Classroom Lessons via Zoom

[jjx111]

AIBU to expect the teachers at my daughter’s rs primary school to offer at least some lessons via Zoom? The feedback I have been given is that that they aren’t offering it due to a) safeguarding issues, and b) it would add to the teachers workload. Well, surely if we parents consent for our child to sign in for these lessons then no safeguarding issue. Plus, at present, we parents are doing at least 60% of the teachers work for them via homeschooling. (I appreciate that they are setting work for the children, but this is part of the planning they would do anyway).

Does equipment include actually paying for internet connection

Forgive me, I teach in a rural school. We have quite a few kids without broadband.

How are you suggesting the access my live lessons?

I mean, I'm doing them bit I'm horribly aware done of my students can't access them.

My dc have attended state and private.
It isn't reasonable to suggest provision can be identical in both.
The class sizes are half the size or less in the private school for a start.
All of the parents have sufficient income to but equipment and the school has sufficient funds for the teachers needs.
I agree that state schools have varied in their approach but I'm sure private ones have to.

Oh well that's ok then, let's just instantly roll that out.

Oh, reality bites. It isn't. And won't be.

So how do schools provide for those kids with not internet or no capability. Rural areas = shite signal so the dongle ain't gonna work either.

You really do not have to be wealthy to own a laptop

To be frank, I think there is no reason why state schools should not provide the same level of online provision as private schools

Far too many posters on MN saying this kind of thing. Digital poverty in the UK has been the basis of discussion and the subject of various news reports for some time, both lack of equipment and lack of Internet connections (one of the reasons Labour suggested free access as a basic during last year's election). So, it seems a number of posters on this thread are the ones who truly need educating:

'Digital poverty' in schools where few have laptops
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52399589

"Pay the wi-fi or feed the children": Coronavirus has intensified the UK’s digital divide
www.cam.ac.uk/stories/digitaldivide

Currently 4.2 million children in the UK are living in poverty and that number continues to rise, that works out to 30% of children – that’s close to one in three for those who find absorbing information challenging (there seem to be a few on this thread). In teaching terms that’s nine in every class of 30, now that of course won’t be distributed equally across schools. It won’t be the case in a class of 30 in a private school, for example! (Not that many private schools are likely to be dealing with that number.) Poverty, just in case it’s unclear, means things like not always having enough to eat, heating, decent clothing, as water is now metered, for some children even basic access to hygiene might be too expensive. So, people who come out with statements like this one:

You really do not have to be wealthy to own a laptop

really are living in a middle-class bubble and since the issues around rising child poverty have been widely publicised, it sounds as if more than a few people on here have been wilfully ignoring anything outside that bubble. So, when state teachers are talking about equality of access in state provision and children not having access to broadband/Wi-Fi or devices, they’re not talking about one or two here and there in a school: across the sector they’re dealing with the kinds of numbers I’ve listed. More in some areas, depending on where schools are located. And you can verify these facts here, via The Child Poverty Action Group:

cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/child-poverty-facts-and-figures

And for the teachers on here, I applaud you for managing to engage with these “discussions”, I’m not in your position and just reading some of the posts makes me more than a little irritated!

PeachPineappleJuice

Funding I think is a good enough reason. That's not even just the kids but the staff. How many times does it gave to be said that it cannot be assumed that teacher's possess the equipment necessary for what people are expecting. Furthermore, according to usual regulations teachers categorically should not be using their own personal phones to record videos/contact parents.

Posters who state 'there is no reason teachers shouldn't be xyz...' honestly have no concept of how poor funding is in state schools, not to mention how much of their own money teachers spend trying to deliver the basic curriculum.

The risks of Zoom (or Teams) are vastly overstated

It isn’t necessarily about the odds on seeing porn etc. There are wider safe guarding concerns - the potential misuse of teacher videos and images, the safeguarding of staff and their children (think court orders and abusive ex partners) and the showing of the inside of teacher homes can all be problematic and cause It’s not unreasonable.

peachpineapple you have no idea about the levels of poverty some teachers see in their work. Trotting out tired old memes like x-boxes in the house as well as flatscreen TVs and Sky subscriptions is just taking us back to the Victorian idea of the ‘undeserving poor’. It’s great that your children are hardworking and ambitious but don’t be so sneery about children whose lives you can’t begin to understand.

And there are many more who try really hard despite everything.

Can you buy TVs now that are not flatscreen or is there a shop for the undeserving poor where they should buy box TV sets?

I’ve enrolled my DD8 in an online school. She gets 2 hours teaching a day via zoom and it works absolutely fine. I’m sitting with her so I can hear how the lesson is progressing. She and I up until that point were working through the school set work but she was increasingly stroppy about it and our relationship was fractious. I don’t want that kind of relationship when it’s just her and I during the day and we can’t escape each other. The new tutor is great and my DD has immediately settled to the routine. I’m happy that she is ticking along keeping her brain active and her knowledge fresh. Whether her usual school ever gets the promised teaching on Google I don’t know but I shall continue with the current programme until such time as some kind of service is resumed.

Agree Dive dd enjoys her online maths sessions with her tutor. If school wet ont provide then we will pay someone else to. Widens divide between between those that can afford this and those that can’t but I can’t fix that my job is my own daughters education

DH is absolutely shocked at the laziness and lack of interest in DC’s futures some families here have and is determined that our DC are hardworking and ambitious

So what are you doing? Or is it all up to your DH?

Oh, and welcome to MN.

There are many more, however, who simply do not prioritise education

And you know this how?

In your own time.....

peachpineapple

They can’t possibly understand the work ethic and commitment to education in East Asian countries. Like your DH, I am shocked by the attitude of some parents in the UK. But there’s very little that can be done about it, I suppose, because society keeps making excuses for them (like you see here) so I just chalk that up to cultural differences 🤷‍♀️

Cheapest laptop £200.
Per child. That's out of reach for loads of families.

Completely agree with OP. At least a weekly call would do. We’ve had nothing except work sheets that are so poor they don’t even make sense half the time.

Wow
What ever happened to actually educating and caring for your own children?
I'm not talking about secondary school children but seriously if you cannot spend time with your 5 year old talking to them, reading to them , helping them write, ensuring they hold a pen correctly ( and yes there IS a correct way), talking to them about illness/hygeine/disease, baking with them, colouring with them, playing board games plus one million other things which are what I deem parenting duties I dispare.
I always say this: the number of people who have children and yet do not carry out parenting is astonishing.
I have seen first hand from my neighbour who had some parents are.
And no don't give me all this carp about "Yes but I have to do blah blah blah."
You had the child. It's your responsibility to parent.
Some do and I fully understand the frustration of not being able to help your 15 year with their GCSE Spanish. However, moaning about a teacher not talking directly to your 5 year old via Zoom every morning ,noon & night is ridiculous.

My dc school have started doing show and tell once a week via zoom. It's been lovely but it just wouldn't work doing full time lessons like that. My dc3's year 4 class had 3 children and 2 teachers in the 30 minute zoom meeting. All 3 dc had a parent supervising them throughout the meeting but even then it was chaos with children wandering off, interrupting each other and the teacher etc. There is also the space and equipment issue. Many families have multiple dc and not enough computers for one each. There is also no way most parents could supervise 4+ dc in different rooms and make sure they stay in the room, listen and do the work.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/education-52717519/coronavirus-homeschooling-six-children-with-just-one-phone

Terrible parents- probably spent the money on food instead of prioritising the children's education...

Most parents do care about education. But sometimes, the money isn't there for tablets or internet connections, or tutors.

Well my DD8 is in a Class of 12 taught on Zoom and it works just fine so I dispute that it can’t be done. The issue of access to technology is obviously an issue for some people. Libraries have computers and learning centres so perhaps there are ways access could be given to children with no alternatives. I also think no one is saying the entire days lessons would be transferred into a video app and would be perfect. You’re essentially talking about teaching core subjects perhaps only in 1 or 2 hour chunks so different age groups could be taught at different times rather than simultaneously . Supervising can be done while doing other things ( Like I’m doing my own work at the time) If you don’t have time to supervise a child on an online class I dare say you don’t have time to teach them yourselves.
I couldn’t really comment on whether parents are lazy about their children’s educations. I have no magic insight into what’s happening in other homes. I personally wasn’t complacent and did my best but teaching has changed a lot in the years I’ve been in school and I just didn’t use the same language to explain things so it became frustrating for DD. I also had less patience because I was frustrated at her inability to just sit down and do the task. It’s like being taught how to drive by your dad or husband ( might work for some. If other parents manage it then bravo to them...Perhaps the dynamics are better or perhaps they’re not trying to earn a living at the same time.

YounghillKang

From your BBC link -

"The Co-op Academies Trust is providing 1,000 computer devices across its 24 schools."

"Chris Tomlinson, who chairs the trust, says online lessons are "no good if the children don't have the necessary hardware to access the internet".

"The AET academy trust is providing 9,000 laptops for its 58 schools, one for all pupils on free school meals."

"The current lockdown has turned technology into an educational necessity rather than a luxury, said the trust's chief executive, Julian Drinkall."

Lucky having a class of 12.
I have 31