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?

@Ladyglitterfairydust exactly, I think it's a matter of which group shouts louder in most schools.

Ladyglitterfairydust, What we've done is to set more basic general tasks, with the option of more open-ended challenging activities for those who are willing/capable.

Really12345, that sounds difficult, but to avoid similar issues tomorrow, perhaps send her in with food that she can open herself without needing help? Did she not eat today, then?

Our Early Years staff are having to change children who need it, and it's been difficult sourcing gloves and sanitiser. Sending your kids into school at the moment is not the holy grail that some might think.

Because they are lazy, evil, shirking grifters who deserve to be spat on by all.

🤣 Honestly, I think some parents definitely think this!

When I was on the rota to be in, I had a Year 7 who did French, a Year 7 who did Spanish, Year 8 who did French, year 10 French, Year 10 Spanish, plus I was setting and marking my own class work on a new system we’d had no training on.

What would you like me to teach as a language specialist to 3 different year groups, all of whom seemed to want to do something different, like their history project, a topic I knew nothing about? I made them work, but it is basically childcare. I can only wish we were paid as individual childminders!

Same here @ladyglitterdust

Before Easter more learning was provided, after Easter this was reduced and no more topic work provided, just maths and English as some families complained. Schools are trying to do their best for all families. If some families cannot cope with what was given then they can't cope, no point making them feel bad about it. The type of families that complain that it's not enough are more likely families who have the resources to teach/ source other stuff for their kids to do.

I get my dc to chose one learning task from bbc bite size everyday instead of the topic work (which was her favourite). It's not that hard to source activities, unless you don't have the technology, inclination or time.

""@Tanith you’re really not listening are you?"

Did you have something constructive to say?

What we've done is to set more basic general tasks, with the option of more open-ended challenging activities for those who are willing/capable.
And yet there's posts on Mumsnet where people have complained about open ended activities too, and people who are complaining about worksheets, and complaining about schools using premade online resources.

Whilst the vast majority of people are reasonable and raise their concerns and questions in a reasonable way, there's always going to be some who have an axe to grind.

@CallmeAngelina than you, she did get some lunch as she could open her sandwich herself just not her yougurt. There totally not set up for young kids it’s seems.

She’s not going back tomorrow, her being upset again tonight was the last straw, I won’t have her think that there’s something wrong with her that means other people don’t want to touch her.

This thread has been ongoing as I picked her up From school today and through the evening and most people here seem to think either it couldn’t happen like this to her or that it’s ok as other parents are wfh and have to multitask and most teachers are working hard. Will take emergency leave tomorrow and husband on Friday and then I’m working from home next week onwards (yay another hcp off the frontlines) The attitude of teachers are gods and children of key workers should be disadvantaged and treated like some sort of imposition where you must be great full for the shit time your kids having has been a big wake up call.

I’m not sure what the answer is on a larger scale but the massive hubs with the huge age ranges are not able to provide care for the extremes such as the early years imo and trying to socially distance from the under fives isn’t ok for their development . Can only mean less key workers in work going forward. I won’t be sending her back to school until I can be reassured that she will be cared for appropriately, Am going to be discussing with DP tonight if we can rearrange finances long term to homeschool until all of this is over - 18m or so I guess!

Anyway I’ve tried to help out in this crisis but my “reward” Is a very upset kid. Not holding all teachers responsible of course as that would be stupid but whoever the powers on high have decreed that children should be left to cry uncomforted as 2m must be maintained are wrong and cruel

Really12345

No-one has said that teachers are gods, that is just another way to piss people off.

This shouldn't have happened to your DD, but the truth is that the hubs were set up with no instructions and no thought to who would have to be provided for.

And from what you have said no thought to the safeguarding/well being of small children or staff that are looking after them.

No no one has said teachers are gods but there’s me and other posters Talking about how our kids are suffering and all we get are yellow flowers and comments that we should have researched the childcare provision better (I was told to look up the hubs website so see what they were planning to provide lol - they don’t have a website clearly as it was knocked together with no notice) so it was implied. Clear message is that as a parent I am supposed to be responsible for her education and care even when she is not with me.

Yes the hubs have been ill thought out. The ban on touching children is ill thought out. The decree that key workers kids can’t do educational stuff is ill thought out. The lack of proper facilities is ill thought out and the lack of provision for kids with EHCPs is a disgrace. People should be able to say that on a parenting forum but all that you get back is that you must be nicer to teachers and a load of flowers.

You're doing the right thing @Really12345 that's terrible for your daughter to go through.

Well as a key worker with absolutely no other form of childcare and no option to wfh I am very grateful for the school being able to look after my children, they are 4&7.

They do tell me they've had a nice time at school and the eldest does a little of what's set on google classroom.

All the drama about not learning is frankly rude and ungrateful. Many people can't get access to treatment because of covid so in the great scheme of things it's really not that awful. Get a grip

My kids (year 4 and reception) are going to school 2 days a week when i can't work from home and are generally doing the work that has been set with maybe a few tweaks. They are in mixed year group classrooms but they both come home with work in their school books completed and marked. In the same way I would have done. Our school doesn't seem to be part of a hub so they have teachers that they recognise even if it's not their usual ones. Maybe that helps. Anyway, I don't think it's been that complicated but maybe it is in other schools.

Sorry I know there are a squillion posts before mine. At our school the teachers in school help the kids do the work which has been sent home for all the other children. And then they do lots of other stuff. Seems like a good balance.

Really12345

If you had posted your problems with the hub in a thread on its own.
With wording that didn't generalise. I think that you have got supportive comments and advice from teachers.

There would have been 1 or 2 arses that may have claimed to be teachers, but you know from the many threads on here the response would have been "that shouldn't have happened" "your poor DD" etc.and the advice would have been "talk to the hub" "move your child" if possible.

I am also sure that If you had your own thread (if you have I haven't seen it) there would have been many teachers are bad etc. posts sticking the boot in.

As for the flowers, if some posters won't support teachers then the teachers will support each other.

The weird thing about that is that it has got right up peoples noses.
Probably because they aren't use to
1/ being ignored
2/ Not being able to bait/goad
3/ teachers standing up for themselves and each other.

@stopandListen Thank you so much. I so appreciate what you have just said. Many teachers frequent mumsnet discussions, without wishing to contribute, just so that they can understand the current issues and understand parent points of view. Like myself they will have read this thread (and all the other similar threads) in utter disbelief and despair.

I don't know how some of the posters on here can ever look a teacher in the face again, since we will all be wondering if you were one of the posters on these increasingly abusive and disrespectful threads.

However we shall continue to treat you at the school gates, parents evenings etc with the same positivity, respect and commitment to your child that we have done previously.

And perhaps you could all consider, whilst exhibiting such extreme indignation about your children's lockdown educational experiences, that our own children continue to live with a parent/parents who consistently put other children first. Your children first. Not just now, in lockdown, but as a way of life, because that's what teaching in the UK, nowadays, demands... it's all consuming.

I am seriously asking myself if I'm prepared to make that sacrifice on behalf of my own child any longer.

@Nickynackienoo - I think you just don’t understand how it works at all so let me clarify. At my school a small number of teachers on a rota go into school to be with key workers children. This is from reception up to Year 8. The rest of us are at school doing live lessons, planning and adjusting all our schemes of work, marking, chasing work, doing online meetings, rank ordering gcse and A level classes, planning Extra enrichment sessions for Yr 11 to do after half term, offering pastoral support to our tutees, working out how we can do internal exams remotely and planning ahead for next year. Those of us with families are juggling this with our families. The teachers in school are essentially childminding and supervising the students doing live lessons via their screens. So basically - fuck off with your passive aggressive comments.

Fripp makes a valid point.

There's lots of teachers on here happily offering advice and guidance to parents. There's also teachers debating and discussing policy and government decisions, problems of decentralising education and other educational issues.

The difference between those threads and threads that get flowers is that the people on those threads are sincere, asking questions in good faith and aren't interested in the same old goady generalisations that are evident elsewhere.

The goady ones dislike flowers because it beaks this cycle:

1. Goady and inflammatory comments
2. Teachers challenge misconceptions or outright lies
3. Goady poster say "see told you all teachers think they are special / immune from criticism / think they work harder than anyone else"

@Really12345 do you know what? I am really, really sorry that your poor kid is going through this and it must be tremendously hard for you to have had to send her off to people she didn’t know and who didn’t get it right. That’s it. It’s just bloody sad that all our kids are having to cope with this. I hope it’ll be over really soon and that if you do get some better provision for her, that she enjoys it. Best wishes.

@musmerian If she doesn't understand after 26 pages she either can't, no matter how simply it is explained, or is determined not to.
We are all wasting our time and energy and should probably go back to the planning, marking or emailing that most of us are probably still trying to finish before tomorrow morning.

I don’t understand what teachers are doing either. I have 3 kids in primary school, eldest in year 6.
We have no structured work to do, no class worksheets, no teacher feedback. There are “learning resources” signposted in the school website and a daily class blog with some short work you can opt to do - about 20min worth in total for my y6 child.
I have executive function difficulties myself so find planning and structuring their work very difficult. It’s extremely stressful and my children are desperate for “proper school work”.
Teacher are still getting paid, they can pool resources and yet they can’t manage to produce relevant worksheets for my children every day. Other parents manage to juggle work and childcare so why are teachers exempt?
In any case most of the teachers in the school are either young and don’t have children, or have older, more independent children.

Can anyone explain why teachers aren’t being guided to still teach? What a waste of time and resources and education.

There’s an expectation that families will use what’s provided in a way that works best for their families as every situation is different and it is impossible to provide for them all.

Unfortunately some parents are incapable of doing this.

Like everyone else, our employers decide what we do. We have been redesignated as childcare establishments. We didn't choose this.
In your job, you should understand that you have to do what you are legally and contractually employed to do, not what you just feel like.

I have been in school today. Our cleaners, cook, dinner ladies, office staff are all off as non essential. Today I supervised a mixed group of mainstream and SEN children (ASD kids who are struggling enormously with the change to routine etc), ranging from YR to Y6, baby sitting is all that's realistic in this situation. When I got home I then spent a couple of hours responding to emails and posting more work for the kids at home. So you can fuck off with your snidey suggestion that I should be on less pay.
Why were there only 2 adults in the room (more in the building obvs) today hence this situation? To socisl distance as much as possible and slow the spread of Covid. As a nurse, you really should understand why that is priority.
I ate my lunch with the kids, so there were no extra adults in and ijt the room, had my own 3 kids with me as I'm a LP and my childminder is not working, cooked food for some of the ASD kids whose diet is too restricted for sandwiches from home, and hoovered/ disinfected the class once they had gone. My colleague spent the day delivering home learning packs, 'magic breakfast packs'and free school meal vouchers. Another teacher spends the day checking in by phone with our most vulnerable families.
The problem here, is that you have no real understanding of the demands in a school at present from the brief glimpse you've had and yet feel entitled to an opinion.
I have been a patient at hospital, as have my children. Yet I would never be so arrogant as to assume that means I understand what it takes to run a hospital department, and how the current situation changes those demands/priorities.
The NHS are doing a cracking job. However many other keyworkers are supporting them in this and you need to wake up to that.
I hate falling into the 'defensive teacher'mode, but your ignorance has really irritated me tonight.