To think the government should pay private schools?

[Summerofdespair20]

My children have barely had any formal education since schools closed. A few Twinkl sheets, links to maths etc. I've tried my best, also wfh and different age children, I'm not the best teacher.

I understand state schools dont want to provide zoom/Google classroom lessons. Private school teachers seem to be doing this with success, I know it will never be good as a real classroom but all the parents I know would like it for their children.

My Y6 child has done Zoom Spanish coaching with a teacher, it has been great.

Aibu to think that the government should look to pay private schools to teach state children? I know there are far fewer private schools, so the lessons may need not to be interactive/more like lectures? It might be a far fetched idea, I find it very sad that my Y6 has been told no school after half term (school not following government guidelines). I can't afford private school, I had always hoped from an ideological perspective that state schools could provide the same great education, but now I can see how impressive private schools are, sorry for my kids I can't afford it.

There are state schools which are providing excellent teaching at the moment. And there are private schools whose provision is pretty sketchy.

Just because it’s private does not mean it’s better.

Crazy idea! Every school I've ever known uses different books, teaches things in a different order, etc. My private school kids brought their text books home and lessons are interactive - how would that work with thousands of kids all logging on? State schools absolutely should be providing the same service to their DC and I have no idea why they aren't. If private schools can do it, why not state? But to expect private schools to suddenly educate the rest of the country too is never going to happen. Lobby your school and LEA to get their act together. I suspect though that it's more an issue of access - private school kids tend to come from the kind of homes where the requisite technology is present, whereas that cannot be assumed for all homes nationwide.

Live lessons via Zoom etc are not necessarily the best way to provide remote learning. Pre-recorded video lessons are much more flexible in many ways, particularly from the timetabling viewpoint.

If parents are wfh it's tricky getting the timings of their own meetings not to clash with times of their children's live lessons. Having to ensure that the children are logged in at the right times isn't always easy.

With Pre-recorded lessons the family can choose their own timetable.

I guess there are pros and cons to both methods. Some live interaction is undoubtedly beneficial, an opportunity to ask questions and have things explained for instance. As with most things, I think there's a balance to be reached here.

The other thing is that a lot of private schools while having some adherence to the national curriculum interpret it in their own way from diverge from it completely so it could be very difficult for state school children who have been taught to it to work out what's happening

The reality is that many (not all) state schools have taken the view that they should not disadvantage a subsection of their pupils so therefore everyone has to have the same rather than provide online teaching or supported online teaching to ones that can access it and provide additional support either now or on return to those that can't.

Work could be submitted by email or online platforms to be marked. To those without the technology stamped addressed envelopes could be provided for work to be marked to be posted in - like in the olden days when you did any form of correspondence course. Instead of thinking about how things can be handled there does seem to be a lot of we can't do it from some schools.

There are always good and bad schools in both sectors and it is interesting to see how some are handling it and some don't seem to want to.

You need to complain to your school this one isn't on the goverment
This is why people are getting fed up as some ( not all ) schools seem to be doing so little but enough parents need to complain , raise with governers etc as it is the school at fault

Some private schools are doing (more than?) their bit. This is from the Eton Website.

At a time of great challenge to individuals, families, communities and businesses up and down the country, Eton is determined to play its part in supporting the national need. There are a number of initiatives that the school has already committed to and which are already underway. These include:

Accommodation for key workers
We have offered accommodation, free of charge, within some of our now empty boarding houses for adult key workers, where they need alternative accommodation because their own families are self-isolating.

Support for key worker and vulnerable children
We have opened our doors to support key workers from our local area by offering a structured programme of activities, free of charge, during the day for their children aged 5-13. The scheme also includes vulnerable children. As part of this programme we are preparing food for those on free school meals and delivering this to local schools.

EtonX self-study courses
We have offered our EtonX self-study courses, free of charge, to every state secondary school in the UK. The initial focus will be for students in Year 11 and Year 13 now that there are no public exams, to help support these students as they consider their next steps, whether that be Sixth Form, university or employment.

I can't see how private schools would not have the same safeguarding issues though ? They wouldn't be exempt from them
I appreciate easier with smaller numbers but it seems some on here are being given hardly any work either online or via paper in the mail etc

What you are asking for is exactly what Oak Academy is- and funded by the Government.

Maybe do a bit of research?

Well seeing as the government has provided exactly zero guidance to schools and teachers about what remote learning should be provided, how, and in what form, I don’t know what the hell you think you’re going to complain about. There are currently, as far as I can see, no actual requirements for any school to do anything at all, so whatever you do get is already above and beyond.

You can froth about this all you want but it’s the truth. If the government cared about what education students were getting they would have laid out very clearly what was expected.

They don't have so many students living in poverty or chaotic homes surely struggling?. Or with parents who barely cope with life, or children who are carers and probably not so vulnerable to gangs and CSE either. There may well be levels of addiction etc, but surely on the whole the parents are "functioning"?

I know they are paying state schools, but they arent doing what they are asked. That is rather a sweeping generalisation. One of my kids is a teacher, dead on their feet at the moment between 3 days a week looking after keyworkers children, doing online lessons marking and feedback, welfare calls to all tutor group at least once every two weeks, calls to children and their parents when work not being done and home visits where there are concerns.

Please don't judge.

Over the years I've paid for private lessons on one odd subject or another for each of my children. I've often thought that it would be good for up to half a dozen or so parents to do this together and pay more or double to the tutor between them to make it worthwhile for them. I don't mean go though a company which is so expensive you might as well pay one tutor yourself. There are plenty of state school parents like me (in the past) who don't want to use private schools but realise that state schools don't have the resources to always sufficiently support each child at all times. I think it wouldn't be easy to organise, though, and the parents should take responsibility for that, agreeing a joint contract, plus paying for absence, to avoid squabbling.

As an independent school teacher, I don't think this would work. I can maintain an ongoing relationship with my pupils because I know them, and I know the pastoral staff responsible for them. I am working my full timetable and finding this extremely hard (3yo at home). There's no way I could take on any additional students at this time, and if I did, I wouldn't be able to provide them with as good a service - I don't know their prior attainment, or what they need to be prepared for.

Also, private education is about 7% of children. There's no way we could take on the 93% that are currently covered by the state!

I'm sorry that you aren't happy with the provision your school has made. Please do speak to them, they may be able to do more. Unfortunately they may not be able to do more - my DH works for a state school and is doing extremely little at the moment, because they don't want some pupils to be advantaged and get ahead of others, and as they cannot provide devices for all pupils (my school made sure all pupils had access to device before closures), they want him to do very little. It's quite a sad state of affairs, and he is very worried about many of his pupils.

@Ultrasoft, I agree. My school (independent secondary) has an unusually large bursary scheme, but that still means that students in exceptionally difficult circumstances are in the minority, and we know exactly who they are and have funding to provide help to them e.g. they were all given a school laptop to take home for lockdown and many were provided with a dongle to grant internet access for lessons. State schools just don't have the funding for that. We do still have students in the "parents just don't cope" category, and they are not flourishing, but I imagine there's going to be a lot of support for them when school reopens.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. The Govt cannot force teachers to do their jobs.
It didn't take long for the same old generalisations to start.

OP
The sectors are very different, and what many mumsnetters need to realise is when they're complaining that the private school is doing all this online stuff there are thousands of children in state schools who aren't getting enough food on a daily basis, who don't have WiFi, and so on.

The idea that the majority of children are in comfortable or affluent families with enough space for all children to study whilst their parents work from home, and enough devices for children to access online material in real time only shows the privilege of many on here.

I am totally on board with the fact that some schools aren't doing enough (but hate the idea that staff should reinvent the wheel making worksheets when they've already paid a resource subscription in order to appease moaners), but this obsession on here with online live learning is only showing how many posters live in a bubble.

I can't see how private schools would not have the same safeguarding issues though ? They wouldn't be exempt from them

It's not that the same safeguarding issues don't exist, it's just that some schools (many private and some state) have decided that the benefit outweighs the risk and some schools (some private and many state) have decided that the risk is too high.

Schools weren't told they couldn't teach live, just advised not to by unions. For many private school teachers, us teaching live lessons is the difference between parents agreeing to pay fees and not and therefore the difference between us having a job in September and not. There is a very strong incentive for us to do what is necessary to keep our jobs. State school teachers will have a job and pupils to teach next year regardless of what provision they make at the moment.

For me personally - I teach small classes of children who are all aged 13 or under. Most of them are fairly compliant, well behaved children and most of them have a parent in the house who is actively involved in what the child is doing. I record all sessions and a record therefore exists on our school server. Yes, it is still theoretically possible that a child could edit and publish material - but it's unlikely and, though embarrassing, I would have the original record proving I did nothing wrong. It's more likely that a parent would complain I did something wrong but a) I have the record and b) that could happen in normal school too. We use Teams which is more secure than Zoom but it's expensive (I think). It's probably still hackable but very unlikely to happen and children know to close anything down which they know is wrong. They are not in any real danger.

No, the government should kick state schools' asses so they start teaching again.

Most schools are doing their best and providing work where they can.

I suspect Private Schools need to be seen to be doing more so they can justify still charging fees. It doesn't necessarily mean they are providing a better education. My school has sent home some very well thought out work for my children to do that doesn't require Zoom or any other face to face interaction.

Remember too that state schools will likely have much bigger class sizes and children much less likely to have access to the necessary tech to make it all work.

It's very difficult for the government because there will be legal ramifications if schools re providing an education to some children that cannot be accessed by a significant portion of society (those who lack sufficient devices and internet etc.)

They can't do Zoom until it's available to everyone otherwise it's discriminatory.

Oak National Academy and BBC Bitesize have loads of videos to watch and You Tube has great instructional videos.

The reality is: it's the relationship with the teacher that is motivating about Zoom (not the video nature of it).

I don't think whether the school is state or private is what makes the difference.

My school has been providing a weekly learning pack for all children with daily lessons using video clips, links to texts, maths worksheets, etc. Teachers have been reading a class text via Youtube, etc.

I don't think lessons via zoom are the key to quality home education!

Daft idea on every level

State school provision is often shocking in the moment, but some are doing an excellent job. maybe it would make sense to let the excellent state schools be examples for the crap ones?
(disclaimer: mine go to a private school, and the fees are so worth it ! i‘ve only heard about excellent schools on mumsnet, the lical ones told parents to treat it as a holiday)

I understand state schools dont want to provide zoom/Google classroom lessons

My DD state primary is using Google classrooms for year 5. I think the pupils were already familiar with it for some reason.

A while back I was thinking videoconferencing software was the obvious solution to remote teaching, but actually setting work via Google classrooms makes more sense. A recorded video (or other materials) followed by answering questions via messaging is probably a more efficient way to do things than an actual classroom session where the whole class is interacting with each other and the teacher.

(The only issue is that Google classrooms work isn't necessarily checked by the teacher, pupils can do work on paper and click a checkbox to say they've done it, but for all the teacher knows they spent the time playing Roblox. But that's not necessarily a technology shortcoming, I think teachers could set work so that it was always checked, if they wanted to.)