To wonder why schools are saying they’re not allowed to do live lessons

[Plinkplonkplank]

Because they’ve just started doing them at my ds’s state secondary. We had to fill in an online permission form. So it is possible after all.

Chocolatecard so have teachers all been provided with the appropriate technology, high speed broadband, training on how to use live formats most effectively and a thorough risk assessment and safeguarding plan for live lesson teaching?

In addition to guidance about what to actually teach and what, if any, feedback to provide obvs, given the absence of this info at a govt level.

In addition to, of course, guidance and support about how to provide the equivalent level of input to children who don't have Broadband, laptops, quiet space to work etc.

And of course advice about how they can simultaneously be in the classroom teaching and also live on Zoom or whatever format.

Surely teachers without young kids can teach from their classrooms? Even if that is only a few that would help?

Chocolate card - have you actually listened to what the staff are saying or just shoved your opinion at them.
There are safeguarding issues.
How does online teaching cope with differentiation and inclusion.
You've assumed every child has a laptop, so not thinking about those less fortunate.
Rote learning isn't what happens in schools nowadays. The kids work in groups, interact, Classrooms are set up for this.
I'm sick of the "private schools do it" when they have small classes, a limited range of ability (ie all fairly high) and has anyone asked those teachers what they think of it. Because I've seen a few posts where it's stressed the private school teachers out so much they're going to quit. And the teaching might be happening but is the learning?

I wonder why private schools with v small classes and lots of funding and resources would find this so much easier than a state school trying to work out how to teach 10 lots of 30 children by teams?

They been offered access to the tech, yes.
All but 2 of them refused.

The school is not open to key workers, and only 3 of the staff volunteered to work in the schools that are open. They do half a day per fortnight each.

Advice in terms of risk assessments etc from the LEA was all ‘put to one side’ because they didn’t want to do it.

I would never compare to a private school. It’s not an equal journey there, at all.

However, I will compare to the very similar size state school which is 1.5 miles away, and under the same LEA.

Dds school is not private and non of the issues mentioned here have been a problem. Students who don’t have devices could be classed as vulnerable and be asked into school to participate. Up to them if they do or not.

Same. We have had since secondary and certainly grammar very happily doing live sessions where pupils can choose whether to show themselves. But are verbally active in the lesson and the lessons have worked extremely well!! To other schools absolutely saying they won't do it. It poses a risk to everyone?

Many secondary pupils have phones, smart phones even if they didn't have a lap top there and then...
I can't understand it. The arguments have not made sense.

And now hey presto we get patchy lessons on line.
It's making a huge difference to dd generally to have some contact with her teacher, and friends at school!

Up to them if they do or not!!!!
Honestly I despair. Like the vulnerable kids can make these choices. It's scary when people with so little empathy to understand what the life of a vulnerable child might be like think they have all the answers

B-flat, a woke setting of 500 staff was '' trained '' in 40 mins on how to use the tech and could probably have been done in 20 mins.

It wasn't hard and even less tech savvy staff members understood and simply tried it and learned as went along.
Not hard at all.
I guess if you don't try you won't know?

• work

I'm still waiting to see how differentiation works online...

I have a friend who’s a primary teacher and he says they can’t do it in primary because of potentially unexpected things in the background of other kids screens so like inappropriate behavior in the background when on a zoom call etc, bad language, etc

I know places where far better provision has been put in for 'vulnerable' students.
The best thing is to keep them in a routine and learning and having contact with teachers.
But you cannot turn a whole class adrift with sod all, many who could have undiagnosed sen, verging on vulnerable but not quite because of a schools in ability to support the vulnerable child??

@TheWashingMachine

At private schools all online interaction is recorded and archived apparently. Both my children have live online lessons, their teachers are amazing. It takes loads of energy, resources and planning to do well. School IT departments need to be really on the ball.

Same here. I can't tell you how I am in awe of my dds teachers. I only hope my dds work hard enough to do them justice! They've been absolutely above amazing and must be knackered! Luckily we have a newish head and when she joined 3 years ago she totally overhauled the IT dept and all students were required to have pen enabled laptops. It was expensive and I moaned about it at the time but my god I am glad she did it.

They can still teach though Chilli?

Recorded if not live

My dd is 16 and starting her last year of high school, no live lessons here, safeguarding issue and not all children have access to Internet, laptops etc. Each subject gives out work on either Microsoft teams and show my homework app, the teachers can be contacted on Microsoft teams and once a week the teacher speaks to the class through teams, no video chats, just call group chats. Seems to be working well in our house however only a few children access these live chats.

I wouldn’t want live video lessons, home schooling is hard enough without constant video lessons. At present I’m at college and therefore dd and I are sharing a laptop which makes things more difficult, it worked well until lockdown but now we are having limited time each on it,

state school trying to work out how to teach 10 lots of 30 children by teams?

Tbf if you can use teams it doesn't matter if you have 10 or 30 children at the end of the line!

Chilli, primary is a different kettle of fish.
Having said that again private can do it.

But I understand more the general issues in primary.

But again, in same lea, some primary have had no trouble at all issuing weekly work packs..
Others have not managed to do even that, instead pointing parents with the most basic support to vast resources like twinkle!

And the training chocolatecard, and guidance about expectations re content, feedback, what protocols to follow if children don't attend.

And how to provide equivalent to families who don't have tech/broad band.

And it needs to be high speed broad band if more than one person is using it.

The SLT at your school sounds extremely weak and ineffectual if they're not engaging with risk assessment tbh.

I prefer recorded lessons, as a teacher. I feel I can script it better and also lots of kids can't access live as they don't have the tech. I teach rurally, we genuinely have a number of families without internet able to stream the lessons.

Viewing PowerPoint slices on a phone can be tricky, the text is titchy!

Recording lessons and then I try and do fortnightly "check in" sessions live so they can raise queries and I can give whole class feedback rather than trying to mark 200 pieces of work, plus making and recording lessons etc etc.

Comprehensive school. It took us a few weeks to learn the tech, to get permissions from parents etc but we are now doing our best to get some live contact and as close to proper lessons as we can.

Ours is via Teams, which we had just launched in February. We record all live sessions and tell the students this is happening for their security and for ours.

Well, this is the problem, yes.

Ultimately, the head lives 40 miles away and has 2 primary aged children herself.

She can’t demand the earth from her staff without also doing the same herself.

She’s turned up at the school for key workers once, and stayed for an hour.

This is where the “can’t do... won’t do” culture stems from.

If she was pushing her staff more, in sure most of them would respond.

My DS secondary school have been doing live lessons via MS teams since lockdown. No issues. My youngest is only
In reception and was having two class zoom calls a week and prerecorded lessons. He is back at school now though

Pupils who have had tech issues alert, and they are worked around. Catch up, etc extra help given at different time, resources found and borrowed.