To wonder why teachers are not teaching my child?

[Nickynackienoo]

I am a nurse redeployed to itu. Doing 13 hour days and stressed up to the eyeballs at the moment. My children (12 and 8) go to school on my work days and on my days off i keep them at home with me according to the government guidance. As far as I can tell, the teachers at school are just childminding and not teaching anything. How is it that they can have just 4 kids in the school and not manage to get them to do at least some work? How can I possibly do the job of a teacher on my days off? They have send so many links via email that I can’t make sense of, it’s so overly complicated. Surely as key workers they should be doing the job they are being paid to do? I must be missing something, can someone fill me in?

@conniedoodle I note you know think you all this as you've see it on face book well, as a nurse of 36 years,I haven't complained anywhere, I've said I'm tired but I think that's reasonable. I actually don't like the clapping and don't do it. A full time contract is 37.5 hours which is done as 3 x 12 hour shifts (we don't get paid for out lunch breaks) I do 4 and sometimes 5 shifts as week due to the number of vacancies in our unit which has a double whammy as there is a national nursing shortage plus a particular shortage in my specialty so you can't even find expensive agency\locum nurses especially for specialist nurse roles like mine

True enough but there are also lots of jobs that are easier believe me like the one I have now. I have been a teacher btw ☺️

I don't know why you think your child is being disadvantaged. I appreciate you are a key worker but many of us are equally busy working from home and don't have time to spend teaching our kids. Additionally even stuff the youngest gets set is down in a completely different way from how I was taught. Your kids are not disadvantaged at all

Tea Yes, lots of easier jobs! I sometimes wish I still worked at the bookshop like I did before I did teacher training...

@ conniedoodle the reasons why some (not all) health outcomes are lower than other countries is multi factorial. However regarding nursing, one of the issues is that Vacancy rates in the NHS and adult social care are high relative to rates in other public services and, with a growing ageing population pushing up demand for labour, rates are very likely increase further. Vacancies in education are lower and remain constant. This office for national statistics gives the detail on this.

@conniedoodle the reasons why some (not all) health outcomes are lower than other countries is multi factorial. However regarding nursing, one of the issues is that Vacancy rates in the NHS and adult social care are high relative to rates in other public services and, with a growing ageing population pushing up demand for labour, rates are very likely increase further. Vacancies in education are lower and remain constant. This office for national statistics gives the detail on this.

StraightAndNarrow. I think you're being disingenuous. The OP never said she expects a first class education for her little angels, did she?
She merely pointed out that the children of keyworkers aren't receiving an education, because they're in school while she works.
I share her concerns. I have to go out to work, so am not available to teach him, myself. So, he has to go to school, which is offering childminding, only. So, he will fall behind his peers, who are being taught at home.

What does the daffodil emoji mean?

What a very very sad thread.

I don't think it's helping anyone.

Certainly made me feel worse.

Teachers, as always, are doing as instructed by the government. They also don’t wear PPE, unlike hospital staff, so are putting themselves at risk.

he will fall behind his peers, who are being taught at home

A lot of parents are actually wfh at the same time as ‘teaching’ our kids. He won’t be falling behind mine for sure....!

This is not true for a lot of teachers who are at home either. My husband, right now, is teaching on line and has been doing so every day. When he’s not on line teaching he’s in meetings, planning, answering parents emails etc etc. He’s very busy.

sometimes wish I still worked at the bookshop like I did before I did teacher training...

Swings and roundabouts, at the moment you would be worrying about if your job was safe, whether you would be job hunting along with thousands (if not more) of others in a few months when furlough ends. Teaching definitely isn't all sunshine and rainbows (far from it) but it is largely a stable career, and must have some redeeming features for you or you would have surely left already.

Teachers, as always, are doing as instructed by the government. They also don’t wear PPE, unlike hospital staff, so are putting themselves at risk.

To be fair this is a ridiculous comment. The government haven't refused to allow teachers to help with home learning material. Some schools are doing it some aren't. Teachers obviously are at nowhere near the risk as healthcare professionals so that comparison is insane.

The problem is probably with school admin rather than the individual tecahers. Clearly it's madness for them not to be able to answer questions about home learning - kids at home get help from parents where able.

I share her concerns. I have to go out to work, so am not available to teach him, myself. So, he has to go to school, which is offering childminding, only. So, he will fall behind his peers, who are being taught at home.

I have teacher colleagues who are also still going to work and their children have to go into school for childminding (their own school, not their parents'). So they have to fit the home learning into evenings and weekends too.

It's a rubbish situation, but normal education has to be suspended in these unprecedented times.

@pontypridd I am on a rota in school looking after key worker children. At home I am working and looking after 21 month old DD. I work when she naps, and in the evenings and at weekends. Tomorrow I'll do 8 hours work as DH has taken a leave day so I can work without the distraction of DD. The government have made it clear schools are there for childcare. When it's my days, I help the children with the work set by their class teacher, and do other fun activities to make the children who are there feel better about being there. So sick of putting myself at risk (and happy to do so as I'm healthy) while people like you think we are doing bugger all.

Handful of dust I would be more inclined to respond if you didn’t use words like ‘ridiculous’ and ‘insane’.

I was thinking about doing my pgce but this thread is making me think. I dont want to become arrogant and bitter.

Thankfully the attitude of many on MN isn't prevelent in the schools I have worked in. Just like any professions there are some who aren't particularly nice, and don't want to change the way they have been working for the last few decades so can make life tricky; but thankfully these are the minority in my experience.

The risk to teachers going into school once a week or less to supervise a few kids at a time is incredibly low. Of course the PPE goes to actual health care professionals who are actually at risk!

It probably isn't the fault of the individual teachers but as PP have said yes there should be the opportuntiy for key workers' kids to get help while at school. That's blindingly obvious. Even my DC's childminder will help them with their homework.

It does seem some schools have been fairly disorganised. I'm suprised there isn't at least email contact for the Y10 and Y12's in one local school - they've just been set a load of questions (some of which off syllabus) most of which are on topics which haven't been covered. Another local school has been amazing. I'm not sure why the difference exists but obviously it's worrying for parents when their child has upcoming exams.

Absolutely, Tuffties, you must have missed my posts where I said I do still get a buzz and enjoyment from teaching (although not so much at the moment).

See, this is why I feel I have to add a caveat to every post I make: I know I'm not special. I'm glad to still have a job. I know there are harder jobs than teaching.

Yes I did, as I can't be arsed waving though pages and pages of crap.

I think the angst with this post is the 'WHY ARE THE TEACHERS NOT TEACHING MY CHILDREN', 'I'M WORKING 13 HOURS A DAY SO I AM TOO TIRED TO DO ANY HOME SCHOOLING ON MY DAYS OFF', 'I'M TOO BUSY DOING MY JOB, I DON'T GET THE BENEFIT OF THOSE AT HOME BEING ABLE TO TEACH THEIR CHILDREN ALL DAY'.

It's the assumptions. The assumption that the teachers are not doing their jobs and that everyone who is currently not at a workplace has all the time in the world to teach their children when the reality is a lot are actually working from home and taking on the role of a clown trying to juggle work and home schooling, parents and teachers.

I don't mind a moan. I'd be moaning if I was working 13 hours a day in ICU wearing heavy masks, sweating and doing such a physical job and I probably would be pretty tried but I wouldn't throw others under the bus and assume they're lazy and sat at home to get my point across. I also wouldn't EXPECT anything during a pandemic and would be grateful that I had childcare provisions to ease my stress.

It just seems like a trivial thing to moan about though and the anger being directed solely on the teachers. What would happen if we all started blaming NHS staff directly for all the deaths? Could you imagine? If we forgot that they get little say and are told what to do my their managers and higher ups (just like teachers are!) And we started making threads titled 'I'M SICK OF THE NHS NOT DOING THEIR JOBS AND BECAUSE OF THAT, MY UNCLE DIED'. No one would do that because there's respect and knowlege that NHS staff do their jobs and have little say on the bigger picture like how many ventilators there is and how many staff have gone off sick. This post wasn't created to have a little respectful winge about the educational system right now, it was created out of entitlement and the view that if the OP is working 13 hours a day in ICU, teachers should be teaching her kids and taking the same risks she is, that's how I read it anyway.

I really don't know how this will solve anything. If home education is a priority and others are getting the chance that your kids aren't, quit your job and home educate or speak to the school about the level of education they're getting