In September will the kids who have done homelearning have to sit bored at school while works repeated for the ones that haven't. Or will they start there new' year ' work as normal. Either way it's

[947EliseChalotte]

It's not fair either way. The bright kids who have done their homelearning will be held back while it's repeated for the ones which were unable too .....or if it's a new year start with work as normal the ones who didn't do homelearning will have missed work and won't understand. So either is unfair to either groups. So what are the plans for education for September? Repeating work missed from march or new work from sept? Which group will be disavantsged the ones who have done work or haven't ?

@Sittingontheveranda

Your other DC has not been left with no work - there is the Oak National Academy which provides work for all

Personally I have not found Oak Academy great for younger children. I have spent many hours every weekend researching and organising his schoolwork for the week ahead myself. There are other great resources - Bitesize, Reading Eggs, maths apps, online tuition and absolutely loads on YouTube, which together with a home tutor for one subject, and work from another school means DC should be okay. Unfortunately I wasn’t aware of all of them from the beginning and DC will have lost time due to me not being prepared better earlier. I will continue to do some work during the school holidays and hopefully DC will be in a good place returning to school. I haven’t always done the best I could do but overall I hope I have done enough.

It wasn't any good for my Year 10 either but that doesn't change the fact that there was provision in case there wasn't additional provision from the school.

has worked hard, but she is well aware that she's 'done it' but not necessarily 'learnt it' due to not having the teacher's expertise and varied learning and assessment methods.

Yes this is my fear too. I think you have hit the nail on the head.

that there was provision in case there wasn't additional provision from the school.

I’m just repeating myself now - the school didn’t mention that website. I only found out about it through MN. The school did not mention it!

Schools can’t win though, there was a poster upthread moaning about the lazy teacher who directed their class to the daily lessons on Bitesize. That’s what it’s there for.

@RedRum27 I thought the curriculum had been officially suspended on 23rd March? Has it been unsuspended at some point?

Very bright kids (I happen to have two) don't get to learn at their own level at state primary anyway. At least not at ours. My Y5 has been going through a Y7 maths textbook on her own during lockdown. She has never had appropriate teaching from school.

That’s what it’s there for.
I wasn’t aware the aim of Bitesize was to replace teachers. I assumed it was to supplement teachers during lockdown. Heck maybe all teaching could be done online from now on and remove the need for teachers altogether.

This concerns me slightly as well. My DC are actually pretty bright - they both consistently get “exceeding expectations”, and are set the outcomes for a couple of years higher. But they’ve done very little schoolwork during lockdown.

Both DP & I have been working throughout, and longer hours than usual. Me largely out of the home, leaving him trying to wfh with the DC.

School just told everyone to follow Oak Academy, but both DC said they’d done it before and when I tested them, they really had. We tried to find other resources, but I don’t know what they should have been learning, and everything designed for their years they seem to already know somehow. Plus tbh, DP and I are on our knees with tiredness now. And he certainly can’t keep on at them to do it when he’s trying to work. And the DC are just utterly unengaged after so many attempts at terrible material.

DC recently started back at school a few days a week in a keyworker bubble, but again they do very little work there, usually just 1 oak Academy lesson. Leaving us to try to do schoolwork in the evenings and weekends...no, we’ve all had enough now. At least they’re getting to socialise again.

Best of luck to all the teachers come September!

I thought the curriculum had been officially suspended on 23rd March?

One of my DC’s teachers progressed with teaching the curriculum. DC is now where he would be if he had continued in school with maths and English but not with other areas of the curriculum.

Came up in conversation with one of my kids' teachers who is getting the other child next year. Their plan currently is to teach through the missed end of the previous year's curriculum, hopefully at an accelerated speed, and get back on track at some point. There was no judgement, just a matter of factness that they're going to have to cover the content somehow - some of it will naturally be picked up on the next repetition through the topics (seems to be Shape Space and Measures season that's been lost by most schools in particular) but schools are pretty aware of it. I know our junior head will be formulating a million alternative plans of action depending on circumstances right now... the infants seem to be producing a bajillion pretty looking bits of paper and huffing and puffing about everything (which has been their style throughout the whole thing though).

The trouble is - lots of the time they use for intervention work, and picking up kids who've struggled with a lesson concept is during assembly time where they'll keep a handful they want to target back - and of course... no assemblies. That's a fairly common system in most schools I've been in - Maths followed by a mid-morning assembly where the kids who haven't quite got it get followed up again with it with the teacher and TA.

Until mine went back into school I was running myself ragged trying to plan and keep on with the curriculum - now I've realised that the bulk of kids will be in the same situation and schools are just going to have to work with it and backed off a bit. One of mine will be fine - cruising along near the top of the class naturally (she's like me - the academic bit is not hard for her) but the other who has to work to just about hold level is probably going to have slipped back somewhat - but I had to take the pressure off, and send her back into "childcare" format school to protect her mental health as she was really struggling. The academic damage can be repaired over time much easier than a 7 year old slipping into depression and anxiety from the isolation could be.

Can't see setting and streaming happening when it doesn't already as it'll be additional mixing of bubbles. Schools are just going to have to cope.

Like I say - I was chatting with the class teacher and they've had families not engaging at all - through to parents who have done the work FOR the kids - and then a few very self-directed individuals who've blasted through it and requested extra modules released online for them to do as well. Pretty much the same everywhere I think - then the keyworker kids who've had some time directed for them to do the school online learning during the day in school, and then spent the afternoon shooting basketball hoops and scooter races across the playground.

My youngest in keyworker provision seems to have just made a load of junk models and her teacher's entire recycling bin and stash of Amazon packaging from the lockdown internet shopping seems to have been fobbed off skilfully into my recycling bin!

I wasn’t aware the aim of Bitesize was to replace teachers.

No, you’re right, it makes absolutely more sense to expect teachers, who may be excellent classroom practitioners, to suddenly switch to being providers of an entirely different kind of educational content with no training, and then slate them when they point their classes in the direction of people who are good at that sort of thing.

The bright kids who have done their homelearning

Oh- so it’s only the dumb kids who haven’t done home learning?

who may be excellent classroom practitioners,

May be or who may not be is more accurate.
I have two children in the same school. One was excellent, lots of work and lots of feedback. The other seemed to think she was on holidays.
I refuse to gloss over this fact. Her lack of enthusiasm was a cause for concern during term time and was repeatedly brought up with the school to no avail. Her complete lack of work ethic during lockdown is shameful. Her class had no chance other than pray they will have a good teacher next year. As parents already unhappy with this teacher, lockdown has been an eye opener. We did not know the extent of her lack of enthusiasm.

These past 3 months will have seen some children stride ahead and some fall behind. But don’t assume who those children will be on the basis of past indicators

This in an absolute nutshell.

Some kids who struggle will have thrived in a 121 environment.
Some kids might not have had access to online learning due to IT issues or parental issues (busy, lazy, SEN themselves).

My kid struggles, I suspect SEN.
I'm dyslexic, homeschool was a struggle, but I did it. DH was really busy and couldn't so it landed on my shoulders. When I got stuck I'd no qualms about asking for help from the teachers.

But you know what if you just haven't bothered I'd suggest you get your finger out. Class places will have moved around.

Not done any home learning pisses me right off. YOUR children their education is YOUR responsibility. Lots of people with jobs, limited resources etc have worked damn hard to provide education for their children.

God job the schools will be there to bail everyone out!

The dc of most of our middle class professional families have done the bare minimum. Why? Because both parents work in well paid jobs with responsibilities and they simply didin't have the time. Their kids are bright sometimes very bright, they will still have to repeat chunks of their learning next year. They'll catch up soon enough no doubt.

I also don't like the term swat, Saying that, I know a mum and her dc who are proud to be swots, they live for external validation of their swotness. They tell anyone how amazingly talented they all are and what amazing stuff they achieve, they tell you and look expectantly at you until you tell them "wow, well done, amazing". Go figure.

That isn't how school or learning works. You don't just cover one thing then never come back to it again. Children aren't identical to each other in normal times either.

Every school year is a repeat of skills from the previous years which are gradually built on. Every year there are children from all different abilities tackling the same objective with different levels of support.

The pandemic will make almost zero difference to how teachers work.

DS1 has SEN and really struggles with his work. He attends a special school. His school has been superb during lockdown, but in addition to their daily online lessons and videos and support he has somehow acquired an incredible work ethic (which certainly didn’t exist a few months ago) and has worked every single school day of lockdown. He’s made great progress and we are hugely proud of him.

Maybe the lack of distraction has been helpful for him?

@Finerumpus

Karma - how is your school funding this extra lesson each day?

All state school pupils have been provided with a minimum in the form of Oak National Academy and Bitesize. The vast majority of schools have gone beyond this though and provided lots more stuff to supplement or replace these resources. It’s just not true to say that any pupils have been left with no work. They might not have had any one to help them access it but it has been provided.

No idea on the funding @Finerumpus. I’m not SLT so I’m not party to that info. It’s an academy and has been considering extending the school day for a year so covid made the decision.

Extra period is 30 mins each night. They also now have 30 min form classes that are used for English & maths catchups too.

I’m probably biased but it’s a great school with a great head who is knocking gcse results out of the park each year. They’ve taken radical steps to make staffs work life balance great too and have fully restructured the school/teaching day to ensure no staff are overworked.

I appreciate that we aren’t the norm but it shows it can be done and culture is key. The school is fully gearing up for September catchup and, due to the disadvantaged area, it has expertise in catching kids up who’ve missed chunks of education through other circumstances so I feel confident all the kids will catchup up while the amazing pastoral team are also geared up to support any struggling kids too.

Oak National Academy was mentioned in the Covid Daily Briefings. When the PM instructed schools to close early for Easter. He said the National Academy would be available for the new term. And it was. So I don’t have to have been in every school to know that learning was provided for every pupil. Clearly not all pupils might have access and not all parents are able to adequately support but the content has been provided.

Those who've done nothing can stay behind a year? Those who have put in the effort or have been at school do a test to place them? Seems extreme but it might be fair for those who have and haven't progressed.

Thanks. It does sound great. Really positive.

As parents already unhappy with this teacher, lockdown has been an eye opener.

Good. The assumption that education in the classroom is consistently good and it’s only during lockdown it’s been patchy and in some cases poor is one that needs to be challenged.

The more parents whose eyes have been opened to the condition of state education after ten years of Tory underfunding and undermining the better.

@947EliseChalotte

In secondary there are different bands but primary ? My kids haven't done any home learning but I know the bright kids will be bored re learning work from march and because they are bored will effect their behaviour and disrupt the class so will effect the ones who haven't done work.

Too many assumptions there.

Why do you assume it will necessarily be the 'bright kids' who have knuckled down and done the work?

And why would those same studious well-behaved children suddenly run amok and disrupt others?

If you are so concerned that your children will be left behind and/or disrupted during lessons when they finally go back, then you should have insisted that they do their schoolwork and helped them learn at home.

If your dc haven't done the work, then you can't go blaming other people, it's not their fault.

Why penalise children who have got behind through no fault of their own. What help is that going to be to their mental health? Those that I know of who haven’t done work isn’t because the parents can’t be bothered or don’t want to put in the effort but because the parents are working from home, often a 12 hour working day, and are struggling to cope. These children need help not a punishment of being held back a year.