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?

Other parents manage to juggle work and childcare so why are teachers exempt?

I’m juggling as hard as I possibly can and your comment makes me want to resign.

Perhaps reread your post and think how it might make teachers who are doing all the things you say they’re not, feel.

Then maybe take it up with your school rather than tarring all teachers with the same brush.

@Pollymalex104 your welcome, I'm so fed up with all the moaning about school work and how little teachers are doing.

Fuck you if you think teachers are doing a shit job right now. I bet you're not doing a good job at whatever you do either. Welcome to a unprecedented pandemic that none of us know how to cope with.

Jesus christ people are horrible.

Uncharted - suggest you read the begillion comments by knowledgeable others upthread. Have you asked for more? Have you been in contact? Have you considered that your kids’ teachers may have been working through illness with the short notice; the need to suddenly become expert on online systems with no training; to be managing their own family needs, and their own kids’ education? We are not exempt from anything - we have exactly the same pressures you have and we are getting slagged off as an entire profession for our pains!.

My DC is Y3.

We get an email everyday at 8.30 with links to YouTube videos plus worksheets. Each video is say 10-20 mins long. There are also other topic type videos some days. Maths/English on set days. Emails with loads of other links and suggestion, which I'm grateful for but find overwhelming as also working FT so we concentrate on the daily videos and worksheets.

Teacher also phones once every 1-2 weeks to talk to me and DC. This is a state school.

Feels like the teachers are all working and doing their best to deliver stimulating material online that's age appropriate and parents can support with. I'm v happy with what they're doing.

If we both weren't working FT I can see we'd be doing loads more. School also said not to feel guilty or stressed and just do what we can.

AND, teachers are being paid by the government.

If we were furloughed, we'd be paid 80% of our salaries by the government.

I can guarantee that every teacher in this country is doing 20% of their normal work load right now. Lots are doing 120% of their workload right now.

Sorry - so what I meant was some kids who are at home are doing loads and some v little. 'Just' offering childcare is reasonable and I wouldn't say kids are necessarily missing out as I also work the hours you do, just not essential.

Uncharted gives a perfect example of a teacher bashing post. She comments on what she observes of her children’s educational provision and assumes a) those teachers aren’t doing anything, when they may be doing any number of things I’m not going to bother to outline as others already have, and b) extrapolates that to ‘teachers’. All teachers. It’s rubbish and lazy thinking.
On the other hand I don’t recognise a lot of the stuff teachers and others are saying about hub schools. Maybe it’s because I’m in Wales and education is devolved. I’ve never heard the idea that we mustn’t educate the children as it would be unfair. It’s simply that it’s not possible in. Hub school catering for children form YR to Y8 with it more than 2 or 3 in any one year group normally, all in one room and with both teachers and pupils changing by the day. We offer fun activities, board games, colouring, rock painting, cooking, outdoor play, construction toys - because theses kids are in school when their friends aren’t and deserve for it not to be really grim. We also facilitate some quiet time for them to do work set online by their teachers (although the 4 year olds usually carry on playing). To reassure key workers, many children aren’t engaging with online work at all.
The government said schools would be childminding facilities to remove some stress from key workers (most countries haven’t done this) and said that normal teaching/curriculum was suspended. That’s for everyone, not just in schools. Where schools are providing work that is actually more than we were asked to do, and yet every school and teacher I know (and after 30 years’ teaching in various parts of the country I have a lot of contacts) is doing this in some way.

Oh, and our hub works 7-7, 7 days a week even including Easter bank holiday. Breakfast, cooked lunch and a cold tea are provided for whichever pupils are in the building at appropriate times.

They should re open the schools this hysteria is ridiculous.

Of my friends I know some teachers are working very hard and some are only doing ten minutes a week uploading a few links. Luck of the draw as to whether your headteacher expects zoom lessons, set work and marking or whether they only want a few links via email once a week.

A lot of working parents are wfh full time plus looking after kids, so they have no more time to home educate than a nurse.

Dc3 is in year six. His teacher is so lovely. She has a family if her own, but is always cheerful and positive, she makes everything seem safe and more normal.

They should re open the schools this hysteria is ridiculous.
Would you like to explain the thinking behind this statement?

Can I ask, are the daffodils the new on here?

But yabu by the way, OP.

Dear lord, teachers attacking NHS staff and vice versa. I am a teacher, I can see where OP is coming from. Unfortunately, yes, our guidelines and capabilities right now are to act as childminders. No need to all pile on!
Everybody is stressed, everybody is tired, can we have some fucking compassion for one another?
(Dons hard hat and prepares for full brunt of MN)

Snowflakes1122
They're used by teachers when discussion becomes goady or full of lazy generalisations or misinformation.

Eg. But what are teachers actually doing? Why am I essentially doing the job they are paid for? Teachers are being lazy because my child's school isn't doing zoom lessons. Schools need to open asap and teachers need to stop dragging their heels and stop refusing to work and so on.

I’ll tell you what I’ve learnt. Having received the online learning from my dd’s school (year 2), and attempting to coach her through the subjects (coach NOT teach), the teachers that turn up to school every day (pre pandemic) and now during this pandemic are nothing less than amazing. My dd has been struggling with this situation but thanks to the very obvious hard work her school have been putting into their learning platforms and the feedback she’s got from her teacher ( while they are trying to juggle all sorts atm), the effort they have put in with communication, her teacher phoned today and spoke with her which completely filled her with joy. I’ve learnt that teaching is a skill, a vocation and a huge responsibility. I am so grateful to our school, looking after the keyworker’s children and looking after us. It makes me so sad that teachers are getting such a bashing ( and no, I’m not a teacher I work in construction). All of us need to appreciate each other (yes of course the bad apples are existing in every profession, including mine). The real enemy is what we should be focusing on and teachers and the NHS are not it!

1. Some schools are delivering lessons online if their IT is up to it and enough families can access it. But that isn't suitable for some people.

2.Some schools are putting work on the website on a weekly/daily basis. But that isn't suitable for some people.

1. Some schools are part of a hub scheme and children go there from different schools, with unfamiliar staff. But that isn't suitable for some people.

1. Some schools are opening with a staff rota and maybe only having a handful of children. But that isn't suitable for some people.

We cannot find a course of action that is acceptable for everyone.

Each of the above scenarios is perfectly acceptable to the Department of Education and I quote: The most important thing is that children of critical workers, and vulnerable children, are supervised and properly cared for in education settings. Schools have flexibility to provide support, activities and education in the way they see fit at this time. No school will be penalised if they are unable to offer a broad and balanced curriculum during this period.

If you are not happy, even though we are following this directive, take it up with the Department for Education.

Just to repeat again - we are advised against doing Zoom lessons. A head can't insist we do them. I wouldn't - huge safeguarding issues

And to those who say they are teaching via Zoom: if you were to encounter some sort of issue or allegation made against you, would you be expecting your union to support you? They have very strongly advised against it, so you might find yourself on your own in defending such a claim.
Just a thought.

so how can the staff be working 100% hours and not be providing daily worksheets for each class? I just don’t understand that. Yes, it’s a pandemic. Yes, it a challenge. But between a whole school of staff one would think that someone could manage to produce daily work for each class?! That’s not a ridiculous hope. Some schools manage it - but it’s not across the board. Surely the a teacher producing work for 30 children is much more efficient than 30 sets of parents/carers trying desperately to scramble school work together.

I stated to draft a reply to some of the above but I’ve decided to give up and just join the others giving a . My first one, actually, so maybe I’ll add a too...

Grr- started. I got too excited about my

I look after a foster child who has sn and goes to sn school. His school is closed despite having children of 2 nurses and 2 children with social workers. As these children have sn they can't go to mainstream school. I don't mind for myself as I am early retired teacher and I teach him myself at home. Not fair on nurses children though and I know 1 is having to live locked fown with gp and can't see his Mum until lockdown ends because sn school closed.

unchartedsea a lot of schools are doing this by sending links to website such as Twinkle or white Rose maths which have loads of worksheets with supporting tutorials etc. There's no need for them to make something from scratch which actually won't be as good in the time frame they are working too. I am perfectly happy with my kids teachers sending me the links to that days or weeks topic. I am also a teacher and won't repeat all the arguments here, but yy to the pp who said we don't tell other professions how they should be doing anything.

I think a lot of the teachers on this thread are completely missing the point.

The teachers in my DC school are bloody brilliant, seriously - I could not ask for better. I will be eternally grateful to those few teachers who are coming in just to mind a few DC so we can work (I have noticed the same few faces each time I drop off). I have tried to think of a treat for them but am unsure what they would appreciate right now, usually I leave in a big box of doughnuts etc now and again, but because there's so few working, I don't know what to give? Was thinking a hamper of fancy coffees etc etc but I only shop once a week in Lidl so can't really buy luxury products there.... Anyway I digresss).

I can however empathise with the OP. The situation is the problem, not the teachers. I dearly wish the teachers would/could at least supervise some work. I send worksheets and a reading book in with DC everyday but it returns home untouched. They don't d any work, they just play. Which is lovely and the DC love going. However it means every day off is spent full on homeschooling which is hard going. The DC and I haven't had one day yet to chill and do nothing and homeschool has to be squeezed into 2 days a week.

Of course this is shit, can I really not say that without 'teacher bashing'?

When my DC usually go to childcare afterschool, the staff there supervise homeworks and help if they are stuck. It is still the parents responsibility to check over it etc, but at least its done. I assumed this kind of thing would happen in school and am confused as to why so many on this thread think this would put my dc at an advantage over theirs?