no excuse for schools not providing online lessons - the boys clearly had space to work and internet access.

Besides, this is what this PTA (in England) is currently spending its funds on. Slightly more worthy don’t you think?

What provision has the school made for pupils at home? My dcs' school are providing lessons (in term time) for pupils and visors for healthcare workers in the local area - excellent DT department at the school.

This school: (my school so not even having to do a Google search, yay me!)

1. From the week leading up to Shutdown Friday, work provided electronically for those families off for Self Isolating alongside still teaching

1. From the following Monday, work folders in the cloud VLE for every subject and for ever year group, two weeks worth of work (we haven’t done video online lessons - we can’t afford the subscription for school licenses, not every staff member has a school supplied laptop plus lots of staff were off sick in the run up to shutdown Friday, which limited training, prep and we had extra classes to cover, books to organise for collection etc.

1. A ‘folder’ in the VLE of enrichment work for those without access to easy tech that can also be covered under PSHE

1. At least one teacher from every department available (prior to the holidays) available on email to answer/fix any questions.

1. Our network manager available working remotely to fix any issues

1. SEND team plus counsellor to contact (be available) to those on the list.

1. Obviously staff still on rota to be in school etc.

We have still had Facebook complaints from parents and complaints via email etc. that we haven’t provided anything/provided enough work/aren’t doing what that school down the road is doing with their video lessons like the OP and others have moaned about on Facebook.

The overall point being that for some, nothing is ever good enough or plenty don’t ever think about what happens behind the scenes or that some can’t think outside their own little bubble.

Still, love ya Clav. Don’t ever change

My school can not possibly give laptops/tablets to children to use at home. We have one laptop between two for one class per year group at a time. We have two or three iPads in the whole school. How do you suggest we split those between the 480+ children we have? If we did hand them out, we would likely never see some of them again.

I’ve individually emailed every child in my class and sent their parents an attainment report and comment on how their child is doing. All written during lockdown. I’m planning terms 5 and 6 even though term 5 is very unlikely to be used this year. Hopefully, we can use it next year. I, along with my partner teachers, am organising weekly PowerPoints to send home with a week’s worth of home learning and ensuring we’ve differentiated for specific needs and provided challenges for those who will need stretching. Our school’s Facebook and twitter pages are regularly updated with praise and ideas for home learning activities. This is all on top of the added paperwork that schools have to do because of this lockdown and looking after key worker’s children. We can’t do more than we’re already doing.

The OP’s post was about their school. Rather than sweeping statements about every teacher and every school, people should keep in mind that the majority of us are trying our best whilst also trying to care for and teach our own children.

ChloeDecker

But you have proved my point for me - your school is looking after its pupils and the local community (providing visors for healthcare workers).

Your, "Slightly more worthy don’t you think?" comment implied that parents should be worried about healthcare workers - not their childrens' education.

And let us not forget the higher per pupil funding in London.

Your, "Slightly more worthy don’t you think?" comment implied that parents should be worried about healthcare workers - not their children’s education.

At this time, people not dying is 100% more important than children learning about fractions.

In that case no excuse for schools not providing online lessons - the boys clearly had space to work and internet access

One school has been able to loan equipment to some students. That's all that story tells us. It has nothing to do with your claim that schools have no reason not to be doing online lessons.

Ignoring the fact we don't know for sure if the boys were PP, we'll explore PP.

Pupil premium is given in different amounts depending on which category relevant children fall into. It is spent on a cohort level and is not a specific amount ringfenced for each child.

Pupil premium money is spent according to what is likely to raise outcomes for pupil premium students in that school. It's entirely normal for PP funding to be spent differently in different schools. Pupil premium is audited and the plans for its allocation are usually done at the start of the academic year for the year and don't have a section titled "set up full online learning in the event of a pandemic".

You're doing your classic Clavi thing of googling individual schools to try and argue, then when one doesn't stick you search for something else and something else, anything to try and argue that a school/teacher isn't doing something properly. All it does is highlight how little you understand and suggest you have a rather unusual obsession with trying to argue about schools/teachers.