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.

DDs school have been doing it via Teams from day 1.
The dc have to have their cameras off though and the teacher can’t have any private conversations- a friend of DDs asked to have chat with a teacher after the class and Dd was asked to stay online as well so it wasn’t just 1to 1

@echt Calm down! Only relevant in that they're not juggling a young family as well as working. Of course they may be juggling other things, but there aren't toddlers crawling round them or children needing to be homeschooled.

Very helpful links, Leighwalker. Thank you.

I’ve held off on complaints as a parent because of my role as governor.

However, with no end in sight to this situation, I have started writing a letter which will go to the LEA and to my MP.

It very much depends on the access to technology for pupils and teachers, for having a suitable space to do the lessons - a teacher living in a one bedroom flat with a toddler has very different scope to a teacher in a house with a home office, the one in the flat can't banish the toddler to the bedroom or go to the bedroom themselves.

Not all teachers will have had the technology at home at the start of lockdown as it was announced so quickly. Not all schools have a laptop per teacher, some still used the fixed classroom computer.

Laurie - most of our teachers and some TAs are doing that. One does it almost daily. The others are at least weekly. They also do a show and tell type video at the end of each week for their class.

The deputy head does too, from the books she would normally read in one of our assemblies.

The head teacher does a brief weekly assembly where she will read out the names of any children achieving their reading certificate that week - we are encouraging children to still complete their reading diaries to post on their online journals to achieve their 'stamps' for this.

To be honest I think the children enjoy those bots much more than the various lessons and activities. None are done live though, all are recorded.

ITonyah

Dd was at our good local state secondary and phones weren't banned. Sometimes they used them in lessons to look things up.

We trialed that and it didn't work. Caused no end of problems.

So many that it was the student body that requested that it was stopped.

When I see how much trouble there can be with tv interviews with sound quality, everything freezing etc I can't help thinking that with their equipment and expertise they can't get it to work reliable, why would a school?

Those complaining about home set up, why not go into your classrooms?

A whole empty classroom to yourself?

@Hoppinggreen - our Teams lessons are recorded to help with safeguarding. Each Team has multiple teachers who can ‘drop into a lesson’ at any time.

My sons school has been doing show and tell via zoom once a week for year 2. It takes 2 adults at our end to make it work, one to supervise the zoom meeting and one to keep our other dc out of the way. We can do it for 30 minutes once a week but no more than that really and we could only do it with 1 child at a time. We are a fairly average family compared to others at school I think, not particularly vulnerable so I doubt we would be the only ones who couldn't do 6 hours a day of live lessons. Out of a class of 25 year 2's there is usually 8-10 of them who manage to log on for the weekly 30 minute session. I don't know how many would be able to participate in full time live lessons but I wouldn't think it would be many.

ChocolateCard

The HT has locked down any classrooms that are not being used for KW provision and as of the 15th not being used for teaching.

They have however set up special classrooms for videoing lessons.

Plus as above, how many video cameras do you think that a school has?

And some teachers share classrooms so it may not be viable.

ChocolateCard because teachers aren't permitted by their school to go wandering in and out when the fancy takes them?

Transmission control, social distancing etc.

Should those with young children at home just take them with them, do you think?

For a governor, you seem to have very little actual knowledge of the workings of a school.

If you are working from home and not a teacher, did your company provide you with IT equipment?

Our teachers on the whole have a school laptop they can take home. Those who share don't though - there's only one laptop, so one needs to use their own. They all have a class iPad too but some of these are needed in school for the KW classes, Our LSA don't have any school provided devices. There isn't the money to provide them. We have it tech support, currently remotely, one morning a week. As the staff who teachers computing I am doing as much as I can to support staff who are struggling, but there's only so much I can do. I teach It and I am in no way an it technician.

Dh is a solicitor. He is using a home device but could have had one from work. All those in his office have either their own or work devices, it's their preference but there is enough for all who need/want one. Our broadband is already provided by dh's work but it isn't for most staff. They are having to use home broadband but those who are struggling with rubbish connections aren't really the ones who are involved in zoom type meetings, etc. Their it department has spent a lot of money in the last two weeks, and are in hand 5 days a week to provide support and are accessible at weeks and out of hours for emergencies.

All the friends I know in 'professional' jobs who are working from home all have work provided laptops if they want one. Most have a work provided phone and contract. Most are using their own home broadband though.

I'm sure if a kid wanted to take a photo of a teacher and put it on photoshop they could any day in RL 🤷‍♀️

The ""bedroom" thing isn't just an issue for teachers. I have to do big public meetings from my bedroom. On my bed as it is a small room. I just set a virtual background that looks like I am in an office

@ChocolateCard

Those complaining about home set up, why not go into your classrooms?

A whole empty classroom to yourself?

It's not as simple as that. If the school is closed to pupils then some (all?) schools (because of insurance?) insist it is closed to staff, it was like that where I worked. Also, even if the insurance isn't an issue staff need to be in school with more than one other adult and not on their own for their own safety.

Exactly @ITonyah

And it would be an offence the school could discipline them for and the police too.

A whole empty classroom to yourself?

What empty classrooms?

As of tomorrow 7 out of 9 classrooms will have children in every day.
A further two are due to have children in from the week after.
There is the computer room but that is currently storing all the excess stuff that's had to be removed from the classrooms.
The normal staff work room and staff room are only allowed to be used by one person at a time as they are tiny. The workroom will become an office for our learning mentor as of tomorrow.

Our Primary is not open to key workers.

Every classroom has a PC and / or laptop.

The school has good broadband.

@NeverTwerkNaked

The ""bedroom" thing isn't just an issue for teachers. I have to do big public meetings from my bedroom. On my bed as it is a small room. I just set a virtual background that looks like I am in an office

I know teachers have been told not to do calls from their bedrooms. Does all online meeting technology allow virtual backgrounds?

One does it almost daily. The others are at least weekly. They also do a show and tell type video at the end of each week for their class.

I think all this stuff is great, though if it’s a book, surely it has to be almost daily as otherwise there’s no continuity.

It’s not necessarily all live lessons (though I think they would be hugely beneficial if used carefully for short periods in short groups).

It’s about engaging teaching, variety, imagination.

I just can’t understand the mindset of my sons school which seems to think that pushing out the odd worksheet is good enough.

ITonyah
I'm sure if a kid wanted to take a photo of a teacher and put it on photoshop they could any day in RL 🤷‍♀️

And procedures are followed such as confiscation of phone, isolation, exclusion.

We have pupils that must hand their phone over to SLT on arrival to school.

Live on a pc is completely different. and it would be almost impossible to to find the culprit.

I can't add virtual backgrounds in zoom or teams. God knows I've tried. I don't think my ICT is up to it.

So you individual school could make it work possibly then.
But what about the other thousands of schools across the country? Not all are empty by any means of the word.

Does all online meeting technology allow virtual backgrounds?

Zoom and Teams do.

I do all meetings, consultations, presentations from my bedroom. I honestly don’t get why that’s a big deal. I angle the laptop so I’ve only got blank wall in the background.