To ask how much support your KS2 children are getting from school?

[concernedforthefuture]

DCs are yrs 3 & 5 (age 8 & 10). Since the beginning of lockdown, work has been sent weekly from school in the format of a series of links to where we can download various worksheets and watch online videos (all of which are available to the public such as Twinkl / White Rose Maths / BBC Bitesize, rather than something the teacher has produced). These are not to be returned for marking, there is no supplementary online teaching by their class teachers (either live or pre-recorded videos) and no real contact from the school apart from a weekly email to remind us to visit the class pages on the school website to see this week's recommended learning links.
I was more than happy with this for the first few weeks but with a real chance that they might not return to school this term, I'm really feeling that our children are being let down by not really getting an education at the moment. They're bored of the work - each day is quite different to the day before in terms of content and there's no obvious progression from one week to the next. Not having any feedback is leaving them wondering why they should bother at all and it's getting difficult to motivate them. We do other stuff too, but I do worry for the children whose parents aren't able to offer anything extra.

I wonder how this compares to others' experiences? Are all families just being left to get on with it ? I see a lot of posts about online teaching and class zoom meetings (with the teacher). I just don't understand what the teachers are doing. It's a big school (450+ pupils) and most days they only have around 10-15 key worker children so they can't all be in school everyday. To be clear, I'm not expecting online school from 9-3 for 5 days a week, but a few lessons a week tailored to the class would be welcome, together with some kind of interaction between the teachers and pupils to see how they're doing.
If it makes a difference, the (state) school is currently rated Outstandjng by Ofsted.

Am email with weekly tasks and that’s it. No online teaching no individual attention. I have 3 children in 3 different year groups one with SN and also trying to work from home. It’s a nightmare!

I think it is harder when you hear what provisions private schools get. I know you pay for it but realistically our state school kids should be getting a similar type of education. We've also been told they can't video classroom/zoom because of GDPR! Sounds rubbish to me, and I bet if they sent a waiver out more would sign it that not. Even a 10min recorded video chat about new topics or going over a set work for Eng/Maths a week would be more engaging that what we get at the moment.

We've had weekly year suggestions posted on the school website with links to white rose maths and one English writing piece a week. It's not engaging at all and dd has lost interest in it completely.

This week we can ask for a 10 mins chat with the teacher, but frankly I'm not sure why - we aren't following the work and she's more likely to chat about our dog.

Our school never sorted out dojo, and I really hope they are considering it now as other schools in the area who have it are really getting on so much better.

We've had the same experience.
Mostly links to websites, some project work but not much.
None of it marked or any feed back.
Write a journal every day, we did that for a couple of weeks but seeing as we are stuck in home not seeing anyone its not very intersting even using journaling prompts that I found myself to try to keep him interested.
We've not had a phone call, 2 general emails from the head since close and one from the head of academy trust yesterday about reopening.

We get a list of work each week for the entire year group. It has sections for literacy, numeracy, topic, wellbeing, science, art, modern languages etc etc and there's usually 1/2 things per column for each subject. The columns are divided into priority 1/2/3 so eg between 3-6 bits of work for each subject.

It's a mix of links, worksheets they've made, online quizzes etc.

You then send your work back via email to the class teacher as it's done and it gets a reply. You can ask questions etc on Microsoft teams.

There are also weekly recorded videos by staff doing stuff like reading class novel, cooking , science, etc.

It's actually been really good. This is for dd who is 9 and we are in Scotland.

Ds is 13 and his work is mental because there's no continuity and he just gets work randomly from various subjects.

Small private school. Nursery aged dd. She is in 3/7 as I work in healthcare. Other days pretty good provision. Weekly whole school zoom assembly. Twice weekly class zoom (they do more for the older years but with parent feedback it’s less for the younger kids as they need parental support to access the zoom call. Work set for each day on padlet and we have to take pictures and send it back, each evening we get a feedback email from class teacher with encouragement and pointers. Some practical stuff like a treasure hunt. 121 call from the head to check we were ok. Weekly newsletter with pictures sent in by parents Which is nice to see all DDs little friends. Online photography club and class points awarded for good work or other stuff - like 2 points for Becky as her mum said she was really good at playing quietly while mum had a call, or four points for Simon as he stayed 2m away from his friend when he saw him outside which I think is good for the kids who’s parents have t got ages to study with them. 20% discount on fees but we have asked to pay in full as she’s in three days a week

No, you’re right, being fined for non attendance (or take take family holiday) and having to write a letter of intention to deregister in no way suggests that a form of contractual obligation exists when you register your child with the council to be educated in school.

My Yr4 DD has had a lot of support from her school. Work is set and marked daily online. those who can't access the work are given the option of a work-pack instead.

We also get texts asking if we need any further help, and an email address to use if there are any problems. DD has also spoken to her teacher on the phone.

Pinku what are you talking about? Neither of those things dictates that the school can abnegate their obligations. Please do point out where in your contract it states that the school has no obligation to educate enrolled children during term time if they are off premises. Section 19 of the Education Act details the Local Authority's obligation, delegated to schools, to provide a full time education to children who are not able to attend school. It is not the parents' olbligation to provide this education as you state, but the Local Authority's.

DDs school puts up tasks weekly- tend to be investigation type tasks, research, creative writing etc. They don't have to be done on the computer but can be submitted via email or seesaw (so a photo from parent's phone) and they get feedback.

I teach the same year and we are putting up work on Google Classroom with Slides and links as well as (where relevant) questions / worksheets etc we have produced and uploaded so children can work online and submit that way if they wish. We are providing feedback an encourage pupils to get in touch if they are stuck etc. We were told not to video ourselves but it is encouraged to record a message with a different picture etc. I worry though that it isn't as easy to access for those without tech as my daughter's school is (I do deliver printed packs to a few but they miss out on the videos etc). Thing is we just don't know what to do for the best - it's new to us but we are trying.

My year 3 DDs school have been fantastic! Each day messages from teacher, plenty of work set (not just the usual link stuff my sons infant school are sending out) teachers calls once a fortnight to talk to her.
Regular emails between class pupils, photos of work from all children uploaded. The teacher reads a chapter of a book to them via video each day which links to a homework task. Staff make fun films and dances for the children, they've even started a weekly 'TV' show which children film themselves to take part in. My daughter is learning and still feels connected to her school community despite all this awfulness and how much she misses her school and clubs. No teacher bashing here, they are incredible.

not lots but a small, steady stream of work, some more challenging than others. This week they've moved to Google classroom and there's talk of a whole class call at some point. DD doesn't care. Some short encouraging messages every week from her teacher. Really brilliant communication from the headteacher stressing that the mental health of the children, and parents, is their primary concern, so to do what we can but not to worry about it.

I think they're doing a great job. Am very relieved we're not expected to be uploading loads of work, or on video calls all the time.

My year 5 DS was given a maths and comprehension photocopied booklet before they broke up for lockdown. He completed that ages ago and was sent the second one a couple of weeks ago. He is bored to tears of the booklet as it is really repetitive so we have ditched it (for now) and working through our own bought English and maths workbooks, online resources including TT rockstars. Other than that we have had nothing from the school other than one 2 minute phonecall from the class TA at the start of lockdown to see how we were doing.

There is nothing on the school website other than a link to Joe Wicks exercise, and a couple of other obvious links. Very disappointing compared to my younger DS school

@concernedforthefuture I too am concerned.
Year 2. One page shared a week with what I would estimate is about 1.5 to 2 times the amount of homework my child would normally get on top of school. This is accompanied with an ever expanding list of urls that are vaguely mentioned but not actually annotated to connect with the home learning. No workbooks or text books were sent home just a new exercise book. There have been a couple of zoom meetings for chatting/telling a story.

My OH and me spend two hours on a Sunday lesson planning around the loose list of tasks allocated for that week. Then half an hour a night tracking the resources down for the next day. If it’s not already obvious, no work is marked and no active teaching by the teacher is done. No suggestions are made of where to focus based on my child’s ability or competence. No communication has been forthcoming on what they have actually covered in school. I did ask but just got sent a copy of the KS1 curriculum. No calls or zoom meetings have been arranged for parents. This peeves me as the school normally like to keep me on my toes by slotting in several essential parent meetings a term scheduled for 3.15pm with 2 days notice. I’m cross, worried and getting angry. It seems a primary problem more than secondary. I see a range of responses but my child’s school is definitely at the lower end of involvement. I’m now worried that reception, year 1 and year 6 look likely to be taught in smaller groups facilitated by using all the teachers so my child’s teacher will then genuinely have no time to assist. Currently there are 0-8 pupils attending so teachers and ta’s have been in school about every 9-10 days.

Sorry - I missed the app that is akin to Facebook where you can upload photos. It’s mainly parental boasting social interaction. No learning or feedback as it’s public.

Nothing much here (Y5), I’ve been disappointed in DD’s normally very good school. Weekly email with suggested work for the week, mostly very uninspired. No marking, no feedback, no contact with the class teacher (on purpose, even the weekly email comes from the head of year). I’ve organised a few class Zoom meetings so the kids can see each other. We could all have died weeks ago and the school wouldn’t have noticed.

We are having the same lacklustre experience with our primary school. It’s really disappointing. And what’s more disappointing is that people on here - a PARENTING site - are trying to censor any criticism or concern voiced by parents. I agree with this:

**This you can not query anything about schools or teachers without getting demands threads are removed is ridiculous.

Smallish private school. Year 3.

No live lessons but daily message from head teacher 4 daily lessons.. English and Maths and 2 others which vary daily. history, reasoning, music, PE, science, geography, art,, PHSE and a couple of others. They nearly always have a video from teacher plus other written resources. Sometimes they add in BBC bitesize or YouTube videos but I think that's fine if relevant.

If they get stuck theres a google hangouts chat for years 3 and 4 which is staffed live during school hours by a teacher who is available for individual chats - obviously not always their class teacher as they seem to run it on a shift pattern.

I'm glad they dont have live classes. It's good to let ds run about or relax for an whole before picking up next subject. Pre recorded videos are much easier to deal with

We also have class dojo so parents can communicate privately with teachers.

Y6 and y3 here. Some work set weekly but it takes the Y6 approx two hours to complete the lot. Y3 a bit longer but still only around an hour a day. No feedback or sending work in. Motivation has dwindled right down and for the Y3’s school life seems like a distant memory. Even a 10 min video from their teacher would do so much to boost morale

@MadameGazelleIsMyHomegirl totally agree. Themes I have observed here and on Facebook pulled out to try and close the discussion down (1) Don’t complain as there are bigger health issues that are more pressing (2) chill out, it doesn’t matter if they miss x or y weeks education (3) who do you think you are trying to teach; it’s not home education, only teachers can do that (4) your kid your responsibility (5) it doesn’t matter as it’s a level playing field for everyone assuming the playing field was EVER level and it’s still clearly not as some state primaries and seemingly many private schools are doing way more than the school my child attends.

echt I don’t see teacher bashing? Secondaries I have heard about seem to be doing a pretty good job - I get this as they were using online systems anyway so perhaps had a head start. some Primaries and many private schools also seem to be doing a lot. My personal experience is that the school my child attends hasn’t got this right. I’m not feckless, I’ve spent hours preparing work and have turned down paid work to spend time supporting my child. I’ve also communicated with the school?

It's very interesting seeing the comparisons, thanks OP for posting. As time goes on more and more discussion and comparison is bound to happen.

Our experience is fine. DS has ASD so won't do any work that is set anyway - he's spent all of lockdown either in bed or on the Xbox. But we've had a fair few sheets uploaded and ideas for learning. He's has twice weekly teams with the teacher just to check in and so he's talking to someone else (he has no friends or family to call). She's worried about him because he won't / can't engage in education away from school and missed 2 years already. I wish they could do more but that's not because of them, it's because he's not in school and covid has stopped that! (School won't take EHCP children, only key workers)

Y4 -private school - so as expected excellent - all done by teams and zoom. Registration at 8:45 - simple timetable of English, Maths, Spanish and topic work. DD needed a bit of IT support at the beginning but is pretty much self sufficient now -I just have to make sure she goes to each team meeting as per the timetable. Also incredibly enthusiastic teacher.

DS - Y8 state - crap - work being set, no online lessons, no marking or feedback. Also shocked by the tone-deafness of the newsletter - lots of teachers letting us know what they have been doing with their free time eg.This week I have mainly been ...... cycling in the country side/ doing couch to 5k !!!!!! Erm shouldn't they be mainly marking and providing feedback or something ???

Also shocked by the tone-deafness of the newsletter - lots of teachers letting us know what they have been doing with their free time eg.This week I have mainly been ...... cycling in the country side/ doing couch to 5k !!!!!! Erm shouldn't they be mainly marking and providing feedback or something ???

Dd14 went to a state school until year 8 and I am still following them on social media and there is a LOT of this! Photos of teachers gardens and all the sports they are doing. If she was still there I'm not sure I'd be thrilled

Dd1 Year 5, has a Teams call ever Monday, Wednesday and Friday (waste of time). Then she has five days worth of English and Maths and one of every subject such as Science, RE, Geography, History. Dd needs to hand in every week which gets marked.

Dd2 (Year 4) similar. It is on the website, so no need to hand in. It gets printed off and we do the tasks set. No one is keeping an eye on it.