To think school should offer more?

[supermanisdead]

My DD is yr8 at a large comp. she is set roughly 2-3 hours of work a day online which she does.

For the first 5 weeks there was zero feedback given until I messaged the head who said they were implementing it that day. Since then feedback has been very sporadic.

There have been no Zoom or google classroom lessons. I'm concerned about the lack of face to face teaching and formative feedback. She's had one phone call from her tutor.

I'm interested to know what other schools are providing to see if it's comparable.

A bit of background - I'm an FE lecturer and have to call my learners once a week and provide Almost all lessons in a Zoom format. I can't understand why secondary schools aren't offering the same?!

I did paragraph that

You are asking way to much OP.
During this situation most of what we used to is happening less, why do some people think they should get more.

I don't see lots of other professions being slammed on here for not doing enough.

Well, many of them will simply go out of business if they ‘don’t do enough’, so it’s on their own heads.

Facing imminent redundancy is quite the motivator, funny enough.

@Firstawake

In what way am I asking more?

It may be different, it's not 'more'.

And it seems some schools are managing face to face lessons.

State comp teacher here.
Of course it’s not surprising the independent schools are offering full days, they are shit scared parents will refuse to pay the fees / withdraw their kids from them so most fee paying schools are really pulling the stops out, and it is of course much easier with 15 students instead of 30/31/32.
For what it’s worth my school is providing lots of work ( very few students are completing it all so definitely enough) in every subject but we are instructed to have it all uploaded by 9 am Monday and students must be allowed the full working week to complete it.
I am definitely marking all students work every week, ( as well CAGs, rewriting sows and in school on a rota) and responding to questions from the students as they arrive. I hope and assume my colleagues are but there could be the odd one not doing so.
We are providing a mixture of videos, voice over PowerPoints with questions embedded throughout, worksheets, online quizzes, and some practical activities if we think most kids will have access to the kit needed.
We have just started face to face lessons Via Teams ( again I must follow instructions from my slt, but I am very happy with how they are managing the ever changing situation) i am currently underwhelmed with the face to face lessons, I am not sure the students are getting any more out of them than the offering listed above, and it certainly disadvantages some students more than others if they can’t attend that time slot.
Those students who are engaging with the work I am setting are making good progress and learning plenty, those who are choosing ( or cannot) to not do anything will indeed be a long way behind when we return, but I don’t think live lessons necessarily will make that any better.

@supermanisdead, your title suggests you want more.
Maybe change it to 'different'.

@Rosieposy4 dd is 12 and what she gets from the video lessons is the chance to see her class mates and have a structured lesson. Being 12, structuring your own lesson from an activity sheet isn’t the same and dd, like many others, dh and I are working full time and have other dc so it’s hard to provide that structure.

mOther we aren’t allowed to let them have their video link on so They don’t get to see each other, though they can of course see me if I’m not screen sharing.
We lay out a directed structure to our work, eg Task 1 do this, then this, then this. Then do Task 2 etc

I teach in a private secondary and am currently teaching a compressed timetable live to all year groups. The students have fewer lessons for each subject but are still having 4 lessons a day plus PE and PSHRE weekly. I am working far less than usual when I am in school. I am also making assemblies weekly, speaking one to one with my tutor group, registering live every day, emailing and responding and having meetings. With all of this i am STILL working far less than usual when I am in school. I am really struggling to see how other teachers who are preparing and uploading worksheets for the week are working full time. Are teachers genuinely thinking they are?

all homes do not have computers.

@shittingthreeeyedraven I have rewritten 2 gcse SOWs for on line teaching. I upload work daily, do 3-5 live lessons, mark work and provide detailed feedback. I set assessments, mark and give feedback. I call parents of tutor group not engaging. I speak to colleagues daily about new things we have learned. I help students who have been ill catch up by running extra lessons. I then mark PAGs for A level student. Set work for year 11 transition and mark that too. I have set the CAGs for over 90 GCSE and 20 A level students and then ranked them.
I'm also a mum and wife. Not sure what years you teach but I am working 10-12 hour days. Today I'm marking more PAGs.

Forgot to add, I have a toddler at home too and DH aid still working from home too, but we are managing it. I appreciate I am not going into school on a rota but given the low numbers of students using this provision, clearly neither are others all the time.
I am aware my students are lucky with ict provision but not all state school pupils live in poverty.
I am finding g the constant moaning from teachers wearing and I am one!

mumsneedwine ThAts lovely for you. And I’m really pleased that being a wife takes up so much of your time
You are clearly not one of the teachers I am talking about are you? What part of ‘uploading worksheets’ did you not understand?

There has been no change for my dd everything exactly the same, just online.
she is private specialist boarding though.
teams, Zoom, Skype, to mention a few.

Yanbu. It seems like private school teachers are doing an amazing job providing online lessons etc

Meanwhile the state sector children have been left with a few internet links and uploaded worksheets. I wish I had the money to afford private school

@shittingthreeeyedraven I don't know anyone just uploading worksheets so can't answer that. You asked what people were doing so I told you - I don't see how teachers aren't working more hours to be honest. My students come first and I'll work as hard as I can to support them.
Oh and being a wife just meant I'd like to occasionally talk to my husband. Not happening much at the moment as I can't string a sentence together some nights (no change there !).
Let's not get into competitive teaching please. If people are just uploading worksheets with no feedback then that is not right. But some LAs have restricted what can be done. We are a large comp with an amazing Head. Do get fed up of politicians telling us we are not supporting the most disadvantaged- the schools have never closed to the most disadvantaged as they are in with the key worker kids.

@Summerof699 I am at a state school. Please don't generalise. If your school is rubbish go to the Governors. Lots of us are working so hard to do this well and it does get upsetting when people generalise. We are humans too.

State secondary teacher here. We're not allowed to use zoom - the school has made the decision to ban all video or live lessons. We're just moving into voiceover lessons but they take hours to record.

We have almost equal numbers of parents saying there's not enough work and there's too much work. We're doing our best.

It's sad on MN at the moment. I don't know why I keep reading these threads.

@IHeartKingThistle me neither but I get so upset when told I'm not working hard. Or I don't care about the kids. We use Teams as it's safer than zoom and much easier to use for lessons. The on line whiteboard and I are great friends now, although a few drawing have caused amusement.

Not all state schools are crap. My kids (yr1 and yr5) have been really well supported by their state school. When lockdown happened the school immediately signed up to show my homework - took a week or so for them to be trained up in its use and all the logins to be sorted and sent out. Work packs were sent home for the meantime while that happened.

A few weeks in and it’s working really well. Work is my yr1 child has a huge variety of tasks set, he has some learning difficulties and will never do it all, but there is no expectation that he do everything and his teacher has made a real effort to set tasks in a way that he can at least complete the first part of each task (and there are extensions if he can manage them). Mixture of creative and outdoors and practical as well as literacy and maths etc. And she replies and comments on all the work he submits, as well as any queries I may have as parent. She is also on rota at the school and has young children herself, she’s doing an AMAZING job. (And have fed that back to the school).

Likewise my yr5 - has 5 ‘lessons’ tasks set each day. His teacher responds quickly to any queries he or I have, and to all the work he submits, pushing him to develop his work more where needed. My eldest is also autistic and his teacher has been really supportive and enquiring after his mental health, chatting to him etc. Again, I’ve fed back to school how amazing he’s doing.

The school SENCO has also been working hard for both my children (and therefore presumably other children in the school) and the school has been supporting the local food bank and community as well.

I also know that my stepson, same age as my eldest, but goes to a private school, is having a full timetable online everyday with MS Teams. But then I understand that they have the resources to do that.

Reading about how well some state schools are managing to deliver the curriculum really makes it hit home how far behind my dd is going to get. It makes me feel sick with worry.

She works very well with me and I’m more than qualified to teach primary maths, but working 12-14 hour days in my own job.

Actually considering packing my job in now so that I can educate her.

How do I choose between keeping an income and financial security, or keeping her educated?

@GuyFawkesDay. I think that’s the point of Mumsnet though isn’t it? Many people don’t have their problems solved on here.

@ChocolateCard try oak National for lessons. They are really good

My state school isn’t crap and neither is my child’s.

We’ve provided daily content, but not all are videos, as many parents access them through their phone.

We’ve tried to strike a balance and continually evaluate with our parents, and work out what is best for them. Some parents prefer the online portal, some want emails, some have requested delivery of hard copies (approx 3 weeks worth delivered each time) some want work to complete apps and some want to download and print. A couple prefer things like twinkl go and phonics play etc so it can be done on a tablet.

Some children have completed just the core subjects, others have just done creative stuff and some have done everything and more. I’ve expressed delight at all of it, because it’s genuinely nothing short of amazing - the parents have been fabulous.

I don’t use zoom as we’re not allowed. I haven’t had complaints though. I have used pre recorded videos such as white rose maths.

If my second child weren’t in year 6 I would move her to the local private school. The secondary School are excellent and dealing with this well but at the primary bar is so low. They have now said those that go back won’t be properly taught as it’s “not fair” on those that haven’t gone back 🙄 . Don’t blame the teachers they are told to do this