To bin off the homeschooling

[Lemons1571]

God I’m probably BU. But bloody hell I've had enough. 14 weeks of working ft, plus trying to fit in twinkl, Oak, Khan etc. Watching my Year 4 get more isolated and sad. Feeing like a loser / outsider when the school send out their weekly newsletter asking Reception to bring in x, y and z and Year 6 to remember their deposit for (insert end of year activity).

Honestly the thought of Monday makes me want to throw things at the wall, and it’s not even Sunday yet! Got a bunch of corrections sent through on last weeks schoolwork which I now have to try and fit in around Skype work calls, deadlines, appraisals. Anyone else just about had it? So tempted to tell child to not worry about it too much and have some screen time.

I don’t need help with coping or with mood or anything like that. I just need to not have two full time jobs.

tomorrow’s another day

Of the schools near me they are only taking key workers, Reception, Years 1 and 6. Not enough class rooms for any other years.

Yrs 2-5 were invited from 22nd June. Rota basis for those latter year groups

It gets even more unfair! Our school can’t invite years 2-5 back as there’s no room. Crikey if we had an invite back I’d be at the school gates in 2 minutes.

Perhaps the parents that are loving the small class sizes and great organisation would secretly like the rest of the kids stuck at home to go away and quietly disappear. After all, if they returned it will muck everything up. I know I know, not all think like that. But it creates such division.

No more room even for keyworkers at our school....

@CallmeAngelina

Well, it's not unfair, as all have been given the opportunity to return to school if they wish. What would you suggest they do, whilst in school otherwise? There are numerous complaints on here from Key Workers who have said their children's schools don't cover the home learning tasks, and they're then having to do them in the evenings.

Sorry what?! I'd send mine in a heartbeat, and they'd be so thrilled. Not an option, school completely full with keyworkers and reception children only.

Even the situation mentioned above that they're doing the same work and home learning is still grossly unfair - doing the home learning supervised by an adult who can pay them some attention is hardly the same as trying to self manage your learning as a small child without adult input. Outdoor play = many many children stuck in flats with no access to outdoors because their parents are working.

PinkFondantFancy, So what are you suggesting? If your school has no room and mine does, what should happen?

YANBU.

I will hold my hands up and say that I gave up some weeks ago trying to engage and motivate my DD (who is also Yr4) with her home learning as well as juggling a baby and overseeing DS in Yr8.

I am looking upon the situation as September being a fresh start for them in terms of education. Or at least I hope against hope that they return in September because I am due back to work having been on maternity leave.

Lemons1571 would either of your older children be willing to be paid to do some work with your younger child?

What IS grossly unfair is to offer a school spot full time to some children, and nothing to others

instead of offering part-time to most...

I know the children deemed worthy enough to enter the school grounds are doing the same home learning stuff my DC is getting but my DC is totally refusing to do it at home. She's pretty compliant at school and would do it happily there. So, she's getting further behind the chosen ones I'm afraid.

I hear you! We've wound down significantly now, managing and English and Maths worksheet plus a bit of reading every day but not much else. That will have to do, I have a full time WFH job too! Managing about an hour a day.

Don't get me started on those who are allowed through the hallowed school gates. The amount of children in our school now on supposed keyworker places is incredible. I know for a fact their parents are nowhere near keyworkers, gives me the absolute rage.

While those of us doing the right thing as we were asked to do and keep the DC at home until September, while working full time avd spinning any number of plates give me the absolute rage. We certainly won't quality for any catch up in September either because of course by turning myself inside out, I've managed it all!

I know for a fact their parents are nowhere near keyworkers, gives me the absolute rage.

the definition is VERY wide... nothing to do with critical NHS workers who obviously needed priority.

I'll say one thing though, good luck trying to enforce attendance after this. We're told to try to arrange medical appointments for after school and weekends. Ever tried to rearrange an appointment with a consultant neurologist? Well, I certainly won't be killing myself to make sure my DC doesn't miss an afternoon. As apparently, six months with no schooling is now considered acceptable.

It's discriminatory to allow some children formal education and not others. Even the routine of it. How do I explain to my son why some children are on the school run each morning? He's craving his friends.

I have a work zoom at 830, I can't get my kids up, before that in a state where they're focused on learning. By the time I'm off and mopped up work it's gone 10 - breakfast might have happened or not - they won't be dressed unless I am muting my calls to shout at them.

I might grab an hour around 11 to get 10 year old to engage with Oak University but he's already worked out he can just do the quizzes not actually watch the videos.

My Year 8 son will do the absolute bare minimum unless I stand over him, which I've done with laptop cradled in my arms and phone on my ears, dealing with my clients and periodically telling him to pay attention and join in with team chats etc.

Then trying to print out worksheets with more client calls coming in. They pay my bills. Roof over our heads.

Yes the logistics are crap for schools, I think teachers are doing their absolute best - but we found ways with the health service - to open up the Excel for more beds. We opened up private hospital beds - why not pay for private schools to pick up the slack. Engage private tutors?

Government has, as I keep saying, thrown our children entirely under the bus.

Also agree termtime absence? Not a chance of enforcing that now.

Absolutely sack it off. I think almost all children and parents who are still continuing an attempt to homeschool are feeling the same. For us i've found 1 or 2 bitesize lessons online, 10 mins of timestable rockstars and a bedtime read is the limit before things turn ugly! You've done an amazing job to keep going despite WFH.

It's discriminatory to allow some children formal education and not others. Even the routine of it

I agree. How on earth are they getting away with this?!

He's craving his friends

Same . Oh and it's costing me a fortune as I'm spoiling her with toys and shopping trips to try to cheer her up.

I don't reckon they usually do much work in the last week or so of term anyway. Sports day, end of term concerts, toy day (don't get me started on toy day), leavers assembly etc etc.

It's all fine.

I'll say one thing though, good luck trying to enforce attendance after this.

hear hear!

it's not being childish or spiteful, but my kids have been stuck at home with working parents. If we have a chance to afford cheap holidays TOGETHER, I have no problem taking them out of school now, as the school has decided it wasn't worth for them to come for months... whilst others could.

The school closure, fine.
The priority for critical workers, essential.
Opening to SOME and not others? That's enough bullshit.

It's discriminatory to allow some children formal education and not others. Even the routine of it

I agree. How on earth are they getting away with this?!

Yes!!

I suppose the press don’t care. They’ve moved on to other stories. Have to let coronavirus slip from the headlines to recover the economy - out of sight out of mind.
If Boris was wrangling nursery care or Key stage 2 it’d soon be on the agenda.

How on earth are they getting away with this?!

How on earth are "WHO" getting away with this? Are you suggesting that my school, which has enough room and enough staff to open more widely (on a rota system) shouldn't open? And what are schools that don't have enough room, or staff, to open under the current legal rules, meant to do?

Bear in mind that, even when invited, only around half of parents have taken up the offer.

And what are schools that don't have enough room, or staff, to open under the current legal rules, meant to do?

Have some sort of rota system so that all children get the chance to be physically back in the school at some point...rather than some there full time and some not at all.

But those are Government rules. They were (surprisingly) clear that Reception/Yr 1/Yr 6 were to take priority. If not enough room for all those year groups, schools were to start with Reception and work up.
No rotas.
What the fuck are schools with limited space meant to do?

The government was keen enough to fling billions money at health service to set up Nightingales, support businesses, sequester private hospitals to meet the expected gaps. I'm glad they did even though they ended up largely empty.

They should do the same for schools. Use public spaces - leisure centres, meeting rooms in offices, private tutors and private schooling. Even just those laptops for vulnerable children that never materialised.

These gaps have been there for 14 weeks now. Not good enough. Get creative from the top. Government money needed and management and creativity. We just did it for Nightingale hospitals, like I said.

We CAN do it. We have chosen however, to do naff all education wise. Schools are left to cope. They can't. We can't.

It's not schools at fault, it's the government's neglect - they need to start bloody helping every blooming child receive the education they deserve.