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

And NOW. Not pigging September.

they need to start bloody helping every blooming child receive the education they deserve.

And yet, here we have a thread with numerous people saying they can't manage home-schooling and are binning it. That has been the education on offer, like it or not, during these unprecedented times.

Use public spaces - leisure centres, meeting rooms in offices Read all the numerous threads on here stating why/how that can't happen. And the number one reason is that there aren't enough teachers. Forget "volunteers" and the "recently retired." Not going to happen. There is a massive recruitment and retention crisis in the teaching profession, with good reason. Those teachers are not going to return, and who can blame them. There are many thousands more who will be resigning as soon as they reasonably can.
If you want to know why that is, read some of the threads on here and see the vitriol that is directed towards the profession.
Sorry, but you reap what you sow sometimes.

What would help me:

School stopping the weekly newsletter email full of what’s going on in school. It makes me feel even more isolated. “Look at what you could’ve had, ha ha unlucky”.

Stop the homeschool work for everyone. Kids at school to do activities that are nothing to do with the curriculum. Or things that wont need catching up eg a project. Parents at home get a break from crying and living on the edge of a burnout. Kids don’t feel they have to sit in front of a screen on their own (while parents full on working), feeling sad that they can’t do the work and no one knows how to help.

And please don’t send me reminders about my responsibility to “stay at home as much as possible” as I’m “playing a vital role in helping schools open“. FOR OTHER PEOPLES CHILDREN!! For the time period that we don’t have a school place, they can go whistle.

Stop the homeschool work for everyone.

And schools which have done that have got annihilated on here.

I haven't sown anything, I've been nothing but supportive to the schools. Parents and schools are strugging. I think we need money thrown into this situation. Offer a retiree teacher 100k to come back and the picture might be different. It seemed to keep the banks afloat didn't it?

In all seriousness - what do you think the solution is @CallMeAngelina? How do we best support our children's education? What are you doing? How do you manage it?

Basically the schools have to open full time, for all children in September. The country can’t be held to ransom by schools not opening properly- whether that decision be made by government, unions or teachers. Which decides how to go about it is irrelevant now. They’ve had over 3 months to get organised. A school is no different than any other organisation which needs to adapt to the current circumstances .

Why hasn’t every child without access to a laptop and internet not yet been provided with one? Why hasn’t every child had a weekly call from their teacher? Why have some children only been provided with worksheets with no instructions or guidance on how to do the work? Why isn’t work marked each week?

@TW2013 it’s worth asking them. I don’t know if they are born teachers any more than I am (well they couldn’t be less).

It’s the delivery I can’t seem to do. Maybe because I’m not trained in any kind of education capacity whatsoever. We end up sitting there at 8pm with him saying I don’t get it and me saying I just don’t know how to explain it to you.

I’m almost laughing at my last sentence. How ridiculous this all is.

I am the same @Lemons1571 - trying my best to explain something and struggling because it's so far out of my knowledge - I can google and try to learn very quickly to convey it to them, but all the time with the work laptop on my lap and the phone on my ear for work - simultaneously revising quadratic equations or whatever on another tab so I can explain them - yes simultaneously because this online assessment is timed - to my 13 year old son. History, languages - I can at least guide them. Maths - it's a blind spot. Neither of us are any the wiser!

@Parker231 schools are still waiting for the next lot of guidance from the DfE Gavin talked about on the 19th June. Schools need it now in order to plan properly for September. There is so much delay from the DfE and even when the guidance is out it goes through many additions and changes. The June 1st guidance has had over 100 revisions already.

Why hasn’t every child had a weekly call from their teacher?

Parker231. Our school has one phone line which is in the office. I can't enter the office because it isn't part of my bubble. There is one school mobile, which you have to track down, disinfect and then find time to use whilst supervising your bubble. Then the parents don't pick up because they don't recognise the number... Phoning one parent can take several attempts over several days - each time going through the whole locating the mobile rigmarole all over again. HTH.

School stopping the weekly newsletter email full of what’s going on in school

We get this too. I have no idea what they're trying to achieve by it. I can't show my dc it, she'd sob her heart out.

Why do calls need to be made from a school based mobile or landline ? Those teachers working from home some/all of the time have a mobile phone?

I haven't sown anything, I've been nothing but supportive to the schools.
I've no idea what your stance is. But there have been hundreds of abusive posts on MN alone.

Offer a retiree teacher 100k to come back and the picture might be different. Really? Seriously? Pay them more than existing staff? Ridiculous suggestion.

What are you doing? How do you manage it? I'm not exactly sure what it is you mean, but my school has been sending varied, stimulating and accessible work for all pupils all along, not just those who are fortunate enough to have good IT at home. And now I am back in school for my usual working hours, with pupils whose parents have chosen for them to return on a rota basis. None of this was my decision really - I am following the lead of my Head, who is following guidance from Government. We have enough space to open more widely, so we are. I have no say in what other schools are able to offer.

Basically the schools have to open full time, for all children in September. They will open when it is deemed safe to do so

The country can’t be held to ransom by schools not opening properly- whether that decision be made by government, unions or teachers. Nothing to do with teachers OR the Unions - don't fall for that line, as spouted by the Daily Mail.

A school is no different than any other organisation which needs to adapt to the current circumstances.
Schools have been adapting massively in the last 3 months. There are hundreds and hundreds of posts on here detailing how. I'm not going to repeat it all.

Why hasn’t every child without access to a laptop and internet not yet been provided with one?
Schools applied for them, and very few have appeared. Apparently, the criteria for qualifying are very narrow. None of our children have been awarded them.
Why hasn’t every child had a weekly call from their teacher?
Lots of parents have objected to this and many calls are not answered.
Why have some children only been provided with worksheets with no instructions or guidance on how to do the work? No idea - ask your own child's school.
Why isn’t work marked each week? See above. Have you sent any in? I have given feedback on what little I have been sent.

I will say the work set by my dcs school is really excellent...varied, interesting and with plenty of thought gone into it. Unfortunately, my dc now refuses to even look at it

It’s hard enough with a toddler, I really feel for anyone trying to wfh and do homeschooling.

Those teachers working from home some/all of the time have a mobile phone?

A male secondary teacher I know of was asked to do this. He refused, on the grounds that he would not open himself up to the potential minefield that was phoning 14 year old girls at home, possibly in their bedrooms, from his personal mobile phone. He would have been insane to agree to this.

And from my own perspective, if my school wish me to make phone calls, they can provide me with the wherewithall to do so.

Why do calls need to be made from a school based mobile or landline ? Those teachers working from home some/all of the time have a mobile phone?

This is absolutely forbidden. Huge safeguarding issues as well as data protection. Non of the teachers in my school are working from home - all in school with bubbles.

Also agree with pp - I know it's well intentioned but updating those at home as to what's been going on in school is sort of upsetting when you have so little time to help them. "Key worker children in school today have been practicising their persuasive language making a poster for XXX" - well mine haven't, I've had to work and they've just about got on TT rockstars for 15 minutes - at least by the end of lockdown they'll know every times table there is. I don't share it with my DC either, they'd feel left out

We end up sitting there at 8pm with him saying I don’t get it and me saying I just don’t know how to explain it to you.

In that case definitely see if a sibling would help. My youngest will take it from a sibling rather than me. Also they actually understand what the topic is. As soon as I hear the term fronted adverbial my eyes glaze over but the older ones had it drummed into them for SATs so are well versed in the lingo. I should say that I have not completely delegated the teaching but there are a few subjects where the siblings are better qualified (e.g. MFL). More importantly it also helps them if they teach it to reinforce their own learning. Even if it is not a core subject for the younger one it can spark interest in something other than screens.

@formerbabe

I will say the work set by my dcs school is really excellent...varied, interesting and with plenty of thought gone into it. Unfortunately, my dc now refuses to even look at it

Well, in fairness, that's really not the school's fault.

I'd be honestly happy for every single teacher to be given 100k to navigate this - the banks got much more, - they can always seem to find money when it's considered important. It's the neglect from central government I find infuriating - not the particular ways any school might be managing it which I accept is the best they can given constantly moving carpet.

However stimulating what you send out is, if parents, even with the best will in the world just haven't the time or resource, (WFH and fictional laptops etc) - to get it done... it aint gonna get done. That's the broken part that needs fixing - not teacher's fault at all.

Parker231
Why do calls need to be made from a school based mobile or landline ? Those teachers working from home some/all of the time have a mobile phone?

Even if they do and ignoring the massive safeguarding issue, why should they/we use their/our own phone?

I entirely agree with the argument that its discriminatory, it's unfair, the texts on my DC's class WhatsApp about how the DC are 'absolutely loving being back with their friends at school' when one parent is a SAHM and the other works in a bookies but have somehow made it into school full time under keyworker provision (*not exactly the situation but very close, definitely not safeguarding or anything like that) boils my blood, while I'm here and have WFH full time with 2x DC for the duration while keyworker DH has been out at work.

But I think the lack of direction/care from the government is largely because it's just not affecting them. The vast, vast majority of those making the decisions are men, they've worked throughout, they have wives who manage their DC and they simply don't see it.

Women are so disproportionately affected as the bulk of the childcare/homeschool while WFH bonanza has fallen to us.

Gah! I really can't remember being so mad about a situation before!

Another teacher here whose school has opened up to all the children.
Very low take ups and split classes / small school has enabled us to do this.
Meanwhile my children are at home and I am getting emails about them not submitting work. I have no idea what they are keeping up with as I’m not there to oversee it as I am working full time in school.