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?

OP you were never going to get very far with this thread, it was predictable that most people would disagree with you. However, if you start a thread slagging off the NHS you’ll get loads of support on MN. It wouldn’t get deleted either, which this one probably will.

I believe the expectation is for the teachers to give children who are in school, time to complete the work that has been set for all children and to provide support where necessary, similar to those at studying at home.

If the teachers taught in school that would not be fair on the children who do not have access to school and put them at a disadvantage.

In many cases (including mine), children at home are not getting quality, on tap support/teaching from parents as they too are trying to work from home, mine are largely having to be left to their own devices.

What teachers are doing: setting work for all children to do remotely or in a class setting, making calls to vulnerable children/social services, planning for next term, keeping up with training, having staff meetings, answering emails/twitter feeds, marking work submitted online, supporting their own children at home, coming up with creative ideas to entertain children who after in school for extended hours etc etc.

Our headteacher and teachers I know say they are working harder than ever.

None of this is ideal or perfect, but everyone is doing what they can to make the best of a bad situation.

Why do we have to tear strips off each other?? That's what I really don't understand.
Some teachers and some parents here really are being very intolerant of each other, and some are being dicks.
I see only a few people suggesting it's the teachers at fault personally, and I disagree with them.
@YappityYapYap post is correct that when healthcare fails a patient it is rarely the doctor or nurse blamed, certainly less so doctors and nurses in general. It is usually down to culture and management. Same in schools.
That's why it concerns me that we can't question schools without some individuals taking it as a green light to slag off teachers. And we can't question schools without some teachers chucking flowers at us to show they wont tolerate criticism, even of education or schools as a whole.

To put this in perspective OP. My local Hub caters for childrenof key workers from 5 different schools, the children attending are reception age right through to year 10. The teachers are doing their best but obviously this is childcare. With the best will in the world they carnt possibly teach 11 year groups never mind children of different ability and mostly children they have never met before. They are providing a service withouthat face masks and gloves to care for your child whole you work. These teachers also have their own classes to set and mark work for and many also have children of their own. Give your head a wobble if you think they arnt doing enough already.

RCAR, thank you for understanding my original post and what I was trying to get at. I’m sorry if I’ve upset some the teachers on here, which was not my intention at all. There have been some truly vicious posts on here. I was asking someone to explain to me why very little teaching is being done. Some of you have explained it well and I thank you for that.To the previous poster... I would like to point out that instead of listening to the clapping/clapping for myself every Thursday I’ve not even heard it due to getting home at 9pm often horrified by the sadness of what I’m seeing everyday. But yes I’m sorry teachers, I know you are having a tough time too.

The children of key workers are not being taught consistantly while non-key workers children do get access to homework / online links. I think you need to raise it with the school that it’s making your job more difficult - with only 4 kids they can definitely teach.

Thanks for the reports about this thread. We'll go through it and delete anything which breaks the Talk guidelines.
In the meantime, could we have some peace and love please.
MNHQ

It’s just not true that all schools are providing a day care service. This is a decision individual schools have made.

The children in my primary school are being taught in small groups, roughly the same as the work that is being sent home, with fun activities in the afternoons. Other schools that I know of locally are doing the same. We are ignoring the advice because we feel this is what is best for our children.

@GrumpyHoonMain - they can definitely support the set work - as has been explained teaching is not possible in the circumstances.

If the schools were teaching more children would be in school because of parents worrying their child was missing out. When our school was checking need there were a number of keyworker parents who wanted to utilise the provision until they heard it was just childcare and not teaching. The aim was to keep the numbers low to maintain the social distancing.

FATE as a suggestion : as a governor, you must have connections. Ask your local community for materials for visors. Our school did and has now made 3000.

I realise I am repeating what many previous posters have said.

I'm working in a hub - we have children from 12 different schools and staff from 12 different schools. Some pupils are in most days, some pupils are in occasionally - it is absolutely impossible to be teaching. If children want to work on the work they are being set we do our best to support them but it isn't always possible.

Many of the pupils who are in the hub are vulnerable and require adult attention and support just to maintain social distancing.

The reality is, even if I wanted to I couldn't teach a child in the conventional sense

I'm with you OP. I am also an NHS worker and having to do extra with them on my day off to catch up. I don't mind that they are not teaching so much but they are not even using their childcare skills to encourage my son to stay on task. I'm ok with them all sitting at computer doing set work. I don't ask for them to have an advantage over those staying home but it seems they are not even getting input equivalent to having a parent half paying attention. I'm disappointed tbh. I feel like they have no drive at all. To be clear absolutely no work is being marked at my school and the work set is same for whole year and brief. It won't be taking them all week at home to prep it. Only one out of 8 teachers in at one time. They are also not responding to the year group emails within a reasonable time frame. Seems there's a vast difference even between local state schools and how they are working it. Plenty of friend have better set ups.

If you read the education/staff room thread, these negative comments are really getting teachers down who are doing their best and working harder than ever. Can’t we give each other a break and respect the difficult situation we’re all in. Alternatively, sending constructive feedback/ raising concerns to head teachers to address would be the best route. Our schools are taking constructive feedback on board and adjusting plans/approach as they go.

OP, I do get where you're coming from, and doubtless if I'd just spent 13 hours in ICU I probably wouldn't be overthinking how to word my OP perfectly so I wasn't generalisaing about ALL teachers, either. And your OP wasn't as bad as some of the ones that have been posted on here over the last month!

I do think that some of the teacher responses here have been hair triggered due to the build up of having to see many OPs and posts demanding to know exactly what teachers are doing! It gets tedious, to be sure.

I think the problem is that a lot of the work being set for teachers at home isn't visible to parents. Heads are taking the opportunity to get a lot of backlog stuff out of the way. So curriculums will be being redesigned (especially now that next year's curriculum will have to absorb what's not been taught this year). Lesson plans will be being changed, reports written, assessments made based on past work etc. As well as the research needed to put stuff up for the children to do.

This is all really time consuming work but is invisible to the parent at home. Consequently many parents think that teachers are doing nothing. Yet my teacher daughter and her partner (I'm now retired, thank God) are working every bit as hard as they did, but on different things. But again, that varies from schooo to school, depending on prioities and the age group concerned.

Thanks for your updates, @Nickynackienoo and for not getting angry back at us!

FATE as a suggestion : as a governor, you must have connections. Ask your local community for materials for visors. Our school did and has now made 3000.

My DC's school has done this, they've raised several thousand pounds and made about the same number of visors. The teachers who weren't needed to be in school with key workers children came in and made the visors and organised the distribution during their Easter holidays.

I agree OP, and I don't mean in in a teacher-bashing way, but they're trained teachers, so surely it makes not much difference if they do a spot of teaching when they're in school, rather than just childminding? Obviously it would be bits and bobs according to what they have subject knowledge in, but to say no teaching is to take place in schools is ridiculous.

If there are 4 kids in the school (and i assume 2 teachers), i would expect them to support the work set by school, just like a parent do. so not teaching as such, but definitely supporting work

You've had plenty of responses already but to summarise my position as a teacher:

1. We are setting, marking and teaching work online. I field about 30-50 emails a day from parents and students with questions.

1. When in school, we supervise online learning, provide creative opportunities, opportunities for exercise, reading and relaxation. There are only a few teachers in at a time and we have no PPE. It is very difficult to actively teach a subject to mixed age group classes where you have no continuity (different students in on different days) and no view of prior learning and the subject falls outside of our expertise. I'm an English teacher. I could supervise a maths online learning session but I couldn't teach long division well.

All teachers are desperate for some normality to be restored but we are just doing our best in the meantime. You may not have meant your post to be inflammatory but it was.

I’m sorry if I’ve upset some the teachers on here, which was not my intention at all.

I don’t believe you’re sorry. I think it absolutely was your intention to upset teachers. I also think Mumsnet connives with teacher bashing because it’s good for business.

And the posts about how we should have “enquired” about the teaching provision before sending child to school if we were concerned engaged parents, how should I do that? I know nothing about the hub school, I’m not allowed in the building. I don’t see an adult other than the first day when I got told off for carting her bag to the door. I send her off struggling with her stuff (she’s three btw so it’s hard to carry much and spare change and her cuddly) and one of the older kids brings her out at home time It’s not our usual school. They don’t respond to email or phone, I have no idea who is looking after her or what is happening other than what she tells me. I got the details of where she could go Late the night before - which I know means someone was working late to sort it and I’m great full for that and great full that people are caring for her as far as I can tell, it is however worrying to drop off your very small child at a new school not being able to go in and see the environment and not having any feedback about how she is other than that they are “not allowed” to do educational activities.

After a previous thread in this I followed the advice and asked if they could do some educational stuff like art or number games - As apparently it was my fault for not asking, it took five days to get a response. It’s not allowed by the government apparently. they say even like colouring and art stuff is educational and not allowed. I don’t want tailored lesson plans or teaching just some attempt to do something with some value rather than movies - even putting the bitsize stuff on would be better - but that’s probably not allowed as it’s “educational”

It’s clear that some schools have not interpreted the rules so strongly and are allowing children to do work in the class but others are very much not allowing any educational content due to fairness but that seems unfair as parents that are wfh can at least try to do something educational. My daughter hates going, is distressed about how she can’t play and has to sit down all day because of the “bad illness”. She wet herself because it’s a senior school and she couldn’t climb up on the toilet and they wouldn’t help her change and I had to come and get her. Just got a lecture about how kids must be toilet trained to come! - she is btw it’s just she finds it hard to get onto adult toilets. One of the older girls helps her now, so much for safeguarding hey! Teachers aren’t allowed to touch children so they can’t help. The whole situation is breaking my heart so I’ve actually handed my notice in so I can be at home with her, manager is going to let me wfh doing phone triage. I feel like a coward letting my colleagues down backing away from f2f work but my daughter is being harmed by this and I need to protect her.

Anyway it seems you can’t say anything bad about teachers because their all saints.

@recrudescence I disagree with you. Sometimes the teachers around here wind themselves up as much as unreasonable parents do. Let's not do that.

Yes, the OP was stressy and a bit ill thought through. But let's give her the benefit of the doubt, as her followup posts sound genuine to me.

My daughter hates going, is distressed about how she can’t play and has to sit down all day because of the “bad illness”

This is all very sad but it is social distancing. It is why many teachers and support staff are concerned about he vocal minority arguing for an imminent return because this is what it will be like. Don't expect fun and games and normal teaching to return any time soon.