Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think a lot of children won't be going back to school?

277 replies

DearLiza · 26/04/2020 10:46

Most people I know, with some exceptions, have been saying how much their primary-school aged children are enjoying being off. I gather they're doing a limited amount of academic work though. It got me thinking, if there is at least one SAHP in the household, maybe some people won't send their children back in when the time comes. What do you think?

OP posts:
Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 16:01

@Goldenbear I notice that you haven't replied to my comment.

You said, "Why call it a PGDE, It is a PGCE, I am not a teacher and even I know that".

I pointed out, that it is a PGDE in Scotland, and a PGCE in England.

Care to reply?

Goldenbear · 26/04/2020 16:07

You learn something new everyday.

I think you are obviously referencing your experience as a teacher to add weight to your argument but if this isn't true then it undermines what you are saying quite considerably.

DobbinAlong · 26/04/2020 16:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 16:13

@Goldenbear I can confirm that I was a Primary teacher, and that I think that the whole system needs an overhaul.

That there needs to be alot more options a ailable for schooling; including a more developed homeschool system, flexi - schooling etc. Whilst also keeping a school building - for children who want to be educated that way

Hopefully, these options will all be improved after Coronavirus

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 16:14

*available

TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince · 26/04/2020 16:15

Not sure they’ll be going back for a while...

www.tes.com/news/raab-school-openings-inconceivable-if-no-distancing

0v9c99f9g9d939d9f9g9h8h · 26/04/2020 16:25

I have always found that school is largely, in academic terms, a waste of my children's learning time. They go to a school rated outstanding and are very lucky. But still, they're not the kind of children who find it easy to learn in a big group environment and don't reach their full potential there.

I work with them at home quite intensively during the autumn term and they spend the rest of the year reviewing that material (in less depth) at home. Anyone motivated and intelligent can home educate with the wealth of resources that are out there now.

My children will return to school because it's good for them. I would happily take them out but the teachers truly love them and it would be like removing extended family from their lives. And I only sent them to school in the first place as an experiment to see how it went.

The lockdown has told me what I already knew; you can cover twice the material in half the time at home. But you can't do all the social and extra curricular stuff without turning it into a lifestyle. You can't be both a parent and a beloved teacher. There are other ways to have good friends but if they're at school, children will naturally want to return to see them.

Leighwalk · 26/04/2020 16:26

AnnaMarie - you seem to have a very slim view of the education system. Safeguarding is essential and such high priority in state schools - through LA's, through DSL qualifications, through leadership including governance, through Ofsted - perhaps just your experience in a private primary just doesn't
That there needs to be alot more options available for schooling; including a more developed homeschool system, flexi - schooling etc match this - as my post above- we do have a system ( state schools) that can include flexi-schooling.
In addition
*

Lucked · 26/04/2020 16:40

The regular teacher will know your DC, what level they are at, what level they should be at and what support they need

Or they just post one scheme of work for a class of 30 including the same book and maths questions🤷‍♀️ I don’t have a massive problem with that given the circumstances but the idea that most of us couldn’t find similar work or Twinkl or a maths app is ridiculous.

Rosebel · 26/04/2020 16:51

I would love to homeschool bu it's easy at the minute. Work is set and marked by the school, all I have to do is ensure they do the work and support if need be. I am sure it's a lot more difficult if you have to plan for it.
Also I need to work and will be having a baby in June so I can't really but would like to.
My youngest is bullied at school and the teachers haven't /can't /won't deal with it so she's much happier at home and wish she could stay home forever.

tinytemper66 · 26/04/2020 17:25

Well Italy's minister Conte has just mentioned that Italian schools will not open until September.

reluctantbrit · 26/04/2020 17:35

@Annamaria14 - you still haven't addressed how this would work? Home education/home schooling is already legal and while I don't agree with it and the way it is going but it is possible.

But it needs parental commitment, resources and especially time. How many parents can do this?

There are already schools around who work "alternative", independent and some free schools work in a very different manner. Independent doesn't have to mean hot house. But obviously again, it means money.

I do agree with them starting too early, I am German and started at 6.5 with three years Kindergarden under my belt. Especially the last year, so 5-6, is used to develop fine motor skills, basic shapes, numbers and letter without pressure but when the children then start they are a lot more focused and able. DD was just 4 and had terrible fine motor skills a Recpetion class of 30 couldn't deal with it.

Quartz2208 · 26/04/2020 18:16

@tinytemper66 because the holidays were due to start on June 7th so it makes absolute sense that they wont be opening before then

@Annamaria14 your arguments are diametrically opposed. You seem to say the school you work in has a lot of useless teachers, yet anybody can teach.

Purpleartichoke · 26/04/2020 18:22

The education my child is getting during lockdown has been fantastic. Her teachers are assigning mostly project based work and she is able to just dig into things in fantastic ways. The more rote things like math problems are able to be done so much more efficiently and without so much unnecessary instruction time. I’m really seeing the advantages of homeschooling for bright, motivated kids.

That said, my daughter also loves the social aspect of school. As much as her education would benefit to switching to homeschooling, I’m not sure I could take that social aspect away from her.

I’m not a sahp, but I wfh part-time so I do have the time to homeschool or we choose.

Purpleartichoke · 26/04/2020 18:25

Actually, what I would love to see is teachers just switch to teaching this way all the time. Assign the work in batches and have kids work through it at their own speed, the teacher available on the classroom to help when they get stuck or expand upon something when the child has a question.

puffinandkoala · 26/04/2020 18:31

If I homeschooled my son and followed his interests he'd spend the whole time on the xbox. He might go out for a bike ride now and then. And that would be it.

However I agree completely that you can cover the material much faster 1 2 1. He is doing an external course at the moment and should have had a day of lectures today. Instead, he had 3 x 25 minute video calls on the three topics he needed to cover. More work for the educators (several calls in the day rather than one lecture) but far more efficient for him (and me, not having to drive him to and from the venue).

user1494182820 · 26/04/2020 18:43

@Annamaria14

A national curriculum for home educators completely defies the point of home education. To even suggest this shows very transparently that you have completely failed to grasp the point of home ed. The wonder of home ed is that you can provide a full and varied education in a way that suits the age, aptitude and ability of your child, not that you should be tied to a restrictive curriculum, in the same way that most schools are. Some home educators choose to follow the national curriculum, others don't. Please do not seek to remove the freedom to choose, without fully understanding home education and the families who choose it. Please don't be mistaken- many families actively choose home education for philosophical reasons, rather then being forced to due to poor provision/negative school experience.

The reason home educators are being a little defensive at the moment, is because they have to be. They've been sneered at and belittled for so long by so many, that defensive is an inbuilt state. If you are currently providing an education to your child, in a format guided and prompted by your school, in order to get your children through this crisis with minimal educational impact, well done, I'm sure that it isn't easy in the slightest. It is not home education however, and it is unfair to those providing a balanced and well thought out education at home, to tarnish their provision with the brush of your current experience.

Maybe this would be a great opportunity to build bridges with the home education community and try to sneer less at others. Embrace the motto of the moment: be kind.

1981m · 26/04/2020 18:51

It's a legal obligation to send your child to school or home school. I think their opinion will change rapidly at the prospect of long term home schooling and how much education their child is missing.

pinkrocker · 26/04/2020 19:18

@Purpleartichoke but how would you show a scientific experiment? How will you get the children to be hands-on? How would you demonstrate how to rub fat into flour? How would you do taste testing and group tasks and partner work? How do you compare what one groups results are against anothers and discuss findings? How would you demonstrate cross stitch and how to thread a sewing machine?

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 19:26

@user1494182820 what?

I have many American friends, and they have told me that when they did homeschool, they follow the national curriculum through an established online school. They follow the curriculum for grade 1 to grade 12 curriculum online.

So how have I, "not grasped the point of home ed"

Do you know what you are talking about?

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 19:29

@user1494182820 also, where have I ever sneered at home school teachers on this thread. I haven't.

I have consistently said that I think that home schooling is grear, that parents can be great teachers, and that I think there should be more home school options available and developed (which I think that there will be after this moment in time)

Annamaria14 · 26/04/2020 19:30

*great

Ginseng1 · 26/04/2020 19:40

We not getting on great homeschooling & kids miss school especially their friends. I don't know any parent who is loving it so much that they considering it on a permanent basis. Hard enough now with support guidance from the school be even worse without. My kids are happy at school though, be different if they were unhappy or being bullied.

user1494182820 · 26/04/2020 19:45

@Annamaria14
They may well have done. But if you are the all-powerful omniscient being you seem to presume yourself, you will be aware that that is not the case in every state and each state sets it's own home education rules. In this country there is no requirement to follow a curriculum and nor should there be. Do you know what you're talking about? What is your direct experience of home education to be making such suggestions?

I didn't intend to say that you had sneered at home ed, that was meant in a more general sense, but I appreciate where you may have become confused.

I'm not going to be lured into an argument with somebody who cannot understand the basic concepts they are attempting to discuss. Goodnight and good luck Smile